Unwearable Jewels

Unwearable Jewels

Solange Azagury-Partridge

CONTENTS

6

Introduction

8

Unwearable Jewels

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Catalogue of Works

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104

Goldsmiths’ Review

Chronology

110

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Free from the constraints of formal training and free from academic baggage, Solange quickly established herself in the traditionally rigid world of jewellery with designs that were both unique and fantastical. Mixing scholarly references with tabloid, her jewels became known for being joyful and serious, intuitive and sophisticated, all at the same time.

Most recently she has extended her distinctive approach to perfume, creating two scents in fabulous sculpted bottles. And she has embarked on a new adventure in a field that she calls ‘Unwearable Jewels’: decorative objects that incorporate jewels, each object more excessive than the last.

Her ‘Unwearable Jewels’ include a series of pictures containing motifs from her Cosmic jewellery collection. The condensed luxury in the pictures radiates from the precious stones within them.

Framed in blackest ebony and shaven mink, these magical objects capture and hold your gaze. The collection of deeply opulent pieces conjures up a décor worthy of a thousand and one nights of glamorous pleasure. With extravagant hand made carpets to match the pictures. With tables inlaid with precious gems. And with a diamond chandelier! the absolute apex of excess, which, like the lost earring of a mysterious and shameless princess, shimmers with a thousand refracted flames.

Like fabled objects from the 19th century, decadent with superfluous luxury, Solange AzaguryPartridge’s latest fantasies have the wicked aroma of dangerous and mesmerizing beauty.

Béatrice Salmon Director of Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris

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Affranchie de tout bagage académique, Solange Azagury-Partridge s’est rapidement imposée dans cet univers très codé de la joaillerie en imposant ses bijoux d’une fantaisie inoùïe, où se mêlent au fil des collections des références savantes ou populaires, entre jubilation et gravité, sophistication et intuition.

Après avoir plus récemment créé deux parfums, aux flacons sculpturaux, elle tente aujourd’hui une nouvelle aventure avec ses ‘bijoux importables’, en proposant une gamme complète d’objets décoratifs, plus excessifs les uns que les autres.

Il a d’abord une série de tableaux reproduisant les motifs de bagues réalisées autour des thèmes cosmiques et des constellations, ces ‘condensés de luxe’, irradient de toute la puissance colorée des pierres qui les composent. Cernés des noirs du bois d’ébène et de la fourrure de vison, ces objets magiques happent et retiennent le regard. Ils se conjuguent pour créér un décor digne des contes des mille et une nuits, aux tapis luxuriants, aux tables ornées de pierres précieuses et enfin à ce lustre, comble absolu de l’excès, qui telle la boucle d’oreille perdue d’une princesse mystérieuse et lascive brille de mille feux, d’or blanc et de diamants.

Tels certains objets de la fin du XIXème à la beauté décadente de tant d’inutilité, les dernières fantaisies de Solange Azagury-Partridge sont marqués du sceau de la beauté dangereuse.

Béatrice Salmon Directrice du Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris

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Unwearable Jewels

10

11

12

Gold and Diamond Chandelier

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14

Ballcrusher Lamp

15

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Cosmic Mirrorball

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19

Moon

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Eclipse

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Light of The Lord

25

Sun

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Flaming Heart

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Eye

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Eye Heart Big Apple

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Adam and Eve

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Rainbow

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Atom

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41

Rainbow

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45

Rounds Clock

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49

Rectangular Rainbow Parquet Rug

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Round Rainbow Parquet Rug

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Rectangular Brown Parquet Rug

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Rectangular Red Parquet Rug

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Rectangular Black n White Parquet Rug

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Rainbow Coffee Table

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Eye Coffee Table

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Flaming Heart Coffee Table

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Constellation Coffee Table

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Aries

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Taurus

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Gemini

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Cancer

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Leo

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Virgo

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Libra

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Sagittarius

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Capricorn

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Aquarius

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Catalogue of Works

Gold and Diamond Chandelier Diameter 19 in ∑ h 36 in - pp 10 18ct blackened white gold set with 2o0 carats of diamonds

Ballcrusher Lamp 40 ∑ 30 cm - pp 14 Rock crystal, bronze and blackened brass

Cosmic Mirrorball Diameter 35 cm - pp 17 100% polished silver

Moon 40 ∑ 30 cm - pp 21 Black karappa, abalone, rock crystal, diamonds and gold gilded bronze. Frame made of ebony and mink

