Page 807 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht
P. 807
WAI KEE
1c Pedder Street, Hong Kong
circa 1885-1940
Wai Kee still exists today in Hong Kong and still manufactures silver
under the same maker’s mark, as pictured below right
A 1960 mark for Wai Kee [bottom left] and vintage box lid [top left]
Wai Kee specialises today in jewellery, boxes and pearls.
Wai Kee was [and still is] the Hong Kong equivalent of, say, the UK’s Mappin & Webb and America’s Tiffany &
Co; Wai Kee is Hong Kong’s oldest luxury goods store, although Lane Crawford [a luxury goods department
store] pre dates it.
From its inception in 1885, it has specialised in high-end jewellery, pearls, diamonds and sterling silver objects,
so as far as Chinese Export Silver items are concerned, items that have survived tend to be mainly the type of
“safe” luxury commercial goods, although the occasional gem of a piece does present itself.
