Wing Yau debuted Wwake Jewelry in 2013, offering her minimalist asymmetrical styles in 14k gold with opals, among other gems. The Rhode Island School of Design grad left school with a degree in sculpture, moving on to work with wood and metals and eventually found herself making small sculptures that seemed like avant-garde jewelry. Her signature style is “a thoughtful balance of tension, scale, and detail,” she tells JCK, with jewelry made with “unexpected arrangements and modern silhouettes” (read: randomly set stones). Light and airy pieces are cast and fabricated, sometimes sculpted out in wax, and then made in the city. Already Wang has earned accolades as part of the 2015–2017 CFDA + Lexus Fashion * Initiative and a nomination from the 2015 Forbes 30 under 30 list.
Jewelry designer Wing Yau of Wwake
Starting retail price: $230 in 10k gold and $375 in 14k gold
Accounts: We have more than 60 domestic accounts, two of which are Nordstrom SPACE and Ylang23.com, and 15 international accounts, including Ron Herman in Japan.
Trade fairs: Woman Show New York FW16 in February 2016, NY Now in August 2016, and Woman Show New York SS17 in September 2016
Retailer buy-in: $2,500
Contact: WWake, Brooklyn, N.Y.; 212-219-3793; wwake.com
Large Four-Step ring in 14k gold with 0.2 ct. t.w. opals, $463
Linear earrings in 14k gold with 0.38 ct. t.w. rose-cut diamonds, $2,715
Linear neck cuff in 14k gold with 0.9 ct. t.w. diamonds, 0.17 ct. t.w. opals, and 0.03 ct. t.w. blue sapphires, $5,980
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