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Light of The Lord 40 ∑ 30 cm - pp 25 Lapis, rock crystals, rubies, diamonds and gold gilded bronze. Frame made of ebony and mink

Eclipse 40 ∑ 30 cm - pp 23 Lemon quartz, turquoise, abalone, labradorite and gold gilded bronze. Frame made of ebony and mink

Sun 40 ∑ 30 cm - pp 27 Black karappa, Abalone, rock crystal, diamonds and gold gilded bronze. Frame made of ebony and mink

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Eye Heart Big Apple 40 ∑ 30 cm - pp 33 Machalite, turquoise, black obsidian, ruby, rose quartz, jade, black karappa, rock crystal, lapis, white onyx, chalcedony, amethyst, onyx, mother of pearl, lavender jade, diamond and gold gilded bronze. Frame made of ebony and mink

EYE 40 ∑ 30 cm - pp 31 Ruby, opalite, rainbow obsidian, rock crystal, mother of pearl, turquoise, malachite, diamond and gold gilded bronze. Frame made of ebony and mink

Flaming Heart 40 ∑ 30 cm - pp 29 Ruby and 2.25 kt diamonds gold gilded bronze.

Frame made of ebony and mink

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Atom

40 ∑ 30 cm - pp39 The Atom wall plaque is made of black karappa, rock crystal, banded fluorite, green fluorite, labradorite, diamonds and gold gilded bronze. Frame made of ebony and mink

Rainbow

40 ∑ 30 cm - pp 37 Ruby, agate, chalcedony, malachite, lapis, amethyst, rose quartz, mother of pearl, rock crystal, black obsidian, diamonds and gold gilded bronze. Frame made of ebony and mink

Rounds Clock

Diameter 32 cm - pp 44 Silver and rock crystals

Adam and Eve 40 ∑ 30 cm - pp 35

Jade, ruby, coral, obsidian, malachite, white onyx, green fluorite and gold gilded bronze.

Frame made of ebony and mink

Rectangular Rainbow Parquet Rug 2.3 ∑ 3 m - pp 49 100% Wool

Round Rainbow Parquet Rug 2 m - pp 51 100% Wool

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Rectangular Black and White Parquet Rug 2.3 ∑ 3 m - pp 55

Rectangular Red Parquet Rug

100% Wool

89 ∑ 45 ∑ 46 cm - pp 59

2.3 ∑ 3 m - pp 54

Top in black karappa inlaid with gemstones slices. Base made of blackened brass chain with brass claws and bronze balls

100% Wool

Rectangular Brown Parquet Rug 2.3 ∑ 3 m - pp 52 100% Wool

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Rainbow Coffee Table

constellation coffee table Diameter 85 cm ∑ h 46 cm - pp 68 Reversible top in black karappa top inlaid with gemstones slices in the shape of stars. One side is rainbow mutli-coloured gemstones. The other is white mother-of-pearl. Base made of blackened brass chain with brass claws and bronze balls

Flaming Heart coffee table 45 ∑ 45 ∑ 46 cm - pp 65 Top in black karappa inlaid with gemstones slices. Base made of blackened brass chain with brass claws and bronze balls

Eye Coffee Table 45 ∑ 45 ∑ 46 cm - pp 62 Top in black karappa inlaid with gemstones slices. Base made of blackened brass chain with brass claws and bronze balls

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Zodiac Constellation Aries 9.75 ∑ 9.75 ∑ 1.75 in - pp 72 Black karappa, 18ct yellow gold, silver, rock crystal and diamonds. Frame made of ebony and mink

Zodiac Constellation Taurus 9.75 ∑ 9.75 ∑ 1.75 in - pp 73 Black karappa, 18ct yellow gold, silver, rock crystal and diamonds. Frame made of ebony and mink

Zodiac Constellation Gemini 11.75 ∑ 9.75 ∑ 1.75 in - pp 74 Black karappa, 18ct yellow gold, silver, rock crystal and diamonds. Frame made of ebony and mink

Zodiac Constellation Cancer 9.75 ∑ 7.75 ∑ 1.75 in - pp 75 Black karappa, 18ct yellow gold, silver, rock crystal and diamonds. Frame made of ebony and mink

