About

It was a long and convoluted road that brought me here.  Well, yes and no.  At the age of five I remember drawing–designing clothes and jewelry.  It was probably around that same age that my father gifted me with my first diamond ring.  An adorable little gold flower with a diamond in its center.  I SWOONED of course and wore it out to dinner in the City (by “the City” I mean Manhattan–oh yes, I am a New Yorker through and through.  I almost called this blog “Bagels and Diamonds” but then I thought, “Choking hazard!”).  There was much frolicking and gleeful hand swinging, and by the end of the night the ring was nowhere to be found.  My clammy little five-year old fingers were once again unadorned.  Oh how I cried!  Heartbreak at such an early age.

In college, I picked up a peculiar habit: when I was sick, had a bad day, or just felt I needed some pampering at the end of the day, I would shower, apply all my creams, tinctures, and perfume; select a piece of jewelry to wear; and crawl into bed.  The next morning I would wake up glowing and feeling like the world was exactly as it should be.

Naturally, one would think I went into the jewelry business straight away.  Nope, not this product of an Asian tiger mom!  I was law school bound.  So yes, Cornell Law, big firm in the City, then bigger firm in Shanghai (my other city–I might have about 4 cities).  Alas, hours upon hours, years upon years of: private equity deals, mergers, and securities filings; living in my office with a drawer full of stilettos, another containing “go-out clothes,” a spare suit and a black-tie gown constantly hanging on the back of my office door; sleeping under my desk; and all-around ass-kicking corporate-lawyering later, I decided to give it all up.  Naturally.

I went off and got my G.D. (Graduate Diamonds Degree) from the Gemological Institute of America, became director of strategy for my father’s company, Jean & Alex, and founded Jean Z. Poh, my eponymous jewelry atelier that makes SWOON-worthy bespoke pieces and advises on diamond investment strategy for private clients around the world.

Welcome to my blog.

Big Kiss and Bigger Diamonds,

JZP