BEHIND THE BRAND
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Hi, I’m Amy Ong, the founder and creative director behind VANAOC!
WHY DID YOU START VANAOC?
I love gold jewellery so much and always have. Coming from a Vietnamese family, I learned to adore gold jewellery at a young age as we believe it brings good luck and good fortune. I believe I received my first 18K gold bracelet when I was just a few months old, followed by a classic 18K gold necklace with an initial pendant – if you come from an Asian background, you know exactly what I'm talking about!
I grew out of the special pieces I had when I was a child and so throughout my teens I started to experiment with cheap, trendy, gold jewellery. Up until that point, I was unaware that I was mildly allergic to metals. I vividly remember constantly becoming irritated by costume/fashion jewellery, and I had no idea how I could wear gold jewellery without getting irritated. Cheap gold earrings would cause my ears to swell and blister, and I eventually gave up wearing jewellery altogether because of it. Actually, I had the impression that I wasn’t a good candidate for jewellery. However, one day my mum gifted me her old diamond earrings set in 18K gold, and that's when I realised, I wasn't allergic to jewellery at all; I was only sensitive to cheap jewellery produced with low-quality metals.
I started researching more about gold jewellery and realised that there were ways for me to wear gold jewellery without it irritating me – gold plated, vermeil, gold filled, and solid gold were the options. I started off buying gold plated jewellery and wore it frequently, only to realise that after a few wears, the base metals began to show through, and they no longer looked as lovely as they had before. I then switched to vermeil and gold filled jewellery, but I couldn't justify spending so much money on something that wasn't made of real gold and would eventually tarnish. I stopped buying non-solid gold jewellery because I considered it to be highly wasteful and destructive to the environment, since they could only be worn a few times before tarnish, discolour, oxidise, and then be thrown away or never to be seen, or worn again.
This is when I realised, I needed to invest in high-quality gold jewellery that I know would last forever – no more cheap jewellery that gets worn a handful of times before they were no longer beautiful anymore.
While traveling in Vietnam, I decided to treat myself to a simple and dainty 18K gold necklace and pendants, which I’ve been wearing every day for nearly 5 years now – I never take it off for anything, not even when sleeping, showering, exercising, or swimming. I was in love with the necklace, and as I got older, I wanted to add to my collection of 18K gold jewellery and invest in high-quality jewellery that I knew would last a lifetime. However, I discovered that it was quite difficult to find 18K solid gold jewellery that was my style, here in Australia.
And this is how VANAOC was created!
If I couldn’t find 18K gold jewellery, why not create my own? I spent approximately 4 years researching and creating this brand and decided on using 18K Solid Gold as it is a premium material that I personally grew up with and loved – I know it will last forever, doesn’t tarnish/discolour/oxidise and isn’t harmful to the skin. As it is real gold, it is non-reactive, therefore it can be worn every day for any kind of lifestyle, whether that be working out at the gym, going to the beach, or simple going about your typical day.
Back in 2021, I designed my first 18K solid gold sample necklace and earrings for VANAOC, and I've been using them ever since. I have been trialling them and wearing them every day – I sleep with them on, shower with them, go to the pool/beach with them, go about my beauty routine as usual with them on, and I even wore them throughout my time on Survivor AU. They are occasionally removed for cleaning, but other than that, they remain as beautiful and polished as the day I first had them.
I created VANAOC for those who share my desire for simple, stylish 18K gold jewellery that they can wear constantly without having to worry about skin irritations, tarnishing, oxidising, discolouring, or the items' lifespan since you can trust that VANAOC pieces will last forever.
WHAT IS THE MEANING BEHIND VANAOC?
VANAOC is a very special name to me, and I chose it because Van is my late dad’s name and I’ve combined it with my initials AOC to create VANAOC. It’s a way to honour the amazing man he was and by having his name in my brand, means he will continue to be a part of my life forever.
My dad loved gold, specifically 18K gold, and used to own many special pieces that have now been passed down to my brother and I to treasure forever. To this day, many of my dad’s 18K gold jewellery is being worn and loved by us – that goes to show how high quality jewellery can last forever, which is something I want for my own jewellery brand. Pieces that can be passed from generation to generation, worn for a lifetime of style and shared love of jewellery.