Fay Cullen » Designer Jewelry – Signed Pieces

Paloma Picasso

admin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:16:02 +0000

Born on 19th April 1949, Anne Paloma Picasso, known professionally as Paloma Picasso, is an artist with an influential and obvious point of reference.

Youngest daughter of famed 20th-century artist Pablo Picasso and painter and writer Francoise Gilot, Paloma Picasso, a French/Spanish fashion designer and businesswoman, is best known for her jewelry designs and signature perfumes. Destined for fame, Paloma Picasso’s jewelry career began in 1968, when her love of clothes drew her to costume design in Paris.

Selling home-made rhinestone necklaces at flea markets drew attention from critics, not least Yves Saint Laurent asked her to design accessories to accompany one of his collections, and by 1971 she was working for the Greek jewelry company Zolotas. Her personal life led her to set-design where she met and married playwright and director Rafael Lopez-Cambil in a black-and-white themed wedding.

In 1980 Paloma Picasso was asked to design jewelry for Tiffany & Co. of New York, after all, undoubtedly an intellectual branding marketing ploy. Colored gemstones combinations were incorporated in bold designs, her namesake, the dove was a favorite symbol and red signified her work throughout her career.

In 1984, L’Oreal jumped onboard the Picasso bandwagon when Paloma Picasso began experimenting with fragrance (‘for strong women like herself’) and her husband designed the red and black packaging and bottle. And to follow came a cosmetics and bath line including body lotion, powder, shower gel, and soap.

As Paloma Picasso reached her 50?s, her bold primary colors gave way to gray, gold, and tan, reflected in her personal appearance, since she dispensed with the signature fire-engine-red lipstick favored by her since the age of 17.

Paloma Picasso briefly lost interest in designing following the death of her father in 1973, at which time she played Countess Erzs bet Bathory in Polish filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk’s erotic film, Immoral Tales (1974), receiving praise from the critics for her beauty. Paloma Picasso has not acted since and today she is married to a French doctor after she divorced Rafael Lopez-Cambil.

Piaget

admin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:11:52 +0000

PIAGET
TIMEPIECES AND BEYOND

In 1874, in the Swiss town of La COte-aux-FEes , Georges Edouard Piaget?s intricate watch mechanisms captured their first moment in time. Fast-forwarding the clock 136 years, Piaget’s expertise continues in workshops at the same historic site-recently complemented by a hyper-modern factory on the outskirts of Geneva. Although Piaget is one of many watchmakers to have originated from the Swiss Alps, Geneva has a unique place within the history of horology.
In the year 1957 Piaget produced the ’2mm-thick Caliber 9P’, a brand famed for its super-slim watch movements, a tradition carried to this day in recent models such as the Caliber 600P which, at 3.5mm, is the thinnest tourbillion movement in the world. This, however, was not Piaget’s only innovation: due to the lightness and slimness of its designs, the company became one of the earliest to transform the watch into a fully-fledged fashion accessory in the 60s, by placing miniature clock faces in lapis lazuli, turquoise and tiger’s eye, in a range of increasingly extravagant rings, cufflinks and necklaces. Piaget used this experience to launch its first independent jewelry line in 2002.

George Piaget, the founder of the company, was indeed a farmer turned watchmaker in the village of La- COte-aux-FEes, and later his sons guided the company through the economically challenging first half of the 20th century.

Originally specializing in the design and production of watch movements, Piaget expanded the scope of their expertise in the late 1950′s by launching astonishing jewelry-watches, followed by jewelry pieces of sophisticated and innovative design.

Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Piaget’s watches were marketed through other companies, but in the post-war era, the founder’s grandsons Gerald and Valentin Piaget, brought the family name to the forefront of the watch world, where it has remained to date, conserving Piaget’s proud motto kept: ‘You don’t read the time from a Piaget, you admire it?’
Throughout the 1920′s and 1930′s, Piaget manufactured ultra-thin, high quality movements. In 1943, Gerald & Valentin together with their father Timothe, registered the Piaget trademark and incorporated a new firm with a very long name – USA Ancienne Fabrique Georges Piaget & Cie., La La COte-aux-FEes . The company began making watches signed and sold as Piaget timepieces.

