Modelled as a butterfly, the brooch centring to a rose-cut diamond weighing approximately 4.00 carats, to the body set with oval and round rose-cut diamonds, to the wings embellished with circular-cut tsavorite garnets, pink and purple sapphires and brilliant-cut diamonds, the sapphires, tsavorite garnets and diamonds totalling approximately 11.60, 4.00 and 17.05 carats respectively, mounted in titanium and 18 karat white gold.

METAMORPHOSIS


Wallace Chan was born in 1956 and began his craftsmanship at the age of eight. He worked as an engraving apprentice and deeply inspired by the western sculpture. He established his own studio when he was seventeen. In 1987, he invented 'Wallace Cut'. In 2012, he was the first Chinese jewelry artist being invited to the Paris Biennale des Antiquaires. Wallace Chan has opened a brand new door for oriental jewelry design with his personality and modernity.
Wallace Chan's extraordinary creations often reflect his 'Zen' philosophy. Butterflies are commonly found in Wallace Chan's finely calibrated works and in particular using Titanium as the backbone, crafting to levels of astonishing and delicate details. His patented 'Wallace Cut' and the use of titanium in jewelry have laid an important foundation for the industry which also broadened the realm of modern jewelry designs. The transformation of a butterfly resembles to Wallace Chan's strives for unprecedented breakthroughs in his artistic practice like the wondrous metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly.
Lot1213 is an iconic design by Wallace Chan. The brooch is large but with use of the exceptional and rare titanium, the jewel is light enough to be worn on fine garments. Due to the complex colouring process, it further requires exquisite craftsmanship to achieve a specific uniform colour on a large surface. The butterfly's proportion and the exquisite design with the use of exceptional materials reflected Wallace Chan's strict pursuit on jewellery aesthetics. With the use of an entire diamond and rock crystal as the main axis of the butterfly makes this piece of work more dazzling and gorgeous.

Price estimate:
HKD: 1,800,000 - 2,400,000
USD: 229,500 - 306,000

Auction Result:
HKD: --