"'Take away, take away,' is how she described her process to Vogue in 1986.... Peretti led an ascetic, unhurried, and happy existence in Catalonia (perhaps somewhat akin to that of Georgia O’Keeffe in Taos, New Mexico), that she found conducive to creation. 'Of course, I’m slow,' she told Vogue. 'I have to crystallize a form, find the essence. It’s a continual training to be essential in your work, and then you have to be essential in your life, too.'"
From "Jewelry Designer Elsa Peretti Has Died" (Vogue).
I've loved Elsa Peretti since the 1970s, and she is the only jewelry designer I've ever cared about.
Here's all the Elsa Peretti jewelry at the Tiffany website.
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36 comments:
It's nice looking jewelry and I am sure it is expensive. That's the real point of any jewelry, isn't it?
But what makes it special? Other than better quality materials, gold instead of golden,diamond instead of glass, what makes it any different from what I can buy at Walmart?
I guess it is about the intangible ability to brag "I got this at Tiffany. It's a genuine Elsa!" as opposed to saying "I got it at Walmart"
John Henry
Had to disable my VPN to look at the website and well, I guess it’s a girl thing.
"But what makes it special?"
The shapes.
Kind of along the lines of how cheseborough-ponds prints "Paris" prominently on Chanel to give the impression it is French or come from France or something.
"made in Passaic NJ" just doesn't carry the same cachet. It used to be made is a swamp in Humacao Puerto Rico. Probably even less cachet there.
But the word "Paris probably adds $30-40 to what they can charge.
John Henry
"But what makes it special? Other than better quality materials, gold instead of golden,diamond instead of glass, what makes it any different from what I can buy at Walmart?"
Nothing if someone were to knock it off.
The same as buying a knockoff Rolex in a market in China.
On the surface it will be similar, but you will know, that's what matters.
I have a friend who buys very nice watches. 99.9 percent of the people in the world wouldn't know that some of them cost $250k plus. I know because I know watches. He knows because he bought it. He never tells anyone what they cost. It's like a secret : )
Ann Althouse said...
The shapes
Sorry, still not seeing the shapes, which is mainly what I was talking about, as anything different from Walmart.
But I admit I am a philistine in this area.
To each her own.
John Henry
I have friends who do the watch thing. I just don’t get it.
Blogger John henry said...@10:53
Ann Althouse said...
The shapes??
My feelings exactly.
Kidneys and hearts and kidney-shaped hearts. Nobody ever seems to get inspired by the liver.
If her jewelry doesn’t reach your philistine heart, google images of the interior of her house in Sant Martà Vell, Spain.
Didn't realize she was designer of Tiffany's "diamonds by the yard" station necklace. That is the loveliest version of that necklace I've seen.
I love the gold circled cubic diamond crystal earrings.
"I have friends who do the watch thing. I just don’t get it."
It's kind of a disease actually...trust me.
I would buy watches like his but alas, I don't have pockets that deep...
She even had a lovely name. Goodbye to you, Elsa Peretti.
Though I had heard of her, I don't think I had ever seen some of her work. Not bad at all.
"Nobody ever seems to get inspired by the liver."
Hannibal Lecter?
I've read that during the Renaissance the merit of an artist was directly proportional to the medium in which he worked. Goldsmiths were thus ranked higher on the status scale than painters. If she had lived during the Renaissance period, she would have been able to lord it over guys like Hockney....My guess is that she would probably be offended by being called a jewelry designer. I don't think expensive jewelry gets melted down all that often. Only during Hun and Visigoth sackings. In a thousand years, her work will still be around, and Hockney's oil paints will have flaked off. If I were a Hapsburg or Rothschild, I would buy some to adorn my wife or mistress for the Met Gala and to pass along for the next ten or twenty generations.....I didn't know until this moment what the designers of expensive jewelry looked like, but she absolutely looks like the kind of person who designs expensive jewelry.
“I would buy watches like his but alas, I don't have pockets that deep...”
Why? To make it easier for gold diggers to latch onto your scent?
