Results matching “Jewelry”

Another of the strange jewelers of Paris, this time working in a very Post-Modernist style, is Baptiste Monvoisin (who's name translates roughly to "My Neighbor").  He is primarily a metalworker, with stones being a rare addition, usually highlighting the gold or silver design.  Some of his works clearly take aim at the common tropes of jewelry, like the brilliant-cut diamond, such as the Pop-Art or Diamond rings below

Pop-Art ring in yellow and white gold and black diamonds	Diamond ring in silver

Others show a strange dental interest, such as the Molar ring, or the broach in the form of chewed chewing-gum.

Molar ring in yellow gold	Chewing-Gum broach in pink gold

Using Hipster "Irony" as source he has taken the inexplicably popular trend of intentionally-pixelated art to its logical conclusion is the "Pixel" ring in sand-blasted gold, quite an interesting surface treatment. Along with that is the Mustache cufflink in white gold.

Pixel	Mustache

He has some other interesting pieces, including a hand-grenade based on a large Tahitian pearl and a hospital-bracelet rendered in pale yellow gold, but one of the more amusing pieces, conceptually, is this ring, the Bijoux de Famille in yellow gold

All pictures are from his website.

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Valérie Danenberg* comes to the world of jewelry honestly, her father is an art dealer and her mother sells antique jewelry in the Louvre des Antiquaires in Paris.  After getting a diploma from the Institut National de Gemmologie, and spending 20 years selling antique jewelry, she has recently opened a boutique on the Left Bank selling her own designs.

From this initial collection come a pair of pieces entitled "Beauty and the Beast" (oddly enough the press release has the name in English, despite the text being entirely French otherwise).  The ring is yellow gold set with rubies, diamonds and tzavorites (a type of bright green Garnet), while the necklace is rose gold and silver set with tzavorites(the eyes) and garnets (the dark-red of the antlers).  Frankly the necklace looks like a prop from some sort of Deal-with-the-Devil movie, but perhaps that's just me...it might look less malevolent on someone.

The rest of the collection consists of three pairs of earrings. The so-called Monnaie du Pape (Pope's Money) and Summer Dream consist of the same filigree pattern overlaid on a semi-precious background, mother-of-pearl in the case of the Pope, turquoise for Summer. The use of the design, offcentered and asymmetrically cut off is quite interesting, though the names seem to have little relation to the design. The final pair is a nameless feather design, quite reminiscent of Art deco designs such as Boucheron (see a feather design) or more probably Lalique, as Valérie's mother collects their work.

Monnaie du Pape	Summer Dream

( source )

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* Her website seems to be down for a redesign at the moment

Chanel has announced some new jewelry pieces for their Spring 2011 collection, the Secrets of the Orient.  Like everything they seem to produce, this comes "from the universe of Madmoiselle Chanel", in this case from her collection of Oriental folding screens.  In total 28 pieces in 7 themes represent "the Oriental civilizations of Persia and Russia via Venice and Isfahan"

First we have a pair of Persian pieces, a bracelet and a pair of earrings. Though unmarked on the press release, I believe these pieces are tourmaline (pink and green) as well as emeralds and diamonds set in 18kt yellow gold.

Another matched pair are these Mosaic pieces, a necklace, and an interestinly assymetric pair of earrings. The pieces are white gold, set with rubies, pearls, emeralds and either pink sapphires or tourmalines.

Finally a pair in white gold and diamonds (white and fancy). The broach is named Camélia Dentelle (Camelia lace), and set with a single large pearl, while the necklace is simply named Venetian. I can't help but see the broach as "the worlds most expensive pasty"

( all pictures from Paris Joaillerie )

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The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (that's the full name, don't wear it out) is hosting an exhibition of Van Cleef and Arpels jewelry, watches and other objects d'art from February 18 through June 5, 2011. 

Amoung the pieces on display are displays of dazzling technique, such as this gold box in semi-precious and precious stones from 1926(Left) and a Camargo broach, in platinum set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds from 1942 (Right).  For the simply dazzling, it's hard to beat a platinum and gold diadem, set with diamonds for Princess Grace, from 1976 (Below)

My favorite piece from the promotional pictures is this bell-push, set with an enameled gold and silver boat(1908). The body is ebony while the massive wave is carved from a single piece of jasper.

