Fanli Jewels founder Susan Li on the cultural heritage, spiritual traditions and personal stories behind jewellery designed to connect us with our inner selves
For Susan Li, founder of Fanli Jewels, jewellery is about far more than adornment. It is a deeply personal expression of identity, heritage and the connection we feel with the world around us. Drawing on her Chinese family lineage, her maternal grandmother’s Shamanic cultural heritage and ancient Chinese and Tibetan symbolism, Susan creates contemporary pieces that carry meaning beyond their materials. From precious gemstones to reclaimed root wood, each design tells a story of nature, tradition and self-discovery. We speak to Susan about redefining modern luxury, honouring ancestral wisdom and creating jewellery that becomes a lasting companion to the person who wears it.
What inspired you to create Fanli Jewels, and what vision did you have for the brand from the beginning?
At the heart of Fanli is a wish to create jewellery that helps people feel closer to themselves. Jewellery is such an intimate thing. We wear it against our skin, touch it without thinking, and often associate it with particular people or moments in our lives. I find it beautiful that something so small can hold so much personal meaning. I wanted to explore that relationship more deeply: how a piece could become a reminder of who we are, what matters to us, or something within ourselves that we are still discovering. From the beginning, my vision was to create jewellery that could accompany that inward journey, giving people something tangible through which to connect with their inner world.
Fanli also brings together two sides of my family heritage. The brand is named after my ancestor, Fan Li, an ancient Chinese strategist and thinker whose innovative spirit inspires me. My family traces its lineage to Fan Li and Xi Shi, and I am their 75th-generation descendant, so this heritage carries a very personal meaning. As the collections develop, I want to honour that legacy, drawing on the stories of their lives and exploring Fan Li’s ideas and the innovations associated with him through contemporary design.
The Shamanic influence comes through my maternal grandmother’s cultural heritage. At its core is the belief that all things have spirit and that we live in relationship with the natural world. Within this worldview, nature is a living field of energy, and we are part of it.
These influences come together naturally for me. They shape how I think about materials, symbolism and the relationship between a piece and its wearer. I hope Fanli pieces become things you reach for instinctively because they feel connected to who you are.
How do you define modern luxury, and what makes Fanli’s approach distinctive?
For me, modern luxury begins with looking inward - finding the space to understand yourself, hear your own voice and feel comfortable expressing who you are. We receive so many messages about how we should look, behave and live. Over time, it can become difficult to distinguish what we truly feel from what we have learned to expect of ourselves. I think there is something deeply luxurious about reconnecting with your own nature and trusting it.
I see jewellery as a possible doorway into that experience. A piece can give an inner feeling a physical form: something you can wear and feel, and return to as a personal anchor throughout the day. What I hope makes Fanli distinctive is the attention we give to that inner relationship alongside the design and craftsmanship. I want the jewellery to feel beautiful to wear and to offer a way of discovering, acknowledging or expressing something personal.
Your designs draw on Shamanic culture and ancient Chinese and Tibetan symbols. How do these traditions influence your creations?
The Shamanic influence is personal to me because it comes through my maternal grandmother’s cultural heritage. It carries a belief that all things have spirit - animals, trees, water and mountains - and that we exist within a living, interconnected natural world. This understanding shapes the way I approach jewellery, from the materials I am drawn to through to the symbols and forms I explore.
Our animal-inspired collection, Soul, explores the intuitive connection we feel with an animal. It may reflect our personality, our instincts, or a quality within us that we have yet to explore. Wearing that animal can become a personal reminder to give this part of ourselves a sanctuary, a space where it can be acknowledged and expressed.
Chinese and Tibetan symbols bring further layers through their associations with blessings, protection and goodwill. These traditions have distinct histories, and I want to approach their meanings thoughtfully. What moves me is how a symbol can hold an intention, a wish for someone’s well-being, a feeling of connection, or something they want to remember. Each Chinese New Year, we release a blessing ornament featuring our recurring Tibetan prayer-wheel-inspired motif, inscribed with a Tibetan mantra and carrying wishes for good fortune and blessings in the year ahead.
What inspired signature pieces such as the Veloura Ring and Shambala Three-Tier Earrings, and what do their symbols represent?
The Veloura Ring was inspired by the nine-tailed fox, a figure from Chinese mythology associated with good fortune. In my contemporary interpretation of this character, as night falls, its tails gather the essence of the night and moonlight, carrying that sense of protection to the wearer. I wanted to capture something of that atmosphere: the mystery of the night, the softness of moonlight, and the feeling of being gently watched over.
The name “Veloura” brings together “velvet” and “aura”. To me, it suggests a velvety aura - soft and enveloping, like a gentle presence surrounding the wearer. It felt like a natural way to express the mood of the piece. That image guided my choice of materials. White gold and moonstone evoke the moon’s luminous presence, while the enamel echoes the depth of the night. Together, they give a tangible form to the story: a jewel carrying a wish for good fortune and a personal sense of protection.
