Museum History

The World Jewellery Museum in Seoul, Korea was founded in 2004 by Lee Kang-won, poet and wife of a former diplomat, whose jewellery collection embodies 30 years of her nomadic existence around the world. It is one of the world’s few museums entirely devoted to jewellery and houses the internationally renowned collection of ancient, ethnic and contemporary pieces.

The museum is situated in the cultural mecca of the North Village Bukchon where history and culture pulse with the daily rhythms of contemporary life. Selected as one of Conde Nast Traveller magazine’s top five destinations for jewellery experience and voted as one of the top ten most fashionable museums in the world, the museum has one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of jewellery spanning fifteen centuries.

Designed by architect Kim Seung-hoy, the museum is an elaborate combination of copper, glass, stainless steel, wood and concrete, based on the scale of the life residing in the neighborhood. The museum presents over 1000 items of jewellery from Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the South Pacific regions in the nine exhibition galleries such as "Amber Wall", "El Dorado Gallery", "Altar of the Crosses", "Mask Wall", "Forest of Modern Jewellery", and "Ring Wall". It has earned its reputation as the "Jewel of Seoul" with its innovative, aesthetic approach to exhibit designs.

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Mission Statement

The mission of the World Jewellery Museum is to preserve, collect, and promote works of jewellery from diverse cultural identities from past and present around the world and in doing so foster the understanding of beauty, heritage and values of various nations and people. The museum realizes this mission through exceptional exhibitions, creative education programs, research initiatives, publications and strives to engage and educate an increasingly diverse international audience through its unique collection and programs.

Director's Greeting