Ring of 10.67ct oval-shaped and two 6ct diamonds by JAR, est. $2.5-3.5 million at Chrisite's HK May 29 (Chrisite's Images)

One thing that sets the designs of Joel Arthur Rosenthal apart is his approach to stones. He always chooses the very best, but it’s more than that. The Bronx-born designer who became known as “JAR of Paris” proved what a designer can achieve by going against convention when it comes to cut and color.

On top of the record-size private collection up for sale in May at Christie’s Geneva, Christie’s Hong Kong just announced they’ve got a little JAR of their own. How’s this for a sparkler?

Those are all D color, flawless diamonds, of course, so you can imagine the flash that gives off. That center oval-shaped diamond is 10.67 carats and it’s flanked by two diamonds of 6.04 and 6.07.

Note the setting of blackened metal lined with accent diamonds – typical JAR. (See what I mean in the amazing diamond thread ring pictured below.) This three-diamond ring is expected to fetch between $2, 500,000 and $3,500,000 at Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels sale on May 29.

Before it left for Asia for the rest of its pre-sale tour, many got to admire it stateside last week at Christie’s New York, Rockefeller Center, where it was on display with the 18 JAR jewels from the Geneva sale.

I’m not sure where Rosenthal got the diamonds in that ring, but the New York-based diamond dealer William Goldberg & Co. has been working with him for at least 25 years. I spoke a few years ago to Saul Goldberg, before the much-publicized Ellen Barkin sale, about what it’s like working with Joel Rosenthal – and what he looks for in diamonds. “He would expect a flat, cushion cut or an unusual rose cut, a special pink or blueish-green diamond – something exotic, always exotic,” Goldberg said, adding that it’s extremely difficult to predict JAR’s taste, even after two decades.

JAR diamond thread ring from the 2006 Ellen Barkin sale (Christie's Images)

“Something I might think he would like, I could be so off base. And something I don’t think he’ll like, he loves,” Goldberg said. “My father had that relationship with him also. We thought of him for special pieces that would come along, but we could never seem to predict his taste. The tone of pink might not have been his tone of pink, or the tone of blue might be beautiful but we wants it more gray than blue.”

In terms of shape, the Goldbergs learned to avoid showing him the angular cuts that were in fashion long after Rosenthal began rejecting them. “He definitely likes flat stones, not your conventional, traditional cuts. He likes soft things – a cushion or an oval, nothing with hard edges,” Goldberg said.  “Give him a pointy stone and he’ll say, ‘Cut off the points, then show it to me.’ Or show him a pear shape and he’ll say, ‘Cut off the point at the bottom.’ He can dictate those things because it’s him. He’s the designer. He is a great artist.”

If you want to see an interesting example of the JAR approach to topaz, you can find it here. Since we’re talking rocks, let me show you a couple more of the JAR-picked beauties you’ll find at the Christie’s Geneva sale next month:

Ring of Colombian emerald, natural pearls and diamonds, 1988, est. $500-700,000 at Christie's Geneva in May (Christie's Images)

Pendant brooch of garnet, ruby and diamond by JAR, 2001, est. $170-220k at Christie's Geneva in May (Christie's Images)

Camellia flower brooch of rubies and diamonds by JAR, 2003 (Christie's Images)

Jewels for Hope will be on view at Christie’s Hong Kong April 27-28. Viewings at Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva begin May 11. Sale: 8pm, Monday, May 14.

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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) resides on Salt Spring Island, off the coast of Vancouver.

Snake earrings of 22kt gold and pearl by Penny Berton

Both did their time with the snake. Tyler’s are chunky, sensual, well-fed. Berton’s are lean, hammered, ready to pounce or slither away quickly.

Earrings of Tahitian pearls and 22kt gold by Carolyn Tyler

Penny Berton comes from gold prospectors who met up in the northern Wild West at the turn of the century. Her grandmother met her grandfather during the Gold Rush. They never found gold, but instilled their quest and restless spirit in their offspring.

Blue emerald snake necklace by Penny Berton

Two generations later, Penny found gold herself, when she wasn’t even looking. Born in Kleinburg, Ontario, she stumbled into Bali in 1976 with a pack on her back and dreams of becoming a filmmaker.

What she found instead was an ancient jewelry-making tradition and an unexpected medium for her creative visions. Berton brings to her jewelry an appreciation for ancient Chinese, Balinese and Western mythologies.  She believes in the healing properties of the gemstones and the energy in precious metals.

