July 2009 Archives

Sevan Biçakçi is a jeweler out of istanbul who creates pieces, primarily rings, with a distinctive Turkish flair.  He won a 2009 Couture Design Award for his cufflinks in gold and silver with miniature paintings showing two views of Istanbul.   He was profiled in Fashion Trend Setter in 2007 after he won a few awards. In the current collection are various rings utilizing gems with faceted outsides and a small form, perhaps a building cut internally.  The most obvious of these designs is his "Hagia Sophia" ring, with the Roman church cut into the inside of a citrine.  The citrine is then set in gold, pave set with brown and white diamonds which form an inscription in old Turkish (translation unknown).  A second piece of a similar genre has a portrait of Mehmet the Conqueror in gold on the side of the shank and a small building of some sort cut into the white topaz of the main stone.

For his newest collection, Ida, Sevan has drawn from earlier periods of Turkish history with pieces drawing from the Greek era of Asia Minor. Mt. Ida is in the vicinity of ancient Troy, near the ancient city of Ephesus, cultic sanctuary of Artemis.

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Couture Design Awards - An set of awards given out annually for excellence in jewelry design.

• Stephen Webster's Jules Verne necklace, previously referenced, won for Diamonds
• Atelier Zobel won for a Conch pearl ring, a rarely seen gem (right)
• Yossi Harari won in haute couture for some unusual work with a polished, but not cut, fire opal (bottom)
• Elena Votsi won the best new designer with a standing spiral worked in 18k gold. (left)

[ All pictured from Couture 2009 Winners]

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• Somewhat dull reporting and images from London's recent Jewelry Week
• Much more exciting, finally a name to go with some pictures of uncut diamond jewelry I photographed in Paris, it is the work of Patrice Fabre. 
  

• A fantastic watch blog, entirely in Hungarian.  Even not able to read a single word, the movement section provided a fantastic collection of photos.
• From the New York Times, a review of a contemporary furniture exhibit at the V&A, including the fantastic "Robber Baron" wardrobe. More information and some close-up shots of the detailed, if a bit disturbed, bronze castings available from Moss (below, closed from Moss, open from the V&A website)

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• Julien Breton is a French calligrapher specializing in elaborate scripts including Arabesque French, in the sprint of 2009, he put together a show in Nantes of his work done by moving light during a long exposure photograph. (image via flickr)
  
• Pablo Picasso did some similar work in 1948, including his famous Running Man, for photographer Gjon Mill and Life magazine

Not quite enough to be a trend, but some interesting undersea-themed jewelry:


Photo courtesy of Stephen Webster
Stephen Webster's diamond necklace from his Jules Verne Collection. [via]

Autore doesn't have their Ocenia collection on their website, but Europa Star's new jewelry publication, International Jewelry has several more pictures, including a snail broach, a starfish pendent, soft coral earrings and this over-wrought harlequin shrimp.

Finally some of the work of the Place Vendome-based Lorenz Bäumer.
"Hippocamp"

"Oursin"
And his fantastic Murene undersea broach

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(Image Copyright Xavier Reboud 2008) [via]

Boucheron is also famous as one of the over-the-top jewelers in with stores in the Place Vendome, Paris. Their "Question Mark" necklace in the form of a bird is a representitive sample

It springs from a more sedate design from the end of the 19th century.

This is their 150th anniversary year, and as such they've been doing some interesting collaborations with other luxery brands, including a unique watch with jewel wheels by Richard Mille. Some of the pieces.

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