The effect of the new thin caliber watches was evident in the number of models ordered and in Piaget’s sales figures. It was probably the Company’s ‘moment in time’ when they changed from a brand that only the connoisseurs were aware of, to one which attracted the attention of public at large.
In 1957, the workshop in La La COte-aux-FEes developed an extraordinarily thin, manually wound watch movement referred to as ‘Calibre 9P’, and in 1960 Piaget’s watchmakers introduced the ‘Calibre 12P movement’ with a thickness of only 2.3 millimeters which was, at the time, the slimmest self-winding movement ever known.

These developments paved the way for Piaget’s designers to create increasingly sophisticated timepieces. The ‘jewel watch’ was Piaget’s present to the world of horology and its extreme thinness reflected its interior perfection.
Parallel to their coin, ring, brooch and cufflink-watches, Piaget embarked upon creating their very first ‘matin’e necklaces’, and in 1957 launched a men’s watch that was to become an icon: The Emperador’. In 1959, the Company opened a manufacturing facility in Geneva exclusively devoted to the creation of jewelry. Piaget’s chief jewelry store was opened the same year.

When the Swinging Sixties took center stage from the Rock & Roll years, and with fashion reflecting libertine attitudes, Piaget expanded their creations to include bigger shapes, bold colors, and greater affluence.
Young women admired the large, bold shapes and colors and older women could read the time without putting on their reading glasses. As an employee of the Company once stated: ‘With a Piaget watch on their wrists, they told me that looking at their watches gave them the pleasure of a simple, elegant gesture, accomplished with the nonchalance of ignoring their age?..’
This company, founded 136 years ago, has come to be regarded as a top watch making brand, with successful collections that feature amazing timepieces, which in time have managed to defy the canons of traditional watch manufacturing by virtue of their complicated movements and innovative functions.
It has also gained world-wide reputation for creating extremely feminine and irresistibly glamorous jewelry, such as the ‘Piaget Heart’ displaying sophisticated elegance; the ‘Possession Collection’ of wedding rings, matinee necklaces and the like.

Limelight Jazz Party Watch Collection
Piaget’s Limelight Jazz Party Watch Collection stresses on the idea of design and glamour more than anything else. Designed for women, this collection brings out everything that could attract and at the same time impress the female gender: a combination of style, sophistication and functionality. It is amazing how the designers from Piaget have managed to combine concepts of simplicity and glamour, discretions and diamond extravagance, in such exquisite timepieces that would soften the heart of any woman.

The new Piaget Limelight Collection is composed of three versions, one more glamorous than the other, but each defined by elegant individualism. Two of the models of this collection feature a more modern and casual strap made of black satin, while the design of the more sophisticated third model is completed by a bracelet made of white gold and adorned with brilliant-cut diamonds.

The Piaget Limelight Collection was reviewed as being one of the most eccentric collections of the past few decades, with a daring design approach that has converted designers of watch manufacturing into masters of ‘Haute Horology’. The watches are equipped with two individual Quartz movements to provide a second-time zone function. Some bracelets combine brilliant-cut and baguette diamonds with baguette spinels, simulating the keys of an enchanted piano, justifying the collection.

Piaget Watches at The 25th Biennale des Antiquaries in Paris

Piaget’s Limelight Paris-New York Jewelry

The Limelight Paris-New York Collection exhibited at the 25th Biennial des Antiquities explores the aesthetic aspects of two of the world’s most fascinating cities: Paris and New York.
The monuments of these two cities, representing authentic architectural icons, offer clearly identifiable and highly stylized motifs. These two fashion capitals also display immediately recognizable styles that are both irresistibly urban and unmistakably feminine. The cities of Paris and New York have captured the imagination of Piaget’s creative talents and craftsmen, eloquently illustrating the brands watch making and jewelry expertise.
Piaget has drawn inspiration from two key landmarks of Paris: the Eiffel Tower and the ‘Grande Roue’ (Ferris wheel) at Place de la Concorde.

