The Jewels of a Legend, Jar: born in New York City in 1943, Joel Arthur Rosenthal graduated from Harvard with degrees in art history and philosophy before moving to Paris. And become a jewel artist. And Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction scheduled in Geneva on May 17 will offer the largest collection of Jar jewels ever to be auctioned. After working with Bulgari in New York, Jar returned to Paris, opening her own jewelry store with his partner, Pierre Jeannet, in 1977.
Jar produces at 7 Place Vendôme, Paris, only about 70 pieces a year, highly sought after by collectors, movie stars and lovers of original jewellery. Christie’s is offering 25 Jar creations, which will become the American designer’s largest collection ever to appear at auction, with pieces spanning 40 years of creativity. The collection has been built up over the last 15 years by a leading art and jewelery collector, who encountered Jar’s art twenty years ago during the major exhibition The Jewels of Jar, Paris which took place in London between 2002 and 2003 at Somerset House. Five years later the collector was able to acquire a first piece of jewelery from the master jeweler and after 15 years of collecting he decided to sell.
Joel Arthur Rosenthal pairs unusual gemstones with nontraditional materials. The quality of his work is reminiscent of 18th and 19th century jewelry. In 2013, Jar was the first living gem artist to be honored with a retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Among the pieces on sale is a camellia brooch, which has become a signature design of Jar and embodies the extraordinary attention to detail, which pushes the boundaries between jewelery and sculpture, Also on sale are 15 pairs of earrings, including a third it is also inspired by nature, such as a pair of Geranium earrings in carved nephrite jade and diamonds or the iconic and delicate diamond ivy leaves earrings designed in 1991.
