Jewelry News

Most of us don’t think of fashion as an indicator to historical change. But each era of jewelry making represents the societal tide of that particular era. Chicago’s Driehaus Museum current exhibit highlights a particularly transitional time.

The exhibition’s more than 250 pieces — 150 from Driehaus’s collection — were created between the late Victorian period and World War I. At that time, jewelry makers in the world’s design centers responded to the world’s growing industrialization and women’s changing roles with daring new jewelry styles. Boldly artistic, exquisitely detailed, hand wrought and inspired by nature, their work became known as art jewelry, according to the museum.

“The urge for a new aesthetic emerged simultaneously in many countries at the turn of the century,” according to Elyse Zorn Karlin, exhibition curator. “Together they were defined by a rebellion against the strictures of the past and a look toward an exciting, less-encumbered future.”

Wilhelm Lucas von Cranach (German, 1861-1918), Octopus Waist Clasp, c. 1900. Collection of Richard H. Driehaus. (Photos by John A. Faier / The Richard H. Driehaus Museum)

 

While this Forbes article discusses the resurgence of gold (did it ever really go away?), we couldn’t help but fawn over the designer highlighted in the piece. Whimsy meets fantasy meets incredible craftsmanship.

Temple St. Clair’s Secret Garden Serpent necklace.

The classic metal [gold] is currently having a moment, and few people know that better than designer Temple St. Clair Carr. One cannot find her haute couture jewelry collection in stores, although her signature rock crystal amulets and collectible cocktail rings can be found at select luxury retailers. She debuted her Mythical Creatures collection of nine statement pieces at the Louvre during Paris Fashion Week earlier this year. As demand for gold increases, designers like Carr—and her namesake company, Temple St. Clair—are introducing bigger and bolder collections to discerning customers who prize the true craftsmanship that comes from master makers. – Forbes

Temple St. Clair’s Great Horned Owl ring. “I have always used gold and gemstones as my materials through which I explore universal themes that interest me—from astronomical theory, to Buddhist thought to symbols of nature,”

 

 

 

 

An event that started 101 years ago has grown in popularity…and glitz.

Check out some of these standouts:

Chanel Iman wore Harry Kotlar diamond earrings and Harry Kotlar bracelet.

Darby Stanchfield wore Forevermark By Pluczenik Integré Double Drop Earrings, Forevermark by Galili and Co. Diamond Line Bracelet, Forevermark by Natalie K Three Row Diamond Bracelet, Forevermark by Natalie K Line Bracelets and Forevermark Oval Swirl Ring, all in 18k white gold.

Bethany Mota wore Brumani earrings.

Hannah Davis in Arya Esha earrings and rings.

Source: Forbes

Chanel has traditional kept its distance from e-commerce, until recently. In pop-up style, Net-a-Porter.com will display a small but significant collection of Chanel’s jewelry wear for a three week period.

“The six-piece Coco Crush collection will be available on the site from April 15 until May 6. It then will be available only in Chanel stores. The collection, in 18k white and yellow gold, consists of five rings and one cuff, each in Chanel’s iconic quilted pattern. The pieces retail for $2,049 to $19,762.

“We are thrilled that Chanel has decided to work with Net-a-Porter on this exclusive initiative,” said Alison Loehnis, president of Net-A-Porter. “Chanel is a brand that we admire greatly and we are incredibly honored and proud to partner with them on their first ever fine jewelry eCommerce project. This fabulous collection completely embodies the unequivocal chic Chanel spirit – classic, modern and timeless – that is sure to resonate with the Net-a-Porter customer.”

In a post announcing the collection on her Instagram, Natalie Massanet, executive chairman of the Net-A-Porter group, wrote, “Have waited 15 years for this!”

 

Source: JCK

This timepiece is so dazzling, I had to put on my sunglasses while reading the article in JCK this morning. Seriously, have you ever seen such an ornately detailed, dazzling watch? Probably not. Since its one of a kind…and there’s the matter of that pesky pricetag.

A hearty “wow.”

Graff Diamonds once again made a splash at Baselworld, introducing a $40 million watch topped with a 38 ct. D Flawless that can be converted to a bracelet or ring. 

Billed as the world’s most valuable transformable timepiece, the Fascination is covered in 152.96 cts. white diamonds and topped with a 38.13 ct. D Flawless pear shape.

The pear-shaped stone can also be worn as a centerpiece in a bracelet or ring, the company said.

Check out a recent article in the New Yorker that details the discovery of a trunk of intricately designed Callot dresses, designed by three sisters who are considered by some to be the most amazing designers in fashion history. Their detail to craftsmanship is astounding and will inspire us to continually raise the bar higher.