The slender, luminous structure of the historical monument, the city’s universal emblem since 1889, has given rise to diamond-studded watch and jewelry creations: necklaces reflect the arches of the world’s most famous tower, a magnificent architectural feat also evoked by diamond-adorned cuff watches. The enchanting Ferris wheel, on the other hand, provides a pretext for amusing variations.

Secret watches and jewelry in motion, featuring tiny baskets of diamonds suspended from a rotating deck, are clearly reminiscent of its famous gondolas.
In an elegant interpretation of wild Parisian nights, a ruby and pink sapphire necklace simulates untied ribbons hanging along a plunging neckline. In the same fascinating spirit, Piaget introduces a fabulous cuff watch, a recurrent and emblematic object in the brands history. Entirely pave-set with diamonds, this watch literally wraps the wrist in light, evoking a luxurious corset delicately laced by a ribbon of square-cut diamonds, and also comes in a version with a colorful satin ribbon.

As for New York, Piaget has chosen to focus on two icons of the American dream: the Chrysler Building and the Statue of Liberty in New York. A spectacular demi-parure features a necklace and earrings based on a design brilliantly reflects the illuminated roof of the Art Deco style building with its pure, irresistibly graphic lines. A variation of this jewelry collection adorned with sapphires and diamonds accentuates the roofline of the legendary skyscraper and sparkles like colorful lights against the night sky.

Whether used as a motif for a pendant, earrings or a watch dial, the graphic design of the seven rays of the diadem of the Statue of Liberty symbolizes the seven oceans. Inaugurated in 1886 as a gift from France to mark the anniversary of the independence of the United States, the famous monument was created by Bartholdi in cooperation with Gustave Eiffel for its metal frame. The entirely paved diamond watch case sets the precious stones dancing to the frenzied cadence of the city that never sleeps’

Hans Stern

admin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:39:51 +0000

The history of H.Stern starts with the sale of a ‘Hohner’ accordion, the only memento Stern had taken to Brazil from his native Germany in 1939.

Born in Essen, Germany, Stern came with his family to Brazil at the beginning of World War II, settled in Rio de Janeiro and joined a company exporting gems and rock crystal. In 1945, he established his own small business, which subsequently expanded into one of the most important jewelry networks in the world. Behind the rising brand was Hans Stern, the talented German Émigre, whose German surname means ‘star’, considered by many as a ‘carioca’, meaning ‘native of Rio de Janeiro’.

Hans was born blind and started to see, only with his right eye, at the age of two. This impairment never impeded his success in a business where visual acuity is so essential. By the early 1950s, Stern’s small Brazilian jewelry company had already made a name for itself in international circles. With beautiful jewels and an audacious marketing strategy for that time, the company was poised to revolutionize the traditional jewelry industry.

Throughout more than 50 years, H.Stern has strengthened his prestigious image in Brazil and abroad. In 1964, while Hans was preparing to cross the Atlantic to expand his business in Europe and the Middle East, Time magazine described him as, “the king of diamonds and colored gems, capable of unveiling the personality hidden in every precious stone.”

Years later, the brand he created no longer requires formal introduction. H.Stern has become synonymous with beauty and good taste, be it in New York, Paris, Frankfurt, Rio, São Paulo, Tel Aviv, or in fact anywhere in the world. H. Stern in recent years has invested significantly in style to add value and uniqueness to the precious raw materials – gold, diamonds and colored gems, all that is used in jewelry making.

This has revolutionized the perspective, business, and products of Stern’s company, given the jewelers’ focus on the beauty of Brazilian gems during the first five decades. Today, design is the essence of H.Stern’s creations and his design perspective has injected light and modernity into an already venerable jewelry house, making his jewels appropriate for day or night.

