Opinion | Brief Encounters: Jeweller Lorenz Baumer on his latest collaboration with Lane Crawford

Many people ask me why I chose jewellery design, especially since I started off designing furniture. There's something magical about jewellery, because of its high emotional content. Through jewellery you can express so much and, for me, it's all about the details.

While everyone can learn the technical skills to become a jeweller, the one thing you really need is passion.

It will get you through the difficult moments. Curiosity is also important - it helps you to see things, and leads you to unusual places from where you can draw inspiration.

When I first started, I was making 30 pieces a year, but now we create about 200. I have about 20 people working for me in our offices, and we have a workshop in Place Vendôme in Paris. I always start my day with a meeting to talk about creation, and then I have appointments with clients.

My favourite part of the job is meeting clients. They are all so different. We work on some pieces three or four times until we are satisfied. Clients are demanding, and push us to extremes, which is exciting.

I often travel to see my clients. I've found that it's not a woman's culture that determines what piece of jewellery she wants, but her dreams. There are stereotypes - for example, Middle Eastern women like more bling - but those are changing