The Top Jewels and Designers At The 2017 Couture Show

If I could I would spend four days of my time in Las Vegas during jewelry week at The Couture Show. It’s become the best show in terms of the quality of pieces and the most enjoyable in terms of the overall comfortable, informal yet luxurious environment. This year I had two days and it just wasn’t enough time to see all of the quality designers. So this list of 26 jewels is among the best I saw at the show but there were certainly much more to see.

New York-based designer, Coomi, presented an exceptional offering of jewels ranging from traditional high jewelry pieces to a special collection based on an historic piece of architecture to items made with objects from antiquity. In many ways it was typical of what Coomi produces each year at Couture but this year the artistry and creativity was prolific. The items on display included a collection of beautiful, sea-blue paraiba tourmalines set in 20k white gold and paired with diamonds.

An extremely rare and very large natural saltwater pearl from the Melo Melo sea snail. The 23.8 x 23.3 x 23.1 mm, “non-nacreous pearl” is set in an 18k rose gold and diamond pavé bezel enclosure. It is valued at well over $700,000, says the pearl house, Assael, which presented this and other sea treasures at its booth.

The David Webb brand made its first appearance at Couture, featuring new and period pieces that combine materials, colors and themes.

The Atoli (atolls) pendant necklace Antonini. An 18k yellow gold oval with delicate curves surrounds a circle of diamond pavé over rough textured white gold that enhances the sparkle of the diamonds.

Spectacular blue opals and azurite (rarely used in jewelry) mounted on gold and surrounded by assorted gems is the latest collection from the dreamlike world of Lydia Courteille.

To celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2017, Picchiotti created “L’Anfiteatro,” an 8.05-carat ruby ring inspired by a classic amphitheater.

French designer, Elie Top, unveiled a new collection of elaborate two-sided pieces based on astrology and other celestial imagery called, “Cosmogonie secrete” (Secret Cosmogony).

The House of Garrard brought some of its high jewelry to Couture including this statement diamond and ruby necklace.

Mother of pearl earrings by Goshwara.

The unusual ametrine stone, a mix of amethyst and citrine, used for a pair of earrings by John Hardy.

Designer Lisa Nik introduced her own “kite”-shaped gemstones at Couture.

Paraiba tourmaline and opal cuff by Saboo Fine Jewels.

Sterling silver with the look and feel of swirling twigs enhanced with golden leaves and white diamond tips make up this organic and artistic cuff by Michael Aram

A 22k gold locket with oxidized silver and diamonds by Arman Sarkisyan.

A bracelet featuring an opal owl surrounded with multi-colored gems by Wendy Yue.

Round precious materials inside golden cages is the premise behind Yael Sonia’s geometric inspired perpetual motion collection.

The Plumage three-finger ring by Stephen Webster in 18k white gold, white rhodium plating, marquise shape emeralds 4.58ct and white diamond pavé.

Three fluid 18k yellow gold bands connect and topped with six brilliant round diamonds in the Whirl Ring by Carelle.

White gold star clusters set with white diamonds by Colette.

Fabergé Emotion ring made with multi-colored sapphires, white diamonds, rubies, tsavorites and emeralds, set in 18k yellow gold.

Sterling silver with the look and feel of swirling twigs enhanced with golden leaves and white diamond tips make up this organic and artistic cuff by Michael Arman.

Pearl-centric designer, Mizuki, presented creative ways to match her multi-colored and –shaped pearls with gems and diamonds.

The jewelry brand, Noudar, uses Arabian themes and influences in its jewels, including its popular lace-like gold chokers in several colors.

A three-layer cluster diamond necklace with matching ring by Qayten.

18k gold with white and black diamond pavé with three center diamonds are used for Sara Weinstock’s Veena Shield pendant.

A bracelet in topaz and white gold in a signature design by Selim Mouzannar.

Anita Ko necklace using two rows of diamonds, each row with a different shape.

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Salvatore Ferragamo Shows Its Heart With New Watch

It is simply named, Cuore, the Italian word for heart, and this particular heart has a beat. 

