Peranakan jewellery in Singapore today reflects a tradition shaped over more than four centuries: the arrival of Chinese traders in the Malay Archipelago, the formation of a distinct Straits Chinese identity, the development of Singapore as a colonial trading port, the post-war transition into an independent nation, and the modern revival of Peranakan culture as part of Singapore's heritage story.
This article traces that history, focusing on how Peranakan jewellery emerged, how it was made, how it was worn, and how it has carried forward into the twenty-first century.
Origins: The Straits Chinese in the Malay Archipelago
The Peranakans, also known as the Straits Chinese or Baba-Nyonya, are descendants of Chinese traders who began settling in the Malay Archipelago from the fifteenth century onwards. The earliest substantial communities formed in Malacca, then later in Penang and Singapore, the three British Straits Settlements established in the early nineteenth century.
These settlers were primarily Hokkien-speaking Chinese, with smaller numbers of Teochew and Cantonese. Over generations, they intermarried with local Malay women, adopted Malay language and food traditions, and developed a distinct culture that was Chinese in many of its core values but visibly Malay-influenced in its dress, cuisine, and household practice. Later, under British colonial rule, the community absorbed European education, fashion, and social custom.
By the mid-nineteenth century, the Peranakans had become one of the wealthiest and most influential communities in the Straits Settlements. They were major figures in trade, commerce, and later in education and the professions. They lived in distinctive shophouses, ate distinctive food, dressed distinctively, and wore distinctive jewellery.
The Emergence of a Distinct Jewellery Tradition
Peranakan jewellery did not appear all at once as a finished tradition. It evolved over several centuries as the community itself evolved, drawing on multiple source traditions and reshaping them into something specifically Peranakan.
The Chinese inheritance. The motif vocabulary of Peranakan jewellery is rooted in Chinese auspicious symbolism. The peony, phoenix, butterfly, fan, bamboo, and lotus all carry their original Chinese meanings related to prosperity, grace, longevity, and harmony. The technical traditions of goldsmithing came largely from Chinese craft, with Hokkien and Cantonese goldsmith techniques travelling with the community to Southeast Asia.
The Malay influence. The Peranakans adopted the kebaya as formal Nyonya dress, and the kebaya determined the form of much Peranakan jewellery. The kerosang, the iconic three-piece brooch set used to fasten the kebaya, has no direct equivalent in mainland Chinese tradition. It emerged as a Peranakan piece type, shaped by the practical need of holding the kebaya closed and elaborated into one of the most heavily-symbolised pieces of Peranakan dress.
The European exposure. Under British colonial rule, Peranakans were exposed to European jewellery design through trade, education, and social contact. Some elements of European jewellery construction, particularly in the structural goldsmithing of brooches, pendants, and rings, were absorbed and adapted. The use of rose-cut diamonds in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century reflects this exposure.
The result was a jewellery tradition that was unmistakably Peranakan rather than imported from any one source culture. By the late nineteenth century, the iconography, the materials, the piece types, and the way the pieces were worn together had crystallised into a distinct tradition.
The Heyday: Late Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century
The classical period of Peranakan jewellery runs roughly from the 1880s to the 1930s. This was the era when the community was at its wealthiest, most established, and most culturally confident, and when Peranakan craft, food, dress, and material culture reached their fullest expression.
Jewellery from this period is what most museum collections, including those held at the [Peranakan Museum Singapore](https://www.peranakanmuseum.org.sg/), are built around. Surviving pieces from the heyday show extraordinary technical sophistication: complex filigree work, intricate stone settings combining intan diamonds with coloured gemstones and pearls, and the use of high-purity gold across a range of decorative styles.
The kerosang. The three-piece kerosang set, comprising a kerosang ibu (mother brooch) and two smaller kerosang anak (child brooches) connected by gold chains, was the central piece of formal Nyonya dress. Heyday kerosang pieces often featured floral motifs, gem-set centres, and elaborate edge-work. The kerosang was worn at family occasions, weddings, and major celebrations, and was one of the most heavily-invested pieces a Peranakan family would commission.
Hairpins and decorative combs. The tusuk konde, decorative hairpins worn by Nyonyas, ranged from simple gold pins to elaborate gem-set pieces. Hairpins from the heyday often featured bird motifs, floral compositions, or detailed filigree work.
