Hiro Ou Wen
On the small coastal road of Punaauia, a discreet address that hides a world apart lies .
Step through the gate and enter the world of Hiro Ou Wen’s workshop.
Right away, the atmosphere shifts and you find yourself surrounded by the rhythmic hum of engraving and polishing machines drifts across the garden.
Hiro’s domain is laid out on a large table: dozens of mother-of-pearl shells, thick, luminous, among the finest in the world. Their surfaces shimmer with life. Predrawn sketches are matched with pre-cut mother-of-pearl pieces, slowly revealing jewelry that reflects love and care.
The magnetic beauty of these creations comes from Hiro’s path. Trained in restoration at the Louvre workshops in Paris, he later spent 17 years as assistant curator at the Museum of Tahiti and the Islands.
Today, his works echo the history of Polynesia: the journeys of navigators across the ocean, the glory of a culture tied to the sea. For Polynesians, mother-of-pearl is a reflection of light from both the living world and the beyond.
His work is pure art, and no creation captures and elevates the essence of mother-of-pearl quite like his.
It is no surprise then that for years, Hiro has been entrusted with creating the crowns of Miss Tahiti, symbols of both beauty and heritage, crafted with the same devotion he brings to every jewel.
Whether delicate or bold, most of his pieces are articulated and designed to embrace the neck or wrist with flowing comfort and softness.
Forms interlock, intertwine, and overlap in a dance of reflections and textures, yet always with precision, subtlety, and pure mastery.
To acquire a jewel by Hiro Ou Wen is to hold more than an ornament. It is to possess a fragment of Polynesia, its light, its legends, its history, distilled into mother-of-pearl and pearl, shaped with love, reverence and profound humility.
More than jewelry, these are stories that can be worn, a bridge between tradition and timeless elegance.
Photo credit: Te Tavake Création Hiro Ou Wen
