
Bejewelled Titanium
Award-winning Taiwanese jeweller Tsai An Ho creates sought-after Titanium treasures
- Text by Charlene Co
- Photos Courtesy of Tsai An-ho
For a time, there was an aura of exclusivity within the world of high jewellery—gemstones and metals were categorized and occasionally relegated based on their perceived value, while more novel approaches to jewellery design and creation were often marginalized. However, with the jewellery industry embracing more innovative technologies and integrating less conventional materials with age-old techniques and traditional materials, it’s now experiencing a renaissance.
It’s in this atmosphere that titanium, once predominantly an industrial metal primarily employed in high-tech industries, has become a coveted material for some of the world’s most renowned jewellery artists, who now incorporate it into their masterpieces.
One such artist is Tsai An Ho, an award-winning Taiwanese jeweller whose creations have become highly sought-after in prestigious auction houses.
An unlikely encounter
Tsai was first introduced to titanium within the realm of jewellery-making in 2004 when a student in his goldsmithing class inquired about the metal. Despite his two decades of experience in the industry at that time, Tsai admitted to having limited knowledge about it.
“I actually didn’t know much about this type of metal, apart from its widespread use in high-tech fields such as medicine and aerospace. So, I was compelled to delve deeper and ordered some titanium to experiment with,” he says.
Leveraging his expertise in jewellery making, Tsai began acquainting himself with the characteristics and subtleties of titanium. “I began by heating the metal to make it more pliable for shaping. Inadvertently, during this process, I stumbled upon a fascinating feature of titanium: it undergoes a captivating transformation, displaying a spectrum of colours such as purple, yellow, blue, light blue, and green,” he says.

For his initial venture using this metal, Tsai crafted a titanium plate pendant. He meticulously cut out a 5 cm diameter circle to serve as its backing. It was during this endeavour that he distinctly experienced the metal’s formidable toughness.
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