Art Jewelry's Fashion Moment
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in fashion what has the design, timeless in appeal” should, in art Jewelry’s rarefied—and increasingly these dicey economic times, be considered Fashion moment conceptualized—world a smart investment. Among the names of art jewelry to do with she cited were the Belfast-born Binns, but the influence of the trend-driven parallel also American Daniel Brush, whose rarely universe of fashion? While glimpsed Bakelite brooches sell for five art jewelry on it may come as a surprise, figures; the French jeweler Frederic Zaavy, fashion jewelry there are indeed relation- renowned for exquisite pavé floral jewels; ships, if not intersections, v. Bruce Hoeksema, under the brand vBH, has never between the two realms. a handbag designer who has added fine While the fashion world jewelry to his high-style offerings; and been stronger necessarily operates by the victoire de Castellane, Dior’s quirky house by andrea dinoto merciless rules of seasonal accessory designer, whose colorful cocktail merchandising, producing rings feature semi-precious megastones in fairly predictable, con- whimsically detailed settings. As this short servative styles overall, the fashion press list indicates, fashion jewelry has become has always championed the creativity of a diverse field that embraces everything individual jewelry designers—and never from a maverick artist-designed esthetic so enthusiastically as now. The December (Binns has been known to spray “jewels” 2007 issue of Vogue showcased the stunning with neon paint) to the classic designs ’50s-era sculptural pieces of Art Smith of the great houses, Cartier, Bulgari, etc. (whose work is reviewed in Every category responds to the tyranny of this issue), and the maga- design trends; even diamond and gem-set zine regularly accessorizes jewelry, an industry staple, now embraces sittings with the jewelry of uncut diamonds as the latest must-have. contemporary designers, (Art jeweler Todd Reed actually started this such as Taher Chemirik, “trend” 15 years ago, acquiring free cast- Herve van der Straeten, and offs from the diamond industry to create Philip Crangi. At the same a wildly successful collection of “natural” time, the gallery world is stones hand-set in gold.) Major diamond discovering how powerful houses like Diamond in the Rough and De marketing—via the very Beers today mine new riches in stones that successful SoFA shows would once have been rejected out of hand. and promotional events— Even at this high level, perceived value benefits artists, garnering holds sway in the marketplace. the attention of a larger For a unique overview of the current audience of fashion- and fashion jewelry field, consider the JA (Jewel- design-oriented consumers. ers of America) new York trade shows, an What’s abundantly clear important buying venue for jewelry retail- is that the influence of art ers (independents, chains, galleries), which jewelry on fashion jewelry draw hundreds of exhibitors from all over A Tom Binns necklace worn by has never been stronger; witness First lady the world, and are open to the public. The Michelle Obama in June 2008 Michelle obama at a 2008 Democratic fund- JA new York Summer Show, held last July at photo: marcel thomas/ getty images raiser resplendent in a Tom Binns necklace, the Javits Center, featured, as usual, special a cascading collage of vintage rhinestones sections devoted to trend-watching, notably in brilliant “diamond” and gemstone the self-explanatory new Designers Gallery, colors. The edgy Binns is fashion’s current, the Couture Pavilion, and the International if unlikely, darling. His high-low jewelry is Pavilions, where Italy commands attention everywhere, paired with couture in fashion for its gold traditions and designs. Antique magazines, available on the Internet, and and Estate Jewelry was also represented, widely emulated. Even a couture house like and at the very rear of the vast exhibition lanvin is producing a patchwork “state- hall the AGTA Colored Stone Pavilion lured ment necklace” of costume and precious show goers with seeming acres of candy- jewels. In the March 2008 issue of Vogue, colored loose gems and beads, all there for contributing editor Plum Sykes suggested the choosing, as if from an exotic bazaar. that “contemporary jewelry, modern in It’s easy to get lost in the maze of aisles 20 metalsmith | vol29 | no1 Denise Betesh’s hand wrought “Chain Series” from 2007, featuring 22k fused/ granulated chains, with diamond accents and sage moonstone pendant. and booths at a JA show, but certain young donned an ever-present Mikimoto strand in designers and established names always the recent movie version of Sex and the City.) manage to assert themselves. Worth noting: Reporting on the show in national Carolina Bucci’s extraordinarily fine silk- Jeweler network, an online magazine, and-gold mesh pieces, woven in Florence Catherine Dayrit described a “tale of two on a modernized textile loom; Emanuela styles,” in which the bolder necklaces Duca’s sand-textured