Results tagged “jewelry”

Sifis Stavroulakis is a Greek jeweler who has been based in Chania, Crete since 1990.  He works in 18k gold (always yellow) and silver.  He frequently reticulates (a process for creating a "crumpled" looking surface through the careful melting of the surface layer) the silver and oxidizes, or in other ways, colors it. 

From his website, here are some samples. First some broaches, Sifis seems to be fond of animal and plant forms, so here are some of each. (For all the images below, from his website, click through for a larger version)

The final broach is abstract, though clearly organic in form. It is set with diamonds in an old-fashioned cut known as the Rose cut, which renders the stone almost without fire.

The use of the vegetal forms is not limited to the broaches, but appears as necklace-pendents as well

The following ring is particularly interesting, it takes a common Roman form, the bezel set, barely polished aquamarine, and gives it an interesting modern twist with the square form to the body of the ring

There is also a series of small sculptures of plants in his collection, reminiscent in form of Faberge's flowers but that will have to wait for another post

A

• 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.

(source)

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)

A

Apparently when you cross some line in the continuum of weird-looking(Karl Lagerfeld), you get to become art...
(source)

Ordinarily I might think that was over the top, but this is a man willing to be seen in public AND photographed wearing bling of himself, made by Nous Sommes.

and a closeup to prove it's him
(source)

A

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

(source)


A

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)


A

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.

(source)

A

(source)

Second a necklace by Fred Leighton about which I have no details, from V Magazine, issue 65. (Note: the weird pink at her mouth is a collapsing bubble-gum bubble. It took me a while to figure that one out)

(source)

This pair joins an Adler necklace, the Amazonie, referenced earlier.

A

As promised in the previous entries on Adler, I have some pictures of their recent experiments in Titanium. Although relatively common on Earth, Titanium was only purified and used in bulk in the second half of the 20th century. It is commonly used in watches, but rarely in jewelry. One of the aspects of it that Adler leverages is the ability to anodize the normally gray metal to a rainbow of colors. All pictures from Adler, unless noted

Fiocco broach, set 826 diamonds, totaling 38ct. Here the Titanium was probably chosen to produce the bright fuchsia color. Notice how the strips of the ribbon are constructed of separate strips of metal, similar to the sapphire ring.

Autumn Leaf broach, set with 20ct of white and 40ct of brown diamonds. Here the lightness of the Titanium allow for a shape that would have been otherwise too weak to support itself

Ventaglio (Fan) broach, set with white and cognac diamonds, and a 5ct pear-shaped white diamond drop. The Titanium's strength permitted less structural metal than would have been needed with Gold or Platinum, allowing the diamonds to entirely obscure the structure.

Sail earrings, set with 73ct of pink sapphires and 7ct of white diamonds. Here all of the properties of the metal are on display: it has been anodized to highlight the pink of the sapphires, no other metal could permit such a fine structure support the stones and no ear could support even that much Platinum or Gold without drooping to the floor.

Here you can see their size and a more accurate view of their color, worn by Georgina Robertson

(picture source)

A

Focusing on a selection of rings for this post.  Necklaces were previously featured, and there's an unusual collection of jewelry in Titanium, where the metal has been anodized to color as part of the design, still to come.

Unusual, but not actually attractive. The setting of a stone that large with only four prongs worries me, and I find the underside of the pedals, where the cutout structure from the casting is apparent, unimpressive
Purple Rose ring, set with a 10ct Burmese ruby

These next two are clearly to show off the primary stones which are, admittedly, impressive

Pink Volute ring in 18kt pink gold supporting a 10ct yellow-brown diamond. The smaller stones are Top Wesselton diamonds, an archaic European term for F/G white stones, referring to a long-closed diamond mine.

Catch Me ring in 18kt pink gold. The primary stone is a 20ct pink-brown monster

Finally an unusual piece, showcasing Adler's motif of multiple courses of stones, in this case a diamond border with tendrils of sapphire leading to the central stone.

Harmony ring with a 25ct cushion-cut sapphire as the main stone

A

The house of Adler is one of the less well-known jewelry houses today.  It was founded in the late 19th century in Istanbul, and moved its base of operations to Geneva in the 1970s.  Their current collection is modern, but strongly classical in many ways.  They tend to build, using multiple layers of repeated design or multiple strands in a necklaces, or multiple courses of stones. 

