January 2010 Archives

Here is more of the jewelry from the Cartier in America exhibit previously referenced, twice. 

First the "Tutti Frutti" Necklace from 1936, altered in 1963

From the previously referenced Cartier in America exhibit come these four clocks.  Cartier's desk clocks were a celebrated example of the style, which was quite popular throughout the early and middle of the 20th century.

First a Portique Mystery Clock, where there is no apparent connection between the hands and the movement.  This one is in Platinum, gold, rock crystal, diamonds, coral, onyx and black enamel and dates to 1923. 


(Photo by Nick Welsh, Copyright Cartier Collection)

Second is a more classical guiloche enamel minute repeating desk cubic clock from 1908, in , silver, gold, agate, moonstone, diamonds, platinum, clockwork, and glass.  The dial has, for hour indications, the words "Bons Souhaits", roughly meaning "Good Wishes"

(Photo by Joe McDonald, Copyright Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)

Inspired by the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922, the Neo-Egyptian style was in full bloom by the time this striking clock was made in 1927, from gold, silver-gilt, lapis lazuli (base and top), mother of pearl plaques carves with hieroglyphs, carved coral rings and rods.  The kneeling winged Egyptian deity at the top is set with emeralds and  carnelians, and enameled.


(Photo by Nick Welsh, Copyright Cartier Collection)

Finally a more historical, if less attractive clock.  It was given to FDR personally by Pierre Cartier in 1938 and has, in addition to the main dial, four sub-dials, displaying the time in London/Paris, Rome/Berlin, San Fransisco and Tokyo.  Made of silver, onyx and nephrite, it has an eight-day movement signed European Watch and Clock Co, a name frequently used by Cartier when importing clocks and watches to the US.   

(Photo courtesy of Sotheby's, where the clock was sold in December, 2007 for a record $1,609,000)
(All photos via)

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Two photos of WWII Bombers under construction.  First a field of nose domes being polished

Coming to the Legion of Honor museum, part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Fransisco is what promises to be quite an impressive collection of Cartier's work.  It focuses on work from the early 1920s through the 1970s, with many pieces coming from their collection, housed in Geneva. 
The following pictures are mostly from 7x7 Blog:

From the boston.com 2009 Year in Photos series comes this shot:

A Palestinian demonstrator uses a tennis racket to return an empty tear gas canister at Israeli soldiers during a protest against the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah October 23, 2009. (REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis)

From the stained glass in the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in Troyes, France comes this stained-glass window, which broadly tells the story of Job*

(Or "Not every hit can be a home run")
From the unorthodox yet fertile minds of Jorg Hysek, Fabrice Gonet* and Valerie Ursenbacher comes another watch under the brand HD3, the Black Pearl.  Clearly trying to capture all the momentum still left seven years after the release of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, this massive watch is as pirated-up as possible without including an eyepatch or a parrot.  It has a skull-and-crossbones on one side, a death's head in the compass on the back and a crown said to resemble a ships wheel. 

The movement, which appears to have been realized by BNB, has a double-axis Tourbillon and an 80-hour power reserve.  Telling the time is a bit of a challenge, with the hours represented on the left (conventional 9 o'clock) digitally and the minutes at the top with what seems reminiscent of a ships telegraph from the 19th century.  There is also a power-reserve display at about 10:30 in the vague form of a sextant.  The movement is identical to that in the Vulkania released in 2008.

*Fabrice previously designed a piece for the HD3 brand that had a quartz watch under a tourbillon as a way to get a big date and second timezone without any of that pesky watchmaking.

The following pictures are from the HD3 website.

First, the promotional picture in what has become almost a required pose, front and back digitally composited together.

A mysterious tool from Le Maison d'Outil in Troyes, France (previously referenced) has been identified as an antique hoof trimming plane.

Here are a few in a case of farriers' tools

Another of the many jewelers with boutiques in the Place Vendome, Philippe Tournaire hides his shop in a small covered walkway near the JLC and Omega boutiques.  He tends towards the bezel set stone, with a wide face, and architectural pieces, specifically rings.  First from the bezel-set genre, a yellow gold ring set with diamonds and either rubies or tourmaline


One can see that the shank takes the form of the Eiffel tower.  This style of multi-finger ring is often tried, but seldom with such artistry and success...

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The first store on your left as you walk into the Place Vendome is that of Gianmaria Buccelatti, one of the top names in contemporary Italian jewelry.  They veer more towards classical styling, frequently using unusually shaped pearls as the central element, a technique popular in the late Renaissance. 
Several pieces in that style follow:


Third in the formed pearls is this piece, using irregular ovoid pearls as grapes

All these pictures, and more, are mine.
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