An interesting pair of broaches are also on display. One is recent, from 2004, a Japanese-inspired butterfly (Right). The wings are wood with Maki-e laquer, a Japanese technique for layering lacquer with gold dust, and the body is gold set with diamonds. The other is from 1971, a bird-shaped broach in gold carrying a 95ct briolette-cut fancy yellow diamond and set with sapphires and more diamonds. It was once owned by Ganna Walska

There are plenty more pieces in the exhibit that I may post later on
(Pictures from Paris Joaillerie, except the bird broach from the CH website)
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The Italian Jewelry/Watch house of Bulgari celebrates its 125th birthday this year (previously mentioned ) and is currently showing 600 pieces at the Grand Palais, in Paris.

Among some of the highlights

Yellow Gold choker set with rubies and diamonds and blue enamel (1975)	Broach with cabuchon rubies and diamonds (1930)

Their serpent watches have been made for at least the last 50 years, and are an technical tour-de-force, both in the construction and in the enamel works. The watch face hides within the mouth of the snake, until the wearer opens the mouth to check the time

Bulgari also shows off their connections to the beautiful and famous

Emerald and diamond necklace once worn by Elizabeth Taylor (1962)	Ingrid Bergman wearing Bulgari jewels in the 1962 film The Visit

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I've posted Lorenz Bäumer's excellent jewelry before, and I cannot complain about his work in that sphere, but his work in digital renderings leaves much to be desired.  I understand the desire to use renderings to promote unfinished pieces, the watch brands do it all the time, but put some effort into it!

I was all set to like the Mikado ring design, it even reminds me of a recently finished house that I liked, and then I saw the full size image. I know getting specular surfaces to render properly is not trivial, but every edge has that "I just hit the render button in AutoCAD" look

Once I saw it there, it was almost impossible not to see the same sort of digital artifacts in a piece I'd have probably not noticed but for the horror, the Toi et Moi ring.

For someone who's got the weight of Chanel and Louis Vuitton behind him, you'd think he could find a 3d artist....

(pictures from Paris Joaillerie)
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Less well known then his paintings, photographs or even perfume bottles are Salvador Dali's Jewelry designs. Here Madelle Hegeler poses with several pieces: a solid-gold hand, lips set with rubies opened to reveal pearl teeth, a corset ring and the "eye of time" watch, worn as a monocle. The pieces were designed by Dali and constructed by Carlos Alemany, a Argentinian silversmith, under Dali's supervision. These pieces can now be seen in the Teatro-Museo in Dali's hometown of Figueres, Spain

(picture source)



Another piece he made is the "Grapes of Immortality" on display at the Dali house in Portligat. It consists of emeralds and amethysts set in gold with small diamond accents.

(picture by Frank Courtney )

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Claiming inspiration from Jean Cocteau, Delfina Delettrez(previously mentioned) has released a small collection of jewelry patterned after bits of clothing: a tuxedo collar, a hair bow or my favorite, a french cuff, complete with a cufflink

The piece is rather nice, but I've cropped down the original promotional picture, since the disembodied hand was just a bit too creepy otherwise. More pictures are available from the same source, Paris Joaillerie, and the pieces can be seen and purchased at Colette in Paris.

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Every other year the Syndicat National des Antiquaires, the french association of antique dealers sponsors a grand antique show in the Grand Palais in Paris, the Biennale des Antiquaires. This has become a place for 7 of the top french jewelry houses to show off their collections, both new and old, alongside 80 antique dealers.

From the antique side of the house:

Faerber has a skull, carved of coral and set with diamond eyes, from approx 1700	And a Paulding Farnham Orchid broach, retailed by Tiffany, from approx 1890, enamel over gold set with a single diamond.

On the more modern side:

Dior Joaillerie has a necklace decorated with roses in diamonds, emeralds and rubies	Louis Vuitton has a ring (they say it's a ring, I think it's mislabeled) with pale pink and blue sapphires and diamonds, including one in their custom quadrafoil shape

A pair from Cartier

A ring, diamond set with a unusual carved sapphire of 60ct as the central stone	a necklace, platinum set with cultured pearls, white and brown diamonds and a panther head carved from petrified wood. The grain of the wood does an excellent job giving depth to the low-relief head.

