Eternal Jewels

Eternal Jewels celebrates the World Jewellery Museum’s 20th anniversary, inviting readers into the poetic vision of founder Lee Kangwon, whose museum is known as the ‘Jewel of Seoul’. Published here for the first time, the book presents extraordinary pieces alongside Lee’s untold stories from her diplomatic travels across four continents.

For Lee Kangwon, a collector and poet, each acquisition represents a spiritual journey transcending borders. The museum’s aesthetic presentation reflects her poetic sensibilities, rooted in Korean traditions of meditation on beauty as a path to spiritual purity. From Colombian emerald mines and Tibetan temples to her family’s royal heirloom jewels, the collection spans centuries and civilisations. Each piece – whether a ceremonial headpiece or intimate talisman – carries profound cultural significance and human connection. Through this carefully curated anthology, Lee fulfills her museum’s mission to spread light full of beauty and wonder through jewellery, creating bridges between cultures, past and present, material and spiritual realms.