One sphere for heaven, one for earth—meeting in the middle. That is the essence of the wulu. Revered across Chinese culture as a vessel of good fortune, health, and unbroken continuity, the gourd’s distinctive double-sphere silhouette—narrow at the waist, full at both ends—has long served as a visual shorthand for infinite blessings.
Qeelin, the Hong Kong–founded jewellery house that has made the gourd its signature motif, draws its philosophy from Eastern thought—from the murals of the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang to the traditional adornments that carried the wulu across centuries of Chinese decorative art. The Wulu Eternity collection is its latest—and perhaps most considered—expression of that inheritance.
At the heart of the collection, the long necklace is a study in deliberate contrast. The pendant silhouettes read with greater dimensionality than before; the wulu now holds volume, rather than remaining a flat profile. Brilliant-cut diamonds converse with the house’s proprietary Qeelin Red HyCeram—a material prized for its scratch resistance and lacquer-like depth. The pairing is not merely decorative: the red ceramic introduces warmth, giving the stones something to push against, visually and tonally, so that neither material reads in isolation.
The chain, too, warrants attention. Its diamond-cut links catch light from multiple angles, allowing the necklace to move with the wearer rather than sit inert against the skin. The length is adjustable—one piece that layers well with daywear and dresses correctly for an evening out.
The unexpected piece in the collection is the Wulu Eternity band ring. The surprise lies in its structure. Qeelin has historically favoured open-band designs—forms that leave a deliberate gap in the shank, playing with negative space as part of the aesthetic. In this design, the circle closes completely. The brand frames this as an intentional philosophical move: unity, completeness, the idea that the circle has no weak point.
The finishing reinforces that idea. The centre of the band is matte sandblasted—a finish the brand describes as evoking the Dunhuang desert, that vast stretch of northwestern China where the ancient Silk Road carved through stone and sand. Framing this is a mirror-polished border, creating a halo effect where two distinct light responses coexist within the same band of gold. The wulu motif sits within this interplay, appearing almost to hover rather than simply rest on the surface. The contrast between matte and polish isn’t new to jewellery, but anchoring it in a specific geography—Dunhuang, specifically—lends the ring narrative weight. It becomes more than a study in texture contrast; it becomes a reference to one of the most storied corridors in Chinese cultural history.
Qeelin has long operated at the intersection of Eastern symbolism and contemporary form. The Wulu Eternity collection extends that dialogue in two directions at once: the necklace opens outward—adjustable, adaptive—while the ring turns inward, closed and resolved. Together, they reflect a brand that understands its own language and expands it with discipline.
The wulu, here, is not reinvented so much as deepened. More dimensionality. Greater material contrast. Sharper cultural specificity. Yet the central idea remains intact: that jewellery, at its best, carries meaning beyond its weight in gold.
This story originally appeared in the May 2026 issue of GRAZIA Singapore.
PHOTOGRAPHY Sherman See-Tho
ART DIRECTION Marisa Xin
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT Goh Chiang Yang
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