High Jewellery Collection 2023: TATTOO

nspiration can sometimes come from the unlikeliest places. For Simone Ng, founder and executive creative director of Simone Jewels, a surgery scar proved to be a muse. Every time she glances in the mirror, she would feel the urge to cover up the medical scar and consider getting a tattoo.

But slowly, Simone grew accustomed to her scar: It had morphed from being a reminder of those dark days to symbolizing her strength and forbearance when faced with struggles.

That episode sparked a light in Simone: She became interested in the symbols we ink on ourselves that serve as personal reminders of our successes and failures, challenges, and milestones. For her, tattoos were akin to her first love: Jewellery.

Tattoos are more than just ink on a body: Each tattoo speaks a thousand words, and each stroke is an expression of the challenges one has overcome to reclaim their identity. It represents a milestone, a celebration, and can even act as a protective amulet. It can also transform a medical and emotional scar into a thing of beauty.

Much like the tattoos we inscribe on our bodies, the jewellery we wear often has an emotional connotation. Think about your wedding band, those earrings that your grandmother bequeathed to you, or the diamond necklace you bought to celebrate a promotion. She saw a parallel in how tattoos and jewels both express individualities.

A jewel is more than just a confluence of precious stones and metal: It is a tangible reflection of its wearer and speaks volumes of his or her capacity for love, courage, and life. For Simone, this sentimental link between tattoos and jewellery forms the foundation of her latest High Jewellery collection, Tattoo, as they are both artistic expressions of individuality.