One Of The World’s Largest Diamonds Was On Display In London

The exhibit was held to honor the artist’s illustrious 50-year career.

Early in September, auction house Christie’s held the largest exhibition of Wallace Chan’s work in Europe. The exhibit, titled The Wheel of Time, comprised over 150 pieces of one-of-a-kind jewelry creations, including the “Legend of the Colour Black.”

The finely crafted shoulder brooch sculpture features one of the largest known cut black diamonds in the world. The 312.24 carat diamond sits in the center of the piece surrounded by silver gray diamonds, crystal sapphire, black agate, titanium, and the Wallace Chan Porcelain.

Legend of the Colour Black
Image via Christie’s official website

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As a renowned artist, Chan is an experienced jewelry creator, sculptor, and innovator. Through the exhibit, he looked back on all the major moments of his career, along with some pieces that the public has never seen before. Most of the pieces that were on display were generously on loan from many of Chan’s international collectors.

The Joy of Life butterfly brooch
Image via Christie’s official website

Some of the other notable pieces on display include “The Joy of Life” brooch, which features one of Chan’s signature motifs—the butterfly—as well as “Stilled Life,” a jeweled cicada which is the Chinese symbol of rebirth.

About the artist

Born in China in 1956, Chan began his creative career as a carver at the young age of 16. Over the course of half a century, his works have developed to seamlessly blend traditional techniques with innovative technologies.

Jeweler Wallace Chan
Image via Christie’s official website

Now based in Hong Kong, the artist has gained recognition world wide for pioneering the use of titanium in art. “To date, Chan is one of the only artists to use titanium in artworks of such color, scale, and complexity,” Christie’s stated.

Some of his other innovations include The Wallace Cut (1987), a patented jade technique (2002), and The Wallace Chan Porcelain (2018) which is five times stronger than steel.

Stilled Life cicada brooch
Image via Christie’s official website

“In the blink of an eye, half a century has flown by. I am humbled by the opportunity to present my largest exhibition in Europe at Christie’s in London,” Chan said. “Time is an eternal wheel that rotates for infinity with neither beginning nor end. In the creative process, time is a theme so intangible, yet omnificent.”

Banner image via Christie’s official website.

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