France Autumn 2014 No.8

人 物
Feature
2014 巴 黎 古 董 雙 年 展 特 輯
2014 Biennale des Antiquaires
We first met Wallace Chan in July, in Paris.
He told us about the making of his necklace
“Secret Abyss”. On the table were 4 crystals
of different shapes, he told us how he spent 4
years to choose the rutilated crystal. We were
very interested in how he managed to fit the
apparently much bigger “clouds” through the
tiny hole in the center of the crystal.
For Wallace Chan: “Jewelry design is also a
kind of magic. Because when we act, when
we make something with the heart, everyone
is a magician. Even the most impossible
deeds - if our heart is truly steadfast - they
surely can work out.”
Wallace Chan
beyond Jewelry
『 浪 裡 淘 花 』 肩 針 , 一 顆 6.68 克 拉 黃 鑽 , 鑲 嵌 黃 鑽 、 紅 寶 石 、 粉 紅 剛 玉 。
“Gleams of Waves” Brooch, Yellow Diamond 1pc 6.68ct
Yellow Diamond, Ruby, Pink Sapphire.
『 乾 坤 日 夜 浮 』 項 鍊 吊 墜 ,135,4 克 拉 的 海 藍 寶 石 ( 世 英 切 割 )
“Now and Always” Pendant, Aigue-marine (Taille Wallace) 135.4ct
Améthyste, Diamant, Topaze Bleue, Saphir
He used to study Chinese painting, oil painting, pencil sketching
and interior decoration, he carved jade, coral, and even sculpted
statues of Buddha and divine condors for buddhist towers. He
once lived as a monk, then he came back to the world. Once, a friend
of his introduced him to an admirer of his works coming from Singapour,
he asked him to make a pair of earrings from 2 diamonds.
The final product re-enhanced the sparkle and the handcrafting of
the diamonds, his client was very happy, and this is how he started
in jewelry making.
TOL (Taste of Life): How did you encounter gems and antiques
Wallace: I once would go everywhere to look for good gems, but it
was very hard to find. I would spend all my energy over every piece
of work, very carefully, to make it the best possible. Slowly, people
came to know that the craftsmanship of my creations have a soul,
those who have good gems or big gems would come to find me, even
very big auction houses. So I was thinking, if we want to do the
best, to be the best craftsmen, good things will naturally come to
us.
TOL: What do you think is the greatest value of your jewelry
Wallace: The concept of value is relative. Some things may need
agreat amount of money in exchange, but are still largely worth it.
Some things we cannot tag them with a value, like the ring or the
bracelet your mother gave you, no matter how much money anyone
gives you, would you want to part with it In this world, the value
© Wallace Chan
© Wallace Chan
of feelings, memories and spirit are far greater than the value
of money.
I hope that the message of a jewel becomes known to the greater
public, reaching a power of educating future generations. I give
great importance to communication and conjunction with the
heart; it is the most precious.
TOL: The period of sculpting Buddha statues and towers, of
being a monk, how did it affect your creations
Wallace: When I was in the order, I gave up everything, I understood
“abandonment”, and only by abandoning can we acquire,
we can only achieve success through sacrifice. “The great way has
no doors, only love is the path”, I’m cultivating an attitude of
loving heaven, loving the earth, loving every living thing and
loving people. I hope that when people look at my work, they
would say, this is the work of someone with love in his heart and
feelings in his bosom.
TOL: What do you think is the difference between creating jewellery
with Eastern philosophy and Western jewelry How must a
jewel be for you to feel satisfied, what are your standards
Wallace: The sea englobes many a mountain, it is great by its
tolerance. In terms of craftsmanship and gold smithy, Western
world has a really deep background and techniques, we have to
learn from the Western world for this. But I would also use traditional
Chinese techniques, like the use of mortise and tenon in
Chinese architecture, I would transplant it into jewelry making.
If I’m telling a story, then it would be the most simple of stories,
the stories of mankind. Day after day, year after year, flowers
bloom then fade, eras come and go, the past never comes back,
when a jewel is made, it captures eternity.
Buddha said, the absence of normality is in fact normality. If
you look closer, you would find that not only there is no regularity
in the world, even the most common thing in the world
can be completely inimitable and impossible to duplicate, like a
leaf, a digital print, perfect without standard. For me, repeating
is producing, not creating. I took the habit of never duplicating,
every piece of jewellery work is the responsibility we have towards
life. There are at most about 30 000 days in a man’s life,
every second past, is a second gone, I have a habit of continuously
adding pressure to myself within this ongoing pressure, trying
to make the most of every minute and every second.
TOL: What is Elegance for you How do you express it with
jewelry
Wallace: Elegance, is a character that transpires from inside to
the outside. We usually use the word “graceful” to describe a lady’s
moves and words, “elegant” to describe her inner beauty. It
is the same for jewelry, from its shine, color and shape we can
tell whether it is graceful, it includes the quality of the craftsmanship
of the gem. From the jewel’s spirit, meaning, sentimental
value and originality, we can tell whether it is elegant. But
the quality of anything is based on the culture of the person, if
it is high, then it would be high, if it’s shallow, then it would
be shallow. Jewelry is the symbol of human civilisation, the
record of history, a good jewel has a mission of transmission
and education. Men give them deep meanings, the spirit of a
man builds its character.
For example, for the making of “Now and Always” I used
the Wallace cut I invented in 1987 as a theme. Because
the figure of a goddess dates back to Ancient Greece, and
throughout history, it is already a symbol of elegance in itself.
I believe there were a lot of gods in human history, that
were all real people, who used their super human determination
and abilities to help men in their times. Their noble
feelings became, in the end, supreme figures, that is not true
only for Western deities.
I represented the figure of the goddess with the Wallace
cut, this figure reflects into 4 more figures of the goddess,
meaning that she commands the four seasons, representing
the forever changes in humanity. This explains the feelings
conveyed in “the Ancients can’t see today’s moon, but today’s
moon used to shine upon the Ancients”. The cosmos is fluctuating,
now and always, but the cosmos is also immutable.
A good jewel, has an unique design never seen before, it
tells the past and the present of mankind, it represents the
affinity between everything. This inner meaning, draws out a
never ending resonance in people’s heart, a moving and joyous
memory, which achieves elegance.
TOL: Is the necklace “Secret Abyss” the most spectacular
work in the Biennial Show in Paris
Wallace: This work is part of the magic of this Biennial. The
other big surprise is the biggest gem in the world and in history,
167 carat, that will be exhibited. That is a once in a century
chance to see such an antique.
TOL: What do you expect of your clients
Wallace: In fact, I haven’t been really serious about finding
clients. At my age, making efforts in the sole aim to sell
something is really strenuous. In the last 40 years, even my
living place is a couch-less 30 m² flat. Someone once asked
me: “Don’t you have big money” I said: “I do, but this money
shouldn’t be used for myself.” Money has different uses for
different people. Some people in Taiwan have much money,
but they use that money to build schools and other charity
works.
TOL: To finish, what is your understanding of life that you
would like to share with our readers
Wallace: The success of the next minute is based on the beginning
of this minute.
Discussing with Wallace Chan is like reuniting with a long
lost friend. At the end of the interview, he bade us goodbye
with an Anjali Mudra.
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