Christie’s is shining the spotlight on the coveted creations of renowned jewellery artist Wallace Chan in what is being described as Europe’s largest exhibition to date of the Chinese designer’s collections. 

The exhibit, entitled “The Wheel of Time,” is scheduled for September 4 to 10, 2023 at Christie’s headquarters in London.

It will feature 150 pieces of jewellery and six titanium sculptures, including previously unseen pieces, that represent Chan’s 50-year career of creating high-end jewellery. Most of the pieces to be placed on display are on loan from Chan’s major international collectors. 

“In the blink of an eye, half a century has flown by,” Chan said, “Time is an eternal wheel that rotates for infinity with neither beginning nor end. In the creative process, time is a theme so intangible, yet omnificent.”

The event’s centrepiece is Legend of the Colour Black – a shoulder brooch sculpture featuring one of the world’s largest cut black diamond weighing 312.24 carats, alongside silver-grey diamonds, crystal sapphire, black agate, titanium and the Wallace Chan Porcelain, a material that Chan developed, which is five times stronger than steel.

Another highlight is The Joy of Life brooch, featuring a butterfly motif comprised of pink sapphire, sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond, yellow diamond, pearl and titanium.

The exhibition serves as a metaphor for Chan’s labour-intensive working process, requiring meticulous attention to detail, according to Christie’s.

François Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Europe, said, “A deeply philosophical man, Wallace infuses his jewels with oriental spiritualism. This is the motif that he spends his entire creative life interpreting and reinterpreting, experimenting with endless combinations of gemstones, mediums, styles, aesthetics and executed in his world-renowned techniques.”

This marks the fifth exhibition that Christie's has presented in partnership with Chan, following previous shows in Hong Kong (2015, 2019) and Shanghai (2020, 2021).