Zodiac Constellation Leo 11.75 ∑ 9.75 ∑ 1.5 in - pp 76 Black karappa, 18ct yellow gold, silver, rock crystal and diamonds. Frame made of ebony and mink

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Zodiac Constellation Capricorn 11.75 ∑ 9.75 ∑ 1.25 in - pp 80 Black karappa, 18ct yellow gold, silver, rock crystal and diamonds. Frame made of ebony and mink

Zodiac Constellation Sagittarius 9.75 ∑ 11.75 ∑ 1.25 in - pp 79 Black karappa, 18ct yellow gold, silver, rock crystal and diamonds. Frame made of ebony and mink

Zodiac Constellation Aquarius 11.75 ∑ 8 ∑ 1.5 in - pp 81

Zodiac Constellation Libra

Black karappa, 18ct yellow gold, silver, rock crystal and diamonds. Frame made of ebony and mink

9.75 ∑ 9.75 ∑ 1.5 in - pp 78 Black karappa, 18ct yellow gold, silver, rock crystal and diamonds. Frame made of ebony and mink

Zodiac Constellation Virgo 11.75 ∑ 8 ∑ 1.5 in - pp 77 Black karappa, 18ct yellow gold, silver, rock crystal and diamonds. Frame made of ebony and mink

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Goldsmiths’ Review

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Arch individualist designer jeweller, creator of jewels of mesmerising, explosive colour and exuberant form

Solange Azagury-Partridge

By Vivienne Becker

I cannot help thinking, as I am sitting very comfortably in an enveloping velvet armchair in Solange Azagury-Partridge’s darkly fascinating blood-red, glittering jewel-box of a shop in Westbourne Grove, that Solange Azagury-Partridge herself, arch individualist designer-jeweller, is very much like her jewels, as she describes them: womanly, bold, unashamed, talismanic and joyful, with a hint of darkness, of hidden danger. Softly spoken, relaxed, with torrents of untamed black hair and exotic dark looks that come from her Moroccan background, she is clearly in touch with her own imagination, comfortable enough to express her dreams and passions, her viewpoint on life, and not afraid to tread her own untravelled road through the world of jewels.

She makes it seem easy; it all comes naturally to her, as if, for example, her provocative, ravishingly shiny red enamel Hot Lips ring, which captures my eye, its sensual stream of red wrapping all around the finger, was a jewel just waiting to happen. The ring is mesmerising, like so many Solange jewels, shocking yet comforting in the fun and familiarity of its references, and cleverly tapping into the current zeitgeist with its shift towards surrealism and individuality.

With Solange, it helps to expect the unexpected. The celebrated designer-jeweller, with a massive cool factor generally lacking in the fine jewellery world, understands and reveres the jewelrules enough to bend them, to come up with a totally new expression for fine jewellery, new generation talismanic ornaments, their designs poised between pop art and ancient mysticism, both irreverent and iconoclastic, the shock of the new packaged seductively with innate beauty, cultural references, explosive colour and exuberant forms.

“I suppose you could say I’m a cosmic girl”, she offers by way of explanation as we look at her latest collection, Zodiac, launched at the end of 2006, comprising twelve magical, figurative rings, each representing a sign of the Zodiac: Cancer, a red gold crab with pavé diamond pincers; Taurus, a tempestuous charging bull; Pisces, a fish skeleton with a diamond briolette hanging from its jaws.

“I like to think of each one as a talisman, reminding the wearer of who she, or he, is”. A Leo herself, she explains however that it was the goddess Virgo who inspired her to create the Zodiac rings. “She’s my Venus, my Virgo, she’s every woman.” She is also the sculpted, hippie-style Interior of Solange’s Westbourne Grove shop 95

cross-legged figure that sits on top of the ruby-red glass bottle containing Solange’s first perfume, Stoned, a potent, silky liquid, glimmering, appropriately, with diamond dust.