The distinguishing feature of the Cuore Ferragamo timepiece is a heart on the dial above 6 o’clock. The heart beats by opening and closing once per second, powered by a Swiss quartz movement. The user controls the patented function by pressing the crown. The time is set with a button at 2 o’clock using a special heart-shaped tool. The off-centre hours and minutes indicator is embellished by a circle of diamonds or an engraved Clou de Paris motif, a guilloché pattern of hollowed lines that intersect to form tiny pyramidal shapes. The “Ferragamo” logo appears on the dial at 3 o’clock.

The other feature of the dial and the silver 39mm case is the subtle appearance of the iconic Ferragamo Gancino, the shape of a hook used as the symbol of the fashion brand. 

The watch was introduced in March at the Baselworld watch and jewelry show and was available since June. However, events were held in cities around the world to formally introduce the product. Wednesday was the U.S.’s turn as the watch was introduced during an event held at the Hotel Eventi in New York.

The watch is available with a bi-color gold plated bracelet or a crocodile print calfskin strap in yellow, black, red, purple, pink and grey. It can be purchased at Salvatore Ferragamo boutiques, authorized retailers or online from the Ferragamo website. The price runs from $1,595 to $2,995.

Paolo Marai, president and CEO of the Timex Group Swiss Luxury Division—which manages the watch business for luxury brands Salvatore Ferragamo and other luxury fashion brands, through licensing agreements—says the watch is designed to be presented a gift, which is in line with the trends for fashion watches, in which more than than 50 percent are purchased as gifts.

It also is in line with the trend to wear watches as an accessory, he says.

“Brands such as ours, fashion brands, the design is more relevant than the movement inside,” he said. 

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MB&F Goes For Speed With New HM8 Can-Am Watch

Swiss luxury watchmaker MB&F turned to the world of auto racing for its newest high design and technically advanced watch creation. The Horological Machine Number 8 (HM8) takes its inspiration from the Can-Am racing series, which would have celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016. 

The Canadian-American Challenge Cup was a sports car racing series held from 1966 to 1987. Bruce McLaren developed his first car for the Can-Am series; Lola, Chaparral, BRM, Shadow and Porsche all had manufacturing teams. Class restrictions in the Can-Am were minimal and allowed for unlimited engine sizes, turbocharging, supercharging and basically unrestricted aerodynamics. 

The case design of the HM8 Can-Am is both curvaceous and angular with dual optical prisms vertically displaying bi-directional jumping hours and trailing minutes. The battle-axe winding rotor (a distinct feature of MB&F watches) is visible on top.

The most notable design feature is two titanium bars that run across the front of the watch that mimics a racing car’s roll bars. The back of the case reveals another automotive inspired design detail, dual “oil sumps.”

The HM8 Can-Am is powered by an in-house developed bi-directional jumping hour and trailing minute indication module on a Girard-Perregaux base movement (or engine as the company refers to it). The movement, with a 42 hour power reserve, is in full view from the top.

The bi-directional jumping hour and trailing minute displays on HM8 use overlapping discs (one for the hours, one for the minutes), completely covered in Super-LumiNova. The effect of large numerals is created by masking all of the “lumen,” with the exception of the numbers.

The visual aspect of being able to see the numbers is further enhanced by using separate sapphire crystal prisms for the hour and minute displays so light is reflected (and reversed) from the horizontal indications to the vertical rather than refracted (bent), the company says. A convex lens on the front provides magnification. 

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Georg Jensen Uses Women Role Models In New Ad Campaign

Iranian professional motocross rider Behnaz Shafiei

Danish design house Georg Jensen turned to five female role models to head its new campaign with the tagline, “You can never be too much you.”

The global video and print campaign encourages women to be themselves and to chart their own path to success. This values-driven approach is the vision of Eva-Lotta Sjostedt, who was appointed the first female CEO of Georg Jensen earlier this year and today leads the senior management team, where half its members are female, including Meeling Wong, U.S. President. 

