A 3,800-year-old set of gold ornaments from an Egyptian princess's wig, a European tiara that breaks apart into three brooches, and a necklace by the sculptor Alexander Calder are all under one roof in West Kowloon right now. The Met jewellery exhibition in Hong Kong — properly titled Treasures of Global Jewellery from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Body Transformed — has filled Gallery 8 of the Hong Kong Palace Museum (香港故宮文化博物館) with around 200 dazzling objects from New York. It is the first time The Met's celebrated jewellery collection has ever travelled abroad, and Hong Kong is its opening stop.
In This Guide
Why the Met's first jewellery tour matters
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York holds more than 1.5 million objects spanning 5,000 years. Its jewellery has never left the building as a major touring show — until now. For that debut to begin in Hong Kong, rather than London or Tokyo, is a genuine coup for the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) and a marker of the city's growing pull as a cultural stop.
The exhibition is jointly curated by The Met and the HKPM. Around 200 masterpieces from New York — shown in Hong Kong for the first time — are joined by important local loans: gold ornaments from the museum's Mengdiexuan Collection, pieces from the Chris Hall Collection held at the HKPM, and a major loan from The ILLUMINATA Collection. Cathay and American Express are the show's major sponsors.
It also caps a strong run of jewellery and fashion shows at the young museum, which opened in 2022. The HKPM has already staged Cartier and Women and Radiance: Ancient Gold in 2023, The Adorned Body: French Fashion and Jewellery 1770–1910 in 2024, and A History of China in Silk in 2025 — a programme that plays neatly to Hong Kong's identity as a jewellery and fashion hub. For the wider picture, our round-up of the best art exhibitions in Hong Kong this summer shows how much is on across the city.
The staging is part of the appeal. Hong Kong designer and artist Alan Chan directed the exhibition design, turning one section into a glittering "gold room" with a gold mosaic floor and gold-papered walls, and threading his signature "jewellery monograms" through the galleries to spotlight key objects.
What's on show at the Met jewellery exhibition?
The show opens with an introductory section, "The Adorned Body", which arranges highlights to follow the contours of the human form, from head to toe. Two objects set the tone: the 1,251 tiny gold rings (about 1887–1813 BCE) that once adorned the ceremonial wig of the Egyptian princess Sithathoryunet, daughter of the pharaoh Senwosret II, and a delicate Art Nouveau necklace (about 1897–1899) by the French master glassmaker René-Jules Lalique.
From there, the exhibition is organised into five thematic sections, each exploring a different reason humans have adorned themselves.
1. The Divine Body: Gold Ornaments
This section looks at how ancient cultures — from Egypt and the Americas to China — used gold to capture and embody the divine. At its entrance, a gold headdress with animals (4th to 3rd century BCE) from the Mengdiexuan Collection is set in dialogue with a Colombian headdress ornament (1st to 7th century BCE), a quiet reminder that the spiritual pull of gold crossed continents that never met.
2. The Regal Body: Royal Jewellery
Here, jewellery signals rank and power. The standout is a European tiara with oak leaves and acorns (about 1840–1850) from The ILLUMINATA Collection that cleverly transforms into three separate brooches. An augmented-reality station lets you "try on" the tiara virtually — one of three AR booths dotted through the show.
3. The Transcendent Body: Jewellery and Beliefs
This section treats jewellery as a bridge between people and the divine. Among the highlights are Nepalese ear ornaments for a deity (17th to 19th century) and a Byzantine necklace (6th to 7th century) strung with amethysts, glass and gold beads — adornment as faith made tangible.
4. The Alluring Body: Jewellery as Art
The most playful room examines beauty, allure and the avant-garde. An emerald-and-diamond brooch (about 1900), likely by Tiffany & Co., sits near work touched by houses and designers including Cartier, Schiaparelli and Alexander McQueen. Look for Sam Kramer's biomorphic eye brooch (about 1950) and Alexander Calder's sculptural necklace The Jealous Husband (1940).
5. The Resplendent Body: Materials, Techniques, and Innovation
The finale celebrates craftsmanship. A festive headdress with butterflies and flowers (Qing dynasty, 19th century) from the Chris Hall Collection shows the painstaking Chinese technique of kingfisher-feather inlay, while Giorgio di Sant'Angelo's evening ensemble (1987–1988) blurs the line between jewellery and clothing entirely.
Five pieces not to miss
With around 200 objects, you could linger for hours — but a handful reward seeking out first. These are confirmed highlights from the museum's own object list.
The Must-See Five
- Sithathoryunet's gold wig rings — 1,251 minuscule gold rings (about 1887–1813 BCE) that once dressed an Egyptian princess's ceremonial wig.