You might well think that the stars have been guiding this cosmic girl through her glittering career. She had worked with costume jewellery designer, Nicky Butler of Butler and Wilson, and then for antiques dealer Gordon Watson, a specialist in twentieth-century design. When suddenly faced with choosing an engagement ring, in 1987, she decided to design her own, a plump, generously rounded mound of matt gold, embedded with a rough, uncut diamond. Much admired by the aesthetically-inclined intelligentsia, the ring propelled Solange into a new phase, exploring fine jewellery, and designing and manufacturing her own designs. “It became a way of focusing my creative energy”, she says, “Jewels are a woman’s preoccupation, a female obsession.

I like to do other things, like furniture and objects, but they all have to have a jewel-like element to them. You have to fix parameters, and for me precious gems and metals make up the box within which I work. I like to explore materials, taking them as far as I can.”

For the Zodiac collection, each ring was made in two versions, one in gold and precious stones, the other in more affordable silver overlaid with an iridescent lacquer, some in a single colour, others in rainbow tones. Lacquer, she finds, gives the jewels a different kind of sparkle. She is fascinated by materials, loving them for their artistic worth, not for their intrinsic value. “It’s never just about the cost of the materials. It’s important for a jewel to be more than the sum of its parts.” As an example she picks out her Rounds watch, which, she explains, had to be made with diamonds, so that the face looks like a constellation, like stars in the sky. Each number is represented by diamonds; a single stone for one, two smaller ones for two and so on. The rhythmic effect of the diamonds positioned on the dial is both glamorous and intriguing.

Enamel plays an important role in the Azagury-Partridge repertoire. “It’s like painting in colours.

And I like the idea of covering a precious metal with something humble and colourful, almost like plastic. It gives jewels a ‘pop’ feeling.” She likes to play with brilliant shades and vibrant candy colours, almost childlike, and redolent of sweets and cakes, pointing to the element of mouth-

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watering sensuality that runs through her work. One of the most memorable of Solange’s early creations is the multi-coloured enamel Smartie ring; a cluster of smooth, coloured opaque enamel Smartie-like domed discs. In another group, opals, set in dark, patinated metal, are labelled. playfully, Opal Fruits. “I don’t want to be worn by my jewellery,” she comments. “I don’t want it to look obviously precious, and I don’t want to be judged or identified by my jewellery. I don’t like the idea that valuable jewels can provoke feelings of envy. I just want my jewels to add a bit of joy to your life.”

Her hobby turned into a fully-fledged career, starting first in 1990, when she set up Solange Azagury-Partridge, and then evolving in 1995, when she opened her shop in Westbourne Grove, dark, luscious and womb-like, an oversized jewel-box that created a buzz in the design community and drew an eclectic, international style conscious clientele including rock stars and movie moguls, “anyone”, says Solange, “with an unconventional approach to beauty, anyone wanting to subvert the established conventions of luxury.”

She still has a core of loyal clients who have made the journey with her, since the early days, supporting her along the way. “I still have the customers who used to buy from my kitchen table. The early adopters. They could see the potential and they’ve kept me in business; I needed and appreciated their patronage. The sale of each piece enabled me to expand, and my business has grown in an organic way. Otherwise, newer clients come through word of mouth or from editorial coverage. I don’t advertise unless I want to put something in the public domain.”

Significantly, her first collection launched in the shop, in 1996, was the Enamel collection, a group of opaque enamel rings, lusciously glossy and creamy, and full of fun, like the Dice ring, in red, ivory and black enamels; the Smartie Mother ring in shades of sugar and chocolate; the striking Pope’s ring, a classic Solange design, studded with cabochon rubies and emeralds; a Union Jack, and the famous Hot Lips ring, in bubblegum pink, as well as in brilliant vermilion. More recently, Solange added to her enamels with a series of smaller rings, oozing childlike charm, with graphic, naïve motifs from nature, a cloud, a snail, a bumble bee, a bluebird, all designed

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Scorpio ring, from the Zodiac range, 2006, silver and iridescent lacquer

by her daughter, Mardi, now aged ten. The enamels theme continues to evolve, giving Solange the opportunity to explore the colour she revels in; last year she added a wild Party necklace, full of crazed energy, composed of linked charms and symbols, star, eye, moon, heart and her much-loved peace symbol.

