"Inside the stone he found a big piece of green jade, so without hesitating, we had to saw the vase apart to take out the green. The vase would have fetched $5,000, but the green jade was worth more like $150,000.

"You never know what's the most precious until the very end," said Chan.

To learn more about carving, Chan spent time in cemeteries, where he could study Western sculpture for free. He was fascinated by the way anatomy and muscles were portrayed and how they captured light and shadow.

In 1974, 17-year-old Chan founded his own workshop in Hong Kong. Now after 42 years, he has 16 people helping him develop new tools and polish stones, but he is still the one and only designer.

"Sometimes I have a dream of a design and I wake myself up and draw it," he said.