I was trying to shop for jewelry for a family member but could find nothing that captured the occasion or seemed personal. All I could find was mass produced trinkets. What was offered by the chains and even local stores looked pretty but graced a thousand people in the same bland, sterile, assembly line fashion. Mass production is nice for cars, but less suited for something as personal as jewelry. Most jewelers I researched seemed focused on making rings, few seemed interested in anything else.
Hsiang-Ting was very flexible in meeting in this time of SARS-CoV-2. We arranged an initial consultation. During the consultation she was very thorough in building an understanding of the occasion for the piece and the memories and sentiment I was hoping to capture by making such a gift. I had some of my own ideas and she incorporated those into her designs. She was thorough enough to request a picture of my family member to use in her design concepts. She very quickly proposed six designs based on our discussion and was gracious enough to flesh out three of them in more detail as I was having difficulty making up my mind (the agreement stated she would do this for two). She was very detailed in describing the metals and gems used and the timelines involved.
Once I made my decision she was very quick in generating the wax mold and once I okayed the mold, she set to work. Never once in this entire process did I feel rushed in making a choice and Hsiang-Ting was always quick in responding to questions and ensuring my questions were answered. The delivered piece (a sterling silver and garnet brooch that had a strawberry theme) exceeded my expectations in beauty and form. I had wanted a unique piece of art to capture a memory and this was delivered and delivered exactly on the promised time line. I would certainly recommend Hsiang-Ting if you wish to make a gift of memorable work of art to capture a sentiment and moment in time. I will certainly recommend Hsiang-Ting to anyone who wishes to engage an artisan to craft a special piece of jewelry.