| 一个拨开的珍珠蚌打开了创新的宝藏。本•卡斯诺查（Ben Casnocha）是《我的创业生活：一个（非常）年轻的首席执行官在硅谷经历中的习得》（My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley）一书的作者。本文刊载于《美国电子期刊》（eJournal USA）2009年11月号：《创新的根基》（Roots of Innovation）。 |
作者：本•卡斯诺查
1975年西贡沦陷后，黄齐（Chi Huynh）萌发了一个梦想：告别祖国越南，去美国加州开创新生活。几年后，他背起行囊，踏上了来美之路。他的加州之行并非一帆风顺。他在船上历经一番煎熬，后又在泰国过了一段难民生活，而这些还只是其中的部分艰辛而已。对于黄齐来说，最后抵达加州海岸意味着“精神转折点”：目睹了人生许多丑陋的他，从那天开始就希望每天看到并创造美。
珠宝制作，这项他父亲在越南掌握的技艺，似乎就是黄齐实现梦想的最佳途径。他将自己的珠宝行命名为Galetea，并把店铺开在洛杉矶县。
2000年初，黄齐因一个偶然机会而成为创新者。在打开一枚传统的珍珠蚌进行雕琢时，面对亮开的珍珠“我心想：‘如果我利用宝石珠子来养珠，让色彩从中透露，结果会是什么样？” 而正是这一试，带来了他的特色创新——“慈祥珠”（Mercy Pearl）的问世。慈祥珠专门指用宝石珠技术培植而成的珍珠。黄齐花了不少时间才全面掌握手工雕琢慈祥珠的技巧，而如今，这被视为是自从20世纪早期珍珠首次在日本得到培植以来，珍珠培植技术最有意义的翻样。于是，黄齐申请了慈祥珠的专利。
2005年，为了扩展自己的企业和弘扬他的文化传统，黄齐在故国越南开办了一家珍珠养殖场，在那里的沿海水域中收获慈祥珠。他首先将浑圆的宝石珠，如绿松石、水碧、石榴石、黄水晶及蛋白石等注入牡蛎内腔，然后让其生长近一年时间，形成绚丽的珍珠母表层。他的养殖场使生产得到扩大，最终使他发明的珍珠养殖技术得到传播。
由从受战争蹂躏的越南走出的流浪儿到美国成功的珠宝商，黄齐的经历闪烁着执著精神的光芒。他的理想是为世界创造更多的美丽，他为之进行了不懈努力。他的成功史也再现了一个创新者的心态。黄齐的信念是，真正的开创者不仅是让某一事物有略胜一筹的新版，而是另辟蹊径：“谁也不会对你另眼相看，除非你有自己的创新。良好与卓越有区别，一般设计与超凡设计不能同日而语。”
本文所表达的见解不一定反映美国政府的观点或政策。
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A nicked pearl opens a treasure of innovation. Ben Casnocha is author of My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley. This article appears in the November issue of eJournal USA, Roots of Innovation. |
By Ben Casnocha
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, Chi Huynh had a dream: leave his homeland of Vietnam and create a new life in California. A few years later, he packed up his possessions and did it. The journey to California wasn’t easy. A harrowing boat ride and a stint as a refugee in Thailand were just some of the travails. Finally reaching the shores of California marked a “spiritual turning point” for Huynh: Having seen much ugliness in his life, from that day forward he wanted to see and create beauty each and every day.
Jewelry making, a craft his father had mastered in Vietnam, seemed like the perfect way to live out this vision. Huynh called his jewelry enterprise Galetea and based it in Los Angeles County.
In early 2000, Huynh somewhat accidentally became an innovator. After nicking a traditional pearl during the carving process and exposing its mother-of-pearl center, “I thought to myself, ‘What would happen if I grew a pearl using gemstone beads to let the color show through?’” he says. Doing just that would lead to his signature innovation — the Mercy Pearl, which is the name of the pearl cultured with a gemstone bead technique. It took time for Huynh to fully develop his carve-by-hand Mercy Pearl technique, but it is now considered one of the most significant variations in pearl farming since the early part of the 20th century, when pearls were first cultured in Japan. And he secured a patent on the Mercy Pearl.
In 2005, to grow his operation and reconnect with his roots, Huynh set up a pearl farm in his native Vietnam to harvest the Mercy Pearl in the country’s coastal waters. The oysters are first enucleated with perfectly round gemstone beads such as turquoise, amethyst, garnet, citrine, and opal, then left to grow for almost a year to obtain a luxurious nacre, or exterior coating. His farm enables more production and therefore an ultimately wider dissemination of his innovative pearl technique.
Huynh’s story shines with perseverance: from stranded child in war-torn Vietnam to successful American jeweler. He had a vision to bring more beauty into the world, and he has worked tirelessly to make it happen. His story also reveals the innovator’s mindset. Instead of just making the last version of something a little bit better, Huynh believes true innovators blaze new trails: “No one will take you seriously unless you create your own ground. This is the difference between a good concept and a great one, between an OK design and one that is transcendent.”
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government.
