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.

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