Page 124 - 18 KARATI GOLD&FASHION 226

Visionary art
just 17 years of age he founded his gem carving atelier with the aid of a small loan from his father, which he used to purchase a carving machine. Since then, Chan has continued to design and create many of his carving tools, allowing him to develop a range of unique techniques. However, it was only when he moved to the production of high jewellery that he had a stage on which to show his innate talent. Original quality has always been his forte, like his ability to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. First Asian jeweller to exhibit at the 26th Biennial des Antiquaires in 2012, Wallace Chan shook the world of high jewellery with his extraordinary jewels. His creativity and curiosity have driven him to develop different innovations and achieve remarkable success. The best known is “The Wallace Cut” a 3D carving technique invented in 1987 which consists of a method for carving drawings inside a precious stone, using cameos and carvings to create a realistic image, which is then reflected inside the gem to create a 3D effect; a modified dental drill is used to make small detailed modifications to the stone; to avoid damage to the material, most of the drawings are realised under water to dissipate the heat generated by the high-powered drill. Another of the most extraordinary innovations created by the fertile creative mind of Wallace Chan, are: mastering titanium in the creation of jewellery; a patented technology to improve the luminosity of jadeite; the invention of elaborate mountings of precious stones without metal prongs; the mysterious Secret Abyss, in which more than one thousand emeralds have been set inside a block of rutile quartz, through an opening of 6.5 mm; and more recently The Wallace Chan Porcelain, a material five times
122