CARNET Michelle Ong's emerald and ruby dragon brooch. It measures about 4 inches across. No price was given for this piece but a diamond-and-ruby version sells for $117,000.

A jeweler's uncompromising
pursuit of excellence results in
one-of-a-kind pieces sparkling
with intricate beauty

---

By Nadine Kam
nkam@starbulletin.com

As a third-generation jeweler, Lee Siegelson is not easily impressed by the sight of diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other sparklers. He wears no jewelry, save for a Cartier watch, and having just crafted a $750,000 pen covered in invisible-set diamonds, replies flatly that such an instrument is "not me" when it's suggested he needs to make a duplicate for himself.

But point Siegelson toward the work of Michelle Ong and her Carnet line, and he turns breathless, with the enthusiasm of a child who has just discovered chocolate or the wonders of a mud puddle.

Ong is known for her gothic Black Lace designs of diamonds set against a "lace" of blackened silver, plus the use of colored stones in bold graphic designs. These include her interpretations of nature's flora and the symbols of her Chinese heritage. She has created a dragon brooch studded in precious gems and pairs of Imperial jade doves set against a backdrop of blackened silver clouds.

Before you get too excited or start thinking , "Valentine's Day!" -- the smallest of Ong's pieces, her black lace rings, start at $12,000, so viewing the pieces in a jewelry counter is about as close as most of us will get to her work.

CARNET Imperial jade doves soar against a backdrop of clouds made with blackened silver and black diamonds in the $82,500 pair of pins, above, by Michelle Ong.

Siegelson became a collector of Ong's pieces before he started helping the Hong Kong designer market her pieces in America, through Neiman Marcus stores. Because of the value of the pieces, they were shown here only a few days while Siegelson was in town, and only one piece, a butterfly brooch, remains on view in the store's Fine Jewelry department, along with a display of Siegelson jewelry.

Ong has been called "one of the greatest designers of our time" by international jewelry critic Ryo Yamaguchi, and Siegelson says without reserve: "There are no other great designers creating jewelry that can be considered art today. There are no new designers working today in the major houses making pieces that I would purchase."

Although he indulges in the current trend of collecting fancy-colored diamonds, plus old Cartier pieces and other vintage and antique jewelry, new pieces don't excite him, he said, "because those are things I could manufacture myself. We can manufacture anything but (Ong's) pieces. The way they're put together is incredible."

CARNET Ong's Black Lace bangles.

Each piece by Ong is entirely hand-crafted, and the designs can take her a year or two to perfect. Siegelson said he's been there when she's destroyed pieces that do not meet her expectations, even when, to his eye, the piece seemed flawless.

Ong's quest for excellence has led to creation of the "Meandering Bracelet," a marvel of pink sapphires, multicolored garnets, emeralds and rubies in a geometric pattern, with stones in graduating colors throughout, and Grapelet earrings, with shimmery cascades of briolette-cut diamonds that seem to dangle freely in clusters of black (42 carats) and white (34 carats). Each stone is carefully screwed in to titanium (which can't be soldered) branches, a solid metal structure that is hidden to the viewer.

"That kind of understanding of how a piece should fall comes from years of making jewelry and wearing it," Siegelson said.

CARNET The designer wears her emerald and ruby dragon brooch.

Ong was born to a prominent Hong Kong family, so she had access to the tools and materials of her trade early. She started designing pieces for herself and was encouraged to continue. To this day the artist creates for herself, so that like Cinderella and the glass slipper, some of her pieces, like the "Amazing Cuffs," will only fit someone with wrists measuring about 5 1/2 inches around at their narrowest.

The cuffs are of blackened silver that even up close looks like silk studded with diamonds weighing 44 carats. The cuffs are $324,000.

At that kind of price, Ong's pieces should be in a museum, and Siegelson is in negotiations to stage a museum exhibition of Ong's work in New York. He maintains a list of collectors in hopes that they might offer to have their pieces shown.

CARNET One of the Amazing Cuffs, $324,000

"She doesn't use any of my stores or my diamonds. I have no influence on her, but I will help her because I think she is a very important designer," Siegelson said.

He notes that far from shunning jewelry due to the economic turndown, there are people who, seeing their stock investments are going nowhere, are buying jewelry as a wealth protector.

And, in the Far East, he said, "People think that if they have to get on a plane in a hurry, what can they take along if they don't have access to their bank accounts?

CARNET Leaf clip-on earrings of diamonds, rubies and sapphires are $27,000. At that price, they don't pinch.

"If a piece is unusual enough, it becomes a commodity that they can take anywhere in the world and find people who will appreciate it. I'm not recommending that anyone take all their money out of the bank and buy jewelry, but she was one of the few new designers written up in Christie's Jewellery Review, and it's unprecedented for someone who has been around only a short amount of time to get that recognition. Usually it takes 10 or 15 years. They seem to think her pieces would sell well at auction level."

Although some of Ong's buyers are content to put her pieces in a showcase for display, Siegelson said, "Her pieces need to be worn. It is really sexy jewelry that's empowering, like those Wonder Woman-type cuffs. No one will ever forget it.

"That can be a problem. I spoke to one woman here who asked, 'How many times could I wear it? No one will ever forget it.' I said, 'Hey, that's better than you telling me no one will notice you.'"

CARNET Michelle Ong wears a diamond necklace she designed.

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