The huge, knuckleduster, power rings, dynamically expressive, and way ahead of their time, are the pieces that made Solange Azagury-Partridge’s reputation. Rings, she admits, are her favourite jewels: “I enjoy rings the most, as the person wearing the ring can see and enjoy it.” All ideas find their way into ring form; her distinctive Fringe ring, of gold chain that drapes over the edges of a square of gold and brushes the finger, the diamond Star watch. While most of Solange’s jewels are one-of-a-kind, regularly, each year, her signature rings continue to be in demand, like the Pope’s ring, in a variety of colours and gems, or the Broken Heart, gold set with cabochon rubies, in a heart motif that splits in two. She varies each version as much as possible, and has never made more than twenty of any design. The Dice ring was made only in a limited edition of six, so that each person would have a different number.

The success of the early ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ style rings led to new themed collections. I remember well seeing the Kinetic collection, dizzy diamonds that could move and spin, shake, rattle and roll, launched in 1998 in an intimate display in Solange’s home. I realised then, very definitely, that this was a true jewellery moment, a turning point, for the designer and for jewellery design in general, poignantly expressed in the intriguing turns and twists of playful yet meditative, design driven contemporary jewels.

These were fresh, new, utterly luxurious executive toys. The proud spinning Mirror Ball ring, that stands so high on the finger, remains a signature Solange creation, resurfacing as a disco ball motif (but not

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Smartie mother ring, part of the Enamel range, 1996, 18ct gold and enamel

spinning) for the brilliant all-red Christmas collection Solange designed in 2005 for high street fashion brand, H&M. This collection proved a huge success, democratising design and bringing jewellery even closer to fashion. “It was great fun to do, especially as it was short and sweet and represented a pure design process; I didn’t have any of the production headaches. I loved working with plastic, crystal and coloured metal. I could have had the metal in any colour, but red was my theme.”

Themed collections have rolled out regularly from the giant jewel-box, usually one per year, exploring Solange’s favourite preoccupations, including colour and mysticism, and experimenting with materials and craftsmanship. Cosmic was a milestone collection of meaningful, ancient mystic signs and symbols, depicted in intricate inlaid-stone work; Poison introduced her much-loved rounded pavé gemset ring, that opens to reveal a hidden compartment. Seven, a lucky, magical number, celebrated Solange’s seven years in business with a group of seven different pieces, including a Seven Colours ring of enamelled bands; a Days of the Week ring with a calendar; and the Seven Vices and Seven Virtues ring in gold, which could be flipped according to your mood. Colour has flooded its way through all the collections, as a vibrant enamelled spectrum ring, as multicolour gemset rainbows, a dazzling, spinning Catherine Wheel, and opals encased in gems that pick up and reflect their shifting blue-green lights.

“Ideas arrive fully-formed,” explains Solange when asked about her inspirations. “Absolutely anything inspires me. I try to express some of my thoughts in jewels, because I can’t use words. Phrases and sayings inspire me, like my heart of gold and my bleeding heart of gold, covered in red enamel. I visualise words and feelings.” She tries to get her ideas down on paper, well enough at least for her craftsmen to understand. She works directly and closely with her

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Opal Fruit step earrings, from the Random range, 2005, 18ct black and white gold, opals, rubies and diamonds

goldsmiths, jewellers, enamellers and craftsmen, all of them here in the UK. Craftsmanship is key, she feels. “It is so precious and valuable, and this is why jewellery is luxury. It is not about the intrinsic value of materials.”

By 2001, Solange’s star was well and truly in the ascendant, and she was hailed as a renovator, an instigator of a whole new expression for fine jewellery. There was a surprise visit from Tom Ford, and, soon after, Solange Azagury-Partridge was appointed Creative Director of Boucheron, Parisian master jewellers, then owned by the Gucci group and so under Ford’s overall direction.

Like a bolt from the blue, this opportunity catapulted Solange into a new league, certainly in terms of the resources, materials and craftsmen at her disposal, the massive marketing machine of a world-famous brand, and global exposure for her name and talents. She worked at Boucheron for three intense years, spending part of each week in Paris, until 2004, when she returned to London, to be with her family and focus more fully on her own business. “My years at Boucheron were a total honour. There were so many things I loved, so many incredible possibilities.”

Her eyes mist over and her voice flashes with passion, as she looks back and explains what this opportunity meant for her. “The first time I visited the workshops, I was moved to tears, I couldn’t hold back my emotion. I really, truly fell in love with Boucheron. For me it was a proper love affair. I cared deeply, I gave everything and I was totally inspired.” Solange began by delving into Boucheron’s extraordinary archives and historic design books, exploring and interpreting its magnificent heritage. “I just wanted to bring out the essence of what I thought was Boucheron.