- The transformable tiara — a European tiara of oak leaves and acorns (about 1840–1850) that breaks down into three brooches; try it on at the AR station.
- Alexander Calder, The Jealous Husband — a 1940 sculptural necklace by the great American artist, jewellery as modern art.
- Qing kingfisher-feather headdress — a 19th-century piece from the Chris Hall Collection, dazzling proof of a near-lost Chinese craft.
- Lalique Art Nouveau necklace — a glass-and-gold reverie (about 1897–1899) by France's master of the form.
For a sense of where the Palace Museum sits within the city's wider scene — from blue-chip galleries to other museums — our guide to the best art galleries in Hong Kong 2026 maps it all out.
Dates, tickets & opening hours
This is a special exhibition with a fixed run, closing on 19 October 2026. The full details are on the official Palace Museum exhibition page, but here are the verified essentials.
| Ticket type | Adult | Concession |
|---|---|---|
| Special Exhibition (Gallery 8 + Galleries 1–7), regular | HK$150 | HK$75 |
| Special Exhibition, flex ticket | HK$180 | HK$90 |
| Public Guided Tour (~45 min, includes ticket) | HK$300 | HK$150 |
| Full Access (adds the Gallery 9 Ancient Egypt show) | HK$250 | HK$125 |
The Special Exhibition Ticket also admits you to the museum's permanent thematic galleries (1 to 7) on the same visit, so it is good value if you make a half-day of it. Children aged six and under enter free; concessions cover children aged 7 to 11, full-time students, seniors aged 60 and above, people with disabilities and a companion, and CSSA recipients. American Express cardholders get a 5% discount on the regular Special Exhibition ticket through Cityline.
Hong Kong Palace Museum — Visitor Essentials
Note: the ground-floor ticket office closes one hour before the museum. Confirm hours and book a timed slot via the official Palace Museum tickets page before you travel.
How do you get to the Hong Kong Palace Museum?
The museum sits at the western tip of the West Kowloon Cultural District, and the train is comfortably the easiest way in. Take the MTR to Kowloon Station (Tung Chung Line or Airport Express) and leave via Exit C1 or D1, then follow the signs through the ELEMENTS mall and across the Artist Square Bridge — about 10 to 15 minutes on foot. Alternatively, Austin Station (Tuen Ma Line) Exit B4 or B5 brings you in via ELEMENTS in roughly 15 to 20 minutes.
Prefer not to walk? From Austin Station Exit D2 you can hop on the wheelchair-accessible Cultural Express (CX1) minibus, and there is paid parking on site at 8 Museum Drive. Once you arrive, the whole district rewards lingering: the Art Park, the harbourfront promenade and M+ are all within a short stroll. Travelling with little ones? Our guide to the best kid-friendly activities in Hong Kong has more ideas nearby.
How to do it well
A blockbuster on a deadline draws crowds, especially over the summer holidays. A few practical notes to make the visit smoother.
Visiting Tips
- See Egypt on the same ticket. A Full Access ticket (HK$250) also covers Ancient Egypt Unveiled in Gallery 9 — but that show closes earlier, on 31 August, so combine them before then.
- Use the AR booths. Three augmented-reality stations let you virtually try on signature pieces, and a quick quiz pairs you with a Met object — small touches that make the show land with kids and first-timers.
- Book a timed slot online. Same-day tickets are sold at the door while stocks last, but weekends and holidays get busy — reserve ahead through Cityline.
- Go on a weekday morning. The museum opens at 10am and the first hour is the calmest; Friday and Saturday run late until 8pm if you prefer an evening visit.
- Budget 60 to 90 minutes. The jewellery is detailed, close-up work — give the introductory "Adorned Body" room and the gold room real time.
- Consider the audio tour. A curator-led audio guide singles out some of the most magnificent pieces, narrated by the museum's own curators.
Before You Book
This is a ticketed special exhibition with a firm closing date of 19 October 2026, and the museum is closed on Tuesdays (except public holidays). Buy through the official Palace Museum site or its appointed partner, Cityline, rather than unofficial resellers, and double-check the date and opening hours for the day you plan to go. In a black rainstorm or Typhoon Signal No. 8, the museum closes — keep an eye on the forecast in our typhoon-prone summer.
Making a longer cultural itinerary of it? Our overview of the biggest events in Hong Kong this summer sets the show against the rest of the season's calendar, and luxury fans can pair it with our guide to the best luxury shopping in Hong Kong.
Frequently Asked Questions
See It Before 19 October
"Treasures of Global Jewellery" closes in mid-autumn. Plan your visit to the Hong Kong Palace Museum, then let YumChaNow keep you ahead of the next big show in town.