Roberto Coin & Cento Collection

admin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:25:31 +0000

In 2003, Roberto Coin introduced a brand extension for the company with the world premiere of the ultramodern diamond engagement ring collection known as the Roberto Coin Cento Collection. Launched exclusively in the United States, the Cento Collection is the world’s ultimate 100-facet diamond. Cento, derived from the Italian word for one hundred — the number for perfection — describes this new sophisticated diamond. Comparable round diamonds usually have 57 or 58 facets, the Cento Diamond has one hundred, making this the most unique and individual diamond today.

It took 2 years of cutting and re-cutting and 4 million dollars worth of rough diamonds to develop the signature Cento cut diamond for Roberto Coin. The result was the most avant-garde round brilliant diamond ever designed, a completely original signature cut diamond with 100 facets and a floral pattern visible in the crown.

Georg Jensen

admin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:14:05 +0000

Georg Jensen commenced work as a silversmith in the year 1904 and founded his corporation in Copenhagen, primarily working with silver jewelry, cutlery and hollow-ware.

His designs gained popularity throughout Europe within a short period of time and his company continually expanded its scope of operations to encompass a wide assortment of silver, gold and semi-precious stone jewelry, watches, candlesticks, stainless steel and silver cutlery.

His main line of production today under the brand name ‘Georg Jensen’ includes contemporary jewelry and watches, produced in line with the company’s original motto ‘refined and organic’ which is the theme of his entire range of products. It may be said that Georg Jensen’s jewelry items have a completely different look from his other lines. They are mostly crafted in sterling silver and mounted with semi-precious stones, primarily lapis lazuli, chrysophase, amber, carnelian and labradorite.

Amethyst and moonstone are also incorporated in silver sterling rings whose designs were inspired by characteristic Art Nouveau features. Georg Jensen’s gold jewelry by comparison, is rare, usually constructed in 18k yellow gold and usually in the form of Art Nouveau or relatively bold Retro rings confined to textured or repousse gold with only limited gemstones.

Cartier

admin — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:58:23 +0000

The Paris based ‘Maison de Cartier’ was founded in 1847 by Louis-Francois Cartier and passed on, in 1874, to his son Alfred Cartier, who organized the first and extremely successful international exhibition in London.
The worldwide reputation and the international brand name Cartier however, were established at a later point of time, as Alfred’s three sons, Louis, Pierre and Jacques, took over the management of the Company, inheriting a strong family enterprise built during the second half of the 19th century.

For nearly half a century, commencing 1900, the House of Cartier eclipsed all its past and future achievements. Its combination of superb stones, exotic designs, global merchandising in jewels, clocks, watches, boxes and ‘objets d’art’ by example, forged the path for jewelers throughout the world and, despite the devastating effects of war and depression during that period, Cartier consistently maintained a standard of excellence.

Very few 19th Century Cartier jewelry items survived, but designs and records from their archives reveal that the items produced were fashionable and suited contemporary taste.

In addition to drawing inspiration from ancient Egypt and Rome, Cartier created the overstated diamond jewelry demanded by the new middle class. This inevitable consequence followed the discovery of diamond mines in South Africa, combined with the establishment of De Beers in 1880 which assured European jewelers of a steady supply of the precious gems.

At the turn of the century, the grand tradition of Versailles and Louis XVI dominated the ‘Cartier-look’ and in creating ‘dog-collars’ and tiaras, Cartier designers drew upon the ornamental motifs of the 17th and 18th centuries. Those efforts marked the beginning of the ‘garland-style’, which prevailed throughout the First World War.

The advent of platinum allowed for openwork and embroidery background patterns mounted with diamonds and pearls, while the unique enameling work of the Faberge workshops in Russia, which had continued the Versailles stylistic tradition, challenged Cartier to produce new and exciting ‘objects’. In 1905, Pierre Cartier traveled to Russia to acquire and commission from Russian workshops pieces that the French could not produce. It was indeed ironic that a French jeweler had to travel that far to bring back a 200 year old style first created at Versailles!

The important contribution of Russian design and artisanship to 20th century jewelry, was not confined to Faberge and the renewal of the Versailles style, but also encompassed the important influence exerted by the Ballets Russes, which shook the traditions of Western European art and fashion.

