Video: As a jeweler, Cindy Chao decided to say goodbye to her career and became a star: Jewels that belong in a museum
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
It has long been known that Asian jewelers are true wizards. Young artist Cindy Chao is not the last in the galaxy of big names. As a child, she dreamed of creating something that would go to Christie’s auction - nothing more, nothing less. And now precious flowers and butterflies, so fragile in appearance and strong in reality, are kept in museums of modern art, go under the hammer for fabulous sums and enchant celebrities …
Cindy Chao was born in Taipei to a renowned creative family and grew up in New York. Cindy's grandfather was an architect and was engaged in designing a temple, her father was a sculptor, and from childhood she adored making something with her hands, especially sculpting. Relatives have always supported her - and even though they could not give her professional advice, their warm words inspired Cindy in times of difficulties. Her first jewelry was bought by … her mother. To start her own business - it was the distant year 2004 - Cindy sold real estate donated by her family, received an education in gemology. Yet for several years she suffered from a lack of funds, support, knowledge and self-confidence. And, almost disappointed in the chosen path, she thought - I will create my last jewelry, a brooch, symbolizing the fleetingness of life, something that lives only one day … And this brought her fame, money and world recognition.
As a child, Cindy lived near the Christie’s auction. Every day, walking to school, she thought: “One day I will create something that will be bought there for millions!”. And … being a novice and unknown jeweler, she offered her first collection for sale at Christie's. Why not? True, the amount offered by the leaders of the auction greatly upset her - after all, it was much lower than her costs. However, she agreed - on one condition: her name must be announced at the auction! The stern men in suits laughed: "We only sign the names of famous jewelers and big brands!" However, the pressure and talent of Cindy did not leave them indifferent. So Cindy Chao woke up famous.
Butterfly brooches have become Cindy Chao's calling card - several recognizable models with the rarest precious stones and a titanium base. Yes, yes, those same one-day butterflies, a symbol of a shattered dream, which were destined to become the "last" in Chao's jewelry career. One of them, a ballerina butterfly, was created in collaboration with Sarah Jessica Parker. This isn't a cheap marketing ploy - Cindy Chao doesn't need promotion. It's just that women are friends - and have long planned to create something together. The ballerina butterfly was sold for a million dollars.
I must say that the Christie’s auction house showed no less courage than the artist (Cindy calls herself an artist, not a designer, and for good reason - a designer is more influenced by the market, and an artist can create freely). In the early 2000s, collectors preferred miniature jewelry, and Cindy's collection included large bracelets and brooches. But already in 2012, her jewelry cost hundreds of thousands of dollars (the Transcedence Butterfly brooch cost almost a million), significantly exceeding expectations.
Real fame fell on Chao when, in 2010, her brooches were acquired by … the National Museum of Natural History. A year before this event, Cindy Chao in New York decided to show her jewelry to the largest jewelry department store Bergdorf Goodman. The head of the jewelry department, "a very authoritative lady", at first did not attach any importance to this meeting and gave Cindy only twenty minutes to. But when she saw her butterflies, she was speechless. After that, Cindy Chao's butterflies appeared on the cover of a prestigious New York magazine (for the first time in the history of the publication), collectors began to contact her, but the artist suddenly changed her mind about selling butterflies. To one of the potential buyers, she boldly declared that they belong in a museum … and he introduced her to representatives of the National Museum of Natural History!
When asked why the museum's collection now includes jewelry from a living female jeweler from China, the curator replied, "Cindy Chao's butterflies are the future of jewelry." Cindy was then thirty-six years old, and she thought: “People will admire what I have done for a few more centuries!”. The thought shocked her - and inspired her.
Cindy Chao has two workshops - in Paris and Geneva, and travel allows her to relax and come up with something new. Cindy rarely works with precious metals, preferring titanium, so beloved by Chinese jewelers. Titanium allows you to make her creations light, almost weightless - and she loves to make huge brooches. However, the metal in the design of her products is often almost invisible - Cindy and her colleagues strive to fit the stones as close to each other as possible in order to create the feeling of a living flower or a real quivering butterfly.
Striving for naturalness is the reason why her jewelry is asymmetrical, curved. They must live and breathe … Making a ring or a brooch can take up to ten thousand hours, and the release of new products has to wait for years. She works to order, but in the course of work, the original concept may change several times - this is due to Cindy's exceptional perfectionism, professionally ruthless to herself and to employees. Everything should be perfect - for less Chao will not agree!
She is just as picky about the quality of the stones. Chao uses the rarest Kashmir sapphires, Colombian emeralds and diamonds of different shades, but always with high performance. She loves both non-trivial combinations and unexpected materials - conch pearls, available only to the elite, kunzite, precious stones of unusual shades.
She herself practically does not wear jewelry - as often happens with real creators. Incredibly, this young flower fairy has an adult son, whom she raised alone - nothing is known about the artist's personal life, and it is not necessary - because her precious butterflies will tell more about her than words.
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