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High jewelry by 25 black designers at Sotheby’s

Published on September 17, 2022

Immagine della mostra Brilliant & Black: The Age of Enlightenment

Darker-skinned jewelers and designers than others. Sotheby’s offers them a new appointment: Brilliant & Black: The Age of Enlightenment. The sale organized in London (22 September 2 October) follows the one organized in New York last year. The curator of the exhibition is the same, Melanie Grant: she has selected jewels by black designers from the 1950s to today. In all 70 pieces from 25 different creators. Already present in New York were Melanie Eddy, Lola Fenhirst, Harwell Godfrey, Sheryl Jones, Vania Leles, Angie Marei, Satta Matturi, Johnny Nelson, Jariet Oloye-Oduto, Jacqueline Rabun, Catherine Sarr, Maggi Simpkins, Karen Smith, Ten thousand things, Lorraine West, Thelma West and Castro, who died suddenly last July.

Vanleles, anello con rubellite taglio pera, con rubini e diamanti

They are joined by Disa Allsopp, Latoya Boyd, Shola Branson, Ndidi Eubia, Gina Love, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Roxanne Rajcommar-Hadden and Sewit Sium. The exhibition coincides with Black History Month in the UK. Everyone created at least one new piece of jewelery for the exhibition. The jewels are top of the range. And even though designers like Satta Matturi use motifs and icons of African origin, most of the jewels on offer are completely indistinguishable from those of other non-black designers. They are simply beautiful.

Angie Marei, anello con perla di Tahiti e tsavoriti

Maggi Simpkins, anello Peacock con diamante taglio smeraldo, circondato da zaffiri, smeraldi e diamanti verdazzurri

Mateo, orecchini con perle e diamanti — Mateo, orecchini in oro con perle coltivate e diamanti

Matturi, orecchini con sei diamanti taglio triangolare e 150 taglio brillante, onice

Sheryl Jones, collana con 34 peridoti taglio Asscher, zaffiri rosa, rubini, tormaline, kunzite e diamanti

Black jewels for Sotheby’s

Published on August 24, 2021

news

Anello Rebel Black di Thelma West in ceramica nera e oro,-con diamante taglio pera da 5 carati

After music and figurative art, even in jewelry we are witnessing an enhancement of African-American creativity, on the wave of the Black Lives Matter movement. Sotheby’s New York, together with the jewelry editor and author Melanie Grant, organized the first exhibition-sale dedicated to black contemporary jewelry designers ((Brilliant & Black: A Jewelry Renaissance). The exhibition-sale will begin on September 17 and includes 60 pieces by 21 US and European designers from the 1950s to today. In case you are wondering, no, there is no common thread, no aesthetics, no common denominator between the various jewelry designers.

Orecchini by Matturi in oro giallo 18 carati con diamanti taglio brillante, smeraldi e perle South Sea

And this, of course, is positive because it signals that everyone’s creative path is not necessarily linked to a pre-established scheme. There are jewels of all kinds, including those of high jewelery, the Enchanted Garden earrings by Vanleles, inspired by African batik and made of titanium and rose gold, set with African rubies, the personalized 2.5 carat pink diamond ring by Maggi Simpkins of floral inspiration, valued at 1 million dollars.

Vanleles, orecchini in titanio, oro rosa, diamanti e rubini

The list of jewelers-designers represented in the exhibition-sale includes Harwell Godfrey, Jacqueline Rabun, Johnny Nelson, Lorraine West, Rashid Johnson, Thelma West, Vanleles, Castro NYC, Almasika, Marei, Mateo New York, Matturi, Melanie Eddy, Sheryl Jones, Thousand Things, Lola Fenhirst, Jariet Oloyé, Maggi Simpkins and Shola Branson.

Die Liste der im Ausstellungsverkauf vertretenen Juweliere-Designer umfasst Harwell Godfrey, Jacqueline Rabun, Johnny Nelson, Lorraine West, Rashid Johnson, Thelma West, Vanleles, Castro NYC, Almasika, Marei, Mateo New York, Matturi, Melanie Eddy, Sheryl Jones, Thousand Things, Lola Fenhirst, Jariet Oloyé, Maggi Simpkins und Shola Branson.

Bracciale rigido Almasika Universum in oro 18 carati e tsavorite

Ciondolo bambola di Castro NYC in bisquit e pietre preziose con maschera articolata, incastonato con smeraldi, rubini, perle

Harwell Godfrey, pendente Cleopatra con smeraldi Muzo, onice e diamanti

Thelma West between pride and prejudice

Published on January 17, 2021

Rings/Showroom

Anello in oro rosa con diamante taglio a pera

She have founded and run Igr London, an independent diamond and precious stone laboratory. She founded and directed Yeraua Diamonds, a diamond trading company. And finally, she founded a jewelry brand that bears her name: Thelma West. An intense journey, but it is not the only unusual aspect: Thelma West, in fact, is Nigerian, born in Lagos. And it is not often that a black woman makes her way into the selective world of precious stones and jewelry. Instead she did it, with understandable pride, and her jewels bounced off the pages of glossy magazines.

She, actually, had moved to London to study mechanical engineering. But she had to interrupt her studies and opted for a gemology course in Antwerp. And so, from the Belgian city she started the trading profession in the diamond market, until precious stones became the raw material for making high-end jewels. The stones, as is now customary, are guaranteed of ethical origin, while the jewels are created through an artisanal process and offered with a lifetime guarantee: a formula that has helped success.

But he hasn’t forgotten her roots: West donates a portion of every single sale to two causes in Nigeria: one for medical bills for children in hospitals and another for girls’ education through secondary school. And, of course, the designer knows that it is difficult for a woman with black skin to work in an environment like that of jewelry, even if she is confident in an improvement in perception.

Orecchini con smeraldi colombiani e diamanti bianchi e rosa

Pendente a forma di ali in oro e diamanti