Experience the excitement of jewelry
28 May 2024
The Japanese aspect of Hum lies rather in the work on metal colors and textures. And its philosophy.
22 April 2024
In 2023, the Loewe Foundation Craft prize brought Shinji Nakaba into the spotlight, but this self-taught jewelry designer had in fact been creating jewelry since 1974, when he was 24.
01 March 2024
On this beach in Otsu, Hokkaido, shards of ice glisten in the sunlight like precious stones.
22 August 2021
A graduate in Contemporary Jewelry of the École Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg, Marion Delarue respects the classical forms of the Japanese comb and spikes.
02 May 2021
By Marie-Laure Cassius-Duranton.
Auctions are not only about jewelry that once belonged to our ancestors. Three creations of Yasuki Hiramatsu (1926-2012), considered the first contemporary Japanese jeweler-artist, have just been sold by De Zwann (Amsterdam) – marking a first. Highly appreciated by the initiated, his pieces are usually sold in specialized galleries and have no auction price yet. The showpiece, a square brooch in crumpled gold, is characteristic of Hiramatsu’s sensual relationship with the material. Coming from a family of metalworkers, Hiramatsu finely rolled his gold, then bent, crumpled, hammered or beat it to create textured surfaces. The shapes are simple, the most important thing is the relationship of the metal to the light. The brooch (a similar example can be seen at the Victoria & Albert Museum), estimated at €1800-2,200, went under the hammer for €3,200.
10 February 2020
Maiko Takeda concentrates mainly on head adornments. Whether with masks, halos or visors, this Japanese designer based in London makes them out of feathers laser-cut from plastic film or acrylic. The color gradations accentuate the transparency, and the play of light and shadow. These head ornaments oscillate between the dandelion flower that disappears in the slightest breeze and the helmet bristling with nerve endings intended for some neuroscientific experiment. Maiko Takeda is passionate about science and loves the minimal, repetitive, obsessive music of Philip Glass.
06 January 2020
During my last visit to Albion Art in Tokyo, I’ve been privileged to discover Kazumi Arikawa’s superb collection of cameos and intaglios. Including his recent acquisitions from the London dealer Wartski.
04 December 2018
When I saw the exhibition “Fendre l’air – Art of bamboo in Japan”, I immediately thought of Tina Chow’s jewelry.
13 November 2018
As the main sponsor of the exhibition “The Body Transformed”, Kazumi Arikawa, president of Albion Art, donated 3 European jewels from the second half of the 19th century, in connection with Japan.
24 September 2018
Tasaki is the most talked-about jeweler in Japan. Now expanding worldwide, he is opening one store in Great-Britain and one in Paris, where he is also sponsoring the “Japon-Japonismes” exhibition.
28 August 2018
Rather unexpectedly, jewelry features large in the “Alphonse Mucha” exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg. In his posters, the celebrated Art Nouveau artist excelled in the design of astounding bib necklaces in gems and pearls, diadems with allegorical details and flowery crowns setting off luxuriant, wavy hair. The gold and opal chain on show reminds us that some of his magnificent pieces were given shape by the jeweler Georges Fouquet for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. Sarah Bernhardt was one of the most famous champions of Mucha.
“Alphonse Mucha” – From 12 September 2018 to 27 January 2019 at the Musée du Luxembourg
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27 June 2018
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris has a collection of over 5,000 necklaces, bracelets, brooches and rings. A thousand of them are presented in two rooms of the gallery des Bijoux. A presentation of the historical part in a video with a commentary by the chief curator, Evelyne Possémé.
01 May 2018
Tokyo and Kyoto are shopping paradises: here are two beautiful must-visit boutiques.
16 April 2018
Though the name of Henri Vever was eclipsed by René Lalique’s, this Paris jeweler played a key role in Art nouveau.
07 February 2018
In fact, I could give you a thousand! But let me just cite a few of my favourite works and rooms, to encourage you to discover the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the museum that’s just mad about objects.