“I’m not saying she’s a gold digger, but she always has that burro with her loaded up with a pack, a pick, and a shovel.”
"But what makes it special?"
The marketing.
I like it when Althouse trolls Meade.
Loved her Seventies look. Cropped hair, Henry Kissinger eyeglasses, Dior wrap? I wish I could pull that off.
It's been forty years or so since I looked at a Tiffany's catalog. But Peretti is OK. Certainly beats Jean Schlumberger. Ugh, pave everything. (That's "pave" with an acute accent on the "e." Every surface coated with little diamonds.)
The “best” jewelry is a work of art meant for personal adornment. It says a lot about any individual who wears it. Even the “Walmart” jewelry scorned by some can be seen be seen as a “best” statement of fun with color mixtures or classic designs that don’t cost a fortune. Some stores in Paris specialize in costume jewelry.
It’s perhaps easier to understand jewelry as a miniature piece of sculpture meant to be worn. Enameled jewelry requires skills In design, engraving, firing of minerals, etc., in a way that withstands wear. Watches and wedding rings are pretty much the only universally, socially accepted form of jewelry for men. Watches can be really expensive because they combine style, craftsmanship, and function...made by hand, insanely accurate, able to withstand extremes of weather or water conditions, or social status.
Elsa Peretti’s jewelry is a very modern form of jewelry...classic, in fact, because the shapes are unusually organic in style, very wearable, and can be adapted to almost any kind of metal. Her work was a a breakthrough in contemporary jewelry design and was lent additional cache because of the Tiffany label.
I note that her jewelry in silver is among the most popular and very affordable pieces sold by Tiffany.
"Nobody ever seems to get inspired by the liver."
And the liver seems to have been designed with the golden ratio in mind. It deserves more respect.
What do you think your impression of that jewelry would be if you saw it in Walmart? Would you buy all their stock and be convinced you found a hidden treasure?
tpceltus,
Watches and wedding rings are pretty much the only universally, socially accepted form of jewelry for men.
Cufflinks?
MDT,
"Cufflinks?" For sure.
Also, gold studs for tuxedo shirts are a must.
Elsa Peretti's designs are what made me fall in love with Tiffany. I had her open heart earrings in the medium size in both silver and gold and wore them every single day. I actually broke a gold heart taking a tumble off my horse...it was the last time I wore hoop earrings while jumping.
She had a beautiful and distinctive look. Was she really behind the "diamonds by the yard" necklace? I've had my eye on one of those for so long I had kind of forgotten about it. Thanks for sharing this.
"Why? To make it easier for gold diggers to latch onto your scent?"
Happily married.
Nobody on this forum would even know what I was wearing...
Many thanks for the reminders about cufflinks & studs for tuxedo shirts!
Kidneys and hearts and kidney-shaped hearts. Nobody ever seems to get inspired by the liver.”
Offal.
The only exclusively male jewelry is the Prince Albert. At least that's the way it was before women had dicks too.
MLB pitchers, a few years ago, used to walk out on the mound with half a pound of weird gold necklaces around their necks.
I don't care, I stopped admiring MLB players back in the early 70s, but it always struck me as strange. You don't see golfers or NFL players wearing jewelry while competing.
BTW, if you find investing in Bitcoin to be immoral, and you have a little free time, I suggest going to the local pawn shops and buying, a little bit at a time, non-inscribed jewelry. There are better investments, but you learn an awful lot about your fellow humans if you spend time at pawn shops, and that is a good investment of time.
Don't buy inscribed jewelry. Trust me on that, you don't want that pre-owned inscribed jewelry in your home.
BTW, if any commenters here have written novellas I can read on the internet for free, please let me know.
daskol said...
Kidneys and hearts and kidney-shaped hearts. Nobody ever seems to get inspired by the liver.
****************
But many, many people who drink too much wind up cursing or ruing the liver.
Her asymmetric bracelets and rings seem inspired by the soft watches of her fellow Catalan, Salvador Dali. Looking at some of the stuff on the linked Tiffany webpage, I liked the smallest of the rattlesnake-inspired rings.
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