For a sparkling start to the new year, we return to the high jewelry house of Cindy Chao and her high jewel creations which are works of art in and of themselves. Shimmering ribbons, flowers and butterflies are Cindy Chao’s signature motifs, the sparkling artistic world of the Taiwanese art jeweler. Her pieces of jewelry are sculptural, mesmerizing. One of her most fantastic creations brought out in the 2022 Black Label Masterpiece VII collection is her Gentlewoman Ribbon Cuff, a jewel-filled cuff bracelet that Cindy Chao worked on for seven years. Two extraordinary cushion-cut yellow diamonds serve as cufflinks, measuring in similar sizes at 6.85 carats and 6.03 carats. They form the central points of a color diffusion evoked by pink sapphires, yellow diamonds, diamonds, pink diamonds, rhodolites and purple garnets. 

The ribbon motif also comes alive in the 2018 Black Label Masterpiece XXI Ribbon Brooch whose centerpiece is an old mine brilliant cut diamond weighing in at 76.91 cts and framed with rubies. The piece was hammered at USD 3.84 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Auction, setting the then auction record for an Asian contemporary art jewel. Cindy Chao and her team spent over a year collecting 20,000 pieces of rubies around the world from which 2,275 pieces, diamond-cut rubies totalling 117.12 carats, were selected to be pave-set on the ultra-undulated ribbon. 

As we head into Caribbean vacation season the 2022 Black Label Masterpiece VIII Caribbean Summer Brooch is a wonder of the world with its pear-shaped Muzo green Colombia emerald weighing in at 3.80 cts. It draws its inspiration from the board leaf found on islands of the Caribbean Sea. Titanium seamlessly holds the piece together which is adorned with diamonds and tsavorites.  

Another astounding piece from the house is the 2020 Black Label Masterpiece XVII Morning Seine Bangle with its intriguing sugarloaf-cut cornflower blue Sri Lanka Sapphire totaling 50.53cts. The artist drew her inspiration from a painting by the Impressionist Claude Monet for this bangle bracelet. The cornflower blue diamond reflects the sky over the Seine River on a foggy morning while the side stones of diamonds, yellow diamonds, rhodolites and the rose gold framework impart onto the piece the light of dawn. The granddaughter of an architect and the daughter of a sculptor, creativity has always surrounded the artist. She established her house Cindy Chao Art Jewel in 2004 and collectors have flocked to her unique pieces among them her enigmatic annual butterfly collections. One of her butterflies has even flown into the Smithsonian Institute at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. She uses the 18th century craft technique of crafting designs in wax before completing her intricate sculptures with precious metals and gemstones. Her most prestigious collections, The Black Label Masterpieces and The White Label Collection have found their way into auctions, museums and private collections. The pieces blend together the designer’s masterful technique, the ingenuity of contemporary Eastern art and the centuries-old Western jewelry craftsmanship offering up a new definition of high jewelry. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.cindychao.com/en