VClearly, lovers of beautiful books are interested in jewelry. This is at least the lesson that we draw from the extent and variety of works devoted to ancient and contemporary jewellery. It must be said that the publishers are committed to offering more of a succession of beautiful images to offer a tactile and educational experience at the height of the artistic and technical prowess that presided over the production of the jewels presented. Our selection has endeavored – from the guide for amateurs to the unpublished monograph via the luxurious box set – to shed light on the diversity of the offer revealed this winter. Good reading.
A (richly) illustrated summary
JJournalist emeritus in the world of luxury, Fabienne Reybaud knows jewelry like the back of her hand. An acquaintance that comes from afar since his father Jean – to whom the great Picasso offered to make his gold jewelery – lavished his talents as a goldsmith in the workshop of the Bovero boutique, founded by the great-grandparents of the author, place Gambetta, in Cannes, in 1886. This extraordinary knowledge presided over the birth of a complete guide, intended for true amateurs. Edited by Martine and Prosper Assouline, it lists 46 houses of various sizes but which all have in common that they work with gold grading 18 carats or more, and natural gems. The book, richly illustrated, also offers many keys to reading, in particular providing valuable advice for buying antique jewelery according to the rules of the art. An end-of-year gift as beautiful as it is interesting.
“The Jewelery Guide for true amateurs” by Fabienne Reybaud. Assouline Editions, www.assouline.com. 95 euros (105 euros from January)
The Chanel shine
The development of Chanel fine jewelry has not been a long calm river. The unique collection imagined by the designer in 1932 and designed by Paul Uribe – an order from the diamond industry, battered by the economic crisis – had been widely decried by these gentlemen from Place Vendôme, who had demanded the dismantling of the rooms. The main object of the recriminations was the following reason: Gabrielle Chanel was not part of the seraglio. The jewelers had been outraged that a mere seamstress could have been chosen to represent the International Diamond Corporation.
Yet many of the often transformable creations offered by the Diamond Jewelry collection were of remarkable interest, such as these innovative rings that coiled in a spiral or seemed to float above three fingers. More than sixty years after this scandal, the House has repeated the experience, successfully and without raising any objections this time.
Chanel’s high jewelry division is now a valid reality that offers a collection each year – imagined by Patrice Leguéreau – which is a landmark among collectors and loyal customers. The magnificent work, bound in a box, published by Thames & Hudson, stages, through superb photographs signed by the cream of the great fashion photographers, the contemporary jewels of the brand, while accompanying them with numerous preparatory sketches. .
“Chanel Haute Joaillerie”, Thames & Hudson editions. Bound in a box, 150 euros
READ ALSOThe jewels of Paris – Cartier, family side
The Van Cleef & Arpels treasure hunt
Three precious stones – the diamond, the ruby and the emerald – are at Van Cleef & Arpels historically conducive to the deployment of a unique story, whether through a dedicated collection, or through a artistic speech. Thus, in 1961, the meeting of Claude Arpels with the choreographer George Balanchine, co-founder of the New York City Ballet, gave birth to the ballet Joyaux: a non-narrative triptych where each act, dedicated to a precious stone, is associated with a composer: Gabriel Fauré for Emeralds, Igor Stravinsky for Rubies and Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky for Diamonds. A tradition renewed in 2012 by the French Maison which joined forces with Benjamin Millepied for the creation of Gems, a trilogy of ballets.
It is in the light of this tradition that one should read the first two works, one devoted to emeralds, the second to rubies – published this winter –, from the collection Van Cleef & Arpels Treasure Hunt. Written with erudition by the great specialist Vincent Meylan, these volumes combine the pleasure of the fresco (each chapter revolves around a famous client) and historical interest. Since the publication of the first chapter, some extremely rare and forgotten pieces have come back to the fore. One thinks in particular of the fabulous emerald of the Grand Duchess Vladimir, sold to the House by Barbara Hutton. “One of the purposes of this collection is to get the treasures out of the chests. Let’s hope that the phenomenon will occur with rubies”, indicates the author.
“The Ruby Lord”, by Vincent Meylan. VM Publications, €15.
Rediscovering Paul Brandt
The idea of a functional aesthetic tolerating ornamentation only within the limits of a significant context, advocated in England around 1860 by William Morris and his entourage, will have a decisive importance, shortly before 1900, on the Arts & Crafts movement. Crafts who himself was to exercise a decisive influence in the blossoming of Art Deco. In this major movement, two currents will then overlap in the field of jewelry: one favoring pure abstraction and geometry, the other taking into consideration the arts of China, Japan, Egypt, from Persia or India. Paul Brandt, just like Jean Fouquet, Jean Després, Gérard Sandoz or Raymond Templier, belongs to this first current: a generation of 1919-1930 who willingly theorizes their production and tends towards a conceptual vision of jewellery.
Most of these creators left the Society of Decorators to found their own association: the Union of Modern Artists. The central idea of their doctrine is the following: objects glimpsed at 120 miles an hour become deformed and appear to us only through their useful volume; also the jewel must be composed of masses readable from afar. Lines should be simple, sentimentality and detail should be avoided. Jeweler, painter, sculptor, engraver in medals and fine stones, enameller, the Swiss designer, who settled in Paris at a very young age, had never been the subject of a monograph.
Éditions Norma fills this gap with a book retracing the entire course and the striking range of skills that were also exercised in interior decoration or scenography. An art historian and gemologist by training, a graduate of the École du Louvre and holder of a master’s degree in history, the author Bleue-Marine Massard relied on unpublished research work, illustrated by an important corpus 350 iconographic documents drawn from journalistic sources, museums or from public or private archives. Our favorite.
“Paul Brandt, jeweler and modern decorator”, by Bleue-Marine Massard. Norma Editions, 55 euros.
READ ALSOJewels of Paris – The Parisian temptation of Roberto Coin
Also noteworthy is the publication of a book by Éditions Norma devoted to Egyptomania at the heart of Art Deco creations. A natural complement to better understand the other side of this movement, less conceptual than that proposed by the Union of Modern Artists, and more oriented towards the civilizations of the distant past.
“Egyptomania and Art Deco”, by Jean-Marcel Humbert (dir.). Norma Editions, 49 euros.