Necklaces and pendants. Long gold chains with pendant centrepieces appeared in both ceremonial and everyday contexts. The chains themselves were often hand-woven from fine gold links, requiring weeks of work by skilled goldsmiths.
Earrings, rings, and bangles. Drop earrings, statement rings, and 22K gold bangles completed the coordinated set. The Peranakan tradition placed strong emphasis on coordinated sets, with multiple pieces sharing motif and material to create a unified visual effect.
The War Years and Post-Independence Transition
The Japanese Occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945 disrupted the Peranakan community deeply. Many families lost wealth, businesses, and in some cases family members. Significant quantities of family jewellery were sold, melted down, or hidden during the occupation years.
The post-war period brought further change. Independence in 1965 reshaped Singapore's economy and society. The Peranakan community, which had been culturally distinct for centuries, began to assimilate more deeply into mainstream Singapore society. Younger generations grew up speaking English and Mandarin rather than Baba Malay. The kebaya, the kerosang, and the elaborate Nyonya dress traditions became occasion-only rather than everyday practice.
Across the second half of the twentieth century, Peranakan jewellery moved from being a living daily tradition to being primarily a heritage tradition. Family pieces were kept as heirlooms. New pieces were commissioned mainly for weddings or major family events. The everyday wearing of Peranakan jewellery declined significantly.
Through this period, established Singapore jewellers continued to make and sell Peranakan-inspired pieces, maintaining the technical traditions and the design vocabulary even as the broader community shifted. Poh Heng, founded in 1948, was one of these jewellers, with the Peranakan tradition forming part of the brand's broader Singapore gold heritage practice from the earliest years.
The Modern Revival
Beginning in the late 1980s and accelerating through the 1990s and 2000s, Peranakan culture in Singapore underwent a deliberate revival. The opening of the Peranakan Museum, the rise of Peranakan cuisine on the global stage, the success of Peranakan-themed television dramas, and the growing interest in Singapore's heritage history all contributed to a renewed cultural confidence.
This revival reached jewellery as well. Younger Singaporeans, including many of Peranakan descent who had grown up without strong cultural connection to the tradition, began rediscovering and reclaiming Peranakan-inspired pieces. The audience expanded beyond Peranakan-descended families to include Singaporeans of various backgrounds drawn to the distinctive aesthetic and the meaningful motifs.
Singapore fine jewellery brands responded to this revival with new collections that drew on Peranakan tradition while adapting it for contemporary wear. The Poh Heng Legacy® collection, the brand's dedicated heritage line, sits within this lineage, carrying forward the motif vocabulary, the materials, and the craft standards while updating piece design and wearability for the modern Singapore audience.
Peranakan Jewellery in 2026
The Peranakan jewellery tradition in Singapore today is healthier than it has been in decades. New collections are being launched. Younger Singaporeans are buying Peranakan-inspired pieces for themselves rather than only as bridal or ceremonial gifts. Museum collections are being expanded and made accessible. PR coverage of Peranakan jewellery in fashion and lifestyle publications has expanded significantly.
The launch of the Legacy® Fan Series by Poh Heng represents a recent step in this longer story: a Singapore fine jewellery collection drawing on Chinese, Japanese, and Peranakan design traditions, anchored on the fan motif, and made for both heritage occasions and everyday wear. It is the kind of cross-cultural, contemporary expression that the Peranakan tradition has always been capable of, and that a confident modern Singapore makes possible. The kerosang, the kerosang ibu, and the kerosang anak remain important reference points in this story, as do the broader Peranakan piece types and the gold and gemstone vocabulary that the tradition built up over generations. Read more at the Legacy® collection page.
A Living Tradition
Heritage is not nostalgia. The history of Peranakan jewellery in Singapore is not a story of something finished. It is a continuing thread, carried forward by goldsmiths, by collectors, by museum curators, by everyday wearers, and by the families who pass pieces from one generation to the next.
Poh Heng has been a Singapore goldsmith continuously since 1948. The brand has been part of this story across most of the modern Peranakan jewellery era and continues to carry the tradition forward through the Legacy® collection.
Explore the Poh Heng Legacy® collection →