Coco Chanel.
The
great irony of the jewelry industry, says Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld, is
that although most of its creations are intended for women, it has
traditionally been dominated by men. Weir-de La Rochefoucauld is the author of
Women Jewellery Designers, which offers profiles of 50 talented women of the
20th century, from pre-World War I through post-World War II. Their creativity
and perseverance forged a brand DNA that has lived on through the decades.
For the most part, in
late-19th-century jewelry workshops, women worked through the good graces of
their male relatives or husbands, under whose names the jewelry designs were
credited. But the sea change that both the Arts and Crafts and the suffragette movements
brought about led to a shift in opportunities for women, further broadened by
the societal changes following the two world wars. Using “inspiration and
influence, experimentation and being at the right time and the right place,”
the author tells
Rapaport Magazine, women designers found their niche.
One example was Alma Pihl, who
gained employment as an apprentice draftsman in Fabergé’s St. Petersburg
workshop in 1909 through her uncle, the head designer. But two years later, she
earned her place in the company history, creating a series of rock crystal and
diamond pendants inspired by the crystals of morning frost on the windowpane.
Pihl went on to design two of the Tsar’s famed Easter eggs.
The
right connections
While
talent was important, circumstances mattered as well. “Coco Chanel and Jeanne
Toussaint were both making their way through the demi-monde before World War I.
Chanel started out making hats, as we all know. But it was her relationships
with her various amours that helped a lot,” points out Weir-de La
Rochefoucauld.
It was thanks to the Duke of Westminster that Chanel got a
commission in 1932 from the International Diamond Corporation to create a
47-piece collection using diamonds they provided. The jewelry was intended for
the famous Bijoux de Diamants exhibition that year. The hope was that it
would kick-start sales of diamond jewelry. The other Parisian jewelry houses
were “scandalized that a dressmaker was given the opportunity. But the Duke
knew the Marchioness of Londonderry, who knew Ernest Oppenheimer of De Beers.
It
all connected.”
Equally fortuitous, according
to Weir-de La Rochefoucauld, was that Toussaint met Louis Cartier early on.
This helped her secure her place at Cartier, where she eventually helped
successfully steer the firm’s design voice “from the Art Deco years to a period
of figurative and floral designs.”
These early women also had
“very strong characters,” which was necessary to navigate their paths, explains
the author. And they knew enough to make the most of opportunities. Chanel
paired with other talented designers, including Fulco di Verdura and Paul
Iribe. She and Iribe created pieces for the Bijoux de Diamants show,
including the iconic Comet necklace, which “dipped a trail of diamonds onto the
shoulder” of the wearer without the necessity of a clasp, something Chanel
eschewed in her jewelry. Toussaint often closely collaborated with clients on
commissioned work. The well-photographed flamingo brooch she made for the Duchess
of Windsor owes its colorful tail feathers to the ruby, sapphire and emerald
line bracelets the Duke of Windsor supplied as a source of gems.
Nurturing
creativity
Jeanne
Boivin, meanwhile, “was absolutely extraordinary,” according to Weir-de La Rochefoucauld.
“She took over the House of Boivin when her husband died. She took on Suzanne
Belperron when she was 21, and she helped give her the opportunity and
confidence to find her design voice.”
After leaving Boivin in 1933,
Belperron partnered with Bernard Herz, who had gemstones and money and took
care of the business end. “It allowed Belperron to concentrate on creativity.
If she had an idea, she went for it, like setting the gemstones of a
demi-parure of ear clips and bracelet outside the normal boundaries. When Herz
was sent to a concentration camp, Belperron ran the business under her name.
After the war, she returned the business to his son.”
Following in Belperron’s
footsteps at Boivin, Juliette Moutard ultimately unveiled her own more
“ebullient and detailed” style, says Weir-de La Rochefoucauld. “She used nature
and flowers. She used passementerie. She was young when she started at the
firm, but she stayed with them for a lot of the 20th century — 1933 to 1970 —
happy to work underneath the Boivin umbrella.” Her Quatre Corps ring design was
actually inspired by a “fish scale” bracelet that a customer brought in to be
shortened. The bit of excess lay on her desk for years until she used it as
inspiration for the ring.
The
secret of success
What makes
these designers’ jewelry stand the test of time?
“I think there is a spark,”
says Weir-de La Rochefoucauld. “It comes down to proportion, and how that piece
looks on the body and works with fashions. Along with precise workmanship,
there is the desire to go the extra mile to get the design right.”
Much of what these women
designers did was ahead of their time and often misunderstood. But they had
courage and conviction and the confidence to experiment. They created a thread
“that helps take you to the next chapter the designer creates,” says the
author. “That’s very, very important.”
Image: Alamy Stock PhotoArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - January 2018. To subscribe click here.