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| La Dame Aux Gardenias (The Invisible Flower of Madame X), white resin & 18k clip earrings, $4,000. |
As I previously promised, I have the photographs of jewelry by Joel A. Rosenthal, better known to jewelry lovers across the globe as JAR, that he created specifically for the exhibition, Jewels By JAR, which opens Wednesday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and runs till March 9, 2014. They are available for purchase exclusively at the museum.
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| Carnaval à Venise red titanium earrings with gold Venetian glass, $2,000. |
The pieces include earrings made of resin, 18k gold over aluminum, titanium and Venetian glass ranging in price from $2,000 to $7,500. There are also two watches designed for the event that cost $600. These creations will be available exclusively at the Museum through the close of the exhibition. These are not limited edition pieces but they are numbered.
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| Tickle Me Feather clip earrings, 18k over aluminum, $7,500. |
The exhibition will be the first retrospective in the United States of JAR’s work and the first retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum devoted to a contemporary artist of gemstone jewelry. It is only the second time his pieces were available to be seen at an exhibition, with the first being in London in 2002.
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| JAR watches in two styles, $600 each. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco |
Born in New York and educated at Harvard, Rosenthal moved to Paris soon after graduation and began to experiment with jewelry making. He opened JAR in 1978 on the Place Vendôme, in the same space he occupies today.
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| Carnaval à Venise black titanium earrings with gold Venetian glass, $2,000. |
“JAR jewels became known for their unique design, the exquisite quality of the gemstones, and their remarkable craftsmanship—but above all for their fearless beauty,” the museum said in a statement. “Rosenthal’s one-of-a-kind creations place him among the ranks of history’s greatest jewelers.”
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| Tickle Me Feather violet clip earrings made of resin and 18k gold, $4,000. |
The exhibition is described by the museum as a retrospective of his work for the 35 years he’s been designing jewelry under the JAR name. The exhibition of 400 works, mostly from private collections, presents a rare glimpse into the work of JAR and the museum store provides a rare opportunity to buy one of his pieces.
