“Let’s just say I don’t choose business just because of money. Each work is from my heart, my hands. I suffer through each one. The buyer needs to understand that it is from my heart — that they are taking my child.”
“If someone just says, ‘I have money, I want it,’ and they don’t understand, then I don’t want to give it to them.”
Not often do I come across jewelry designers that strike me. While browsing through the internet I happened to stumble across Wallace Chan's work. His work inspired me and left me speechless, I wish I had discovered him sooner.
Wallace Chan- an international renowned jewelry designer and sculptor started creating jewelry at the age of 8. He is not only known for the magical jewelry he designs but also the carvings he does with the stones. "The stone tricks the eye. I can see its flaws and angles. There are elements I want to hide and elements I want to bring out. I am chasing its light." he said.
One of his most well-known work that would become part of China's long history of jewelry design was the project; "A Heritage in Bloom". The world's most expensive diamond necklace, at an estimated cost of $200 million. (image below)
The project started in 2010 when Chow Tai Fook acquired an extremely rare unpolished 507-carat diamond found in the Cullinan mine in South Africa. “I looked at that rock for three years before I touched it.”, he said. The final product took 47,000 hours of work from 22 craftsmen.
I love how the blue topaz and white diamonds compliment each other to create a cool blue, that in a way left me feeling a bit chilly.
Another one of my favorite piece is the Secret Abyss Necklace.Wallace spent two years working on the concept of this necklace with a quartz shell. He wanted the details to be included internally several times. He started by drilling a strong enough hole in the back of the pendant, through which something could be positioned and sealed inside.
Secret Abyss Necklace (image courtesy of Katerina Perez)
Wallace wanted to make the pendant look like a single whole with no visible signs of human interference. He implanted interwoven waves of emerald in the very centre of the quartz though a tiny aperture on the front. The process alone took him four years. This further proves that With toil and tenacity, you can succeed.
(image courtesy of Wallace Chan)
From left to right: Redcliff Romance necklace, Now & Always necklace
(image courtesy of ARTINFO)
“I don’t want to just create jewelry that features a lot of expensive stones set in an appealing way. I want dramatic pieces, jewelry that never ceases to amaze the beholder with newly discovered elements, different sensations and delightful montage effects that add to the special story of each of my pieces."Hope you enjoyed Wallace Chan's work as much as I do. I'll end this post with some beautiful sketches by the master himself.
From left to right: Redcliff Romance necklace, Now & Always necklace
(image courtesy of ARTINFO)
