Editor’s pick: PAD London jewellery highlights
Siegelson, New York
Rare-jewel specialist Lee Siegelson’s edit of collectible jewels is always a Wallpaper* first stop at international exhibitions. His collection, which includes the famed 1935 Cole Porter Necklace – an aquamarine and ruby belt with buckle, designed by Fulco, Duke of Verdura, for Paul Flato, New York – reflects a supremely art-driven eye. This year, Siegelson brings a showstopping 1931 Jean Després ’Art Moderne’ bracelet to PAD London. The super-streamlined silver and black lacquer cuff extends along the wrist, giving this Machine-Age jewel a perennially contemporary feel. The piece is testament to Sigelson’s superb taste.
’Art Moderne’ cuff in silver with black lacquer,1931, by Jean Després,
Karry Berreby, Paris
A particularly fine example of Piaget’s early 1970s cuff-watch designs is among the trove of archive jewellery on show at Paris collector, designer and dealer Karry Berreby’s space. It reflects the Geneva watch and jewellery house’s unique gold-working expertise, its twisted golden rope bracelet woven into a sculptural mesh. The hard-stone dial, hewed from nephrite jade in mottled green and white, is equally rich.
Cuff-watch in yellow gold with nephrite dial, 1970, at Karry Berreby
Suzanne Syz
Geneva-based Suzanne Syz continues to delight with her poptastic wit, her designs ingeniously created using both industrial and craft-based techniques. Her aluminium pieces are a case in point – it’s a tricky job to set diamonds into this superlight metal, so that Syz has had to consult an aeronautics specialist to produce them. Syz creates around just 25 pieces every year. The ‘A Little Bit of Magic’ earrings are defined by the candy coloured aluminium and gold frame settings. Expertly set with pink tourmalines, emeralds and diamonds, they point to the art-based jewellery designer’s highly detailed, mixed-media approach.
’A Llittle Bit of Magic’ earrings in aluminium and gold frame with pink tourmalines, emeralds and diamonds, by Suzanne Syz
Hemmerle
The ‘Seven Gods of Fortune’ earrings sum up the narrative approach that outlines Munich jeweller Hemmerle’s designs. The Gods of Fortune are believed to bring good luck according to Japanese myth. Here, six of them are depicted on painstakingly painted porcelain panels framed in blackened silver, with white gold and diamonds. True to Hemmerle’s distinct design language, the pair is beautifully mismatched – though four and three would, admittedly, have been way too lop-sided form-wise. Hence, one God is left out.
‘Seven Gods of Fortune’ earrings in white gold, blackened silver, porcelain panels and diamonds, by Hemmerle
Valery Demure
The London jewellery consultant Valery Demure is the first contemporary fine jewellery curator to be invited to exhibit at PAD London. This year, she introduces an all-female roster of current designers, including London pearl-design specialist Melanie Georgacopoulos and LA-based Polly Wales, who casts gems directly into molten gold. Demure’s keen eye for individual style has also led her to Athens-born jeweller Ioanna Souflia. Though young in her career, Souflia has an elegant way of combining classical motifs with a modernist-deco sensibility. The result is a suite of highly individual designs, such as this rose-gold, grey diamonds and bardiglio imperiale marble ring.
’AD_M_R’ ring in rose gold with bardiglio imperiale marble and grey diamonds, at Valery Demure
Lorenz Bäumer
A well-known figure on the Paris high-jewellery scene, Lorenz Bäumer is exhibiting at PAD London for the first time. Having honed his jewellery design skills with stints working for Chanel and Louis Vuitton, where he was previously artistic director of high jewellery, he established his eponymous boutique at the Place Vendôme in 2013. Prior to settling on jewellery design as his métier, Bäumer studied engineering and architecture. This geometric ’Pyrite’ ring of gold tumbling cubes and squares, set with pavé diamonds and a large, round-cut chocolate diamond, is a fine reflection of his industrial-design roots.
’Pyrite’ ring in red gold with pavé diamonds and one round-cut chocolate diamond, by Lorenz Baumer