Leung, who cut his teeth at Cartier in Hong Kong before decamping to Paris, is an LVMH veteran. He joined Chaumet in January this year from Fred, another LVMH-owned French jewellery maison that he led for more than five years and helped transform from a niche brand into a key player in the fine jewellery segment.

Fast talking, gregarious and driven, Leung is clearly in his element at Chaumet. He has always worked in jewellery, a field that he says he could never be bored of, even after all these years.

“Time flies too fast,” he says in an interview in Paris between last week’s haute couture shows. “I love working with jewellery because I studied literature in Hong Kong and I’ve always liked beautiful things with meaning.

“That’s what jewellery is: beautiful things with meaning and a lot of sentiment inside, and all the stories behind each jewellery purchase are very touching. I also like that we spend a lot of time going back to our heritage and our archives, yet we still propose something relevant to the times. [I love] the craftsmanship and the stones and how we create something that hasn’t been seen before. It’s beautiful to work with all these great people. There have been moments in my career where I thought of changing fields but I never get bored by jewellery.”

Only a few days before our interview, Leung and his team were in Venice to unveil Chaumet’s latest high jewellery collection: Chaumet en Scène.

“High jewellery is the ultimate expression of artistic vision and storytelling and know-how for a brand,” Leung says. “The more we explain and share, the more interest there is. Back in the old days we didn’t talk about it because it was very secretive and even taboo – because it’s very expensive and it’s very few pieces – but the new generation wants to know more about high jewellery and how you make it and where the stones come from.

He has a point. High jewellery was for a long time seen as matronly and even obsolete: “important” investment pieces with big diamonds and gemstones relegated to a dying breed of female clients with means.

“Having our flagship in Place Vendôme is great because people walk here from the Tuileries Gardens or Opéra,” explains Leung. “Even though we have this 240-year history and this impressive facade, we’re very accessible and it’s important for us to show customers that our doors are open and that we’re welcoming them.

“You’d be surprised how many customers who don’t know us just walk in and discover us and then purchase €100,000 [US$107,000] worth of jewellery on their first visit – especially Americans, Chinese and Arabs – because when you’re in Paris you’re quite tempted and want to indulge in food and luxury because it’s part of the fun, even if you don’t know a brand. If you see a boutique on Place Vendôme you know it will be good and you trust the history and the place.”

It’s true that while Chaumet is a household name in places such as Japan, Hong Kong and mainland China, where it has had a strong presence for decades, it is still a bit more niche in key luxury markets, such as the US and Europe.

“In Asia, we’ve been concentrating on Japan, [South] Korea, Greater China, but Southeast Asia is different. We’re only starting Thailand in October so there is stuff we haven’t done yet in Asia. We also opened in Vietnam at the end of last year,” says Leung, adding that the brand recently opened its first store in Italy, and is planning more locations in Italy and Spain.

“We do have some American customers who know about Chaumet and are high jewellery clients because they have seen our pieces in Washington at the National Museum of Natural History,” he adds. “They’re the crème de la crème and come to Paris and want something they can’t get in the US. We also dress celebrities at events like the Cannes Film Festival and work with US celebrities like Kelly Rutherford, who has a great following – we have a road map to go to the US but we’re waiting for the right moment and a very good location in Manhattan.”

Leung’s plate is evidently full right now, but he appears more than ready to take up the challenges ahead. At the same time, he’s also cognisant of what has come before and is not going to rock the boat for the sake of it.

“I have a little bit of conviction about how I want this luxury brand to evolve, but at the same time I’m very aware of the history and heritage and I’m not here to change that – they’re already here and beautiful,” he says. “I want to make sure that whatever I’m doing is relevant to the current world and leaves a nice legacy for the years ahead. I have to see what happens in the market and how tastes change. For example, after the pandemic we’ve seen that what’s important for people has changed: personal relationships and attachments, and appreciation of nature.”

This new-found focus on heritage and long-lasting value has been a boon for the hard luxury industry, which bodes well for houses like Chaumet. Besides its high jewellery creations that are only available to a select few, the brand also makes more accessible fine jewellery lines such as those Leung mentioned – Bee My Love and Liens.

The only Asian CEO at an LVMH brand, Leung seems to have made his home at Chaumet and is happy to share a simple piece of advice for those who, in Hong Kong and elsewhere, aspire to join the luxury industry.

“If you don’t like it, you’re in the wrong business and you can’t do well,” he says. “You need to be passionate about it and then you will do well because it’s who you are. Maybe that’s where my drive comes from and how I’ve worked in this business for all these years.”