The sophisticated jewels of Maastricht’s Tefaf are back, from Wallace Chan to Hemmerle ♦ ︎
Tefaf is back (Maastricht, March 16-24), a fun fair for art lovers, antiques and even jewels. And of the 279 exhibitors participating in Tefaf Maastricht 2019, 40 are new. Here, in any case, are showed only ancient and valuable jewels, or contemporary, but signed by prestigious designers that is better defined as artists. A new entry, for example, is that of Cindy Chao, of which we have already written.
Read also: Cindy Chao’s jewels at Tefaf
Another great oriental master will also be present: Wallace Chan. His jewelry-sculpture are pieces sought after by collectors and almost always leave open-mouthed. Chan is a master sculptor and jeweler from Hong Kong, who started working in a gemstone workshop in 1974 and is now a jewelry deity. Suffice it to say that he invented a particular method of working, the Wallace Cut: a carving system of stones that creates figures, for example a face, inside the stone itself. Another of Wallace Chan’s prerogatives is its ability to work with titanium, a lightweight material, but very difficult to use. Yet the Chinese master manages to shape the titanium like a silver leaf. And it’s not over: a couple of years ago announced the creation of Wallace Chan Porcelain, a ceramic five times stronger than steel, which can be modeled in a wide range of colors and shapes. In short, a kind of Leonardo da Vinci of jewelery.
Next to his jewels you will find, as always, those of another innovative Maison, Hemmerle, which combines refined and rare pearls, green diamonds, gold and platinum to materials such as iron, aluminum or copper, in a simple and refined design. Exactly the opposite of Chan, but equally stimulating. Federico Graglia
