The unmissable jewellery design at TEFAF Maastricht 2023

TEFAF Maastricht 2023, preparing to open its doors, will unite 270 art dealers, showcasing works that span 7,000 years in an eclectic curation of pieces both antique and contemporary.

Alongside this year’s artworks and objets – highlights of which include Josef Hoffmann’s Mantle Clock and Alonso Sánchez Coello’s Portrait of a young noblewoman – sits an exquisite collection of jewellery from respected houses and designers. 

Offbeat design codes are epitomised in the work of German jewellery house Hemmerle, whose unexpected designs and unusual materials bring a subversive sensibility to high jewellery design, with its take on a classic diamond ring becoming a juxtaposition of diamond cuts held in the jaws of an iron band. For Nino Franchina for Didier, jewellery took a sculptural bent; the artist’s cuff in melted gold, its holes burnt in by the same acetylene torch he used in his sculpture, was sported by Contessa Elizabeth di Robilant in the June 1963 American Vogue.

René Lalique’s gold, enamel and glass ring for Wartski plays with surrealist themes, capturing a female figure carved in intaglio, leaning in for a kiss. In a 1971 piece by Van Cleef & Arpels, jewellery also takes on unexpected forms, with a yellow-gold, sapphire, emerald and diamond pendant also wearable as a clip.

Pieces come with an impressive heritage. A gold, diamond, and chrysoprase brooch from Fabergé can trace its provenance to three European ruling families – the Danish and Greek Royal families and the Russian Imperial family. The original owner, Queen Olga of Greece, was the great-grandmother of King Charles III.

TEFAF Maastricht runs from 11 – 19 March 2023

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