Asian contemporary jewellery artist Cindy Chao is celebrated for reviving long-lost artisanal skills, which she uses to sculpt high jewellery into glittering, multilayered masterpieces. Ancient European lost-wax techniques are combined with lashings of ethereal gemstones that take on a vivid glamour. Now, to celebrate her eponymous brand’s 20th anniversary, Chao is unveiling a series of signature leaf and dragonfly brooches that encapsulate her avant-garde creativity as well as craftsmanship accumulated over the past 20 years.
Throughout the years, Cindy Chao The Art Jewel has found plenty of inspiration from the natural world. The maison’s creations frequently feature top-quality gemstones, nature motifs and advanced titanium metal techniques, which achieve a magical realism unmatched by any other jeweller. Chao’s highly sought-after Annual Butterflies are particularly exquisite examples of this technical mastery, and symbolise her transformation as an artist over the past two decades.
So it stands to reason that the 20th Anniversary Collection, which was showcased at The Rhythm of Life exhibition in Chao’s Hong Kong maison in Central earlier this month, continues the brand’s unwavering dedication to the delicate beauty of nature. Leaf brooches draw influence from the museum-calibre Four Seasons Collection, and are also a reflection of her artistic journey throughout the years.
Ox horn Dragonfly Brooch (Photo: courtesy of Cindy Chao The Art Jewel)
Two Four Seasons masterpieces hold special significance, marking pivotal moments in the brand’s rise to international fame. In 2007, Chao made her international debut when she participated in a Christie’s New York fine jewellery auction, where her Winter Branch Necklace and Bangle went under the hammer for nearly three times their estimate.
Chao’s deep-seated connection to this stunning set, which was inspired by the isolation she felt as a relatively unknown creator, was revisited in 2019 at Masterpiece London Art Fair, where the 2016 Black Label Masterpiece IX Winter Leaves Necklace won the Masterpiece London Highlight Award selected for being the “Best Jewellery Piece of the Fair”. A magnificent melange of more than 6,000 diamonds in fancy-cut and totalling more than 240 carats, this spectacular structure took about 10,000 hours to engineer.
By bringing together Chao’s personal emotions and inspirations, the 20th Anniversary Collection distils the defining features of Chao’s avant-garde attitude and approach to the art of jewellery. Highly esteemed for breaking boundaries between East and West, the artist continues to challenge the industry’s traditional conventions by ramping up volume, artistry and storytelling, which requires close collaboration with her trusted master craftsmen and gemsetters in Europe.
Stephen Fung and Kelly Lin at Cindy Chao The Art Jewel Gallery in Taipei, adorned with the brand’s 20th Anniversary pieces (Photo: courtesy of Cindy Chao The Art Jewel)
Each leaf represents Cindy Chao The Art Jewel’s growth by evoking images of the seasons (Photo: courtesy of Cindy Chao The Art Jewel)
Cindy Chao The Art Jewel Hong Kong maison (Photo: courtesy of Cindy Chao The Art Jewel)
The Winter Branch Necklace and Bangle were auctioned for nearly three times the estimate at Christie's New York in 2007 (Photo: courtesy of Cindy Chao The Art Jewel)
2016 Black Label Masterpiece IX Winter Leaves Necklace won the Masterpiece Highlight Award at Masterpiece Fair London in 2019 (Photo: courtesy of Cindy Chao The Art Jewel)
Each leaf represents Cindy Chao The Art Jewel’s growth by evoking images of the seasons. Cascades of dazzling white diamonds are set among light-activated resin and painterly ombrés of verdant green emeralds and tsavorites. Lightweight but ten times stronger than steel, titanium is worked until each base is just 1.77mm thick, after which thousands of gemstones are affixed on the gold-coated silhouettes.
Gemwork appears on all sides of these leaf brooches, including the backs, where only the owners can see, catering to highly discerning collectors. This was achieved by using a microscope at such intensity that Chao’s gemsetters were restricted to working three to five hours per day. Each masterpiece weighs just 22g, which isn’t much heavier than real-life leaves.
Chao’s joyful approach to colour similarly shines through her one-of-a-kind dragonflies, which bristle with dozens of different gemstones, including pink, purple and orange sapphires. Watery-blue aquamarines are set along rivers of white and yellow gold. Elsewhere, blood-red rubies and pink sapphires pop against dramatic white diamonds that individually weigh up to 3.12 carats.
Cindy Chao The Art Jewel might be turning 20, but if the 20th Anniversary Collection is anything to go by, this powerhouse will continue to revolutionise the realm of jewellery for decades to come.