Artist jewellers of the 1980s, pushing the boundaries of wearability in jewellery, were quick to recognise the advantages of the synthetic materials developed for industrial purposes. The malleability and colour range of plastics could be put to aesthetic use, and the lightness of manmade materials enabled jewellers to enlarge the scale of their work. Among the new materials at this time was Colorcore©, a synthetic laminate developed by the Formica Corporation of America.

Jung-Hoo Kim is a Korean designer, who graduated from Seoul National University and State University of New York, taught by the jeweller Robert Ebendorf. The references in her jewellery are usually cultural or historical, perhaps seen here in this brooch with a look to the future. Kim is also known for explorations with keum-boo a Korean metalwork technique used to embellish silver surfaces with gold foil without soldering.