At the Homo Faber craft show in Venice this September, Brazilian jeweller Silvia Furmanovich showcased a dragonfly bracelet created in collaboration with Japanese lacquer master Onihira Keiji. The piece merged Furmanovich’s signature traditional craft techniques with Onihira’s expertise in urushi lacquer, including maki-e gold and silver powder decoration, raden mother-of-pearl inlay, and kanshitsu—a centuries-old technique using layered lacquered hemp cloth to create sculptural forms. Furmanovich described her partnership with Onihira as a natural extension of her ongoing relationship with New York’s Onishi Gallery, noting that the lacquer is constructed through numerous hand-applied layers rather than simply serving as a decorative finish.

This collaboration is indicative of a broader trend among fine and high jewellers, who are increasingly working directly with Japanese artisans to incorporate their specialist, heritage techniques rather than merely drawing on visual motifs. Furmanovich plans to further integrate Japanese crafts in an upcoming jewellery collection for UK luxury house Asprey in October. The collection will combine Asprey’s rare coloured jadeite with hand-carved Japanese bamboo, reclaimed Amazonian woods, woven horsehair, and shibayama, a complex technique involving carved and inlaid materials.

Asprey’s engagement with Japanese craft extends beyond jewellery. The brand recently introduced a limited-edition Hikihaku Matchbox clutch made in collaboration with Kondaya Genbei, a Kyoto-based obi-making house established in 1738 and led by 10th-generation head Genbei Yamaguchi. The clutch employs the traditional hikihaku weaving technique, which incorporates strips of precious-metal foil with silk. Asprey’s version features platinum foil, mother-of-pearl, and lapis lazuli threads arranged to depict an English rose.

Parisian luxury brand Van Cleef & Arpels has also deepened its ties to Japanese craft, expanding its Lacquered Butterflies collection through continued collaboration with Japanese lacquer master Junichi Hakose. Their partnership began more than 20 years ago and now includes new pieces inspired by motifs such as birds, butterflies, cherry blossoms, traditional toys, drums, and flowers. The company’s chief executive, Catherine Rénier, highlighted that Van Cleef & Arpels’ engagement with Japanese art extends back about a century, citing enamel and lacquered objects inspired by Japanese landscapes, as well as the increased cultural exchange following the 1970 Osaka World Expo.

Since 2004, Van Cleef & Arpels has incorporated lacquer in its Butterfly clips to replicate the color variations found on real butterfly wings. The gold, mother-of-pearl, and diamond jewels are crafted in France before being sent to Hakose’s Wajima workshop, where he spends weeks applying around ten layers of lacquer, interspersed with drying and sanding, followed by traditional lacquer decorative techniques and quail-eggshell marquetry. The finished pieces reflect an artistic interpretation rather than a direct imitation of nature, reflecting a Japanese aesthetic preference for simplicity and the embrace of negative space.

Other designers have drawn on Japanese traditions related to repair and preservation. California-based Katey Brunini, founder of K. Brunini, incorporated the Japanese ceramic repair technique kintsugi—using lacquer and powdered precious metals to mend broken objects—into her AeZeus Baldwin collection. She also used vintage Japanese textiles, including kimono fabrics and boro textiles, treasured for their visible patches and hand-stitched repairs dating back to the 1890s. Brunini worked with Kyoto-approved suppliers to upcycle these materials, accentuating the mended elements alongside mineral specimens and jewellery hardware to honour the heritage embedded in the worn fabrics.

For New York-based jeweller George Inaki, founder of Milamore and the first Philippine-born Japanese finalist for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund this year, kintsugi serves as both a design motif and overarching philosophy. His jewellery features gold lines mimicking the seams created by the technique, symbolizing resilience and the importance of preserving history. Inaki emphasized that his connection to Japanese craftsmanship extends beyond any single technique, rooted instead in the mindset of discipline, respect for materials, and reverence for tools. He described how Japanese artisans treat their tools as extensions of their bodies and objects as possessing a soul, a concept expressed in the word mononoke.

Inaki stated that this philosophy profoundly shapes his approach to jewellery design, which he sees not only as crafting ornamental objects but as creating wearable philosophies rooted in tradition and mindful production.