Spiral snake ring of opal and 22kt gold by Carolyn Tyler

Carolyn Tyler takes a similar approach to her jewelry, but while Berton’s snakes utilize a chain weaving technique familiar to us from John Hardy’s sterling designs, Tyler sticks more to the traditionally opulent granulation of classical gold work. Her snakes are less slinky and more ornamental.

Sterling snake ring by John Hardy

But I’d put either Benton’s or Tyler’s snakes up against this stylized sterling snake ring from John Hardy, the ex-pat designer that took cottage-industry jewelry-making on the island to a whole new level – and possibly lost something in the process?

By the time this ring was produced, Hardy wasn’t doing the designing any more. He sold his company in 2007. The name “John Hardy” now refers to a global jewelry business headquartered in Hong Kong, though its design center remains in Bali.

Sterling snake bracelet with amethyst eyes by Penny Berton

Related posts:

Snakes and stones: Jean-François Fichot, ex-pat designer in Bali

Carolyn Tyler: reinventing a life in Bali

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Earrings of 22kt gold and peridot by Jean-François Fichot

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 Western society and set up a jewelry design haven in this Hindu-drenched tropical paradise.

Treasures is next door to Ary’s Warung, where you’re sure to stop for a bite or sip at some point. It’s the perfect place to discover the kind of jewelry you might create if you were surrounded by Balinese temples, tropical foliage, and some of the world’s best goldsmiths.

Judging from Bali’s most successful ex-pat designers, it would probably encompass unusual gemstones, ancient mythology and goldsmithing techniques – and possibly snakes.

I have yet to encounter an ex-pat designer who landed on an Indonesian island and did not, at some point, design snake jewelry. Maybe this has something to do with the ex-pat role in Paradise? Or maybe it has to do with all the actual snakes in Bali and the ever-present possibility of encountering one:

From the tale of an encounter with deadly tree snakes in Bali on The Opinionated Diner

Jean-François was among the first rebel jewelry designers to discover Bali, settling there in 1978, after graduating from L’Ecole des Beaux Arts and roaming the world for a decade. Here is his Balinese haven as I photographed it in 2000:

Garden studio of Jean-François Fichot in Bali in 2000 (photo Cathleen McCarthy)

I went to Bali that year to profile Carolyn Tyler for a magazine and met Jean-François. I’d never heard of him but, it turned out, he had preceded Carolyn by a decade. He showed me the luscious gardens he’d been cultivating for 22 years and the treasures he’d been collaborating on with goldsmiths and gem carvers on the island. Here’s Jean-François’ take on the classic snake bracelet:

Tête à Tête bracelet of 22kt gold, sterling, carved turquoise and Columbian emerald by Jean-François Fichot

One of his collaborators was a Mexican lapidary artist who showed up at the studio while I was there and introduced himself as Pedro. Pedro Michel, famous for carving nearly life-size skulls out of gem-quality material like aquamarine, is a shaman practitioner who, last I heard, was living in Tokyo. Here they are discussing a project twelve years ago:

Jean-François Fichot collaborating with gem carver Pedro Michel in Bali in 2000 (photo Cathleen McCarthy)

(You can find more of Jean-François’ work and images of his tropical gardens on his website.)

Rings of gold, sterling, rock crystal with emerald (left) and baroque pearl by Jean-François Fichot.

Around the same time Jean-François set up camp on Bali, another restless soul landed nearby – and eventually shared a showcase with him at Treasures Gallery. This one was from Toronto and her name was Penny Berton…

                          

Camellia brooch of rubies and diamonds by JAR, 2003, sold for $4.3mil, 3x the low estimate and highest price ever paid for a JAR jewel at auction, at Christie's Geneva on May 14, 2012 (Christie's Images)

Curiel, then the Geneva-based head of Christie’s jewelry department, was getting ready to sell 17 JAR jewels, at that time the largest single-owner collection of JAR to be auctioned. They belonged to actress Ellen Barkin, who was unloading a hundred jewels after her divorce from Ronald Perelman.

Among the stunning pieces in that sale: a JAR diamond thread ring, a remarkable pair of topaz-and-ruby earrings, and an over-sized gardenia diamond ring that inspired a scene in the first Sex and the City movie. It looked a lot like a bracelet in this sale, made in 1994, in the form of a camellia.

