Cindy Chao The Art Jewel Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary With A Special Collection

Lindsay Judge   |   11-07-2024

After 20 years of craftsmanship and creativity, Cindy Chao The Art Jewel is marking this significant milestone with an exclusive collection of signature leaf and dragonfly brooches.

This 20th-anniversary collection is a testament to Chao’s enduring spirit of creative freedom and confidence, a journey that only a select few have had the privilege to witness.

Chao embarked on this creative journey two decades ago and has strived to break the boundaries between jewellery and art with “the mind of an architect and the hands of a sculptor”, pioneering the artistry and craftsmanship in the realm of high jewellery. With many achievements along the way, Chao was most recently invited by the Haute École de Joaillerie in Paris to guest lecture at the prestigious institution, making her the first Asian jewellery artist to do so. 

At the heart of the 20th Anniversary Collection lies Chao’s signature “Four Seasons” leaf motif, symbolising the ever-changing seasonality and offering Cindy’s poignant narrative on the perpetual cycle of nature. With the leaf motif, the collection tells the story of ever-changing seasonality, the flow of time, and the cyclical rhythm of life.

Chao worked with 12 European master craftsmen to study and forge the organic forms of the leaves and completed them with three-dimensional gem-setting. To capture the true ambience of each season and shape the vitality of the leaves in different seasons, the craftsmen only work on the leaves in their respective seasons; hence, it took three cycles of the four seasons to accomplish these objets des arts. The crease, gradients of light and shadow, and colour transitions on the leaves are achieved by Chao’s spatial sensibility and sculptural skills, pushing titanium metalwork to a new height.

Chao’s relentless pursuit has always been to use the hardest metal to create the softest curvatures. Titanium is known for its extremely lightweight properties and exceptional hardness with a melting point of up to 1,668 degrees, making its shaping and gem-setting three times longer than that of 18K gold.

Each Leaf Brooch is set with around 1,500 gemstones on a titanium base of just 1.77mm in thickness. Hence, the craftsmen are required to work under a microscope between 20 to 60 times magnification. Due to the strain on their eyes, craftsmen can only work for three to five hours a day. Despite the intricacy of the pieces, the average weight of each brooch is merely 22 grams, a true reflection of the lightness of a real leaf.

The second motif featured in the collection is the dragonfly, a common inspiration in art history and an inspiration to Chao herself. Each dragonfly brooch in the collection is one-of-a-kind, mimicking the vibrant colours and details of nature. Using the finest attention to detail, the brooches are “painted” with at least 13 different gemstones in over 50 colours. A mix of titanium, gold, ox horn, and light-activated resin employed in this collection means numerous evaluations of their respective characteristics, constructing suitable tenon structures and precise joints. 

The 20th Anniversary Collection serves as a profound testament to the aesthetic finesse and meticulous craftsmanship honed by Cindy Chao over two decades, underscored by her revolutionary ethos and unwavering artistic dedication. 

cindychao.com

TAGS