With a new collection, New York jeweller Jean Prounis, deep-dives into a particular design epoch that shaped her hometown’s skyline, art and culture. Called ‘Moderne’, the collection is a tribute to the art deco era, expressed in 22-carat yellow gold, rock crystal, heirloom diamonds and other colourful gems.
Previously, Prounis, who is a trained goldsmith and gifted designer, had looked to ancient artefacts – among them Etruscan, Greek and Roman – for creative stimulus. For ‘Moderne’, the designer and her team stayed closer to the Manhattan address of their showroom, and to recent history, researching pochoir prints – a technique of adding layers of gouache paint to stencils – at the New York Public Library. They also looked at New York City architecture, and at archival creations by Cartier and Maison Fouquet. ‘I really wanted to explore that period in New York,’ says Prounis, who set up her eponymous business in 2017.
There is also a more personal motivation for Prounis to look at the art deco period, which spanned from the 1910s to the 1930s. It was in 1936 that her great-grandfather Otto Prounis co-opened Versailles, a hot-spot nightclub that was located opposite the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. Outfitted with sage-green silk tablecloths, custom silver cutlery and hand-gouached menus, Versailles hosted performers including Bob Hope and Edith Piaf.
‘This is a completely new direction for Prounis,’ the designer says of ‘Moderne’. ‘It has a much more contemporary reference point of the early 20th century and mostly New York. That came about from me being interested in exploring my great-grandparents' nightclub, and what came before that period that brought about such stately visuals.’ Crafted by hand in Manhattan’s jewellery district, Prounis’ new offering includes a long sautoir-style necklace in jade, frosted rock crystal, or red jasper. Tassels – or brushes, as Prounis refers to the tactile feature – are a theme, as are square-shaped diamonds, in particular Asscher and carré cuts, that stem from the art deco period, sourced by a gem expert. One old mine diamond sits at the centre of Prounis’ ‘Rosemary’ ring, a geometric design inspired by a ring that the designer’s great-grandmother once wore.
