Cij08extrava SR Capitals

SPECIAL REPORT HIGH JEWELRY CAPITALS The über mate From west to east, the globe’s high jewelry capitals are awash with >> Victoria Gomelsky Jewelry, 90210-style In search of baubles, the rich and famous begin in Beverly Hills ressed to name the Van Cleef & Arpels and De Beers (located on the north end of the most famous luxury drive since December 2005) — dominates the high jewelry sector. P shopping street in That leaves Los Angeles’s most discerning consumers to seek the world, a majority of their jewelry fix further east, in West Hollywood, where movie stars people would probably do their real shopping. Neil Lane, a fixture on Beverly Boulevard for cite Rodeo Drive in decades (until, that is, a recent fire ravaged the Antiquarius Center Beverly Hills, Calif. The strip mall, where his stall was located) is young Hollywood’s bridal and mythical reputation of this awards night specialist, thanks to his enormous collection of vintage palm-lined avenue in the heart jewelry and his contemporary take on classic diamond staples. of Los Angeles evokes images of Erica Courtney and Dominique Cohen, two couture mavens with celebrities and Tinseltown million- sizable celebrity followings, congregate around Robertson aires shuffling past its shops every Boulevard. It’s no exaggeration to suggest that paparazzi lurk in the morning, browsing for Oscar fashions or gala bushes near the entrances to their boutiques. Courtney’s door is jewels while fetching coffee and bagels. footsteps away from The Ivy, one of L.A.’s hottest eateries. Around “This street looks like a mecca, but we the corner, on Melrose, lies Maxfield, fashionista heaven for its don’t get foot traffic,” says Ali Soltani, owner expertly edited selection of vintage Hermès bags, Yohji Yamamoto of David Orgell, a 7,000-square-foot jewelry fashions and jewels by local gemstone queen Sandra Müller. and tabletop emporium that’s been in the Given that Beverly Hills more or less divides Los Angeles into two same Rodeo Drive location since 1958. camps — the Westside and Hollywood — it also serves as an end- “L.A.’s a car destination.” point for consumers who dwell in the western beach communities of Besides, the brand-name competition — Santa Monica and Malibu. But sometimes even Beverly Hills is too including Tiffany & Co., Cartier, Harry Winston, far to go for jewels. In this case, Westside residents stick to local shops like Santa Monica’s 23rd Street Jewelers, a jewelry box of a boutique that sells hand-crafted platinum rings and rose-cut diamond necklaces, and Rafinity, where Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant famously bought his wife an 8-carat purple diamond ring worth $4 million. California dreamin’ Two Rodeo, located off Beverly Hills’s famed Rodeo Drive, is the epicenter of the Los Angeles luxury scene. De Beers opened nearby in 2005, selling high-priced jewels like its new Valley of Diamonds collection, which includes this Follow Me ring featuring 2.53 carats of rough diamonds and 2.90 carats of white and fancy colored pavé diamonds in white gold, $30,000. Bureau Courtesy of Beverly Hills Convention & Visitors rial world new money that is redefining the luxury landscape High times in the Big Apple Photo by Carlton Davis New York’s jewelry scene excels at uniting uptown panache with downtown style inspired cuffs at old-school favorite David Webb. Lev Leviev recently opened his Madison Avenue flagship, bringing blue diamonds within fetching distance of New York’s most upscale shoppers. A few blocks south lie Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman, both offering the ultimate in power baubles. Saks Fifth Avenue, down the street, fills in their gaps. Still, no tour of Manhattan’s jewelry scene is complete without mention of 47th Street, a single bursting-at-the-seams block at the heart of New York’s wholesale district. Downtown, that imprecise descrip- iven the state of the American economy and the sinking tion of the blocks located south of, say, U.S. dollar, New York’s role on the global jewelry 14th Street, is home to Fragments, the Gscene is in flux. However, don’t count it out yet. jewelry collective in Soho, but super-fine Moscow may have more money, Paris may have more brands and jewelry remains an uptown affair. London may have more power, but the Big Apple retains its influence Just ask James Taffin de Givenchy, the because it attracts consumers from all over the world, and what they distinguished designer behind New York’s buy here makes a difference in what’s sold everywhere else. Taffin. His Fifth Avenue showroom is a Fifth Avenue, with its famous flagship boutiques — among them repository of found treasures and idiosyn- Tiffany & Co., Harry Winston and Cartier — is the traditional home for cratic jewels that expertly mix high and low. high jewelry, but these days, a parallel stretch of Madison Avenue To wit: French-born de Givenchy, a nephew attracts the real