(All photos courtesy Christie’s Images)

Camellia diamond bracelet by JAR, 1994 (left) est. $400-600k, sold for $624,792 at Christie’s Geneva May 14, 2012, and diamond Gardenia ring (right) sold for $486,400 at Christie’s NY in 2006

The treasure trove coming up for sale in May has 18 JAR pieces, beating Barkin’s record by a jewel, and demonstrates, once again, the Bronx-born Rosenthal’s exquisite taste in gems and often unconventional way of putting them together. This time, the jewelry belongs to Lily Safra, a Brazil-born socialite and philanthropist whose four marriages left her a billionaire with a $500 million villa on the French Riviera. It’s no surprise to learn that she’s also a longtime customer of the exclusive, Paris-based JAR. Now 77, Safra is selling off 70 of her jewels, estimated at $20 million (although JAR pieces are famous for selling above estimates).

No, the villa is not going into foreclosure. She’s donating it all to charity – 20 charities, to be precise – as chair of a foundation set up by the late Edmund Safra, a banker and her fourth and final husband. Safra, who was suffering from Parkinsons, died several years ago. Lily Safra has donated millions to emergency relief efforts (including Katrina), medical research (including AIDS and Parkinsons), and higher education. Now she’s liquidating some jewels to donate more.

Poppy flower brooch of diamonds, pink and green tourmalines by JAR, 1982, est. $500-700k, sold for $1,273,320 at Christie's Geneva on May 14, 2012

Lily and Edmund Safra began commissioning JAR jewels in 1981. Before the Barkin sale six years ago, Curiel explained that Joel Rosenthal works closely with his customers (which, by the way, included Elizabeth Taylor).

“Say you have a wedding anniversary coming up and you’d like something special and your husband goes there,” Curiel said. “If JAR knows you and your family, he will think of something you like, some kind of flower, something that reminds you of your children or happy pieces of your life. He will incorporate that in an understated way that only the people who owned the piece would recognize.”

Judging from her jewelry, I’m guessing Ms. Safra loves flowers, particularly camellias and poppies – two of the most beautiful. One is soft and feminine, the other bold and exotic. I think the fact that she loved and wore both says something interesting about her – perhaps that she’s multifaceted and both JAR and her husband (when he commissioned the jewels) recognized that. Then again, maybe she just has good taste in flowers.

For more background on JAR and the Barkin sale, see my first post on JAR. Here are a few more clues to the mysterious JAR, outtakes from my 2006 interview with François Curiel for a feature that ran in JCK magazine:

Why is Joel Rosenthal’s work so desirable?

François Curiel: Because the jewelry is not advertised, because it is not easy to buy, because it is so rare. He only produces 60 or 70 pieces a year. He doesn’t work very hard. His shop is open from 10 am to 12:30, then he goes to lunch, then reopens from 2 to 6. The shop is closed altogether from July 10 to September 15. People get frustrated by the fact that they have no access because he’s not there like any other jeweler.  If someone important, a major client, wants to see you Sunday at 10 am, every other jeweler runs to meet them. Not JAR. If you want to make an appointment with him, you do it between 10 and 12:30 or 2 to 5. He doesn’t work Saturday or Sunday.

Moghul tulip flower ear clips of rubies, sapphires and diamonds by JAR, 1987, est. $250-500,000, sold for $275,168 at Christie's Geneva (Christie's Images)

I heard a story that somebody from Texas was in his shop once and said, “I like them all. How much for the lot?” That is not JAR. You won’t get a discount because you buy four pieces. He said, “I can’t sell to you.” The person left unhappy. This is not a place where you can negotiate the price. That is the price. Some people get a bit annoyed by that.

If I was in Paris and tried to make an appointment, would I get in?

FC: You would probably not. He gets a lot of mail, as an American who lives in Paris, letters from students, from people who would not necessarily be buyers. He might answer if he doesn’t see it as a journalist trying to go through the backdoor. He’s very amenable. He talks to everybody, he’s not a snob. He’s not a high flier.

So, what is it that makes JAR’s  jewelry so desirable—the design, the rarity, the inaccessibility?

FC: All of the above.

Jewels for Hope will be on view at Christie’s London March 29-30, Christie’s New York April 14-17, Christie’s Paris April 19-20, and Christie’s Hong Kong April 27-28. Viewings at Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva begin May 11. Sale: 8pm, Monday, May 14.