Over 150 years, it had been innovative, daring, poetic. But I felt that in more recent years, it had become ‘polite’. I don’t think jewellery should be polite.”

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Favourite colours bangle from the Random range, 2005, 18ct black and white gold, rubies, emeralds and onyx

Her first Boucheron collection, launched during the Paris couture week, in a stunning landmark event, made waves in the industry. Beauté Dangereuse, alive with light, movement and colour, jewels dripping with fringes of briolettes, monumental slithering diamond serpents, gypsy-like chandelier earrings of unbridled luxury, showed jewellery at its most sensual, as the ultimate, irresistible temptation, the passion of gems unleashed. This was followed by Not Bourgeois, L’Eau à la Bouche, making a play on the name Boucheron, and Symbolique, all translating Boucheron’s historic design language, its use of materials and techniques, into unexpected super-luxe jewels that managed both to encapsulate history and perfectly capture their own moment in time. For example, playing with gold, Solange created Les Quatres, now considered a contemporary classic, putting together four different colours of gold, red, white, yellow and a new chocolate brown, layered in four different textures and techniques, including Boucheron’s signature stripes or gaudrons, their famous diamond-cut, and a band of chocolate-like squares. Like so many other ideas, this reflected Solange’s quirky, playful approach. Ultimately, however, she explains with a tinge of regret, her life was in London, and this period had to come to an end. She came away from the Place Vendôme all the stronger, she feels, having escaped from what she calls the lion’s den of jewellery. “My time at Boucheron has given me more confidence in my own abilities, as a designer, and also as someone running a business. I’ve learnt to trust my own judgement.”

Others clearly trusted her judgement and recognised her abilities. In 2004, the year after she was nominated for the Design Museum’s prestigious Designer of the Year award, she was also one of an elite handful of contemporary jewellers whose work was chosen to be exhibited as part of the permanent display in the new jewellery rooms of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. The museum chose both Boucheron pieces and Solange’s designs for her own label.

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The effect of this creative spell in Paris on Solange’s own business is clear to see. The irreverent creativity shines stronger than ever, and there is a new gloss and glamour, a new confidence about the collections, showcased as they are now, sumptuously, in an exquisite new shop, also in Westbourne Grove, into which Solange moved in the autumn of 2005. In the basement she now has a huge office space and design studio, while the shop itself, an evolution of her jewel-box idea, is sumptuously dark, rich and red, its walls shimmering with grids of Swarovski crystal, and a black starry sky ceiling, a mad constellation of twinkling lights. At the back, Solange has carved a salon privé, with her own designed tables and objects and the Bacchic Pergola chandelier, the luscious bunches of glittering crystal grapes and vines, that she designed for Swarovski’s Crystal Palace chandelier project early in 2005.

The new shop was the perfect launch pad for her major 2005 collection, Random, a group of jewels, objects and furniture that have sprung directly from Solange’s imagination, like a scintillating stream of consciousness. “It’s not about any particular colour, stone or material. It’s about everything altogether, all mashed up,” she explains. Random is her most adventurous collection to date, each creation a bold, sculptural, narrative masterpiece, from the group of Gothic creatures, including a crocodile holding a ruby heart in its jaws, through figurative animal rings, a lascivious Bacchus head necklace, with ruby grapes in his hair, to a sub-series of jewels shaped as animal or human skulls, sparkling with a touch of menace. Objects include malachite boxes and a chainfringed lamp. The centrepiece, if there is one, is the Random necklace, unusually geometric, with steps leading down around the neck towards a central plaque, all composed of a mosaic of squarecut gems, in nine colours, thrown together at random. The blaze of colour generated by the pattern, says Solange, is reminiscent of the psychedelic mix of hues she sees when she closes her eyes in sunlight. “Random”, confirms Solange, “was pure, unadulterated designing for pleasure.” It is what she does best. “What’s life about if not to find beauty in every moment and every single thing?”

