Page 24 - Collection Oct 2021

Commissioned by an important client and now great
friend, Chao initially started creating a simple pair of ruby
earrings using rubies from the client’s heirloom necklace.
During the creation, the client suffered an unexpected
illness and recovered miraculously. Chao felt the earrings
no longer did justice to such a critical turning point in the
client’s life.
Here began Chao’s journey to create a piece that
was a truly spectacular and fitting tribute to love and
friendship. Over the course of the next ten years, Chao
created over 20 designs in the initial wax carving model
stage, resulting in this magnificent piece. A full bloomed
peony not only demonstrate the aesthetic sense of Cindy,
it also symbolises the friendship between the two and her
blessings to her client.
The one-of-a-kind Black Label Masterpiece ‘Peony
Brooch’, set entirely with rubies and purple coloured
titanium, is dynamic and boldly beautiful yet simultaneously
feminine, charming and ethereal. The deep red petals and
contrasting yellow pistils add a striking impression of the
intensely hued, bold and kaleidoscopic peony flower.
Using the ancient wax carving technique, Chao deftly
fashioned every line, arch, turn and shift of the peony bloom
before her craftsmen cast the piece in titanium, which
“ Cindy Chao’s Peony Brooch is an exquisite allowed them to expertly trace the idealized physical shape
she had created. Expert craftsman heated the titanium to a
and virtuoso celebration of nature’s beauty, softening point of over 1,668°C in order to shape the hard
metal into the smooth, organic curves of the peony bloom
as well as a deeply personal piece.” and create the desired sense of visual tension in the piece.
Then, after extensively researching the length and angle
— Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A of each pistil, used her expertise in jewellery lacquerware
techniques to imbue each of the Peony’s pistils with a
powdered and gradient yellow hue, perfectly contrasting
with the petals and exquisitely capturing the powerful and
exceptional beauty of nature.
Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, said: “Cindy
Chao’s Peony Brooch is an exquisite and virtuoso
celebration of nature’s beauty, as well as a deeply personal
Cindy Chao has piece. The undulating petals studded with rubies, once part
expanded her brand to of a family heirloom, were first carved in wax, then cast in
the international stage
with her persistent belief titanium to create a complex lattice of individual settings
in design and quality that was 10 years in the making.”
珠寶藝術家Cindy Chao “The brooch is a testament to Chao’s artistry, while the
憑著對設計及品質的堅
peony itself is a symbol of good fortune in Chinese tradition,
持，成功將品牌邁向國際
and imbued with meaning for the original wearer, who,
at the time, was battling a life-threatening illness. We’re
The Peony Brooch delighted that the Peony Brooch has joined our collection.”
was awarded Visitors can now see it in The William and Judith
‘Outstanding Object’
by the Masterpiece Bollinger Jewellery Gallery, where it sits alongside some of
2018 Awards Committee the finest jewels in the world, from the Elizabeth I Armada
in London
Jewel to personal treasures once owned by Catherine the
「紅寶石牡丹胸針」於
倫敦巨匠臻藏藝術博覽 Great of Russia and Queen Victoria.
會近萬件展品中，獲鑑識
團隊頒發「卓越藝術創作
典範獎」
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