Related posts:

JAR: designer jewelry as calling card

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This bridge swings open to let ships through Santa Anna Bay, then back again to allow foot traffic – which increases substantially when the mega-cruise ships stop off twice a day …

… releasing thousands of tourists into the historic streets of Willemstad in search of souvenirs:

Jewelry is a big favorite, judging from the variety of shops that line the streets of Punda:

Here is the smallest but one of the most charming jewelry shops I found, run by a young woman who sells her own and friends’ jewelry made from organic materials, mostly carved seeds.

By the way, I spotted an unfilled niche for rock-star skull jewelry, à la Célèbrités Gallery in Maui. There is obviously untapped potential here, given the taste for a good skull evident everywhere you look, from the tattoo parlors…

…. to popular dives like Jaanchie’s, where I tasted a local specialty, iguana (judging from this guy’s face, he tried it too):

… to this stone engraving on display at the oldest synagogue (in continuous use) in the Western Hemisphere, Mikvé Israel-Emanuel, built in Punda in 1732:

Is that not the most fabulous depiction of a skull you’ve ever seen? Complete with phallic crossbones that resemble the coral you find washed up on the beaches of Curaçao. But then, I do love a good skull.

All photos are mine, © Cathleen McCarthy

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Making art & jewelry on a Caribbean island

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You can move to Bali and become a jewelry designer or set up in Maui and become a jeweler to the rock stars. Or you can do what jewelry and ceramic artist Evelien Sipkes did and move to the Caribbean island of Curaçao. That’s her (right) with one of the necklaces she makes of shell-like porcelain.

I’m just back from Curaçao where I discovered a thriving ex-pat art scene, and Evelien’s studio on the island’s west end. Yep, Curaçao is where they make that blue liqueur. The fact that you don’t know much more than that is why you can probably afford to set up there. It’s still a relatively undiscovered creative paradise, about 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela. Your Curaçao getaway could look something like this:

Evelien settled here in Curaçao 15 years ago and set up a home studio open on all sides to let in those island breezes while she’s making her ceramic art. Sometimes it comes out modern and abstract, other times the island’s flora, fauna and sea life find their way into her psyche:

She also makes jewelry from porcelain, like this necklace (below), firing the buds three times in a 1200° kiln, then lining them with gold lustre. I ask if these necklaces were inspired by the local sea life. “Yes, very much,” she said. “It’s all about the coral.” Evelien also makes cluster necklaces with buds of silk, velvet, copper, Swarovski crystal, and porcelain in the red and pink hues of the island’s coral reefs.

Bling Bling Blue, 2006, by Evelien Sipkes

She also makes necklaces of beads carved from the seeds of mahogany trees, highlighting some with gold leaf (above left). That particular piece was designed to be worn by a woman with only one breast (shown left).

Evelien hales from Holland, as do most of the ex-pat artists I met on the island. Curaçao is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Dutch is spoken by almost everyone, along with English and papiamentu, the local Dutch/Spanish/African-flavored patois.

I ended up buying a bracelet from another Dutch artist, Wyke van de Witte, who knits cuffs from silver wire and sells them at Gallery Alma Blou, oldest and largest gallery in Curaçao. Mine (on my arm, below left) is made with pearls and glass beads. Wyke is holding another made with agate and demonstrating how you can pull the ends to make the bracelet fit snugly. I prefer wearing mine like a sleeve, the snugger the better. Looks a bit like fishing net, doesn’t it?

No doubt it was sea-inspired, like much of the island art. Several artists on Curaçao, including a couple who moved from Colorado two years ago, told me they swim for inspiration every day.

Along with its sweet liqueur, Curaçao is known for its scuba diving. Divers like to explore the coral-lined wall that drops dramatically into the sea at the island’s coastline. Speaking from personal experience, the part of that wall you can see snorkeling is plenty awesome. What artist wouldn’t be inspired here?

You can find more of Evelien Sipkes’ art and jewelry here.

All photos except the model shot are mine, © Cathleen McCarthy

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Brooch pendant of mokume gane, Maube pearl and diamond by Fullerton-Bahr

John Bahr and Lynda Fullerton like to learn new things. Having designed jewelry together since 1990, they had the basics down a while ago. But they get bored easily so they developed an annual tradition. As each year draws to a close, they put their heads together and come up with something both want to learn.

For creative spark, they invite artist friends over for a Christmas gathering at their home in San Gregorio, CA, and ask them to bring something they’re working on. “Everybody is exploring new stuff,” Fullerton says. “You get inspiration from your friends.”