This article was originally featured in Goldsmiths’ Review, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths 2006 | 2007. Its title was “Solange Azagury-Partridge” pp. 28-32 and it was written by Vivienne Becker. Copyright ©2007

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Chronology

Solange Azagury-Partridge founded

Development of her first jewellery pieces and building of client base and business

First shop opens. 171 Westbourne Grove, London W11

Presentation of Enamel collection, Opaque Enamels

Presentation of Kinetic collection, jewels that spin, shake, rattle and roll

Presentation of Cosmic collection, hard stones and inlay work

Appointed Creative Director for Boucheron, Paris

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Presentation of Seven collection for Solange celebrating 7 years of the shop Presentation of Beauté Dangereuse collection for Boucheron Paris

Nominated by the Design Museum for Designer of the Year.

Solange’s work exhibited there for 3 months Presentation of Delicate collection for Solange Azagury-Partridge Presentation of Not Bourgeois collection for Boucheron Presentation of L’eau à la bouche collection for Boucheron

Presentation of Symbolique collection for Boucheron including the Quatre ring Leaves Boucheron to concentrate on her own business Designs from both Solange Azagury-Partridge and Boucheron by Solange Azagury-Partridge exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs du Louvre’s permanent jewellery collection Presentation of Rounds watch for Solange Azagury-Partridge Designs mini velvet safe for the Habitat VIP project

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Designs Pergola, a Swarovski crystal chandelier later presented at the Milan Furniture Fair Moves shop to 187 Westbourne Grove, London W11 Presentation of Random collection Launch of one-off jewellery collection for H&M

Designs the trophy for the Fashion Fringe awards Presentation of Zodiac collection, 12 rings symbolizing the 12 signs of the Zodiac Unveils her first fragrance Stoned, a fragrant liquid gem containing diamond dust which is immediately available from Space NK, London and Colette, Paris

Presentation of Platonic collection, a collection of diamond jewellery Launches Cosmic, an intergalactic liquid jewel of a scent mixed with stardust

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Solange Azagury-Partridge was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Art, Manufactures and Commerce under the Patronage of HM The Queen Labelux Group, a Vienna based company of Joh. A Benckiser SE takes a stake in the company with the plan to roll out the brand internationally Designs from Solange Azagury-Partridge exhibited at Victoria & Albert Museum’s permanent jewellery collection Opens a corner at Dover Street Market (Comme des Garcons) in London Launch of Solange Azagury-Partridge first ad campaign ‘Unwearable Jewels’, an exhibition at Sebastian + Barquet in New York until end of the year Presentation of new Titanium collection

Opening of New York shop . 809 Madison Ave. New York NY 10065

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My heartfelt thanks go to Béatrice Salmon, director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.

I am ever grateful to Vivienne Becker. Thanks to Paulina León of Sebastian + Barquet Gallery, New York for her kind assistance and to Kopenhagen Fur for their generosity. An enormous thank you to my lovely team in London who made sure everything got made in time: Adeline, Margaret, Isabelle and Guillaume. The biggest thanks of all is to Ramis Barquet for his great enthusiasm, excitement and belief in me throughout.

Solange Azagury-Partridge

This volume is published in conjunction with the exhibition Unwearable Jewels at Sebastian + Barquet, New York, NY October 30 – December 20, 2008 Available through www.sebastianbarquet.com First Edition ©2008 Sebastian + Barquet.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

All artworks by Solange Azagury-Partridge copyright Solange Azagury-Partridge ©2008. ©2008 Introduction by Béatrice Salmon. ©2008 Solange Azagury-Partridge text by Vivienne Becker. From Goldsmiths’ Review (2007). Reproduced by courtesy of The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.

Solange Azagury-Partridge Unwearable Jewels Publication coordinator Paulina León Design Rafael Esquer, Minal Nairi & Nigel Sielegar www.alfalfastudio.com Typeface Bank Gothic designed between 1930 and 1933 by Morris Fuller Benton Scala designed between 1987 and 1990 by Martin Majoor Spine Diamond Chandelier shown in silhouette form, 2008 (plate 1) Endpapers Graphic interpretation of Diamond Chandelier, 2008 (plate 1), by alfalfa studio Printer JS McCarthy Printed in Augusta, Maine, USA

601 W 26th St., New York, NY 10001 544 W 24th St., New York, NY 10011 19 Burton Place, London W1J 6LZ www.sebastianbarquet.com