Wallace Chan exhibition featuring one of world’s largest black diamonds opens

An exhibition starring one of the largest cut black diamonds in the world has opened in London.

Wallace Chan: The Wheel Of Time exhibition features 150 pieces of jewellery, alongside six titanium sculptures, from Chinese jewellery creator, visual artist and innovator Wallace Chan.

It is the largest exhibition of 67-year-old Chan’s work in Europe, honouring the artist’s 50-year career.

Among the work is the Legend Of The Colour Black – a black diamond shoulder brooch sculpture.

The centre stone of the piece is one of the largest known cut black diamonds in the world, weighing 312.24 carats.

It is set alongside silver grey diamonds, crystal sapphire, black agate, titanium and the Wallace Chan Porcelain – a material Chan has developed which is five times stronger than steel.

Another notable piece in the exhibition is The Joy Of Life brooch, featuring a butterfly comprised of pink sapphire, sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond, yellow diamond, pearl and titanium.

On Monday, the free exhibition premiered at Christie’s King Street headquarters in London where it will be on view until September 10.

The exhibition features more than a dozen never-before-seen works, including a series of titanium and iron sculptures which represent significant moments in Chan’s 50-year career.

It is the fifth exhibition that auction house Christie’s has presented in collaboration with Chan, following previous shows in Hong Kong in 2015 and again four years later, as well as in Shanghai in 2020 and 2021.

The Wheel Of Time serves as a metaphor for Chan’s labour-intensive working process, requiring meticulous attention to detail and embracing Chinese aesthetics, Christie’s said.

The majority of pieces on display, created during the past five decades, are on loan from many of Chan’s major international collectors.

“In the blink of an eye, half a century has flown by,” Chan previously said.

He added: “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.”