If, as Shakespeare puts it, art’s role is to hold ‘the mirror up to nature’, then the bright and beautiful creations in The Jewelry Book reflect back the natural world with added sparkle and glamor.
This new title, an authoritative collection of 300 of jewelry’s greatest names, includes works that feature barely altered natural objects, such as pearls, corals, and crystals, while other inclusions are worked and reworked with vitreous enamels, electroplating and precise polishes and refinements.
Yet, some of the most impressive inclusions in the book apply great artistry and effort to natural materials, to mimic much of the beauty found in the natural world.
Wallace Chan. Image credit: DeMarcus Allen. The Cosmos brooch depicts two intertwined carps with a dragon in flight above and a suspended, free-moving pendulum below. The brooch is comprised of titanium set with diamonds, sapphires, rubies, tsavorite garnets, and jadeite slices, with a 5.84-carat irregularly shaped diamond at the center of the pendulum.
Consider, for example, the jewelry of revered Chinese jeweler, Wallace Chan. “Chan is adept at creating pieces that combine the color-changing attributes of lightweight titanium with exceptional colored gems, diamonds, and pearls,” according to our new book.
“His bejeweled creations replicate flora and fauna with mind-boggling detail, resulting in large-scale pieces that combine Eastern philosophies, traditional Western themes, and his outsize imagination.
“In Chan’s world of creativity, the physical and spiritual; life and death; and the past, present, and future are one. A self-taught master craftsman, Chan has produced multiple innovations over his fifty-year career, including the Wallace Cut gem-faceting technique that results in a 360-degree intaglio image inside a gemstone, a patented jade refining and brightening technique, and Wallace Chan Porcelain, which is five times stronger than steel.”
High artistry; yet his subjects are naturalistic, even if he affords his take on the natural world with a little creative, mythic licence. His entry in The Jewelry Book is illustrated with his 2021 Cosmos brooch, which depicts two intertwined carps with a dragon in flight above and a suspended, free-moving pendulum below.
Bina Goenka. Photograph by Jatin Kampani. Image credit: Courtesy Bina Goenka. Butterfly necklace, made entirely by hand over a period of 4.5 years, in 18-karat gold and platinum with more than 2,900 diamonds and 5,900 natural white clam pearls, and Clam Ear Creepers, in 18-karat gold with 4 unique natural white clam pearls surrounded by more than 130 natural pearls and 800 diamonds, 2024.
A more faithful take on nature is displayed in Indian jewelry artist Bina Goenka’s work. “A collector of stunning gems, as well as antique corals and rare conch and clam pearls, she draws on her penchant for the ornate to transform these vivid materials into intensely naturalistic forms,” explains the book. “Conch pearl buds form a canopy for diamonds in a gold cuff, a hibiscus and its entwined stem transform into a vibrant neckpiece, and a pair of bejeweled pelicans strike a dainty pose on an ornate bracelet.”
The image of her work shows Goenka’s Butterfly necklace, made entirely by hand over a period of four-and-a-half years, in 18-karat gold and platinum with more than 2,900 diamonds and 5,900 natural white clam pearls; and Clam Ear Creepers, in 18-karat gold with four unique natural white clam pearls surrounded by more than 130 natural pearls and 800 diamonds.
Fernando Jorge’s works might not so obviously pay tribute to the natural world, yet it might be better to think of this Brazilian-born, UK-based designer as creating landscapes, rather than detailed nature studies.
Fernando Jorge. Image credit: Photo: Baker & Evans / www.fernandojorge.co.uk. Galaxy earrings in 18-karat gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds in hand-carved milky aquamarine.
Having studied both engineering and product design at University in São Paulo, “he soon moved into jewelry and launched his own brand upon graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2010,” explains our new book. “His designs are characterized by an abstract, rhythmic ease: voluptuous curves of colored gemstones appear alongside diamonds carefully graduated in size so as to flatter the contours of the face and body. Balancing boldness and exuberance with fluidity and refinement, his creations are made to move in harmony with the wearer.
The book goes on to quote Jorge as saying, “My aesthetic is rooted in the casual, effortless sensuality I associate with Brazil,” before adding that the minimalist language of Brazilian artists and designers is a source of inspiration, as are the country’s rich natural colors and materials. “He champions Brazilian gemstones such as tourmaline, citrine, and amethyst, alongside petrified wood, tagua nut, and pebbles.”
However, sometimes Jorge’s sources of inspiration transcend his home country. HIs entry in the book is illustrated with his 2018 Galaxy earrings, fashioned from 18-karat gold, and set with brilliant-cut diamonds in hand-carved milky aquamarine.
Discover more about these extraordinarily talented jewelers, as well as many others, by buying a copy of The Jewelry Book here.
