Jewellery Like Nothing You've Ever Seen

Discover three talented jewellers — all masters in their own right — who let their creativity run wild with their incredible jewelled art.

- Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop

Wallace Chan is known for infusing his creations with Oriental spiritualism. Ilgiz Fazulzyanov’s enamel skills breathes new life into art nouveau. Sevan Biçakçi redefines Byzantine and Ottoman magnificence. All three jewellers are known for taking their imagination to dizzying heights, from where they create dazzling bejewelled fantasies.

Of the three, only Turkish-born Biçakçi started his professional career in the jewellery world. He received early training in jewellery making, after leaving school at the age of 12 to serve as an apprentice under master goldsmith Hovsep Çatak at the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul. Chan, on the other hand, used to create monumental sculptures for Buddhist monasteries while Fazulzyanov worked with stained glass windows and silk prints.

“These are three distinctively different artists,” notes François Curiel, jewellery specialist and chairman of Christie’s Europe. “While they have their own aesthetics and technical styles, they also share a desire to reinvent themselves.” Curiel also points out that “their ethnicity and early training show through in all of their creations”.

THE PHILOSPHER

Comparing his work to a gardener nurturing plants, Wallace Chan says: “To create is not to water a single plant, but to sow many different seeds in a garden or even a forest. Some flowers will bloom, some flowers will have to wait and sometimes, they all bloom together.” The Hong Kong-based jeweller tends to his creations patiently in his atelier, sometimes for years, and when they “bloom”, they are always mesmerising, one-of-a-kind creations.