World champion boxer Cecilia Brækhus

“At Georg Jensen we’ve always encouraged women to be themselves and make their own success. Our campaign is the extension of that very philosophy and the women featured are the embodiment of that,” Sjöstedt said.

Award-winning chef Dominique Crenn

The role models featured in the campaign are: award-winning film director Susanne Bier (Denmark), WBA, WBC and WBO world champion welterweight boxer Cecilia Brækhus (Norway), award-winning comedian Sarah Kendall (Australia), professional motocross rider Behnaz Shafiei (Iran) and Michelin star chef Dominique Crenn (USA). 

Award-winning comedian Sarah Kendall

What these women have in common is they defied conventions and rose to the tops of their professions, the global design firm said in a statement.

Award-winning film director Susanne Bier

The campaign is the product of creative agency Forsman & Bodenfors and award-winning director Lærke Herthoni. In addition, the company says it reflects a company influenced by men and women—from the master silversmith Georg Jensen’s wife Laura and daughter Lise who were part of the early business to female designers such as Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe, Nina Koppel and Zaha Hadid who have collaborated with the design house over the years.

“We wanted this campaign to transcend ideals about beauty,” Sjöstedt said. “The women featured are powerful role models.” 

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The Best Of The Best Jewels At Baselworld 2016

Alessio Boschi Piazza Navona necklace made primarily of paraiba

It was a particularly strong year for creative and innovative jewelry design at Baselworld. The Italians, as is often the case, put on a particularly good showing but there were many others producing exceptional products from all corners of the globe.

Below are 17 of the jewels that stood out just a bit more than the rest during the eight-day trade fair, which ended March 24. Most of the jewels will be available in the fall, but some are available now.

Alessio Boschi
The Italian jewelry designer now based in Bangkok uses combinations of old world and new craft techniques to produce true representations of historical and natural themes with exceptional precious materials. This year he introduced a collection of one-of-a-kind jewels based on the fountains of Rome. Among them is an elaborate paraiba necklace (top photo) and ring (above) fashioned after the fountains in Piazza Navona.

Lydia Courteille
For her latest collection, the French jewellery artist took her inspiration from a recent visit to Ethiopia and the story of the Queen of Sheba. Green is the main color for this new line. She combines tsavorites, peridots and green tourmalines; in some instances matches them with yellow and brown and blue colored gems and completes the pieces with the craftsmanship that make her designs come to life. Any piece from this collection is worthy of a spotlight but I decided to go with the tiara in 18k black rhodium gold with brown diamonds, yellow sapphires tsavorites and a large peridot.

Bayco
The New York-based family owned firm specializes in creating jewels with exceptional gems. The top of the line in their broad pallet of colorful gem-centric pieces is the The Imperial Collection, jewels designed around gemstones of exceptional pedigree. “The Conquistador Emerald,” is one of those jewels. It is a platinum and 18k yellow gold ring centred upon a 23 carat unenhanced emerald-cut old-mine Colombian emerald, flanked by 4 carats of half-moon diamonds.

Qayten
This relatively new jewelry company based in Bologna uses traditional materials and techniques to produce modern jewels that are also elegant and comfortable to wear. They added to their Japanese Akoya pearls jewels with modern designs made with Tahitian black pearls. But the best piece of the year is the Museo ring, with sapphire surrounded by at approximately seven curved tiers of gold with diamond pave.

Yeprem
The Lebanon-based company has created a whole new way to look at white diamonds. Its designs are beautiful, elegant and versatile. The diamonds are cut in a way that truly exposes their sparkling white light. All of these characteristics are best featured in their hand jewelry, which turns the trend of multiple-finger jewels upside down.

Sutra
The U.S.-based company that specializes in colored-gemstone jewels introduced its first piece of jewelry that crossed the $1 million threshold: a necklace made of 19 carats of Colombian emeralds and 51 carats of white diamonds set in 18k white gold.