The Shambala Three-Tier Earrings developed from this year’s blessing ornament, created for the Chinese Year of the Horse. The frame began with an illustration of a reindeer’s face spotted in Ergun, Inner Mongolia, which I mirrored horizontally to create the form. Ergun is the birthplace of my mother and grandmother, so the design carries a personal connection to the place and to my family’s Tungusic Shamanic heritage. The Tibetan influence comes from the prayer wheel. The earrings’ three cascading elements carry engraved blessing mantras, expressing wishes for health, protection and prosperity. What touches me about a blessing is the sense of care behind it. When we offer someone a blessing, we express a wish that extends beyond that particular moment. It might accompany a celebration or a new beginning, but the feeling lingers for much longer.
How do you combine precious metals and gemstones with natural materials, such as reclaimed rosewood, to create your distinctive designs?
The inspiration was my family’s collection of root wood. These are ancient tree roots with remarkable natural forms, textures and grain. Their age can reach thousands, and in some cases tens of thousands, of years. I have named this distinctive material “Millennial Root”, a name that expresses a deep sense of time.
The roots were originally gathered in remote areas of the Himalayan region, where the trees had already died and their roots lay exposed on the surface. The material we use consists of existing offcuts from root-carving and furniture-making, rather than wood newly harvested specifically for jewellery. For me, working with these fragments is a way of reimagining them and giving them another life. Something that has spent so long in nature can take on a new form, while still carrying the character of the original material. I find that sense of renewal deeply moving through jewellery, a small fragment becomes something that someone chooses to keep close.
Root wood is also an unusual material to encounter in jewellery, which opens up exciting creative possibilities. Each fragment has its own grain, colour and irregularities. I want those qualities to remain visible and help guide the design. Precious metals bring structure and definition, and gemstones maintain a traditional luxury jewellery aesthetic. I love exploring the warmth and texture of the wood alongside these different qualities, finding a balance that feels beautiful and comfortable to wear.
This connects naturally with the Shamanic cultural heritage passed down through my maternal grandmother’s side of the family. Within that worldview, nature is understood as a living, interconnected field of energy. A tree root is part of that world, just as we are. Working with Millennial Root brings together my family’s collection, my relationship with nature and my creative curiosity. Through jewellery, I hope to honour the material’s past while giving it a new life and a continuing story with the person who wears it.
The stunning Falkro-9YG Necklace inspired by the snow eagle soaring above Tibet
How do you translate ancient spiritual traditions into jewellery that appeals to the modern wearer?
I firmly believe that you should be in love with your own designs first. That personal connection is where the creative process begins. A genuine love for the design comes first before it can be shared and felt by others. In every design I create, I immerse myself into the story that I want my audience to connect with, then I dig deeper to explore a deeper meaning or intention.
With the animal-inspired Soul collection, for example, the starting point is the connection between an animal and the person drawn to it. The animal may reflect a familiar part of their character, or it may represent something they are still discovering. Sometimes we hold back qualities because of our circumstances, responsibilities or the expectations around us. We might feel brave, spontaneous or independent inside, yet rarely allow ourselves to show it.
My academic training in jewellery design has helped me bring together historical materials, techniques and forms with a contemporary approach to design. It taught me to look closely at how things were made and what they meant, then consider how to reinterpret them in ways that feel relevant today. That background helps me approach the cultural and material significance of these influences with care, while finding my own creative expression. I like allowing meanings to unfold gradually, giving each piece of jewellery and its wearer the time and space to recognise one another. Through that relationship, the jewellery can gather personal significance, becoming a reflection of memory, identity and lived experience.
What do you hope people feel or experience when wearing Fanli jewellery?
I hope they feel connected to themselves, comfortable and a little more at home in who they are. That experience will be different for everyone. A piece associated with a blessing might remind someone that they are loved and that another person wishes them well. An animal-inspired piece might help them recognise their own nature or encourage them to express a quality they have held inside. I would love someone to look at a piece and feel, “There is something of me in this.” That recognition can be very quiet. It does not need to be visible to anyone else or explained in words.
I also hope the jewellery leaves room for change. The reason you choose a piece today may be different from the reason you treasure it in five years. It can gather memories of people, places and moments, while taking on new meaning as you understand yourself differently. Ultimately, I would love a Fanli piece to become a companion, something familiar that helps you return to a feeling, an intention or a part of yourself you want to keep close.
The Veloura Bangle, part of the Veloura Collection, this bangle draws on the ancient Chinese legend of the nine-tailed spirit
What is your long-term vision for Fanli Jewels, and how would you like the brand to evolve?
I would like Fanli to grow thoughtfully, with a clear sense of purpose and enough space for creative exploration. I’m especially excited about developing the Soul collection. There is so much to explore in the relationship between an animal’s form, the qualities we associate with it, and the individual meaning someone brings to a piece. I would love to develop that further through different designs, materials and expressions.
I also want to explore my connection to Fan Li and Xi Shi more deeply in future collections, drawing on their stories and the legacy they have passed down. As their 75th-generation descendant, I feel a personal responsibility to approach that heritage with care. I want to carry Fan Li’s spirit of ingenuity into the creative process and discover how it can take a meaningful form through jewellery today.
My long-term wish is to create pieces that stay in people’s lives - worn often, loved and filled with memories. If a piece helps someone understand themselves a little better, or gives them the courage to express something they have held inside, that would mean a great deal to me.
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For more information: https://www.fanlijewels.com/
