Flaming June, Precious, Father-Son Alchemy and news from Paris
The Honesty Box on Jewels June 2024: straightforward jewellery insight
Summer is finally here and to celebrate Flaming June, we’ve curated jewels that will blaze in the sun. Massimo Izzo and his son Pietro open up about their relationship and creative partnership to mark Father’s Day earlier this month, while elsewhere, we explore the cultural significance of jewellery with the V&A’s Helen Molesworth, whose new book, Precious, is out now. We bring you news from Paris, where we took in an exhibition about gold on Champs-Elysées as the city gears up for the Olympics, along with a piece of the month from Marie Mas, one of our favourite Parisian designers. And with some of the coolest pieces we saw at Couture, we have all you need for your Sunday reading.
The Flaming June Edit
Colours Toi et Moi ring by Romany Starrs
Scottish jeweller Romany Starrs combines the heat of a rare fire opal with a sunset-pink tourmaline, in a Toi et Moi ring with generous volume. A gold bezel setting and silver band bring a little mixed metal edginess in a minimalist piece that channel long, hot days.
The Red Thunder with Golden Rain earrings by Austy Lee
Much of this summer may so far have been a wash-out for some of us in Europe, but Austy Lee’s magnificent earrings conjure up all the drama of summer storms. Fancy yellow diamond raindrops pour down from red enamel thunder claps in statement earrings from the Ikhor collection, inspired by Greek mythology.
Eye Protect Scapular pendant by Marie Lichtenberg
Award-winning jewelry designer Marie Lichtenberg blends her irreverent sense of humour and innate sense of style – she’s a former Paris fashion editor – with a quest to find the very best craftspeople for each new idea she has. Worn on a Mauli cord or one of her custom necklaces, the Eye Protect scapular pendant is a blaze of orange enamel, set with dazzling white diamonds in scallop-edged 18ct gold.
Fire Totem pendant by Joelle Kharrat
From her Beirut atelier, Joelle Kharrat honours the elements, in a customisable collection of totem pendants that marry a distinctive motif with noble materials. Pink opal represents fire, paired here with 18kt gold and a blaze of white diamonds in a bold contemporary jewel.
The Katherine Padparascha Sapphire Cocktail ring by Maya Selway
Maya Selway combines Padparadscha sapphires and coloured diamonds to incendiary effect. Champagne and yellow diamonds bring out the exquisite pink and orange tones of these rare sapphires, in a truly spectacular cocktail ring made in Maya’s London workshop.
Hoards, history and hidden stashes: Helen Molesworth on her new book, Precious
In her new book, Precious, jewellery expert and historian extraordinaire Helen Molesworth charts the history of gemstones, highlighting their cultural importance in ways we might not have considered. The Senior Jewellery Curator at the V&A shared a few of her favourite jewellery titbits with us.
“Gems have always been enablers for expression. Historically, they were signifiers of a tribe – just like brands today – and now we have the freedom to choose what we like and what suits us. The 20th century has seen the democratisation of gems and jewellery.”
“You can tell a lot about someone from their jewellery collection. The Duchess of Windsor wore her jewellery like armour, Elizabeth Taylor’s collection was very bold and Italianate, and Princess Margaret’s told the story of her life, starting with pieces her grandmother had given her as a little girl. The pieces she bought herself – including a second-hand tiara – showed she was determined to make her own choices.”
“I love the Cheapside Emerald. Gemmologically, it’s stunning, and what it tells us about human history through the way it was cut is extraordinary. It was carved out so a watch could fit inside, and dates back to 1600. At that time the emerald had to be from Colombia, brought over with the Conquistadors, which meant that Muzo emeralds were already in the market and on sale in the jeweller’s under which the Cheapside Hoard was found, 300 years later.”
Precious is out now, published by Penguin.
Piece of the Month: The Queen Wave ring by Marie Mas
We dropped in on Parisian jewellery designer Marie Mas last week, who creates jewellery that comes alive on the body in an exploration of movement that has driven her brand since she started in 2015. The Dior Couture alumni takes the time to develop each piece, using innovative patented techniques and jewellery engineering in recycled gold and ethically sourced gems.
A rigid bangle contains stones set back-to-back that tip and fall with the wrist to show different hues, while streaks of diamonds are set just so, to highlight the collarbones or curves of the ear. Each time, her consideration of the body and the way we move combines to create a rare jewel.
