Feng shui (phong thuỷ in Vietnamese) jewelry, previously only popular with adults, is now gradually becoming familiar to young Vietnamese.
What is crystal?
Crystal bracelets, also known as feng shui bracelets, are usually designed from precious stones in nature. This type of bracelet is not only a delicate and fashionable jewelry, but also can bring many spiritual benefits to the owner, such as protecting health, attracting positive energy, increasing concentration and having good luck.
Feng shui crystals have many types of stone or wood and it is said that depending on the color of each stone, their function is also different. For example: The feng shui bracelet made of quartz stone brings peace and health; the tiger eye stone bracelet helps your spirit to be optimistic, increasing work productivity.
Feng shui jewelry made of crystals and wood of various design sold in a shop (Photo by La Muse)
Origin and indication
Previously, feng shui jewelry was only popular with adults, especially those aged 30-40. However, since 2020, more people of the generation Z of Vietnam have come to know about feng shui jewelry and crystal due to the trend of reading tarot and using crystal to remove bad energies, originated from the West. To suit the taste of the young, different designs of feng shui stones are sold.
 Block of stones used mainly by tarot readers (Photo by Crystal Macrame) |  Rough stones joined by the art of macrame (Photo by Crystal Macrame) |
 Smoothly polished stones used to make bracelets and necklaces (Photo by La Muse) |  A black Rutilated Quartz bracelets, believed to improve users’ mood (Photo by La Muse) |
Take a walk on social networking sites, especially Instagram, it is easy to find shops selling feng shui bracelets. There are groups about feng shui bracelets on Facebook that have 10,000 to 100,000 members. On Shopee, the most popular e-commerce platform, the number of feng shui jewelry and crystals also increased. Noticeably, there are more shops selling on Instagram compared with the two other platforms with a large number of followers, ranging from 5000 to more than 100,000, of which 70% are Gen Z.
Foreign and Vietnamese young people in a workshop about feng shui crystal macrame (Photo by Crystal Macrame)
Though there are more people from Gen Z have come to know about feng shui crystals, not many of them actually own one. On Shopee for example, the majority of shops sell less than 300 hundred products in total, very few sell more than 1K products. According to the owner of Crystal Macrame - a shop selling feng shui crystals, in fact, there aren’t many young people using crystal, thus, using feng shui crystals isn’t considered an explosion of a trend but a lifestyle led by a small group of people.
For Gen Z: Not just jewelry
Feng shui accessories are liked by Gen Z of both genders. The reasons they decide to purchase them also vary.
 Young people purchasing for and learning about Feng Shui crystal in a shop (Photo by Crystal Macrame) |  Feng shui accessories are unisexually designed (Photo by Crystal Macrame) |
 Feng Shui jewelry has many different colours to suit the feng shui elements (mệnh) of the user. For example, users with metal element will wear bracelets in colours white or yellow (Photo by La Muse) |  A girl wears yellow quartz, which she said, has the impacts of healing, cleansing and increasing self-confidence. (Photo by La Muse) |
According to P, for those who would like to attract love, they can wear a necklace or bracelet with a stone carved as a fox. P has a boyfriend recently and she said it was because she wore this bracelet. (Photo by La Muse)
Some people prefer to use “block” of stones, especially tarot readers
(Photo by La Muse)
Afterword
Although wearing feng shui jewelry and crystals have largely been dismissed as pseudoscience, it is still considered a valuable tradition that should be maintained. Besides its supposedly healing effects, feng shui jewelry can be used as fashion accessories. Perhaps with the advancement of social media, feng shui jewelry may become more widespread among Vietnamese gen Z.
Further information: Feng shui bracelets originated from Buddhism which are used for chanting or reciting mantras. The bracelets that monks often use are mainly made of wood. However, along with the development of social culture, the rosary has become richer and more diverse in materials. Some common crystal materials are quartz, amethyst and sapphire. The design of feng shui jewelry also varies greatly, from smoothly polished jewelry to rough stones, brought together by the art of macrame.
Why do you buy feng shui stones?
To attract good luck
To mediate
To connect with spiritual world
To use as a fashion accessory
You can vote for more than one answer.
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