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Tiffany and Co has signed a deal with the Ellendale diamond mine in Australia to get first choice of their yellow stones. As a result, they've been creating a collection of jewelry based on the stones, and showing off the Tiffany Yellow, the largest cut yellow diamond in the world at 128ct set in the Bird in the Rock broach, by Jean Schlumberger.

(source)
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Denis Chan is a the designer behind the Chinese jewelry hose Qeelin. In the past he's given us vaguely Chinese designs (articulated pandas and lotus stems). This time as the first members of the concept collection C'C (Chan's Collectibles), he presents 5 different jeweled robot pendents in a collection limited to 38 pieces.
These are all done in 18k gold, of various colors, set with white and black diamonds and multicolored sapphires. The smaller pieces have articulated arms and legs.
NB: All the names below are mine Click on any picture for a larger version

Girl with moonstone breasts	Gimp without articulated arms (i think) but the gears turn
Boy with yellow diamonds in the torso	Lost in Space with socketed arms
The largest of the collection, Big Blue is an enlarged version of Boy with the dial on his chest opening a pair of tiny doors to reveal the gears, possibly that turn, inside.

And finally, a family portrait

(all pics from Paris Joaillerie)

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The Piaget Limelight collection (previously referenced) is one of the cores of their jewelry line, and has been in production for many years. Back at the end of 2008 they released several pieces under the marquee "Limelight Paris-New York", though the connection to the current pieces is tenuous at best.

The following pieces are all designated part of the Paris side of the collection. First a pair of Montres à Secret (hidden watches). The design for both seems to be based on a pattern of leaves, larger realistic leaves act as the doors covering the watch face with more abstract leaves around them.. The first one, entirely in white diamonds, is using the fashion industry as a thread to connect New York and Paris. It mimics the flow of a ribbon with the crossed leaves of the watch dial taking the place of a bow. The band manages to use the variable shape and size stones to excellent effect, bulging as the "ribbon" goes away from the dial and around the wrist.

The second of the Montres à Secret is harder to place in the "Paris-New York" category, but impressive none the less. A double watch, it has a pair of leaves which each open independently to reveal a watch dial, one in white diamonds and one in yellow, each with a contrasting stripe on the main leaf. The bracelet consists of 5 rows of somewhat irregularly shaped and colored diamonds, perhaps to echo the cobbles of Paris?

More easily connected to the themes of Paris and high fashion is the Corset-themed pieces of the collection. A cuff-style watch set with 1576 white diamonds, though quite massive, manages to leverage the lacing to remain somewhat delicate and build an unusual three-dimensionality.

On the wrist of a model it manages not to be overwhelming, though the presence of that gigantic ruby ring does provide some counterweight.

The stand-out piece of the collection is clearly the superb corset-themed necklace. From the front it resembles a choker, though with three diamond drops, nicely done, but by no means exceptional. The band of the choker echos the lacings of a corset.

from the back, however, the true nature of the piece become evident, with the "lacings" of the corset dropping down past the bottom of the shoulder-blades, ending with a large oval ruby. Plenty of jewelry companies have long necklaces ending with set stones, even with similar rubies, but dropping the piece down the back, and with a pattern so associated with the back, is quite unusual and sucessful.

Pictures from Paris Joaillerie

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• As a followup to a previous post, here's more marketing spin on the Celsius X VI II Tourbillon phone
• A fantastic story of criminal failure, or why the inept don't realize it.
• Maison Margiela -- Not terribly interesting jewelry, but amusing web design, mimicking the auto-generated index of files that one sees if there is no index file present
• La Morra -- An Early-Music ensemble out of Basel has several of their works, including a lovely Danse de Cleves, online

I realize that I presented Louis Vuitton's second jewelry collection without presenting their first.  Also by Lorenz Baumer, L'Ame du Voyage (the soul of travel) consists of a series of openwork necklaces in gold and set with multi-colored stones.  It was revealed in the mid fall of 2009 and there was even a bit of video for it, with Mr. Baumer describing his concept and design process for the collection in French and some excellent close-ups of the pieces showing the LV-patterned openwork.