One of her earlier pieces that has become emblematic of her work, the Queen Wave ring is a generously curved rose gold ring pierced with gem-set prongs that react to the sway of the fingers, pin art-style, to create a bombé effect. A cool wave of blue mirrors the swell of the body, as sapphires crest and fall with a tide of movement.
Father-Son Alchemy: Massimo Izzo and His Son Pietro
“My son Pietro is one of my greatest works,” says Massimo Izzo. “We have an intense, visceral relationship”. To mark Father’s Day this month, we spoke to the Italian jeweller and his son about how they work together to create spectacular art jewels born of a shared passion.
How would you describe the brand?
Pietro: elegance, craftsmanship, refinement
Massimo: custody, originality, family
From creating custom gold alloys to setting the final stone, you create jewellery from start to finish. Tell me about how you share the creative process.
My creations are the result of cultural layering and the passions that fill my days and my free time. Everything starts from a meeting with "the gems". They fascinate me, take me by the hand, and accompany me on the journey of creation, where, with respect and dedication, I build around them a world made of gold, personally caring for the colors, the artistic component, and the construction, using ancient techniques, a lot of passion, and love.
Pietro, what was it like growing up with Massimo?
Growing up with a figure like Massimo Izzo in the family can only be a great gift and a great responsibility. His broad culture, deeply rooted in the traditions of our land, has made me grow up with solid moral and professional values.
Artistically and philosophically, he has helped me develop a curiosity for the unknown and an unstoppable desire to create from it. His strong character tempers mine, making me strong and wise over time… even though I still get into mischief just to add a little spice to life, and stop things from getting boring.
Tell me how you work together.
Massimo: Our work is not just a job, it’s a mission. We dream together, I bring wisdom and experience, Pietro brings his recklessness, the hunger of someone who still has everything to conquer.
How do your practices and skills differ?
Massimo: I am a more practical person; I often curb Pietro's reckless imagination. It is in those discussions that we find ideas and solutions; in chaos, we find harmony.
Pietro, is there anything you would like to tell your dad, to mark Father’s Day?
I would like to tell him never to stop dreaming, as he has always done with me, from the first school tests in elementary school to the most complex projects we complete together today. Certainly not because he is someone who gives up easily, quite the contrary, but there comes a moment when a child feels the need to give back the love that he has received throughout his entire life.
Or Norme: Guerlain Goes For Gold on the Champs Elysées
Paris is gearing up for the Olympic Games that are a few weeks away, but even if sport is not your thing, there is plenty going on in the City of Lights as part of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad. Maison Guerlain on the Champs-Elysées is going for gold with an exhibition inspired by the yellow metal which has been used for the house’s Abeilles bee fragrance bottle since 1853. The poetic show examines the link between the house and the world of sport through art using gold, some of which is by – or depicts – high-level sports people.
A curation of work by 16 artists includes two specially commissioned pieces; L’or pour la voix, 2021, (above), a picture of the Japanese freediver Ai Futaki taken in the Mediterranean Sea by photographer Isabel Munoz printed in 24kt gold on glass; and an innovative optical experience by Graphset & Amandine Besacier.
Elsewhere, the famous gold-leaf-filled table by Yves Klein – who was also a judoka – sits near Le Graal (The Grail), a print on brushed aluminium of a photograph taken by French fencing champion Enzo Lefort of his Tokyo 2020 gold medal, as a symbol of the crystallisation of his sporting hopes. Don’t miss the juicy close-up of gold bars in a Zurich vault, by Martin Parr.
Or Norme is in the exhibition space at the Maison Guerlain flagship, 68, Avenue des Champs-Elysées, 75008 Paris.
Four Pieces We Loved at Couture Week
Boucheron – all of it – but specifically this incredible collar, made with diamonds set inside rock crystal. The patterns of concentric circles were developed by dropping diamonds into a bowl of water.
The aluminium orchid brooches at Anna Hu, that looked like they should be soft to the touch.
Tasaki’s Scintillement necklace, based on the staircase at the Ritz, the scene of society and scandal in the 1920s, which used to be just metres away from the presentation itself.
The spring-engineered cuff from the Giraffe suite, representing dignity, at De Beers, which blended rough and cut diamonds in safari hues.