Draft:K.S. Sze & Sons

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
K.S. Sze & Sons Ltd.
Native name
金星珠寶
Company typeFamily owned
IndustryRetail
Founded1923 in Shanghai, China
FounderKong Shun Sze
Key people
Camille Win Sze (President)
Websitehttps://ks-sze.com

K.S. Sze & Sons[edit]

K.S. Sze & Sons (simplified Chinese: 金星珠寶; pinyin: jīnxīng zhūbǎo. Translating to Gold Star Jewellery, or Venus Jewellery) is a luxury jewellery store located in Hong Kong, originally founded in Shanghai in 1923 by Kong Shun Sze (K.S. Sze). He moved to Hong Kong in 1949, eventually establishing a store at Central Building and later Mandarin Oriental, where the shop remains to this day. They are the longest standing tenant of the hotel.[1]

The company remains family-owned to this day. After Kong Shun Sze’s death, two of his children, Nien Dak Sze and Stephanie Sze Leung, took over in 1997. Stephanie Sze Leung passed away in 2017, leaving Nien Dak Sze solely in charge.[1] Nien Dak Sze passed away in 2023, and the company went on to one of his daughters, Camille Win Sze.

Historically they have been praised for good quality and reliability, being mentioned in many shopping guides of the time.[2][3][4][5] Since the store’s inception, their specialty has been pearls, to this day being a focus point.[6] They are an authorised retailer of Fabergé, ZNS, and Vhernier.[7][8][9] Notable clients include Princess Diana, Charlie Chaplin, Barbara Walters, Robert Black, and the King of Nepal.[1][6]

History[edit]

Early History

Kong Shun Sze was orphaned as a child. At an early age he left his home town for Shanghai to become a jeweller's apprentice under a friend of his uncle.[1] As an adult, he co-founded the Yuan Tong Jewellery (原豐珠寶) with his business partner Chang Yuan Tong, on the corner of Nanjing Road and Shanxi Road.[10] Alongside being a retail shop, they supplied precious and semi-precious stones to other retailers, the historic "Four Great Department Stores", and the powerful gold establishments.[11][1][6]

Hong Kong Period

After the civil war broke out in China, Kong Shun Sze decided to relocate to Hong Kong in 1949 with his wife and children. His business partner, Chang Yuan Tong, was not able to come with.[10] Many long-time customers moved to Hong Kong alongside Kong Shun Sze. He eventually got a small counter in King's Theatre (now Entertainment Building), that he named K.S. Sze & Sons (金星珠寶).[1]

Through word of mouth, Kong Shun Sze built up a reputation in Hong Kong. He moved K.S. Sze & Sons to the Central Building in 1958 to better accommodate clientele.[11]

In 1963, the Mandarin Hotel (later renamed to Mandarin Oriental) offered K.S. Sze & Sons one of their original 7 shop spaces. At the time, they were the only jewellery store in the hotel arcade.[6]

Second Generation

After the death of Kong Shun Sze in 1997, two of his children, Nien Dak Sze and Stephanie Sze Leung took over the store.[1] Before taking over the store, Nien Dak Sze was a planetary scientist[12] best known for his research on climate change, co-founding the Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER) with his wife Cecilia Wong Sze, and being on the board of counsellors for China-United States Exchange Foundation from 2009-2022.[13][14]

In 2012, K.S. Sze & Sons opened an exclusive jewellery showroom called “House of Venus” on the top floor of Alexandra House in Central.[11]

In 2017, Stephanie Sze passed away, leaving Nien Dak Sze solely in charge.[1]

Third Generation

In February 2023, Nien Dak Sze passed away, and the company passed down to his daughter, Camille Win Sze.