Once they agree on the next challenge, the couple sets about mastering it. Over the years they’ve tried roller printing, press forming, stone cutting, colored patinas and enameling.

At the end of 1999, they decided to try mokume gane. They had no idea what they were getting into. In retrospect, that was probably a blessing.

Mokume gane (pronounced “mukoomay gahnay”), the Japanese technique of stacking and fusing different metals, is far more complicated than it appears. As many as 20-40 layers are fused into a solid sheet in a kiln, then cooled, hammered to a quarter-inch sheet, and sliced. The process is repeated to get the desired patterns, which range from stripes to a swirling wood grain, depending how you slice it. (Cutting straight down produces stripes; diagonal cuts produce a wood grain; and drilling holes creates circular patterns.)

The trickiest step, they discovered, is the firing. Every metal has a different melting temperature and the Fullerton-Bahrs use several, including green and white gold, palladium and shakudo (a gold-copper alloy).

“When you use as many different metals as we do, the problem is that a eutectic alloy can form,” Fullerton says. “Two metals come together and form a new alloy that may melt at a lower temperature than either of the two original metals. We’ve ruined a few pieces that way.”

A year after they took it on, they had made considerable progress and mokume gane had become an integral part of their jewelry, but they were a long way from mastery. So they decided to put the annual tradition on hold for a while. They had found, for them, the ultimate challenge and an endless source of fascination.

“We will probably study this to our graves,” Fullerton says, laughing. “We got addicted to it. We’re still developing the technique, and probably always will be.”

To see more of their mokume gane creations, visit the Fullerton-Bahr Jewelry site.

                          

Man Ray’s most famous pieces look a little challenging to wear, but they are superb pieces of craftsmanship – thanks to Gem Montibello, the Italian firm who produced them – and more functional than they appear. His Optic-Topic gold mask, for example, would appear to completely blind the wearer, but if you look closely, you can see a network of tiny drilled holes forming a spiral pattern.

Optic-Topic gold mask designed by Man Ray, 1974, 79/100 edition, produced by Gem Montebello (Diane Venet collection)

“You see through them as well as with glasses. It’s interesting,” says Diane Venet, who owns this gold mask, one of 100 produced, along with most of the jewelry on display. “Man Ray was always breaking his glasses and he loved to drive fast. So he had a discussion the Giancarlo Montebello about glasses and finally, after a few months, they came up with this.”

Pendantif-Pendant earrings of 18kt red gold by Man Ray, 1970, edition of 12, Gem Montebello

I’m not sure if she was implying he wore this while driving fast. If so, he was crazier than we thought. Man Ray was born in Philadelphia in 1890, which means by the time he designed the mask, he was 84. He died in Paris, his adopted home, two years later.

The spiral gold earrings (right) recall the spiral shapes in Man Ray’s work during the early years of the Dada movement and the title, Pendantif-Pendant, reflects his obsession with puns and alliteration. But most people refer to these as “the lampshade earrings,” because the design stemmed from a lampshade Man Ray designed in 1919.

The earrings shown have a conventional post but the originals are 5 1/2 inches long and hung from a wide curve of wire. They weren’t designed to hang directly from the lobe but to loop over the top of the ear. Clever. Man Ray’s idea – or Giancarlo Montebello’s?

Montebello produced this gold and platinum ring, signed and dated by Man Ray, in 1970, around the same time as the earrings. Venet proudly owns one of an edition of twelve.

LeTrou ring of 24kt gold and platinum by Man Ray, edition of 12, Gem Montebello (Diane Venet collection)

Man Ray had a couple things going for him that Picasso and Ernst lacked: an extensive background in fashion photography and a genuine interest in creating unique, high-quality, wearable sculpture. He also had Montibello producing his jewelry.

Giancarlo Montebello set up his workshop of highly-skilled craftsmen in Milan, in 1967, inviting a select group of internationally-known artists to contribute designs. Montebello’s team collaborated closely with the artists. Not all artists are household names, at least not in the U.S., but their jewelry definitely stands out above the rest.

You can find other results of these collaborations at the MAD exhibit, including some gorgeous geometric gold pieces designed by sculptor Pol Bury and several whimsical figurative pieces designed by sculptor/painter Niki de Saint-Phalle and executed in colorful enamel by Montebello.

Montebello is still producing artist-made jewelry, evidenced in the exhibit by a lethal-looking spiky gold ring designed by German artist Günther Uecker dated 2011. It was inspired by his Chair with Nails sculpture. (Ouch.)