During the 20th century Cartier developed a reciprocal tradition with India. Due to England’s Imperial status, London had become a cultural and political center for the maharajahs on their European visits. Jeweled turbans, armlets, ankle bracelets, nose rings, and necklaces were all in need of a contemporary look, and the Cartier store in New Bond Street provided the Maharajahs with the most impressive designs and workmanship.

Ironically, the task involved transforming the very pieces which had served as inspiration for Cartier’s Art Deco jewelry. Along with the artifacts of ancient Egypt and the carved stones of India, Cartier borrowed ideas from the art works of China and Japan in its Art Deco creations.

In 1994, the Cartier Foundation moved to the Rive Gauche and opened their new headquarters, an architectural work of art designed for them by the architect Jean Nouvel. The next year, a major exhibition of Cartier Antique Collections was held in Asia. In the following year, the Lausanne Hermitage Foundation in Switzerland hosted the exhibition ‘Splendours of the Jewellery’, presenting a hundred and fifty years of artistic creation by Maison Cartier.

Today, Cartier operates more than 200 stores in 125 countries, with four emblematic boutiques world-wide located in Paris, London, New York and Tokyo. The wide product range of Cartier encompasses timepieces, jewelry, leather goods and accessories, with each product made available from one of the famous collections, comprising amongst others the Trinity de Cartier, Pathere de Cartier; Santos de Cartier and Collection Les Must de Cartier.

John Hardy

admin — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:23:11 +0000

The Canadian born designer and artist John Hardy settled in Bali in the year 1975, thereby introduced to the Island’s culture of art and handicrafts. He worked closely with local craftsmen while his wife Cynthia designed his version of modern jewelry of luxury, using varieties of leather, base metal, Sterling silver, 18K and 22K gold embedded with precious and semi-precious gemstones of vivid colors such as sapphire, garnet amethyst, turquoise as well freshwater pearls.

Having founded his Jewelry Company in Bali in 1989, John Hardy produced his first jewelry samples by applying new design concepts to traditional Balinese techniques.

John Hardy’s jewelry is famous for its designs in silver and in gold and its four traditional Balinese jewelry-making techniques: ‘rantai’ (woven chain) ‘tenun’ (woven mesh), ‘jawan’; (granulation) and ‘ukiran’ (cut work). The rantai or woven chain technique is the technique employed for bracelets and necklaces woven in a relatively time-consuming process spanning several days.

Prior to being shaped and annealed by heating and hammering, these fashionable artworks are complemented by clasps embellished with the John Hardy signature motif. The traditional Balinese technique ‘ukiran’, used to cut-out shapes in the metal, is employed in both abstract and figurative designs.

The traditional techniques inspired by Balinese life are believed to be ‘good to wear’ and to only improves with age. Women’s jewelry comprises rings, necklaces, watches, charm bracelets, earrings and pendants and the jewelry designed and produced for men include watches, rings, bracelets, cuff-links and Tuxedo sets.

The bulk of John Hardy’s employees are Indonesian craftsmen who create his designs by hand. The workshop and design center is located in the rice-farming hills of central Bali. It’s not unusual for a single artisan to work on a single piece from start to finish, secreting the story of its origin and maker, worn right next to the wearer’s skin.

Because the jewelry is hand-made, it is distinguished not only by its high quality but also by its design stories with collections inspired from such diverse sources as the garden (Kali, Ayu) while the Architecture of jewelry has a complex inner grill-work secreting Balinese secrets!

Van Cleef & Arpels

admin — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 22:15:51 +0000

The world famous French jewelry ‘Maison’ of Van Cleef & Arpels was founded in 1896 by Alfred Van Cleef and his father-in-law Solomon Arpels. VCA occupied their first store at 22 Place Vendome, where they still reside.

