Vivienne Becker

A native of Istanbul, Sevan Bicakci is a luminary in jewelry design, fusing elements of Byzantine and Ottoman history, storytelling, and architecture into his award- winning creations. Bicakci is best known for his majestic rings crafted with his signature reverse-intaglio technique, in which monuments, mythological figures, animals, birds, and flowers are carved into precious stones with intricate detail. His awe-inspiring creations, filled with storytelling artistry, are avidly sought by the world’s most discerning and sophisticated collectors.

Sevan Bicakci

Jack Ogden

Katherine Prior

Judy Rudoe

This spectacular volume reveals for the first time an exceptional private collection of the most beautiful royal Indian jewels from the Mughal Empire to the British Raj to today. Written by renowned jewelry experts and featuring magnificent original photography by Laziz Hamani, Beyond Extravagance explores the centuries-long tradition of fine jewelry and art objects in India, to contemporary interpretations that continue to evolve today.

A Royal Collection of Gems and Jewels

Beyond Extravagance

Michelle Ong established 'Carnet', her Hong Kong-based boutique jewelry house, over twenty-five years ago, and her unique one-off creations draw on Chinese motifs and her love of European culture and craftsmanship. Her multi-hued jewels crystallize natural forms with invisible mastery. The hovering translucency of dragonfly wings, the succulence of ripe fruits, the whisper-light touch of a feather, the seductive fragility of black lace, meticulously hand-wrought from silver, the velvet petals of an anemone, a voluptuously curled seashell, the evanescence of a floating cloud evoked in a scroll of diamonds: each jewel is a miniature sculptural work of art.0Ong's work is now acknowledged among the greatest names in high jewelry, renowned for her sublime designs, idiosyncratic colour combinations and deft craftsmanship.

Carnet by Michelle Ong

For the past five decades, gemologist Alexandre Reza has been one of Paris's--and indeed, the world's--most exclusive jewelers, a master artisan and exporter based in Place Vendôme, the heart of fashion and luxury. To experience his ornaments is to discover history reborn: The diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies of his collections have seen the most extravagant centuries and epochs, from French monarchies to Persian dynasties to the Italian Renaissance. And yet Reza's precious stones are never meant to be an antiquated homage to a prestigious past; a creator by instinct, Reza takes history as inspiration rather than for reproduction. His handcrafted pieces mix ages and eras to create something special--a "harmonization of contradictory forces," according to historian Arlette Seta. This monumental edition, part of Assouline's Ultimate Collection, presents more than one hundred rare pieces of Reza's creations, and includes a history of the famed gem house in archival documents and vintage photography.

Alexandre Reza

Forty years of the legendary artist and sculptor Daniel Brush's sublime work with jewels. A unique figure in the world of contemporary art, Daniel Brush is in equal measure artist and craftsman. Over the course of forty years, Brush has created an unparalleled body of work, whose scope ranges from large-scale abstract drawings to sculptures in steel, aluminum, and gold. Collected here are more than 150 objects that bring to the fore Brush's astonishing work with jewels. Far from the products of the world of commercial jewelry, these are jewel-encrusted objects of virtue and fantasy that reflect not just the artist's rigorous personal aesthetic and mastery of technique, but his lifelong fascinations with philosophy and Asian thought, and his exhaustive knowledge of the history of precious stones. With photography made of the objects in situ inside Brush's studio in New York City, this book presents not only a catalog of his jewel work to date, but also an ethereal portrait of the artist himself. Housed in a slipcase, with photographs by Takaaki Matsumoto and an illuminating text by Vivienne Becker, this is an intimate study of the work of a master artist and a beautiful object in itself.

Daniel Brush: Jewels Sculpture

Colin McDowell

Alice Rawsthorn

Deborah Landis

Nadja Swarovski

Suzy Menkes

In celebration of Swarovski's 120th anniversary, this is the much-awaited and first significant book on the premier maker of luxury crystals. Swarovski crystals have had a multifaceted significance in the world of culture—from elaborate embroideries for Christian Dior, to the ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz, and one-of-a-kind commissions for crystal chandeliers by top contemporary designers—yet there has never been a visual celebration of this heritage until now. Organized in four sections, this book looks at the history of the world-renowned crystal house: "Fashion" examines Swarovski's role in couture, from Coco Chanel and the fashion of the 1930s and '40s to Alexander McQueen; "Film" showcases fashion and jewelry created for the cinema, from costumes for Greta Garbo to set pieces in James Bond films; "Jewelry" celebrates elegant pieces from the house of Dior to the innovative designs by Zaha Hadid and Philip Treacy; and "Design" examines lighting and art installations, from Tord Boontje's crystal "Blossom" light to the Swarovski Crystal Palace installations at Design Miami. Swarovski's storied heritage and the brand's cutting-edge presence today, including its collaborations and kaleidoscopic influence, will be fascinating to lovers of fashion, design, and film alike.

Celebrating a History of Collaborations in Fashion, Jewelry, Performance, and Design

Swarovski

Sevan Biçakçi is a jeweler fit for an Ottoman emperor, encompassing a mastery of traditional techniques largely unseen in contemporary metalsmithing and gem cutting. An Istanbul native, Sevan is a visionary jeweler, fusing diverse elements of nature, ancient mythology, and Ottoman history, literature, and architecture into his award-winning creations. His imaginative designs and singular craftsmanship have intrigued and impressed fellow jewelers and connoisseurs for years, and his awe-inspiring jewels, unique in their storytelling artistry, are avidly sought by the world's most discerning and sophisticated collectors. Now, in a study and celebration of the essence of time itself, Sevan has explored the Ottoman tradition of timekeeping and clockmaking, which he discovered through an exhibition of timepieces at the world-famous Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul. For nine years, Sevan has channeled his imagination to create a collection of dramatic jewels that not only tell the time, but also recount the story of time, fusing the rational and the emotional. This evolving collection of extraordinary timepieces, featuring high-tech Swiss-made movements, have all the allure and grace of Sevan's original jewelry, bringing his artistic refinement and technical expertise to the centuries-old craft of watchmaking.

Time

Berenice Geoffroy Schneiter

Silently stalking its way through Cartier iconography for a century, the Panther is the proud leader of the pack of precious animals that make up the famous Cartier menagerie. A superbly stylish influencer throughout history, the panther has been a symbol of power, seduction, and triumph since ancient times. Filled with stunning imagery including rarely seen drawings from the Cartier archives, Cartier Panthère illustrates the panther in art history and popular culture, and chronicles the evolution and techniques of the Cartier Panther. Featuring texts by art historian Berenice Geoffroy-Schneiter, jewelry historian Vivienne Becker, jewelry technical expert Joanna Hardy, and fashion editor André Leon Talley, this beautiful volume also includes a complete chronology of 100 years of Cartier Panther jewels.

Vivienne Becker

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