Brooches shone as Michelle Yeoh's statement jewellery. At the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, the Malaysian actress donned a Balenciaga gown adorned with the Lumière Feather Brooch by Cindy Chao The Art Jewel.
Last September, she wore the Pamir Brooch on another black outfit when attending the opening of the jewellery house's exhibition at the Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai.
The showstopping brooches are two of the 2023 Black Label Masterpieces, recently showcased at the Capella Bangkok in an exclusive exhibition which gave a closer look of how Cindy Chao has redefined high jewellery in making every piece a miniature work of art.
Twenty years ago, she established her eponymous maison with the opening of a private showroom and design studio in Taipei.
Her vision has made Cindy Chao The Art Jewel the only Asian brand inducted into the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The ongoing metamorphosis of both artistry and technique as well as the marriage of the rarest gemstones with innovative designs are illustrated by the latest museum-calibre pieces presented at the exhibition.
Michelle Yeoh at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
Totalling 5,786 gemstones, purple garnet, demantoid and tsavorites as well as diamonds and sapphires in different colours sparkle on the 2023 Black Label Masterpiece II Pamir Brooch with a titanium base.
"Our newly developed 'gradual immersive' technique is incorporated into crafting the Pamir Brooch. The anodised titanium branches delicately intertwine among a bed of gemstones, spanning across different planes. Depending on the angle you view it from, the brooch completely transforms. Its length, depth, even its very essence, shifts before your eyes," Chao said.
"I've taken a bold step away from traditional gemstone placement, finding this perfect balance that just showcases three-dimensional beauty. It's a testament to my dedication to pushing the boundaries of artistry and craftsmanship in every piece I create."
Resembling a luxuriant plant, the ethereal brooch pays tribute to the Pamir Plateau, formerly known as the Onion Range -- a significant stop along the ancient Silk Road.
Chao also drew inspiration from diverse glacial terrain for this one-of-a kind piece, which exemplifies the characteristic architectural, sculptural and organic qualities of her works.
Cindy Chao The Art Jewel's exhibition at Capella Bangkok.
Her grandfather, a renowned architect, and her father, an established sculptor, transmitted their know-how to Chao, who applies it to constructing her White Label jewellery and Black Label Masterpieces.
She employs an 18th century artisanal technique (cire perdue) to carve wax models. The intricate sculptures are then crafted with precious metal and gemstones.
The hardest metal is used to fashion the softest curvatures. Titanium's toughness and high melting point pose significant challenges during forging and setting. Any mistake would cause the whole process to start all over again.
Exhaustive research and refinement, however, culminated in elaborate metalwork which has been mastered by European craftsmen who work on each titanium piece.
"I've minimised the metallic component ratio to its absolute for the delicate and slender Pamir Brooch with a mere 76g in total weight," Chao noted. "Likewise, the 2023 Black Label Masterpiece VI Lumière Feather Brooch adorned with nearly 2,500 gemstones yet weighing less than 60g -- it is really as light as a piece of feather."
2023 Black Label Masterpiece VI Lumière Feather Brooch.
Inspired by the white peacock, the Lumière Feather Brooch boasts a heart-shaped diamond, complemented by diamonds in white, yellow and brown hues as well as conch pearls, sapphires and rhodolites for a captivating play of light and contrast.
"Larger pieces provide more space to unleash my creativity, which is why I love creating brooches. Unlike the conventional use of gold in jewellery, titanium serves as a lightweight foundation. This unique choice of material also offers an artistic appeal with practical wearability,'' she said.
Other titanium stunners include the Black Label Masterpiece XI Spring Cardamom Brooch and Black Label Masterpiece II Picasso's Dream Earrings from the 2022 collection.
The brooch's articulated leaves move slightly with the motion of the wearer while the stylised pod houses an oval-shaped cabochon Colombian emerald and a diamond sphere composed of several fancy rose-cut diamonds, held by invisible settings.
The earrings are inspired by Pablo Picasso's oil painting Le Rêve. Chao's palette of gemstones include fancy dark brown-yellow diamonds, green emeralds, greyish blue sapphires and colour-change garnets.
2023 Black Label Masterpiece X Spring Riverside Bangle.
The French Ministry of Culture recognised how she pushed the limits of her art and her contribution to the transmission of jewellery savoir faire. Accordingly, in November 2021, Chao was appointed Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres.
In the same year, she unveiled her second ode to the Seine in Paris. The series began with the 2020 Black Label Masterpiece VI Reflection Bangle, followed by the 2021 Black Label Masterpiece XVII The Seine at Dawn Bangle.
The exhibited 2023 Black Label Masterpiece X Spring Riverside Bangle is in white, yellow and rose gold, illuminated by 1,936 gemstones. The 10 pink sapphires serve as the main stones amid a harmony of sapphires in other colours along with yellow diamonds, tourmalines, garnets, tsavorites and paraiba.
Chao pictured swaying branches, blooming flowers on rippling waters and the blue sky tinged with the morning Sun when designing the bangle. The meticulous arrangement of rose-cut gems and a groundbreaking layered technique makes its surface shimmer subtly, revealing the brilliance of the stones set beneath.
Some stones swivel at a certain angle, thanks to hidden mechanisms at specific positions, while the gemsetting's play of natural light echoes the undulations of the Seine River.
Cindy Chao The Art Jewel also brought some iconic White Label pieces to the Bangkok exhibition. The white and yellow gold Emerald Ribbon Necklace, for instance, charms with a cushion-shaped vivid green Colombian emerald while its three-dimensionality invokes the sensation of a gently-swaying ribbon.
2022 Black Label Masterpiece II Picasso's Dream Earrings.
Crafting the cardamom pod with a Colombian emerald and diamond sphere.
2023 Black Label Masterpiece II Pamir Brooch.
2022 Black Label Masterpiece XI Spring Cardamom Brooch.
