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JR INTERVIEW | V2/2021

The Resilience of a Hong Kong Spirit: An Interview with Jewelry Designer Daisy Chan

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There is a specific kind of "cool" found in Hong Kong women—a blend of sharp style and unshakable grit. Daisy Chan embodies this perfectly. After a decade of grinding in the industry, she transformed from a corporate designer into the founder of her own brand, eventually capturing the top Platinum honor at the 2021 MUSE Design Awards. Her journey isn't just about jewelry; it’s about a life lived with a uniquely Hong Kong tenacity.

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In Cantonese, there’s a word for it: Haang Jing (硬淨). It describes someone who is tough, resilient, and always capable of catching whatever life throws their way. Daisy is exactly that—someone who might not always beat fate in a fair fight, but will always be the last one standing.

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Winning on the Global Stage

The MUSE Design Awards is one of the heavyweights in the creative world. In 2021, Daisy’s "MUSE Series" rose above nearly 42,000 entries from over 100 countries to claim the Platinum Winner title.

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The collection is a heartfelt tribute to her own inspiration, the late legendary architect Zaha Hadid. As the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, Zaha Hadid broke into a male-dominated world with her futuristic, flowing curves. Daisy was captivated by that fearless spirit. Rather than copying a specific building, Daisy translated Zaha Hadid’s architectural language—overlapping lines, geometric shapes, and bold triangles—into wearable art. By mixing "frosted gold" textures with cold enamel, she created something that feels like a window into another world.

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Good Design: Where Emotion Meets Aesthetics

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With a background in Fine Arts from the Hong Kong Art School, where she majored in painting, Daisy’s transition into the world of jewelry was driven by pure passion. She went on to study jewelry design at Hong Kong Baptist University, graduating with straight A’s in her core subjects before spending years honing her craft as a fashion jewelry designer.

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Her eight years as an in-house designer were a masterclass in versatility; she didn't just design—she mastered photography, packaging, and even prop styling, building a rock-solid foundation for her future business. It wasn't always an easy climb, as she faced skeptics who claimed she wasn't cut out for the industry. Yet, Daisy never wavered. "Being able to do what I love is my greatest motivation to keep going," she reflects. "I’ve always believed in my ability to carve out my own path through my own hard work."

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It wasn’t always a smooth ride. There were times when people doubted her, telling her she wasn't cut out for the industry. But Daisy never wavered. "Doing what you love is the ultimate motivation," she says. "I believed in my ability to carve out my own path through hard work."

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In 2018, she launched THINKING DAISY JEWELLERY. The name stems from the philosophy of "thinking out of the box." With an average price point of $600 HKD, she creates accessible sterling silver pieces for women who want to express their personal charm without breaking the bank. To her, jewelry is "micro-architecture for the body"—if it creates an emotional dialogue and looks beautiful, it’s a success.

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Like Grass in the Wind, Always Moving Forward

In 2020, Daisy joined Loupe, a local design incubator, where she collaborated with master craftsmen from Chow Tai Fook. It was here that she refined the MUSE series as her graduation project. Fanny Yu, the head of Loupe, describes Daisy’s work as "vibrant and joyful"—a reflection of a designer who finds beauty in travel, reading, and the natural world.

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Moving from a designer to a business owner has brought new pressures—balancing artistic vision with the cold reality of production costs—but Daisy is ready for the challenge. With upcoming joint exhibitions and plans for international jewelry fairs, her eyes are set on a bigger goal: opening her own boutique and proving that Hong Kong’s original designs can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s biggest brands.

Every designer faces a long, often confusing road to success. But like the grass that bends in the wind but never breaks, Daisy Chan is writing her own story, one piece of jewelry at a time.