silver and gold ribbon and cuffs that were being promoted by rings that wrap the finger in a dramatic style makers actually drew less interest spiral; and the hand-wrought 22k gold link among consumers than smaller, delicate chains of Denise Betesh, a new Mexico jewelry that can be stacked and layered for artist, who describes her work as “a fusion impact. Also, “enlightenment jewelry” with Hibiscus Bracelet by Frédéric Zaavy was featured in his 2007 solo technique out of granulation,” and who does religious, spiritual or zodiacal themes was exhibition at Phillips de Pury the show to increase her gallery representa- strong, as were nature-inspired motifs and auction house in New York City. tion. Among the couture jewelers, oscar textured metals. Jewelers also report that Heyman, the venerable firm founded in the Internet has created a new generation 1912, displayed their dazzling colored-stone of informed consumers who ask questions jewelry, which they have produced over the not only about the ethical aspects of years for major firms (the famed Taylor-Bur- jewelry on offer, the sources of diamonds ton diamond necklace purchased at Cartier and gold, for example, but also regarding was theirs). A hazel cat’s eye cabochon and fashion—what’s in, what’s out, presumably, diamond ring appeared to blink and beckon how to wear the style of the moment. with seductive beauty and mystery, as if to The current big-bold style—dictating sum up the timeless allure of jewelry itself. the massive necklace, the mega cuff, the If you had to pick just one jewel for all time, huge hoops, and the three-mojito cocktail pearls, such as the luminous Tahitian and ring—was predicted for fall 2008. Which South Sea variety of Assael International, will be old news by the time this issue so seductive in their gray-black-yellow-pink- reaches the newsstand. So what, then, white iridescence, would serve well. (Even is the function of a jewelry trend, beyond the fictional fashionista Carrie Bradshaw marketing? Most usefully, and however outlandishly it may manifest itself, a trend While the fashion world reminds us that fashion, like art, is es- necessarily operates by the sentially the visual expression of an ethos, merciless rules of seasonal reflecting the prevalent, ever shifting, merchandising … the fashion spirit of the day. press has always championed the creativity of individual Andrea DiNoto, a New-York based writer on the jewelry designers. arts and design, aspires to be fashionable. vol.29 | no.1 | metalsmith 21 Reviews of stained sidewalks, or rust-marked security doors, or talya Baharal dirty water swirling down dark- barred drainage grates. So Jewelers’werk Galerie vast is the emotional distance Washington, D.C. between, say, a pristine snow July 11–August 1, 2008 drift in the Hudson valley where Baharal now lives, and a by Kate Dobbs ariail plowed heap of dirty slush on a dejected street corner, that it Israeli-born metal artist Talya almost obliterates our ability to Baharal went to Pittsburgh, perceive the interesting quali- Pennsylvania, for a winter ties of the latter. Baharal has Residue #2 (brooch), 2008 sterling silver, iron, steel, copper month to work on a sculpture approached these urban forms 3 5 ⁄8 x 3 3 ⁄4 x 1 ⁄16" project—and out of the and the natural and manmade photo: gene gnida Rust Belt’s bleak midwinter processes at work on them blossomed strange, consoling rather like a photographer its circular edge jagged with deep knowledge of material flowers. Her artist’s eye found with a close-up lens, studying slivers of applied metal, may behavior, Baharal coaxes the in the rotten ice and grayed the nearly invisible lace of be exploding from its small viewer to a new appreciation snow, in the streaks and tiny plants and crumbling open central eye—or perhaps of the worn, the corroded, blots left by salt’s corrosion, a humus on the forest floor. disappearing into it. Even more the ever-eroding substance of wondrous palette of delicate Magnified by her attention, intriguing are Urban Landscape ever-rejuvenating life. She’s effects, which she incor- the city’s flotsam, grit, and #4, #7, and #12, which, with interested in decay: she courts porated into her extensive corrosion become a vast and their laid-on lines and interior rust. Unlike the goldsmith, “Urban landscape” series of worthy subject. pockings and craterings, call who dabbles with shining brooches and neckpieces, like the great Pittsburgh to mind the runic appearance immortality, Baharal looks exhibited in a memorable photographers Charles of manhole covers dark in a through the haze of oxidation show at Jewelers’werk Galerie. “Teenie” Harris and Eugene snowy street. to see fresh forms. Taken as The place where nature and Smith, Baharal revels in the Two of the more beautiful a body of work, the “Urban culture meet often provides rough textures and dark tones pieces in the show looked as landscape” series comprises fertile ground for artistic of a city defined by coal, iron, if they might have been cut a sustained meditation on the exploration, and that shifting and steel.