Melinda Zeman

No one could have told Melinda Zeman that a year after she founded her jewellery brand, Boochier, the pandemic would arrive and disrupt her carefully laid-out plans. “But I do believe that sometimes when you lose something you end up gaining something unexpected,” Zeman reasons.

Instead of doing trunk shows abroad, she found herself growing her Hong Kong client base, catering to their wants and needs, and strengthening her brand of fun and playful fine jewellery.

Zeman started making her own jewellery when she couldn’t find anything that resonated with her in the shops. “The fine-jewellery industry is traditionally a very serious and conservative space, which is pretty much the opposite of what I’m doing,” she explains. ” I don’t think fine jewellery has to be serious – quite the opposite, actually. I think we should be able to have fun with it.” She works with precious metals, gemstones and brightly coloured enamel, imbuing her pieces with a childlike sense of fun: slinkies and marshmallows are the inspirations behind some of her best-sellers.

“My favourite type of jewellery is the kind you can wear with either a pair of jeans or an evening gown,” she says. “And that’s the type of jewellery I create at Boochier.”

Zeman’s other love is for her family: she’s raising four children with husband Jonathan Zeman in Hong Kong. “My business is so important to me, but my family always comes first. ” Someone once said to me, ‘The days are long but the years are fast,'” she says,  so she aims to make the most of every single day.

“I hope to be able to spend as much quality time with my family as possible, while growing a small business. If I can accomplish this, I’ll be very happy already.”

She says “small”, but Boochier is growing – Zeman just struck a deal with Bergdorf Goodman in New York. The pandemic’s over and the tide is turning.