Carrera y Carrera
The Spanish brand known for its finely crafted petite elegant gold jewels added new pieces to its “Circulos de Fuego” (Circle of Fire) collection, including an assortment of fire dragon jewels. The ring pictured is made of finely carved gold with garnets and diamonds.

Antonini
The Milan-based company introduced a number of new pieces this year but among the highlights are some unique pieces including cocktails rings, “Fez,” made of brushed yellow gold, natural sapphires and a foundation of 84 champagne and cognac diamonds in different sizes. The typical concave ellipse of the mosaic opens up along the stem of the ring, enclosing it in a sparkling band. The central stone is an oval-shaped natural light-yellow 4.3-carat sapphire, contrasted with the six bright blue lateral sapphires.

Maria Kovadi
The Switzerland-based designer is heavily influenced by Italian design and craftsmanship it specializes in limited edition and bespoke pieces. Baselworld presented the first time the high jewelry house chose to showcase its work to a wider audience. One of the pieces that caught my eye was the Vintage Lace Bracelet made of 18k gold with milky diamonds, brown diamonds and silk thread.

Boucheron
The venerable Parisian jeweler produces an assortment of bejeweled animals each year and this year they produced six creatures, including “Nuri, Cockatoo Pendant Earrings. Each clip on earring depicts two birds with a colorful plumage made of pavé tsavorites and orange, pink, yellow round sapphires, and diamonds nestled romantically while balancing on a pink gold oval band. The name Nuri means parrot in Indonesian, and the parrots’ plumage symbolizes the elements of life such as the sun, water or fire.

De Grisogono
Fawaz Gruosi, founder of this jewelry and watch brand, is known for his over-the-top one-of-a-kind creations that appear on some of the world’s most beautiful women on red carpets around the world. The firm also produces more accessible collections. Both the high jewelry and limited edition collections were on view at Baselworld under the heading, “Walk of Icons.” It included the popular Allegra Collection, which consists of round gold brands of differing materials. It includes the “Lucky 7” bracelet made up of seven pink gold bands and diamonds.

Chopard
The Swiss jewelry and watch brand presented a well-rounded group of products at Baselworld, including a colorful selection of high jewels and watches in a petal motif made with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds.

Yoko London
The company specializes in pearl jewelry that ranges from fashion to high jewelry. Lately it’s been working with high-quality natural-colored fresh water pearls and mixing them with precious gems. This necklace is a case in point as it is made of natural colored South Sea, Freshwater and Tahitian pearls set with 18k white gold enhanced with 17.61 carats of diamonds.

Fabergé
As one of the most iconic jewelry brands in history, it often turns to its heritage and its most famous creation, the Imperial Egg, for its modern day pieces. The company, now owned by colored gemstone mining and marketing company, Gemfields, uses the resources available for its jewels. This includes the collection of small egg pendants made of Mozambican rubies, sapphires, tzavorites and diamonds, including the tutti-frutti colored one pictured. The colored gemstones are invisibly-set with a technique that uses single-faceted gemstones, calibrated in ribbon-like narrow rows, allowing the gold setting to remain invisible for the mosaic pattern finish.

Nikos Koulis
Greek designer specializes in colorful geometric shapes, particularly those that are Art Deco inspired. Among his pieces is this bracelet from his Spectrum collection made of 18k black rhodium gold with brown, black and blue diamonds along with orange sapphires and opals.

Pasquale Bruni
The Italian jeweler focuses on traditional themes. In this case his elegant gold pieces continue the motif of secret gardens, with the “Petit Garden” collection. The company looked toward exotic locations such as Bali, Hawaii and the Caribbean for its inspiration. Necklace, rings, bracelets and earrings in the line represent blades of grass of rose and white gold and paved with diamonds.

Photo by Anthony DeMarco

Roberto Coin
The iconic jeweler presented his usual seemingly endless assortment of fine gold jewels made with a variety of colored gems. There were several highlights but among them was the “Cheeky Monkey” collection, with monkey figurines in playful positions made with textured 18k gold. In some cases diamond pave is added for extra sparkle. 

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