KC Concepcion creates jewelry that lasts for generations for today's young
KC Concepcion’s first foray into fine jewelry, Avec Moi by Kristina, was a 26-piece collection of rings, earrings, and necklaces first launched in March 2018. It was a very personal collection, a trove of diamonds, sapphires, onyx, and other gemstones set in 14K and 18K white, rose, and yellow gold.
“For young people like me, early 30s, maybe even late 20s, this is a good time to come together, people who love design, who love traveling, who love culture, who have an appreciation for luxury, for beauty, for aesthetics,” said KC at a small, intimate dinner at the Anahaw Room of Manila House in BGC, Taguig City, explaining that her new venture had to do with her understanding of the value of quality, not just quantity. “The question for me is why invest in something that will be broken in maybe another year or two years, something that might be easy for you to let go.”
It took KC a lot of time to put this debut collection together, for which she consulted some jeweler friends like Candy Dizon at Jul B. Dizon—“This is only the beginning for me. (They) really gave me a lot of advice, they have come way before me.”—and hired the best Filipino craftsmen, some of the very best manufacturers in the industry, to bring to form. But her preparation for this kind of endeavor has long begun. “I was taught by generations before me, like my grandmother and my mother, all about jewelry, appreciation for real gold, appreciation for gemstones and pearls, and I was raised around a lot of jewelers and a lot of gemologists and a lot of designers and a lot of artists,” she said. “It was really my grandmother that made me adore diamonds and adore jewelry and adore beautification and always being presentable in front of people.”
'I was taught by generations before me, like my grandmother and my mother, all about jewelry, appreciation for real gold, appreciation for gemstones and pearls, and I was raised around a lot of jewelers and a lot of gemologists and a lot of designers and a lot of artists.'
The collection, handcrafted by her chosen goldsmiths, came into bloom in the form of the rose, “my favorite flower,” but it was, indeed, her maternal grandmother, the late Elaine Gamboa Cuneta, who was KC’s inspiration. “Like these rings,” she said, showing her dinner guests the rings on her fingers and indicating that some of them belonged to her grandmother, “It’s a mix of old and new and because I carry her pieces, I feel tonight that she is with me and (she’s) so close and intimate and right touching my skin.”
KC believes that every woman has a love affair with jewelry. But more than providing the wearer with the means to express herself and to add a sparkle to her day-to-day, she hopes to call attention to things that last at a time when everything, from attention to possession, is shortlived.
“A lot of people now are earning a lot more than they ever did,” she said. “Young people especially are able to have this purchasing power. It may be a good time to trailblaze something in the Filipino youth. We want them to be spending their money of course not just on humanitarian work or their families. When they start having the power to purchase things for themselves, (we also want them to) purchase something that will be an investment, that will go up in value in the years to come, something they can pass on from generation to generation.”
Despite their weight in gold, KC’s statement pieces in the collection, in which no two were alike—“Each piece is numbered one of one”—were easy to carry off, even versatile and fun. You could wear them “on planes, on trips, at home, in jeans and a t-shirt, in a gown, in formal events, or just everyday life. Going to the grocery, I just love wearing accessories and why not something that means something to me?” she said, pointing out her grandmother’s rings mixed in with the new rings around her fingers.
To launch the collection, KC gathered a mix of people in a dining room designed to look like a garden of red roses at Manila House, with roses as a centerpiece for the long table, roses hanging from the ceiling, roses strewn on the floor, and roses tucked on the walls. “Most of the people in this room have empowered me personally and even professionally,” she said. “I have my big sister figures, I have my mentors, my close friends, my friends in the press, my friends in fashion and of course, my family, my stepfather (Sen. Kiko Pangilinan) is here. My mother (Sharon Cuneta) is supporting from afar, and so is Papa (Gabby Concepcion). I hope that everybody understands that they are being very private at this point.”
The good news—and the bad news—is even before we sat down for dinner, the collection, priced between $1,000 and $2,000, had sold out. “It’s really just bespoke and one-of-a-kind. It’s all signed as well,” beamed KC. “It’s only 26 pieces but thank you Lord it’s sold out today. But I already have orders. See you at the next collection.”
