Family Heirlooms

Jewellery is often amongst the first things that come to mind when we think about family heirlooms: an engagement ring lovingly picked out, or handed down, precious pieces from a Si Dian Jin set (bridal jewellery) that can also be worn everyday after, a push present, or a child’s first jewel – heirlooms are beloved because they bind our stories and sentiments.

Whilst looking through her design books which carry her jewellery sketches and ideas, our Creative Director, Shanya, revisited a particular design inspired by her father, and a poem she’d written alongside it. The page reminded her of a heartfelt chat with her dad, and the values he has always sought to teach his children through action.

The love of, and for a father, is one so extraordinary – and this Father’s Day, we share Shanya’s poem, in light of the heroes in our lives that shape so much of who we are.

The Light We Carry

With the world quietly unfolding in ways I couldn’t yet name,
and a weight in my hands I hadn’t prepared to hold,
I began to wonder about the path ahead —
a time when my father would no longer walk beside me.
So I asked him for his wisdom.
What would I need to see the days through?

“Just ways of being,” he said.
Courage.
Integrity.
Respect.
Creativity.
Love.

These were his compass points,
quietly passed down,
not in grand gestures,
but in how he lived,
how he spoke,
how he moved through the world.

He learned that from his father, too.

My grandfather once told him,
just as his father once told him:
“Don’t keep a photo of me when I’m gone.
You will remember me
in the way someone, one day, pauses,
noticing your character and asks,
‘Who raised you?’”

May you remember me in those moments.

Because in the end,
we are not just one,
but the sum of all those who came before us.
Each choice, each virtue,
a thread woven from the hands that held us,
and the ones that came long before.
Some known, some forgotten,
all part of the story we carry forward.

And in that story,
a kind of light lives on —
a warmth that lingers in the quiet corners of the heart,
gently fuelling the courage to be kind,
and the strength to stay true.

It’s not about the destination,
but the spirit of the journey,
the quiet intention behind each step,
each word,
each act of kindness and courage.
Not perfection, but presence.
Not legacy as a monument,
but as the light we carry forward.