Gemmologist and award-winning jewellery & eyewear designer Ely Yili Cao is a graduate of the prestigious RCA in London. Her latest work is entitled Lunette de Diadème.
“My collection uses luxury as a perspective and high-end jewellery as a platform,” says Ely Cao. The designer, who has taken part and won the 100% Optical / RCA Eyewear design competition (in 2020 and previously) for a work featuring delicate pearl settings, has created her latest work – Lunette de Diadème – as a means of exploring how spectacles have infiltrated our lives beyond a medical device and symbol of impairment.
Working with a mix of materials such as rhodium plated silver alloy, fresh water and Tahiti pearls with bluetooth earphones, Cao has imagined and created a new personal concept in luxury glasses, incorporating high-tech, connected to artisan jewellery-techniques, with handmade settings and a genuine appreciation of traditional construction. Her attention to detail continues into innovative functional and aesthetic features – with highlights which include beautifully conceived moveable jewellery parts, interchangeable lenses, and a hugely appealing charging case.
About: Ely Yili Cao, a designer who specialises in jewellery, eyewear and accessories, an authorized gemmologist and appraiser, earned her BA (Hon) degree in Jewellery Design, at the Central Saint Martins’ College of Art and Design, finished gemmologic study from GIA with scholarship, and recently graduated from the Royal College of Art fashion programme, specialising in accessories and eyewear.
Her design and craft skills have been selected and awarded worldwide — by organizations including The Goldsmiths’ Centre, The Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council in the UK, Gemological Institute of America in the US, Barcelona Art Jewellery & Objects (JOYA) in Spain; and by commercial companies including The Leatherseller’s Company, Theo Fennell and William Morris London (100% Optical / RCA competition). For more information visit @ely.yili.cao (Instagram) and www.elycao.com