Master Jeweller Cindy Chao on 20 Years of Brilliance

Cindy Chao founded her jewellery making maison in 2004 and has since become one of the most highly acclaimed jewellery artists of the 21st century. Bazaar Arabia speaks to the designer as she reflects on 20 years of limitless creativity and exceptional artisanry

To say that Cindy Chao was born in Taiwan in the 1970s to a family brimming with creative flair, would be an understatement. “My grandfather was a renowned architect whose many works are now considered historical monuments, so I was trained from a young age to see the world in a structural and spatial way,” begins Cindy, explaining her path to her position as one of the most revered high jewellery makers of the 21st century. “My father was a sculptor, and he taught me to consider each angle, form, and expression of what I observe, and to transform observations into lifelike creations,” she explains. Cindy cites art as a feature of her very DNA, as she has always felt the urge to create, but it was her mother who steered her ambitions—having witnessed the intense demands of her husband’s work, she encouraged Cindy to channel her creative energies into a more palatable medium. “So, instead of working with stone and timber, I chose precious gemstones and metals,” she quips. 

To say that Cindy ‘works with’ metals and gems would be an even greater understatement. Since founding her studio and miniature maison in Taipei in 2004, Cindy has pushed the boundaries of jewellery making, both physically and conceptually. For 20 years, the designer has explored the similarities between architecture and jewellery, experimenting with colour, structure, layers, space, light, curves and turns, embracing complex techniques such as ancient wax sculpture to approach each design as an architect embarks upon a building. “Having the mind of an architect helps me visualize my compositions three-dimensionally, and with the hands of a sculptor, I am able to infuse life and emotion into my wax sculptures,” she explains. Cindy’s mission for her creations was unequivocal from the beginning—to break down the boundaries between art and jewellery, and prove that jewellery is a form of art in itself. Thus, Cindy Chao The Art Jewel, was born.

In 2007, Cindy became the first jewellery artist from Taiwan to partake in Christie’s New York fine jewellery auction, presenting her now iconic The Four Seasons collection for the first time. The pieces—which captured winter’s delicate frost—were met with critical acclaim, and a few short years later in 2010, Cindy’s 2009 ‘Royal Butterfly’ brooch was inducted into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. “This marked an unprecedented milestone as it was the first time the museum collected a piece from a contemporary Asian designer,” explains Cindy. “I vividly remember, during the press event, that the curator was asked about the rationale behind this induction. His response resonated deeply within me, as he articulated the museum’s responsibility to collect what can represent the era for the future generations. His response struck me deeply, instilling in me a strong sense of purpose and fuelling my aspiration to create artworks that transcend temporal boundaries.”

This is just one of many achievements that led the designer to be honoured with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture in 2021, an honour previously bestowed upon the likes of major French maisons such as Cartier, Boucheron and Van Cleef & Arpels, along with luminaries such as Jean Schlumberger and René Lalique, who shaped jewellery making history by trailblazing their own new genres of design and artisanry.

Cindy is no less influential or avant-garde. To celebrate the brand’s 20th anniversary, she has revisited her very first collection, reinterpreted through a contemporary lens. The designer explains that the four new Foliage brooches are an ode to the seasonality of life, and she has harnessed each leaf to encapsulate a fleeting moment in nature. “It’s not just a simple depiction of a season; you can see the flow of seasons and feel the passage of time in the pieces,” she explains. In this oeuvre, the silhouette of each brooch is subtly twisted, with richer hued gemstones than in the original collection. Cindy’s mediums have also evolved—she has refined flawless gem setting upon curved titanium and now incorporates myriad materials such as silver, wood, and ox horn into her creations. 

One of Cindy’s most enchanting works is the pair of 2022 Black Label Masterpiece Spring Cardamom brooches, which feature two oval-shaped Colombian emeralds, weighing nearly 81 carats each. Through their subtle undulations, masterful play of light and the colour arrangement of 28 shades of green gems, the brooches are sensationally realistic, with complex artisanal techniques inspired by oil-painting layering used to enhance the three-dimensional feel of each jewel. Another triumph is her legacy of Butterfly brooches—the designer has crafted one special butterfly piece per year since 2008, and they have fetched great sums at auction from Cindy’s loyal client base of connoisseurs.

And so what for the next 20 years? To build the miniature maison into the first centennial Chinese art jewellery brand, says Cindy. “I really couldn’t imagine a day when I stop creating. I want to hold onto my sculpting tools until I can no longer use them,” she adds, and she has already begun to pass her savoir faire on to the next generation of high jewellers, invited this year to teach wax sculpting in the Haute École de Joaillerie in Paris. She does say, however, that the path of a high jewellery artist is no walk in the park. “Beyond talent, it demands exceptional persistence and courage to succeed. Persistence means staying true to your passion for art and continually pursuing your own creative vision,” she explains. “Courage is about not giving up easily when faced with obstacles and having the bravery to tackle the impossible. You must trust in yourself and dedicate yourself to creating your own art. When others have given up, but you keep going, that is when you succeed.”

Cindy pulls no punches when describing both her life’s work and her future ambitions. “Art has become intertwined with my life. For me, it represents the essence of existence,” she explains. “My grandfather once told me, ‘Life is infinite, but our time on earth is finite. However, our souls and legacies last forever. The art we create is evidence of our existence.’ I hold this philosophy close to my heart, and it serves as a reminder whenever I face challenges in creating. I want my art jewellery to serve as proof that I once existed in this world.”

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