high-rollers. Gazing into the windows of its highfa- of the famed couturier, combines superb lutin boutiques, you’ll come across everything from a 30-carat gems such as Russian demantoid garnets D-flawless diamond ring in the Graff salon to exuberant animal- and Burmese spinels with 10,000-year-old mammoth ivory, Turkish meerschaum and Luxe and the city The Leviev boutique on Madison Avenue sells fine diamond jewels, other organic materials, slyly affirming the such as these rose-cut earrings anchored by two pear-shaped stones and accented by melting pot tradition of his adopted city, pink and white pavé, price upon request. On parallel Fifth Avenue sit traditional New York jewelers like Tiffany & Co., whose 57th Street salon excels at Deco-esque design, such whose own high-low mix has always been as these diamond and platinum bracelets, $80,000 and $91,500, respectively. the secret to its everlasting appeal. COUTURE International Jeweler l Extravaganza 2008 l 00 SPECIAL REPORT HIGH JEWELRY CAPITALS tion of Boodle & Dunthorne, established in Liverpool in 1798 and now a standout on the London retail scene. The independent jeweler, whose flagship is located on Bond Street, rebranded itself as Boodles in 2004 and, thanks to savvy sponsorships, product innovation, superstar service and a commitment to advertising the brand, has reaped the rewards of its fresh and instantly recognizable image. Other English jewelry institutions, such as David Morris and Mappin & Webb, also continue to thrive — though perhaps slightly less so in the midst of the global economic downturn — but it’s not the amount nor the diversity of retail jewelers in London that makes the city so exciting from a jewelry perspective. It’s the local pool of talent. A density of gifted, London reigns bespoke-minded designers with retail shops of their The British capital is the center own, including Barbara of the jewelry universe Tipple, Fiona Knapp and Jess James, keep the thriving art scene, a torrent of “petro-dollars” and a popu- design bar high while presti- lation so diverse as to seem singularly global — London has gious training grounds like Central St. A all the trappings of a jewelry capital. From the pretty, shiny Martins ensure that the pool never lacks for streets of the Mayfair district, where international brands come an infusion of newness. home to roost, to the workshops of Hatton Garden, where grizzly old Then there’s the public outreach. This goldsmiths carry on the traditions of their fathers and grandfathers, past June, for the first time ever, the City Britain’s capital city is a unique amalgam of very old and very new. Fringe Partnership organized Coutts The new is most visible on Mayfair’s Old and New Bond Streets, London Jewellery Week. Sponsored by the a veritable jewelers’ row, in the form of new money, much of it private banking arm of The Royal Bank of Russian. Whereas the 1980s saw Arab millionaires flaunt their Scotland Group, the week saw leading wealth on London’s most upscale high street, this decade has seen jewelry names — the poster children of the a Russian billionaire invasion. The development has boosted the ad campaign were none other than Theo bottom lines of Asprey, Moussaieff, Garrard, De Beers and other Fennell, Stephen Webster and Shaun emporiums for serious stones. Leane — host parties, launch collections There’s so much money floating around London at the moment and generally toot their own horns, all in that there’s plenty to go around. While global brands juggle the the name of publicizing London’s jewelry oligarch and oil baron business, traditional English jewelers are in possibilities. the money, too, perhaps none more so than Boodles, the reincarna- No word yet on whether the sales matched the hype, but regardless, the commitment Towering heights More than 100 years after Tower Bridge was built, London is a jewelry London shows to its own jewelry trade is capital, home to both independent retailers such as Boodles, whose mint green tourma- line Dragonfly necklace, £116,000, or $232,200, is shown above, and brands such as one reason among many for why it remains Photo by visitlondonimages/britainonview Garrard, purveyor of this 17.25-carat emerald, diamond and platinum ring, $995,000. at the top of the global hierarchy. 00 l Extravaganza 2008 l COUTURE International Jeweler SPECIAL REPORT HIGH JEWELRY CAPITALS Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron, Chaumet, Mauboussin and Chanel — complement the square’s grand 17th century facades, giving onlookers pause for moments of reverence. The opulence doesn’t end there. The streets radiating Cartier 2007 from this enclave of luxury, in particular rue St.-Honoré, © also house boutiques selling second-hand haute joaillerie as well as designs from independents like Lydia Courteille, a biochemist who discovered her love for old jewels when she herself worked for an antiques dealer.

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