After donating a pile of jewels to charity at Christie’s Geneva today, Lily Safra had the pleasure of seeing them sell for almost twice the estimates – nearly $37.9 million in all – including 18 JAR jewels that went (of course) for well above estimates. So, what do you do when you double your...
As yet another eye-popping jewel by the Bronx-born designer known as "JAR of Paris" goes on the block next month, a few observations of what a designer can achieve by going against convention when it comes to gemstones.
Like Jean-François Fichot, Carolyn Tyler and Penny Berton both found a haven and outlet for their creative expression in Bali. Both invested a chunk of their lives developing a little design industry there, and both have since retreated somewhat to their roots. Tyler (far right) maintains a home in Santa Barbara and Berton (left)...
If you’re ever in Bali, check out Treasures Gallery in Ubud where you’ll find three primary designers – Carolyn Tyler, Penny Berton, and Jean-François Fichot, who died last year but whose jewelry designs are still represented. Together they tell the story of a generation of artists who rebelled against the pressures and conventions of...
As Christie’s prepares to sell the largest private collection of JAR jewels ever offered at auction – at Geneva’s Four Seasons des Bergues on May 14 – I dug up an interview I did in 2006 with François Curiel about Joel Arthur Rosenthal. Curiel, then the Geneva-based head of Christie’s jewelry department, was getting...
If your particular island fantasy is to open a little shop and sell baubles to the tourists, here’s an option for you at the south end of the Caribbean. (If you’d rather make art in lush isolation, see my last post.) Curaçao, tucked between Cuba and Venezuela, is a balmy 85° most of the...
Ever dream of dropping everything, moving to an island and making art for the rest of your life – surrounded by exotic wildlife, crystal blue seascapes, and like-minded individuals who’ve escaped the same rat race? So many islands have become artist havens, the choices are endless. You can move to Bali and become a...
Eighty lots of Bakelite and Lucite jewelry from a private collection will be auctioned off during the Period Art & Design sale at Bonhams Los Angeles on May 20. They show the full spectrum of Bakelite jewelry, from elegant and exotic to splashy, whimsical and cartoonish. (Note the elephant with “googly eyes!”) Invented in...
Blue diamonds continue to bring top prices at auction, a natural blue diamond being so rare and so dazzling. A ring set with a 6.01-carat cushion-cut blue diamond, flanked by pink diamonds, went for $10 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in October and an 8.01-carat vivid blue emerald-cut diamond ring is expected to sell...
The spotlight is on Elsa Schiaparelli, once again. She closed her shop in Paris almost six decades ago, yet her whimsical creations look as cutting edge as ever. Lady Gaga or Madonna could wear her shoe hat on stage and no one would bat an eye. Schiaparelli, or “Schiap,” as she was known (pronounced...