03 April 2017
Alfons Maria Mucha, best known for his advertising posters and decorative designs, also played an essential role in jewelry, notably thanks to his collaboration with the jeweler Georges Fouquet.
09 February 2017
Daughter of the painters Balthus and Setsuko Ideta, Harumi traces her singular path in the world of jewelry.
30 December 2016
This book is a reminder that Alfons Mucha, a major Art Nouveau artist, was sensitive to jewelry. In his decorative paintings women wear plastrons and sophisticated hair ornaments. There are also rings, corset clips and enamel necklaces with arabesques and oriental motifs. The jeweler Georges Fouquet, whose famous serpent runs along the forearm of the actress Sarah Bernhardt in the poster for Medea, made some pieces.
24 November 2016
Until the nineteenth century and the Meiji era jewelry may seem to have been absent from Japanese culture, and yet this country has greatly influenced French jewelers.
24 November 2016
Silk, sculpted and crafted metal, gold … Japanese armor is akin to real ornaments. Jean-Christophe Charbonnier, a world-renowned specialist who provides pieces to leading museums like the Guimet or the Louvre in Abu Dhabi, decrypts it for us.
24 November 2016
This Japanese dealer and collector who’s one of the most important in the world, has just opened a showroom in Paris. But I paid him a visit in Tokyo.
24 November 2016
From international designers, to the underground scene and on to pearl jewelers, Tokyo is a gem.
24 November 2016
Cyrille Vigneron, current president of Cartier, spent almost ten years in Japan heading Cartier and then LVMH. Released in 2009, his book takes the form of a journal giving first-hand accounts and acts as a cultural guide. With simplicity, he shares his impressions as seen through Western eyes. Some key pointers arising from it are, understanding the role of nature and of sumo, of hospitality, and of this all consuming passion the Japanese have for fashion.
23 November 2016
Elsa Peretti went to Japan for the first time in 1969: there, “the speed and technology of the train going from Tokyo to Kyoto and the traditional know-how particularly marked my creations”. From this came her lacquered bracelets for Tiffany & Co., in Japanese wood renowned for its lightness.
02 November 2016
The Meiji era (1868-1912) marked the end of isolation and the opening up of Japan to the West, which in turn discovered this largely unknown country. Since that time, Western jewelers seeking new inspiration have continued to interpret this country’s emblematic designs and imagery, like the orchid, origami, Mount Fuji or Noh Theater masks.
27 October 2016
The reopening of the Cartier flagship in Tokyo is a reminder of the ties this French jeweler has had over the years with Japan.
20 October 2016
The samurai sword is a true work of art composed of finely crafted elements in magnolia wood, silk, horn and lacquer. Marc Auclert has created bracelets and necklaces from the old gold menuki mounted on either side of the grip. Beautiful.
28 September 2016
In his new creations, François Garaude has forsaken the gemstones he’s been working with over the past years. He has depicted the famous work by Hokusai, The Wave, in earrings made of titanium, as this material is the only one capable of reproducing the intensity of the Prussian blue, which in 1830, renewed the language of Japanese printmaking.
10 June 2016
Elsewhere… To stay on course, here are twelve emblematic jewels of jewelry’s favorite theme.
08 December 2015
From the turn of the twentieth century, Cartier has drawn inspiration from Chinese and Japanese objects. The exhibition “L’Asie Rêvée” in the Baur and Cartier collections puts side-by-side 160 of the jeweler’s pieces and objects, and those of the Swiss, Alfred Baur, which mainly come from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). On the theme of the dragonfly, a diamond, ruby and emerald pin from 1953 is found alongside a nineteenth-century lacquered box inlaid with mother-of-pearl and with inrô compartments. A black and white art deco brooch sits beside a cream “soft paste” porcelain seal box. In the display cabinets, luxurious materials echo off the exotic designs and colours with infinite poetry.
Until February 14th, 2016 at the Baur Foundation, Geneva.
Experience the excitement of jewelry
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