Cindy Chao marks this month’s release of her 10th Annual Butterfly with a beautiful and sculptural exhibition at Opera Gallery between October 18-28.
The butterfly represents Cindy Chao’s continuous metamorphosis as an artist and a businesswoman, with the unveiling of each Annual Butterfly marking a further milestone in the evolution of her brand, CINDY CHAO The Art Jewel. And this year’s release is an incredibly special one. The 2023 Black Label Masterpiece I Amour Butterfly Brooch isn’t just Chao’s 10th Annual Butterfly; it’s also her most challenging yet, taking her team of European master craftsmen five years and more than 15,000 hours to complete.
Says Chao in her artist statement, “Throughout the preparation of Meld in Light and Shade, I’ve heard this one question time and time again: ‘Why does this Butterfly deserve such a dedicated grandeur?’”
Those who’ve followed the trajectory of Chao’s career will know that the CINDY CHAO Annual Butterflies have been acquired by famous museums or found their way into the hands of collectors and connoisseurs at auctions. Each one a gift from Chao – her most treasured and most anticipated creations, with a special place in her heart – they’re extremely sought after: currently the collection is reserved until 2028.
The first ever Butterfly, the Ruby Butterfly Brooch in 2008, was born out of struggle. “A particularly challenging time had me putting up a last fight and shouting my heart to the world,” recalls Chao. “As I sat alone sculpting the wax mould of that first Butterfly, I thought to myself, ‘This might be my last piece…’”
Fortunately, rather than signalling the end, the butterfly marked the start of a thriving new chapter for the brand. “Each Annual Butterfly now symbolises my inner world, an accumulation of steadfast moments in my creative journey, an embodiment of each metamorphosis and transcendence I’ve gone through. Collectively, they’re the essence of my life,” says Chao.
This year’s Amour Butterfly is, as the name states, a butterfly of love. Chao was moved to create the piece for two collectors she’d befriended, and who trusted and believed in her vision from the beginning. The Amour Butterfly was also a test of Chao’s own methodology; after 19 years of creating jewellery art, she’s become emboldened to use less-seen materials and blend the imagination with the delicate beauty she found in nature. The body of the butterfly alone, a slender outline of European ox-horn, involved a year-long search. The construction of the multi-layered wings was another engineering feat requiring numerous revisions and alterations.
Radiating at the centre of the ox-horn outline is an elongated marquise diamond of 8.31 carats. The delicate titanium wings hold together a mosaic of rose-cut diamonds, while nestled into their ends are two sugarloaf-cut Columbian emeralds, one of 29.18 carats and the other of 27.52. The veins of gemstones and diamonds adorning the wings total almost 3,000 stones. When the Amour Butterfly eventually came to life, it was just as Chao had imagined: two overlaid butterflies, melded in light and shade, and united as one.
As part of the Amour Butterfly’s launch, CINDY CHAO presents “Meld in Light and Shade”, the brand’s Annual Butterfly Exhibition at Opera Gallery in Hong Kong for two weeks on October 18 to 28. The butterfly brooch itself made its debut early last month at Shanghai’s Long Museum West Bund, an event attended by Chao’s long-time supporter and close friend Michelle Yeoh.
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