‘The Stone Is Me’
Recognized as a top jewelry artist and innovator, Wallace Chan’s one-of-a-kind creations reflect his Zen philosophy and reveal unique craftsmanship invented by his persistence in innovation. They are feather-like jewels carrying messages of the past to become the heritage of the future.
Chan became interested in precious stones when, at 16, he got a job at a workshop that carved Chinese religious icons. At 17, he begged his father for 1,000 Hong Kong dollars, now about $130, and used the money to buy a carving machine and a hunk of malachite and started selling small carvings door-to-door.
“I wanted to be more than a workman,” he says. “I wanted to study art and watch films. I wanted to make things I loved. I wanted to make jewelry that dances with you, creations that have a story and a soul.”
He later became obsessed with the fact that a flaw could be reflected many times in a cut stone — creating an optical illusion similar to a double-exposure photograph. From 1985 to 1987, he developed the Wallace Cut, the technique that would bring him international fame. The Wallace Cut involves drilling a hole into the back of a multifaceted stone and then carving and etching an image, in reverse. When viewed from the front, the image will be reflected multiple times.
Currently, his two workshops — one in Hong Kong and one in Macau, employing artisans who have worked with Mr. Chan for 15 to 30 years — produce only about a dozen pieces of year. “I spend so much time with one piece that it becomes me,” he said. “The stone is me, and I am the stone.”
Wallace Chan sculpts with a delicacy of touch that defies boundaries and uses light as the leitmotif for his colourful, sensual jewels. In his words, “The stone tricks the eye, so I have to outsmart it. I can see its flaws and angles. There are elements I want to hide and elements I want to bring out. I am chasing its light.”
“I want to leave a legacy,” he says. “Chinese jewelry has a history of 6,000 years, and I want to be part of it.”
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