How Selberan Makes Fine Jewellery By Hand In A Highly Automated World

The more automated the world becomes, the more precious the human hand is in fine jewellery. Some traditions remain untouched, where craftsmanship still begins and ends with the artisan. As Amanda Kuan, general manager of Selberan, observes, today’s jewellery landscape has increasingly turned to mechanisation in its processes. Selberan, however, remains grounded in the discipline of European master jewellers, or what the brand defines as European craftsmanship. “What we speak of is about working from A-Z by hand,” Kuan says. “This discipline comes from the way our master jewellers are trained through apprenticeship, which has been passed down and practised consistently.”

A Malaysian fine jewellery division of Royal Selangor, Selberan boasts of many artisans who have grown with it for decades. But one of the greatest challenges today, Kuan notes, is “how we pass this skill down to the next generation, so they can maintain that same level of handcrafted excellence in fine jewellery making”. She adds: “It’s not that it’s unachievable, but whether the generation today has that kind of patience. Apprenticeship takes time and learning the basics alone can take three to five years. To truly master it, some of our artisans have spent their entire careers here.”

Immune to the pull of industry shifts, Selberan continues to look inward for inspiration. Its latest Seraphine collection is a reinterpretation of the house’s own archives and, interestingly, inspired by the silhouette of a horse—expressed through the interplay of soft curves and sharp contours. While the timing seems fitting with the Year of the Horse, Kuan says the connection is purely coincidental. “We’ve always wanted to create a jewellery collection inspired by the horse. It’s not about any auspicious meaning but, rather, the strength and femininity of the horse in general. If you look closely at our Seraphine pieces, you can see a subtle silhouette of a horse’s face.”

The perception of value in jewellery is often tied to carat size and branded stones. Selberan challenges this notion, placing the integrity of craftsmanship above all else. Diamonds form part of the composition, not its centrepiece. Built to last across generations, some designs have even resurfaced years later as auction-worthy pieces in Hong Kong.

The new Seraphine collection is now available at all Selberan boutiques.

Photography by Law Soo Phye