Callimode is an AAPI-owned (Asian Americans Pacific Islanders-owned) contemporary jewelry brand inspired by the brush aesthetics of East Asian calligraphy. We specialize in gold jewelry made with ethical and sustainable materials.
Our company Founder, Aïda Yuen Wong, is an art historian, calligraphy practitioner, and jewelry designer. She was born in Hong Kong. Besides Boston where she currently resides, Aïda has lived in Beijing, New York, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo and Toronto. She has published extensively on a variety of subjects in Asian art, including calligraphy and fashion history. Aïda received her BA in French and Visual Arts at the University of Western Ontario (now Western University) and PhD in Asian Art History at Columbia University. She holds an endowed Chair Professorship in Fine Arts and East Asian Studies at Brandeis University, U.S.A. Callimode was an award winner at the 2022 Brandeis SparkTank Innovation Competition.
2022, our founding year, marks the 140th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 and the 40th anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first immigration law in the United States that explicitly discriminated against a specific ethnic group. Executive Order 9066 put 110,000-120,000 Japanese Americans in U.S. internment camps during World War II. Vincent Chin, a young Chinese American in Detroit, was murdered by two racists who received infamously light sentences and less than $4,000 in fines. Remembering these dark episodes unite our resolve to fight against racism.
Our special collection by Aïda conveys messages of universal humanity and love for all peoples. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, violence against Asian communities has soared in the United States. We invite you to take a stand and wear your protest statement against racism. A portion of each sale is donated to support Asian communities.
We also offer customized designs in Chinese, Japanese and Korean scripts.