Qeelin is a fine jewellery company. The brand's products refer to mystical or superstitious symbols strongly embedded in the Chinese culture. The name Qeelin comes from the

Qilin The qilin (; ) is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler. Qilin are a specific type of the mythological family of on ...

, an auspicious Chinese mythical animal and icon of love. Qeelin was created in 2004 by Dennis Chan and Guillaume Brochard. The company is headquartered in Hong-Kong and owned by the French luxury group

Kering Kering () is a French-based multinational corporation specializing in luxury goods. It owns the brands Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent. The timber-trading company Pinault S.A. was founded in 1963, b ...

History

Launch in Paris

The idea of creating a luxury brand strongly embedded in the Chinese culture came to the designer Dennis Chan while visiting the

Dunhuang Caves The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...

along the

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

in 1997. He co-founded with Guillaume Brochard the luxury jewellery company Qeelin in 2004 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Qeelin's first collection, the ''Wulu'', became a hit after actress

Maggie Cheung Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong former actress. Raised in Hong Kong and Britain, she started her career after placing second in 1983's Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She achieved critical success in the late 1980s and in ...

wore it at the

2004 Cannes Film Festival The 57th Cannes Film Festival started on 12 and ran until 23 May 2004 in film, 2004. The Palme d'Or went to the United States, American film ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' by Michael Moore. The festival opened with ''Bad Education (2004 film), La mala educa ...

. In 2009, Qeelin opened its first store in Paris, inside the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...

Kering acquisition

In January 2013, the French luxury group PPR (now

) acquired a majority stake in Qeelin, the group's first acquisition in China. By then, Qeelin had 50 employees and 14 stores worldwide. The acquisition enabled Qeelin to accelerate store openings (7 new stores in the first year), and to launch its first high jewelry collection. In 2015, Guillaume Brochard left the company, and Christophe Artaux became the CEO of Qeelin.

Timeline

* 2004: Launch in

. * 2004: Qeelin gained worldwide publicity when actress

wore the ''Wulu'' during the

. * 2009: Parisian store opened in

. * 2013: Qeelin was acquired by

. * 2015: Qeelin started distribution in the USA. * 2018: Chinese actress Gulnazar became Qeelin's brand ambassador. * 2019(June/17) : Chinese Actor

Xiao Zhan Xiao Zhan (, born 5 October 1991), also known as Sean Xiao, is a Chinese actor and singer. Xiao Zhan began his career in the entertainment industry when he participated in the idol survival show X-Fire and debuted as a member of the Chinese boy ...

became brand ambassador

Designs

The company's first collection was the ''Wulu'', which revisited the legendary Chinese

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the earli ...

, an auspicious emblem in Chinese tradition. Often inspired by mythical or superstitious myths, Qeelin's following creations used the symbols of the panda (''Bo Bo''), bells (''Ling Long''), kissing goldfish (''Qin Qin''), and dogs (''Wang Wang''). In 2009, Qeelin launched a line of rare

jadeite Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with composition sodium, Naaluminium, Alsilicon, Si2oxygen, O6. It is hard (Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0), very tough, and dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4. It is found in a wide range of colors, bu ...

jewels. In 2010, Qeelin launched ''Maggie's bangles'', a set of bracelets initially worn by

. In 2012, Qeelin launched the ''XiXi'' collection to celebrate the Lion in the Chinese culture. In 2016, Qeelin collaborated with Chinese visual artist

Chen Man Chen Man (; born 1980) is a Chinese visual artist. Her medium includes photography, graphic design, cinematography, and digital art. She also produces covers for fashion magazines and collaborates with major brands worldwide. Biography Born ...

to design a limited edition of the ''Bo Bo'' pendant. In 2017, Qeelin released 8 rooster designs to celebrate the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac.

Retailing

Activities

Qeelin is a Chinese fine jewellery company whose products refer to mystical or superstitious symbols strongly embedded in the Chinese culture. Qeelin uses meticulous craftsmanship to create its China-inspired jewellery, and nurtures a «East meets West» philosophy to appeal to an international audience. Qeelin opened its first store in Taiwan in 2009, and its first store in Shanghai in 2010. In June 2014, the company announced its intention to double in 2 years the number of Qeelin stores in China to 24. In 2015, Qeelin started to retail its products in the USA through a handful of stores, initially to cater to the Chinese diaspora in North America. In 2017, Qeelin opened its first store in Thailand. In 2018, Qeelin chose Chinese actress Gulnazar to become its new brand ambassador.

Retail stores

Qeelin operates 32 stores and 4

Duty-free shop A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who ...

s worldwide. Some of those stores include: *

(France),

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

SAR (China), The Peninsula Hotel *

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

(China), Wangfu Central *

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

SAR (China),

The Venetian Macao The Venetian Macao () is a hotel and casino resort in Macau owned by the American Las Vegas Sands company. The 39-story structure on Macau's Cotai Strip has of floor space, and is modeled on its sister casino resort The Venetian Las Vegas. It ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

(Canada),

Holt Renfrew Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (doing business as Holt Renfrew and known colloquially as Holt's) is a Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. It has been owned by the Weston family since 1986, and was previo ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

(US), Carat & Co *

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

(Thailand), Sette

Management

Qeelin is based in Hong Kong SAR and owned by the French luxury group

CEOs

* 2004-2015: Guillaume Brochard * Since 2015: Christophe Artaux

Creative directors

* Since 2004: Dennis Chan (also co-founder)

References

External links

Official website
{{PPR (company) High fashion brands Jewellery companies of China Jewellery companies of France Luxury brands Companies established in 2004 Hong Kong brands Kering brands