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Five of the necklaces follow. All are 18k gold, pink, white or yellow and are set with diamonds and some of the following: Yellow, Blue and Papradasha Sapphires, Rubies, Spinels, Aquamarine and/or Tsavorite Garnet.

(image source, other source)

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Not usually known for their jewelry, the house of Louis Vuitton made quite a splash last year with a collection designed by Lorenz Bäumer (previously referenced). They have recently released another collection, Les Ardentes, in white diamond and white gold on his excellent designs. The signature elements of this collection are diamonds cut in the shape of the famous LV emblem, a cut which they have, for some reason, patented and then openwork of the same logo elements set with smaller stones.

First a selection of rings

Next a pair of bracelets

Several different pairs of earrings were included

Including my favorite piece from the collection, the long "shoulder-duster" earrings

Finally a pair of the necklaces in the collection

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Le Bon Marche is a department store with their flagship store on the Left Bank in Paris. Their jewelry department has recently commissioned several exclusive pieces including an interesting pair of abacus earrings by Axel Juret Jumahong, a Chinese designer who works under the name Junion.

Another piece in the collection is by Philippe Tournaire (previously mentioned), a ring with a tiny model of famous buildings of the Left Bank.

(source)


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Piaget has come out with some interesting pieces of late, focusing on combining black with white diamonds. First some pieces from their Jazz collection, starting with jewelry. The necklace in the form of a piano keyboard, with matching earrings, is done with black spinel and white diamonds, set in white gold

There are also two watches with a similar design, both with the dial hidden until it is revealed.
The Limelight watch uses the same elements and materials as the necklace.

The other piano-themed watch uses the smooth black of onyx paired with a pavee of diamonds.

To conclude the Jazz collection we have the Piaget Polo Tourbillon Relaitf (yes that is the real name). The tourbillon relatif is a movement unique to Piaget, with the rotating cage mounted at the end of the minute hand and the hours indicated by a small disk under that massive minute hand. For the Jazz model they have emphasized the distribution of music on the dial, with music notes and a stylized record.

and the performance of music with the cloisonne enamel work on the sides of the case

(All preceeding pictures from Paris Joaillerie)

To conclude with something truly unique, a black and white diamond "Quick Response" code necklace. A trend that has not escaped Japan, the QR code is a way to mark things (items, places, business cards, etc) and link them to content on the internet. You scan the QR code with something, probably a smartphone, and a small amount of digital data can be retrieved, such as a URL. Piaget has built one in white gold, set with 1042 white diamonds and 520 black spinels. If you scan it, it'll take you to a website they have built to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Possession collection.

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As a technique Guilloché has been mostly relegated to the realm of watch dials, with Allen Elishewitz's knives as the notable exception.  It is the sort of technique that was born during the enlightenment, wherein the number, grouping and depth of cams and bumps on a series of wheels can create fantastic patterns engraved into metal.

A late 18th Century rose engine for doing guilloche work, this engraving comes from Denis Diderot's Encyclopedia.
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Louis the 16th practiced as a hobby using this lathe, now in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, in Paris. In this picture, the large steel wheels at center are th cams that determine the pattern; the piece to be cut would be attached to the brass disk at the right of the machine, and the machine would be turned, by hand, from the left via crank
(Picture is mine, 2008)

In recent years there have been some examples of the technique in jewelry, but mostly in watch companies trying to expand their ranges. Guinel, on the other hand, has no history in the watch industry, so their designs can be free of that baggage.

For a first piece they have a 18k gold pendent, with a band of diamonds. The engraved pattern is a rather simple one, a series of circles, each offset from the previous one, progressing around a circle. If these were done evenly, it would create a barley-corn pattern, but skipping every few causes a more interesting pattern to emerge

This next piece is from their Solitaire collection, a single diamond set in white gold. The side of the ring is decorated with a pattern called Soleil courbe (curve of the sun). I quite like the design, but could do without the brand name written in large letters around the outisde of the ring.

Finally a piece with the engraving in mother of pearl, one of the most difficult materials to engrave due to irregularities in the layers and overall brittleness. This piece is from their Helicie collection.

Jewelry photos from Paris Joaillerie



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