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Butterfly Brooch Enters National Gem Collection

The National Museum of Natural History’s gem collection has a new addition: the Cindy Chao Black Label Masterpiece Royal Butterfly Brooch. Created by Chao in 2009 and donated to the museum by the artist, the brooch is the first Taiwanese-designed piece in the collection.

Royal Butterfly (front View)

The Cindy Chao Black Label Masterpiece Royal Butterfly Brooch

The Royal Butterfly, composed of 2,328 gems, totals 77 carats. It is set with fancy-colored and color-changing sapphires and diamonds, rubies and tsavorite garnets. The centerpieces of the butterfly’s wings are four large-faceted diamond slices stacked atop a pave layer of faceted diamonds, creating a pattern resembling the microstructure and scale of a living butterfly’s wings. Click here to learn more.

 

 

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