Montebello, now in his nineties, was planning to attend the exhibition in NYC when I spoke to Venet earlier this month. “I want him to see all this,” she said, waving a hand around the exhibition. “He worked so hard.”

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Much of it is a delight and a surprise. Some is forgettable. Some is the kind of jewelry made by conceptual artists who don’t respect the medium as an end in itself. As Audrey Friedman, owner of Primavera Gallery and collector of jewelry by Dalí and Calder, once told me: “A lot of artists have the idea that because they’re artists, because they’re sculptors, they should do things that are weird, difficult to wear, outsized. I say, if you’re going to make jewelry, make jewelry that can be worn and that doesn’t make the wearer look absurd.”

In other words, some of the jewelry is a failure of the form-follows-function rule. The Frank Stella pieces in the exhibit are an interesting case – a solid effort, recognizably Stella, visually provocative. But do they work as jewelry?

Necklace prototype of gold painted on metal by Frank Stella, 2008 (Diane Venet collection)

Before Venet showed up to take me through the exhibition yesterday, I was staring at this 11-inch-wide neck piece from different angles, trying to figure out how it was worn. It’s a giant bow with no visible means of securing it to the neck. It almost looks like it was assembled as a choker – that if you pulled those curved wires free on both sides, it might hook behind the neck – but then, at the last minute, the artist turned it into a bow. (It would have made a stunning pendant on a choker wire.) But it sounds like he didn’t approach the project casually – and it doesn’t really look that way either.

Frank Stella's Memantra sculpture, Roof Garden, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Viewers familiar with Stella’s sculpture will recognize the curves formed by the wire from full-size pieces like Memantra in the rooftop garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (right).

In the end, maybe he was more concerned with creating a minimized piece of his iconic sculpture than in producing easily-worn jewelry.

Venet says she begged Stella for years to make a piece for her collection, first directly and then through her husband, fellow sculptor and friend of Stella’s. Stella was, flat out, not interested. Then one day when the Venets were visiting, he produced this piece from a drawer and presented it to her as a gift. She was thrilled.

Diane Venet is a beautiful woman with that Parisian instinct that allows her to pull off just about anything and make it look chic. I’m sure the Stella neck piece is no exception. But when she told me she wears it on a black turtleneck, the image that came to mind was the oversized bowtie of a clown. Was Stella being tongue-in-cheek? Yet the central motif, viewed up close, is not at all casually done: a lovely piece of three-dimensional sculpture made sparkly by painting metal with gold.

The bottom line is that when you convince Frank Stella to make a piece of wearable art, you take what you get – and in Venet’s case, you wear it with pride.

Gold ring designed by Frank Stella, 2010, edition of five (Diane Venet collection)

A second piece by Stella is a polished gold ring, of which five were produced. I had seen photos but was surprised to see how enormous it was firsthand, more than three inches long and quite bulky.

When I asked Venet if it was wearable, I could tell by her smile that it falls into the category of wearable in the loose sense – as in yes, she manages to lug it through an evening on her finger. And I’m sure it makes an excellent conversation starter.

“You wear nothing else,” she said with her French accent. “Maybe just a simple black dress. And you keep your hand here.” She put her left hand on her right shoulder, and posed for a moment gazing sideways, then laughed.

Obviously, half the fun for Venet is finding a way to wear these pieces – and then wearing them.

Picasso to Koons: The Artist as Jeweler runs through January 8, 2012, at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York City.

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Anna Torv wearing Lorraine Schwartz earrings with more than 80 carats of carved rubies at 2011 Emmy Awards

Sofia Vergara wearing Lorraine Schwartz emerald-and-diamond earrings at 2011 Emmy Awards

Aubrey Plaza wearing Lorraine Schwartz diamond cuffs and 20-carat diamond drop earrings at 2011 Emmy Awards

Elisabeth Moss in Lorraine Schwartz bronze champagne diamond earrings (and bronzed platinum diamond ring) at 2011 Emmy Awards

For the grand finale, when was the last time you saw fire opal mixed with amethyst on the red carpet – in an over-sized matching floral set? It took Heidi Klum to pull that one off:

Heidi Klum wearing Lorraine Schwartz floral earrings of fire opal, amethyst and diamonds at 2011 Emmy Awards and...

...her matching floral ring

It’s not the first time Heidi has strolled the red carpet wearing over-sized carved gems in nature-theme jewels. Here’s what she wore in 2008: