Jewellery artist Cindy Chao has expanded her White Label Collection with new pieces inspired by the ocean’s vivid colours, textures, and biodiversity.
The latest additions to the Aquatic series include sculptural jewellery designed to evoke the movement and light of life beneath the sea.
The series was sparked by Chao’s first snorkelling experience, which she described as a moment of creative clarity. “The moment my face dipped beneath the surface… a kaleidoscope of colours unfolded before me,” Chao recalled. This encounter with marine life led her to interpret its forms through gemstones and metalwork.
The Aquatic collection includes earrings and necklaces featuring motifs such as corals, sea stars, shells and anemones. Notable materials include Sri Lankan sapphires, Colombian emeralds, diamonds, tsavorites, and conch pearls. Each element is selected to reflect the interplay of light and colour underwater.
Rose-cut gemstones, prized for their soft glow, are a key feature in the designs. This cut allows more light to pass through, contributing to the ethereal, weightless quality of the jewellery. Settings are crafted to make the metal nearly invisible, enhancing the appearance of movement and fluidity.
Among the standout pieces is the Ocean Necklace, composed of conch pearls, yellow and brown diamonds, pink sapphires, purple garnets, rhodolites, and tsavorites, set in 18k yellow and rose gold. The Coral Earrings appear in several versions, including a titanium and white gold setting featuring sapphires, emeralds, diamonds and green sapphires.
Conch pearls, among the rarest gems from the sea, feature prominently in the collection. Only one gem-quality pearl is found in roughly every 10,000 to 15,000 Queen Conch mollusks. Due to their rarity and natural formation, they are measured in carats and prized for their flame-like surface patterns.
Chao, trained in both architecture and sculpture, founded CINDY CHAO The Art Jewel in 2004. Her work blends Eastern aesthetics with Western craftsmanship and has been exhibited at major art fairs and auction houses. In 2021, she became the first Asian jewellery artist appointed Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.
CINDY CHAO The Art Jewel is the only Asian jewellery brand with pieces held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