A “Callot dress” is one that was made by the Paris haute-couture house Callot Soeurs—Callot Sisters. The sisters are not much remembered now: there has been no monograph on their work, and no retrospective. Yet, not long after Callot Soeurs opened their atelier, in 1895, they became one of the great names in Belle Époque fashion. Madeleine Vionnet, one of the most influential and radical designers of the twentieth century, was the sisters’ head seamstress. She ranked them higher than the self-proclaimed King of Fashion, Paul Poiret. “Without the example of the Callot Soeurs,” Vionnet said, “I would have continued to make Fords. It is because of them that I have been able to make Rolls-Royces.”

Few dresses made by Callot Soeurs have survived. So when the cache of some twenty gowns was found moldering in the trunks in the villa, it was a major discovery. The villa was La Pietra, built by a Medici banker and bought, in 1907, by Hortense Mitchell Acton, a Chicago heiress, who was the wife of Arthur Acton, an Anglo-Italian antique dealer. Their son, Sir Harold Acton, the Oxford memoirist, historian, and aesthete, bequeathed the estate to New York University, in the nineteen-nineties.

 

One of Hortense Mitchell Acton’s Callot Soeurs gowns in the Camera Verde of Villa La Pietra. The gold and silver lace at the neck, the apron skirt, and the five metallic rosettes across the chest recall the forms of a Gothic cathedral. The sleeves are made of metallic lace, now oxidized.

 

“Without the example of the Callot Soeurs,” Vionnet said, “I would have continued to make Fords. It is because of them that I have been able to make Rolls-Royces.”

 

An orange silk dress with silk and metallic fringe, in the garden of La Pietra. Hortense Mitchell Acton likely wore it at one of the extravagant parties she hosted there, among the Actons’ collection of sculpture.

 

Made of silk velvet, and embroidered with blue silk, this dress suffered from being stored beneath a gown with “glass-bead disease.”

One can only imagine the utter thrill and excitement archaeologists must feel when uncovering items from thousands of years ago. These items consist of a rare cache of jewelry and silver coins, minted during from the reign of Alexander the Great, and have been discovered in a stalactite filled cave in northern Israel.

Two coins of Alexander of Macedon, three rings, four bracelets, two decorated earrings, three other earrings, probably made of silver, and a small stone weight.

Nested in the clay oil lamp, the agate stones are extremely well preserved, as if they were brand new.

Source: Discovery News

Have you ever heard of a gorget? Neither have I, until today. But just imagine it: the jewelry you wear today has a vast history of meaning and significance. So vast, it extends to the beginning of humankind!

This particular gorget showcases a combination of a bird and a cat, similar to a composite animal that would fall in the same category as a unicorn. The bird and cat each represent a different spirit.

NEWTOWN, Ohio —An American Indian gorget, or wearable ornament, dating back to prehistoric times was discovered by chance two weeks ago in the village of Newtown, Ohio.

“These things are engraved with these animals on it and we rarely see engraving or artwork that goes back this far in time. That’s why they’re so wonderful,” Archaeological Curator at the Cincinnati Museum Center Bob Genheimer said.

Watch this story

It’s not the first time that such an artifact has been found, but it is the first time in more than 30 years.

“And that’s really the way all of them have been found — sort of accidentally,” Genheimer said. “(It’s) not work that we have done ourselves, but construction work. We would love, at some point, to get out there and really take a look and see what’s going on.”

Authorities said the cultural significance of the piece represents American Indian culture. The gorgets typically accompany human remains. All three were found in Newtown, just a few hundred feet from each other.

This particular one showcases a combination of a bird and a cat, similar to a composite animal that would fall in the same category as a unicorn. The bird and cat each represent a different spirit.

Historians said the gorgets are so rare that there are only six or seven in the country, and three of them are in Cincinnati.

 

Source: WLWT in Ohio.

In time for Easter, Faberge has broken the shell on its latest egg in almost 100 years.

February 26, 2015

Faberge’s new Pearl Egg, its first Imperial Egg in nearly 100 years, features 139 white pearls and 3,305 diamonds as well as other precious gemstones.

London–Fabergé is returning to its roots, bringing back the tradition of creating objets d’art with a new pearl egg that marks the first since the early 1900s.

To celebrate the coming 100th anniversary of the last Fabergé Imperial Eggs ever delivered, the brand collaborated with the Al-Fardan family, renowned pearl collectors; each pearl included on the egg was selected by Hussain Ibrahim Al-Fardan from his private collection.

The new Pearl Egg marks the first egg objet in Faberge’s “Imperial Class” since 1917 and required the work of 20 highly skilled workers to come together.

Its design is inspired by the creation of a pearl within an oyster–the mother-of-pearl outside opens to show a unique 12.17-carat gray pearl from the Arabian Gulf. An innovative clasp allows the exterior to rotate on its base, allowing all six sections of the egg to open simultaneously and unveil the pearl within.

Source: NationalJeweler

Congratulations, Joe! You did a great job.

 

VALENTINES #DIAMOND CHALLENGE with @SchubachShine @joeschubach gotta see this segment before you buy!! pic.twitter.com/dQg01SP8DY

— Nicole Crites CBS 5 (@nicoleCBS5) February 12, 2015

CBS 5 – KPHO