EP3 | A Master of Jewellery — Lu Cheng-nan Joins The Great Artist to Discuss an Open Studio Philosophy by the Banks of Bitan

Nearly 30 years of experience, author of the Jewellery Designs manuscripts, and the brand story of Taiwan's first open studio, "Re-Shi"

[Taipei] The Great Artist podcast (EP3) by DE Global Art Agency welcomes Lu Cheng-nan, a veteran Taiwanese jewellery designer. In this episode, he shares the creative principles distilled from nearly three decades in the field, and how an open studio allowed him to redefine the relationship between consumer and jewellery.

Lu Cheng-nan has cultivated the field of jewellery design for nearly 30 years, with countless exhibitions to his name, and has been repeatedly invited to serve as a judge for major international brands, his professional standing widely recognised. Beyond creating, he has devoted more than a decade to design education, and has compiled the fruits of years of design effort into print, authoring two volumes, Jewellery Designs: The Design Manuscripts of Lu Cheng-nan and its sequel, leaving precious learning resources for those who follow. His rich practical and teaching experience has given him an understanding of jewellery craft that is at once deep and broad.

In 2004, Lu Cheng-nan made a decision that was quite bold for its time: he chose to establish a semi-open studio along the leisurely waterfront of Bitan. This was Taiwan's first open studio combined with a storefront, drawing wide attention from the outset and eager coverage in the media. In an era when the jewellery trade tended to present itself through cold, aloof counters and closed workshops, Lu Cheng-nan chose to let the making process "be seen"; that courage of openness was itself a brand philosophy. The brand he leads, "Re-Shi," has now accumulated more than a decade of history, consistently upholding a creative ideal of drawing inspiration from the observation of everyday life.

Lu Cheng-nan's core conviction is that consumers should be able to choose, slowly and in a leisurely, pressure-free atmosphere, the jewellery they truly love, while also having the chance to become acquainted at close hand with the process of its making. He believes that only by understanding how a work is born from metal and gemstone can a consumer truly build a deep emotional bond with it. At "Re-Shi," nearly every piece is a one-of-a-kind work, shaped by hand and never replicated; he often says that each piece carries a warmth that mass production can never replace, and will, in the end, find in this world the one "kindred spirit" to whom it belongs.

In this episode, Lu Cheng-nan also shares how a creator can strike a balance between artistic ideals and commercial operation. For many handcraft artisans, making a work seen, understood, and cherished is often more challenging than the creation itself. With nearly three decades of hands-on experience, Lu Cheng-nan offers Taiwan's craft creators a precious model that reconciles ideal and reality: upholding the warmth of handwork while stepping toward the market and the public with an open posture.

From a commitment to craft to the running of a brand, Lu Cheng-nan's story resonates with the spirit that The Great Artist advocates: with academically orthodox expertise as a foundation and the scope of an international career as a vision, every dedicated Taiwanese artisan may have the chance to be seen and recognised by a wider world.

The Great Artist EP3 is now available on Apple Podcasts, SoundOn, and other platforms, with each episode running about 36 minutes. You are warmly invited to listen and enter the world of jewellery that Lu Cheng-nan has crafted with an artisan's heart.