Fluid lines, graceful curves, color, and a poetic sense of movement, inherent in the Art Nouveau style, characterize the Maison’s pre-1920′s jewelry. In 1934, Van Cleef & Arpels created the ‘Ludo-hexagone’ bracelet also called the ‘honeycomb’ bracelet which remained in vogue for decades, widely copied and imitated by many other jewelers.

Designed as a wide band of invisibly articulated hexagonal links, often star-set at the center with a tiny ruby or diamond, it was usually decorated with a massive buckle or scroll clasp invisibly set with sapphires or rubies and decorated with small diamonds.

In the mid 1940′s VCA pioneered the ‘invisible setting’, a way of cutting and mounting colored gemstones in addition to pave-setting diamonds in yellow gold, prior to which, diamonds were invariably set in white metal.

With the return of ‘Naturalism’ in the mid- 1940′s, VCA excelled in the production of flower-head brooches, invisibly set with calibre-cut rubies and sapphires.

The first VCA ‘ballerina’ brooch was produced in 1945, the design remaining in vogue for some two decades. With the new fashion for earrings, Van Cleef and Arpels applied the ‘honeycomb’ design to their gold and diamond ear-clips and expanded their line of creation in the domain of naturalistically inspired designs.

These included floral sprays, animal motifs and the firm’s first production of ‘snowflake’ brooches. In the 1950′s their avant-garde ‘winking-cat’ brooch and other designs inspired by Walt Disney cartoons gained tremendous popularity.

For the coronation of Farah Pahlavi, the former empress of Iran, Van Cleef & Arpels received the order of designing and manufacturing a crown in 1967. The 4-pound pearl, ruby, diamond and emerald crown she received at her 1967 coronation took Pierre Arpels of Van Cleef & Arpels six months to make. This crown is kept as part of the Iranian Crown Jewels at the Iranian Central Bank in Teheran. Today, Van Cleef & Arpels boasts a total of ten boutiques in the United States.

David Yurman

admin — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 22:02:46 +0000

David Yurman Inc., headquartered in New York, is a privately held high-end American designer jewelry company consisting of 18 boutiques in 10 states and 3 international outlets, the first of which opened in Hong Kong.

Growing up in Long Island, David Yurman the artist first revealed young entrepreneurial spirit, selling little sculptures in his high school cafeteria and after the age of 16 as a sculptor, in which profession he remained for two decades. After studying for a year at NYU, David hitched from New York to Big-Sur in California, returning to Greenwich Village in the late 1960′s when fate brought him into contact with a gifted painter, Sybil Kleinrock, who had also travelled from the east.

A gallery owner spotted Sybil in one of David’s jewelry items at a gallery opening and asked to buy it, and so birthed Putnam Art Works in the early 1970′s after the two moved to the countryside. Almost a decade later they married after exhibited their designs and paintings at various craft fairs, learning the marketplace for fine crafts and jewelry and unbeknownst to them, laying the groundwork for the founding of David Yurman, the brand and company founded in 1980. Half a decade later, a cable bracelet gained recognition for Yurman, a style from which he hasn’t strayed, one that branded his image and a style that gave him a signature. Not stopping with jewelry, Yurman now sells watches, fragrances and eye-wear.

Elsa Peretti ~ Sevillana Collection

admin — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:32:29 +0000

Born in Italy and educated in Rome and Switzerland, Elsa Peretti initially made her living teaching French and eventually returned to Rome to pursue a degree in interior design. By 1969 she had established herself as a fashion model in New York and Barcelona, and was also beginning to design her own jewelry.

Elsa Peretti joined Tiffani & co. in 1974, and by the early 1980s, her collections for Tiffany had expanded to include china, crystal and silver designs for the home. Like her jewelry, these new designs were praised for their fluid shape and serene, undulating surfaces.

In 1999 Elsa Peretti celebrated her 25th anniversary with Tiffany & Co. In recognition of her remarkable career, Tiffany established the Elsa Peretti Professorship in Jewelry Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, the first endowed professorship in the history of FIT. In 2001 the designer was presented with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from FIT. In further tribute, the Elsa Peretti jewelry case in Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue flagship store was designated a Tiffany landmark.