When you think of jewelry made from seed pods and stems, you’re probably thinking of something like this. But in the jewelry that wins ribbons in the design gallery of the Philadelphia Flower Show, largest in the world, berries look like pearls and leaves like precious metal. Clasps of actual vines may not function but they’re made to scale. Flower show jewels are judged not just on creativity but on how closely they replicate the real thing.
Given the Hollywood theme of this year’s PFS, the faux accessories on display were glitzier than ever: Carmen Miranda head wear, sci-fi tiaras, statement bracelets, and necklaces inspired by Elizabeth Taylor’s jewels – or, to be specific, “an interpretation of a necklace Richard Burton might have given to Elizabeth Taylor.”
Amazing how a little frosted nail polish can turn a pea into a pearl. Recognize that last one? Direct copy of the famous La Peregrina pearl necklace that Richard Burton actually did give Elizabeth Taylor, sold at Christie’s in 2011 for $12mil.
The emerald and pearl necklace looks a bit like the Van Cleef & Arpels’ detachable Indian-inspired number and the ruby necklace looks like something Mike Todd gave Liz for swimming laps, although she got a few rubies from Burton as well.
Amazingly, many winning jewels were made by artists with no jewelry background and/or trying this seeds-and-berries trick for the first time. First place winner in the “Out of this World” contest (hair accessories inspired by a character in a sci fi or fantasy film) went to studio jeweler Caryn Hetherston who created a tiara inspired by Galadriel from The Lord of the Rings.
One of my favorites was a cuff bracelet by Mimi Favre that won first place in the “arm candy” category. Mimi worked for many years at the bench for NYC-based Carvin French, producing bespoke jewels for the likes of Ralph Esmerian. But she is also an avid gardener and botanical illustrator who has been entering jewelry in the PFS design contests for 15 years.
That bracelet took about 60 hours, starting with a quick sketch and a magnolia leaf wrapped around a soup can for a month to mold it into cuff form. For details on how she made this, see Mimi’s blog post.
Mimi entered her first flower show contest on a lark, then found herself addicted. She swears the art workshops are the best part of the annual flower show. Details behind this year’s classes and design contests are here.
Having done a lot of model-making in her New York days, usually from another designer’s sketch, she has a lot of experience with turning two dimensions into three.
But everyone brings something interesting to the contest, Mimi says.
“It’s a nutty kind of art form, a good creative exercise.” Also, like any contest, she says, “it helps to have parameters and a deadline.”
This was not Mimi’s only contest win this year. She scored a coveted Spectrum Award for a pair of ear pendants (left) of tourmaline in platinum. As you can see, even her precious jewelry shows a preference for the leafy greens and aqua blues of a garden.
I was familiar with Mimi’s jewelry before I knew she had a habit of making faux jewels from garden debris. It was her hair comb at the 2012 flower show that stopped me in my tracks. I’ve been a fan of the show’s design gallery ever since.
Her set of three bracelets in a previous show seem to foretell the mixing-and-matching stacking trend in fashion now.
Another year, Mimi created a medieval cross pendant inspired by Guinevere. One woman fell so in love with it, she tracked Mimi down and commissioned an identical cross in real gold.
See? And you thought 60 hours on faux seed-and-leaf jewelry was a waste of time. As Mimi puts it, “You just never know.”
All photos of Mimi Favre’s work courtesy of the artist
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