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subscribe to style file blog via RSSwhen the economy is uncertain, buy gold. and rubys. and diamonds…
October 31, 2008 11:54 am
“I never really analyze who’s going to buy an item, ever,” Solange Azagury-Partridge conceded at last night’s opening of Unwearable Jewels, her first U.S. solo exhibition, at Sebastian + Barquet. “I say ‘oh!’ and wonder if I’ll ever sell it. It’s not the impetus behind it.” Indeed, the London-based designer, renowned for a sense of whimsy not typically found among serious jewelers, is keenly aware that her latest foray into larger-scale, decorative works may only reach a select few—fiscally speaking, of course. “It’s somebody who would be buying art, who has that kind of money, really,” Azagury-Partridge said of her potential buyers. (Though ebony and mink-framed plaques encrusted with ruby, rock crystal, lapis, and mother-of-pearl will retail for around $80,000, the showstopper—and the designer’s favorite—is an 18-carat, blackened white gold and diamond chandelier, priced at $2.8 million.) “They’re fantasy pieces, really,” Azagury-Partridge said of her works, including a silver cosmic mirror ball, a gemstone-inlaid black Karappa coffee table, and various multi-hued wool “parquet” rugs. As to her “queen of bling,” status, the genuinely modest Azagury-Partridge seemed quite surprised by the moniker. “Is that my reputation?” she laughed. “That’s nice!”
tags: Solange Azagury-Partridge
