Chasing Passion: The Story Behind The Jewelry

Hi, after uploading videos on YouTube for 2 years, I think I should make one to introduce myself. First, I'm going to talk about what I did before getting into the jewelry industry. Second, I'm going to talk about how I got into the jewelry industry, and then I'm going to talk about what I have been doing on my YouTube channel. After that, I'm going to briefly introduce my team. So my name is Haiyi. It spells H-U-I-Y-I. There are 2 syllables. First, it's "Huei." If you can pronounce the English word "way," W-A-Y, simply put H in the front, so it comes to be "Huei." The second part is simple. It's pronounced "yi." Y-E-E. So together it's Haiyi Tan. I often got asked what I did before getting into the jewelry industry. So I studied environmental design when I was at uni. The subject covers two areas: interior design and landscape architecture. Growing up, seeing how all the plants my parents grew died, no matter how hard they tried, I thought, I don't want to see all the plants I carefully lay out in a landscape project die off within a few months after it's finished. So I chose interior design for my degree project. After that, I was involved in a few commercial and residential projects in both America and the UK. But on a random day, one summer afternoon in July, After seeing some bumblebees cast in solid sterling silver and 18-karat yellow gold at a graduation exhibition in the School of Jewellery in Birmingham, UK, suddenly I thought I have found my calling. So I changed my study from environmental design to jewellery within a week. That was pretty crazy. I don't think I would be brave enough to do that these days. These days I make jewelry. I was not a confident person. That's why I worked hard to get all the best jewelry qualifications I could think of when I was younger. This includes becoming a GIA graduate gemologist in the US, and I also got GIA scholarship. I took 3 months intensive training in the diamond capital of the world, Antwerp, to be qualified as a professional optical diamond setter. And I also got a Master of Arts degree in jewellery design and related objects from the School of Jewellery in Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, UK. I was told that was the best jewellery school in Europe. Back those days. Only later did I find that self-confidence doesn't come from the qualifications one has received. I'm still working on my self-confidence these days. The jewelry I like to make is the kind of jewelry that I want to wear myself. The inspiration for my jewelry comes from the simple things in life. Simple pleasures, unfussy, uncomplicated, even minimal, peaceful things. I feel my brain releases endorphins after making jewelry. The making process is a meditation for myself. Besides the pencil jewelry collection, which was inspired by my hobby of collecting stationery since I was a child, I mainly use solid precious metals and real gemstones in my jewelry. As I'm not rich, I have had to improvise in order to gradually build up my studio from whatever was available. I have found that a little ingenuity goes a long way and can also save a lot of money. That's why you see me making things like a wire drawer bench using leftover materials from different DIY projects, and I also make gravers out of old or broken burrs. They all work perfectly well, and I enjoy sharing these ideas to help other aspiring jewellers around the world. I have had my YouTube channel for 2 years now, I mainly show how I make jewelry at my studio, and sometimes I show the tools I made for various projects. There is one video I made last year that hits 1.4 million views within 2 months. That was totally unexpected. I thought I was about to get rich, but as it turns out, it didn't even cover one week's grocery bill for 3 small people. I guess because my cats and ducks eat too much. So I have a few animals in my team. A cat who loves to walk in front of the camera whenever I film my videos. 2 Indian runner ducks. They always crack in the background whenever I'm on air. I also have 12 fish. This includes 11 neon tetras and a very relaxing fighting fish. He spends most of his time sleeping and only wakes up when it's feeding time. Sometimes I even thought he was dead. Because he was so relaxed and just floating in the water. But when I was about to scoop it up, it woke up. So I think it's just his character. And I also have a lot of freshwater shrimps. Initially, I only got 5 of them, but I think they are very happy there, so they keep having lots of generations, and they are very colorful as well. There are transparent ones, red ones, blue ones, and black ones. Some of them are even mixed colors. After 2 years of not talking on camera, I think speaking in front of the camera enables me to provide better value to you in the videos. That's why I'm talking in my videos these days. I hope you find it more helpful. Basically, that's what I can think about myself so far. Anything I may help you in your jewelry journey, let me know in the comments and I will try my best. See you in the next video and bye for now!