Here are some samples of their current top-of-the-line collection, there will be another post later with more

Clef de Sol necklace, 18kt white gold set with 35ct of Emeralds and 99ct of Diamonds surrounding a 30ct Colombian Emerald

Precious Ebony ring, a 10ct oval diamond set in 18kt white gold flanked with two pieces of carved Ebony and about 1ct of other diamonds

Jodhpur earrings, pink gold set with 55ct white and brown diamonds in the dangles and two 5ct brown stones at the top

Amazonie necklace, 21ct of brown diamonds, 66ct of white and 11ct of black diamonds surround the 5ct pear-shaped brown diamond set in the snakes head. For an example of how large that piece really is, and what it looks like on a person, rather than a while background, this is that same necklace on Francesca Eastwood, Clint's daughter at a 2009 debutante ball

(picture from)

Blue Dreams necklace, set with diamonds and sapphires, the three primary stones are a 30ct cushion-cut Madagascar sapphire (upper) and a 25ct pear-shaped Sri Lanka sapphire (lower), with a pear-shaped diamond between

Except where noted, all pictures from Adler
A

Famed Brazilian jeweler H.Stern has produced 5 rings, in partnership with Disney, inspired by the recent Alice in Wonderland film.  All are in yellow gold with enamel and occasionally diamond accents.

Mushroom Forest

Cheshire Cat, with a smile that glows in the dark

Topiary Tree, a tree shaped to look like bird in flight, constructed of individual leaves, soldered to a frame and then enameled

Living Flowers

The fifth ring is the Jabberwocky, but I have yet to find a good picture of it.
(Pictures from )

A

Chopard celebrates 150 years in the watch and jewelry industry with a collection of animal-themed pieces for both categories.  First in the arena of jewelry

Turtle ring in rose gold, composed of a pear-cut yellow diamond surrounded by brown diamonds, cognac-colored diamonds and yellow diamonds

Antelope earrings in yellow gold set with brown diamonds, yellow diamonds and emeralds

Clownfish plastron necklace in white gold set with 105 carats of moonstones, aquamarines, blue sapphires, pastel blue sapphires, blue topazes, icy quartz, Paraiba tourmalines, pear-cut diamonds, diamonds, amethysts, apatites, chalcedonies and tsavorites

Frog ring in white gold set with emeralds, black diamonds and white diamonds, holding a crown featuring a stunning brilliant-cut yellow diamond entirely surrounded by yellow diamonds

Monkey pendant in white gold set with brown diamonds and tsavorites, on a white gold chain set with briolette-cut rubellites

Stork earrings in white and red gold, set with two briolette-cut kunzites totalling 51 carats, as well as white, black and yellow diamonds

(Pictures from TimeZone)

Bear ring in white-gold, pave set with diamonds and set with sapphire eyes and a onyx nose.

Broach in the form of a bee, yellow and white gold set with black and yellow diamonds.

Seahorse earrings, diamonds set in white gold with onyx accents

Drawing of a frog necklace

Necklace with a pair of monkeys in white and yellow gold, set with emeralds, sapphires, tsavorites, onyx and brown diamonds.

Cat ring, in white gold set with white, yellow, brown and black diamonds
(Pictures from Paris Joaillerie)

It looks like I'll hold off the watches until tomorrow, there's enough here already

A

In the next month both Christie's and Sotheby's have some exceptional gems on sale.

First up is Christie's, leading their April 22nd sale with 2 historical stones.  The "Catherine the Great Emerald" is a 60ct (or so) irregularly shaped faceted Colombian emerald surrounded by old-mine cut diamonds and set in a gold/silver broach.  It was in her collection when she took the throne in 1762, and she then gave it to Sophie Dorothea,
princess of Württemberg, in 1776 when she married the future Tsar Paul I, Catherine's son.

Part of the same sale is the Maximilian Diamond, a 40ct white diamond with quite a checkered past. Archduke Maximilian bought the stone in 1860 in Brazil, shortly before he was installed as Emperor of Mexico under the patronage of Emperor Napoleon III of France. Under diplomatic pressure from the US, France abandoned him, leaving him to be arrested by Republican forces led by Benito Juárez. According to legend, he was wearing the diamond in a small pouch around his neck when he was executed, by firing squad, in 1867.

After being returned to his widow, Princess Charlotte of Belgium, it was sold several times until ending up at Christie's in July of 1982. It was bought by Laurence Graff (previously mentioned) for $726,000, who resold it with two other important stones to Imelda Marcos, notorious first-lady of the Philippines.

(both pictures from Paris Joaillerie)

Sotheby's has a impressive necklace set with 100ct of color-matched flawless yellow diamonds

I was looking through the current collection of Italian jeweler Delfina Delettrez(flash with annoying music) on Opening Ceremony, where it is available for sale.  The first pieces were being described as "Fairy-tale Lux", kinda of a clunky term, but not a bad description of these frog rings.

Then they had a collection of pieces with darker designs, the usual snakes and vampire teeth and some very nice spiders. Earrings in sterling and pearl

A bracelet in an oxidized sterling silver, with a golden fly caught in the web, under a surprisingly lifelike spider

Then I came upon the King of Pop, a bizarre hybrid of European Memento Mori, Mexican Day of the Dead and 21st century exploitation, all done in gold, silver and crystal.

(All images from Opening Ceremony)



A