Collaborations[edit]

In October of 2013, K.S. Sze & Sons signed with Vhernier, becoming an authorised retailer of their products.[15]

K.S. Sze & Sons supported Zhou Guanyu, the first Chinese racing driver to compete in Formula One, through Theodore Racing. They also supported Macau’s Charles Leong. They remain one of the core sponsors of Theodore Racing.[11][16]

In November 2020, Mandarin Oriental's executive pastry chef, Christophe Sapy, created a limited edition afternoon tea set called Journey to Venus, in celebration of K.S. Sze & Sons' 57th year of being a tenant to Mandarin Oriental. Inspired by Venus, because part of chinese name for K.S. Sze & Sons, “金星”, means Golden Star, or Venus.[17]

In 2021, K.S. Sze & Sons launched ZNS Jewellery with brand designer and artist Alan Chan as a cofounder, meant to be a celebration of K.S. Sze & Sons’ 100th year anniversary. The brand’s focus is on avant-garde and gender-fluid jewellery.[18][19]

Philanthropy[edit]

K.S. Sze & Sons are long-time supporters of The Hub Hong Kong, a charity focused on providing education, extra-curricular classes, and counselling to children and families in poverty or otherwise disadvantaged.[20] The charity holds an annual Hub Ball, and in 2018 they collaborated with K.S. Sze & Sons on a Crazy Rich Asians themed ball, as K.S. Sze & Sons was mentioned in the sequel, China Rich Girlfriend.[21] Among others, Henry Golding, the male lead of Crazy Rich Asians (film), was in attendance.[22]

K.S. Sze & Sons has supported the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation since 2010.[23] In 2015 K.S. Sze & Sons held two charity sale events with 2 different gold brooches and a silver necklace inspired by a pink ribbon, specifically designed for the charity sale.[24] In 2018, K.S. Sze & Sons designed a series of pink ribbon inspired jewellery, with 10% of the proceeds from the series going to the HKBCF.[25]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Princess Diana, Charlie Chaplin were customers: Hong Kong jewellers' story". South China Morning Post. 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  2. ^ Carpenter, S. M. (1986). Courvoisier's book of the best. Internet Archive. Topsfield, Mass. : Salem House. ISBN 978-0-88162-216-4.
  3. ^ Gershman, Suzy; Thomas, Judith (Judith Evans) (1991). Born to shop. Internet Archive. New York : Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-35426-3.
  4. ^ Reimer, Jo; Krannich, Ronald L.; Krannich, Caryl Rae (1989). Shopping in exotic Hong Kong : your passport to Asia's most incredible shopping bazaar. Internet Archive. Manassas, Va. : Impact Publications ; Lanham, MD : Distributed to the trade by National Book Network. ISBN 978-0-942710-14-4.
  5. ^ Heller Anderson, Susan. "SHOPPER'S WORLD; Good Prices, and Caveats, in Hong Kong Pearls". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  6. ^ a b c d "Hong Kong Jewellery Magazine - The International Magazine for Jewellery Professionals". www.hkjm.com.hk. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  7. ^ "Authorised Dealers". Vhernier. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  8. ^ "K.Z. Sze and Sons Store Location". Fabergé. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  9. ^ "ZNS Jewellery". K.S. Sze & Sons. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  10. ^ a b "Big Spender：隱秘珠寶店 獨具匠心香港情 | 蘋果日報•聞庫". 聞庫. 2014-04-08. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  11. ^ a b c d "Our Story". K.S. Sze & Sons. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  12. ^ "Nien Dak Sze". scholar.google.co.in. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  13. ^ "History". AER. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  14. ^ "Annual Reports". China-United States Exchange Foundation. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  15. ^ Yiu, Cammy (2014). Vhernier. Hong Kong: Culture Magazine. p. 8.
  16. ^ "Theodore Racing Home". theodoreracing.com. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  17. ^ Fok, Wilson. "5 Must-Try Afternoon Teas This November". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  18. ^ "OUR STORY". ZNS Jewellery. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  19. ^ Henricus, Jennifer (September 2023). "Big Ideas from Small Places". Solitaire Magazine. p. 70.
  20. ^ "Events and In-Kind Sponsors". TheHubHK. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  21. ^ Kwan, Kevin (16 June 2015). China Rich Girlfriend. Doubleday. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-385-53908-1.
  22. ^ Purcell, Alexandra. "What To Expect At The Hub's Crazy Rich Asians-themed Charity Ball 2018". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  23. ^ "Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation 2010-2011 Annual Report" (PDF). Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  24. ^ "Join Us | Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation - Pink Ribbon Partners 2015". www.hkbcf.org. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  25. ^ "Join Us | Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation - Pink Partners 2018". www.hkbcf.org. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:K.S._Sze_%26_Sons&oldid=1216693008"