Jewelry Etcetera...

Aldo Cipullo

2011-01-19T10:55:00.000-08:00

(1936-1984)

“All design is linked together.”

These are the words of renowned jewelry designer Aldo Cipullo. He began his apprenticeship in Italy, his home country, before moving to the States where he worked for David Webb and Tiffany. He even did time with Trifari designing costume jewelry. In the late sixties, a time of the flower child, he continued his career with Cartier, refining and simplifying his design sensibilities.

In 1969, he created what seemed like a fairly simple gold bracelet. Inspired by the chastity belt, he called his design the love bracelet and suggested that couples buy two, which they would exchange, like rings. They would each close the other’s circle with the screwdriver and never take off their bracelets. Cartier initially offered the bracelet exclusively to famous couples such as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Nancy and Frank Sinatra. The love bracelet became so popular it is still a best seller at Cartier.

The nail bracelet, another iconic piece.

Detail of diamond and gold dollar sign bracelet, c.1970.

(kklostermanjewelry.com)

Ear pendants, 1972

(kklostermanjewelry.com)

This iconic piece underscored Cipullo’s more modernist eye and marked his trend to use the ordinary as inspiration for extraordinary pieces. The playful side of Cipullo led him to use everyday objects like nails, knots, dollar sign, and even games as the themes for his designs. For Cipullo, “to repeat the past is an easy way to get out of thinking, it’s an escape. The important thing is to reflect the present,” he says.

Little known Cipullo career move...jewelry designer on the 1973 movie “The Exorcist”. In this photo, actress Ellen Burstyn wears a Cipullo Hamsa necklace similar to the one pictured below.

Cipullo designs always turn heads...

History Lessons...

2011-01-18T07:13:00.000-08:00

It was over 15 years ago that I bought my first piece of jewelry from the 1960's. This purchase developed a feverish passion for late mid-century fine jewelry. I wanted to show the world that modern design did not just come in silver. Gold Jewelry, so prevalent during both the 1960's and 70's, was big, bold and sculptural. It was a departure from the staid, mass produced pieces of earlier times. It reflected a new world, wild and individual. Major Jewelry houses employed designers to make one of a kind pieces to follow the success of Artist-Jewelers like Andrew Grima and Arthur King (whose shops incidentally, were as fantastic as their jewelry). The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, Vidal Sassoon, Mary Quant, Halston, Ed Sullivan, Flower Power, the Vietnam War - just a few components that influenced this wild 20 year span from 1960-1980. But is only in the past few years that this style has come back around. Forgotten names, at one time household with those in the know, have prompted me to share the information I have been gathering these last 15 years. I want to bring you more than just the wonderful collection of these artists on my website. I want to bring you a clearer sense of the pieces that were being made, the motivation behind the people making them, and of the time period in which they were produced.

In the future, I plan to look deeper into these artists:

Aldo Cipullo, 18k Gold Ear Clips, c. 1970

Gilbert Albert, 18k Gold, Diamond, and South Sea Pearl Ear Clips, c. 1965

Andrew Grima, 18k Gold and Diamond Ring, c. 1970

Arthur King, Gold, Pearl and Diamond Pendant/Brooch, c. 1970

Cartier, 18k Gold Link Bracelet, c. 1960

Van Cleef and Arpels, Gold Taurus Pendant, c. 1970

Charles De Temple, 18k Pearl and Diamond Ring, c. 1960

Elsa Peretti, Ivory Bangles from the collection of Naomi Sims, c. 1970

Marianne Ostier, 18k Gold, Emerald and Diamond Brooch, c. 1960

18k White and Yellow Gold Necklace by Bulgari, c. 1970

Also:

Chaumet, John Donald, Mario Masenza, Asprey and Company, Buccellati, Toni Cavelti, Gubelin, Kutchinsky, Pierre Sterle, H. Stern, and more.

Get ready to have fun!

www.kklostermanjewelry.com

The Dark Side: Hidden Secrets of Art Nouveau Jewelry

2009-10-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

Recently, Michael (my husband) and I had the good fortune to spend the day with jewelry author, jewelry historian, jewelry curator , Egyptologist, and mother, Yvonne Markowitz. It is not often I get to bend someones ear about jewelry for an entire afternoon. What a treat! We met at the Cincinnati Art Museum cafe at noon for lunch were we were introduced to Yvonne, a small women wearing an impressive silver necklace by Bjorn Weckstrom. Entitled "Planetaariset Laaksot" ("Planetary Valleys") ,the necklace is more commonly known as the Princess Leia necklace worn by Carrie Fisher in Star Wars Episode IV. I dressed in a little thing by Gilbert Albert - one of his hard to find gold,pearl and moldavite necklaces , (moldavite is a mossy-colored glass-like by- product that is produced when a meteorite hits the earth. ) We then raised our lightsabers....

Hers- as worn by Princess Leia

mine

When we exhausted all forms of jewelry conversation from ancient to modern, we excused Markowitz so she could prepare for her 2:00 lecture. My husband and I took a quick trip to the "Roaring Tigers, Leaping Carp" show. (More on this later) After seeing half of the show, we ran downstairs to procure a few good seats for a fantastic lecture on Art Nouveau Jewelry.

"Imperishable Beauty",currently on view at the Cincinnati Art Museum, is of the best Art Nouveau jewelry exhibitions to date. It is a stellar collection amassed by a private collector in the 60's and 70's. Although the collection is labeled private, we know that it comes from a friendly, yet formidable Doctor who exposed thousands of people to the wonderful world of jewelry . A passionate man that never tired of the hunt and was always ahead of the curve when it came to buying the most amazing things. We will all miss him. Luckily, his connoisseurship lives on and is enhanced by the expert of Yvonne Markowitz who speaks as enthusiastically about the collection as any collector. She talked about various pieces in the exhibit, pointing up techniques and inspirations. One of the most novel ideas she discussed was the importance of the reverse side of Art Nouveau jewelry. If you ever watch a jewelry expert handle a piece of jewelry you will notice a funny thing... they almost always look at the back first. This forensic study helps quickly evaluate a maker, a carat weight, repairs or most importantly , the quality of a piece. However, the flip side of many fine Art Nouveau jewels, take on a whole new meaning. Often pieces not only show the quality of craftsmanship , but also complete a picture. It is as if the jewel was practically meant to be reversible. But what inspired these artist-jewelers to so elaborately decorate a side that is so private? Markowitz suggests that love of all things Japanese during this time could be the answer...in particular,you guessed it... the Japanese netsuke!

Brooch by Rene Lalique, circa 1900
photo courtesy of Woolley & Wallis Salisbury Salerooms Ltd

" Silent Cicada" ,Carved Cicada Netsuke contemporary, by Janel Jacobson

Top photo: Cicada Netsuke, carved wood, 19th Century
V & A Museum

Welcome

2009-10-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Jewelry,Food,Art,Music,Fashion,Family,Friends...the stuff that makes up life (at least for me) is sometimes worth sharing. That's what this blog is essentially about. I don't profess to be a writer, scholar or a thinker. Just someone who for one reason or another feels like she "gets it". I invite anyone reading this to come along with me thru the soundbites of life and share their thoughts, ideas or comments.

I will write about jewelry- my passion of course. But food, art, fashion- (halloween) anything that gets me going and I think is share-worthy. The goal here is to enjoy life and the things it has to offer. I invite you to learn, teach and create.

*the watch posted above is 18k diamond and yellow gold, by Fred of Paris,circa 1970. The sculpture, unidentified artist, illegible signature, probably depicting Gargantua (see below)

Gargantua and Pantagruel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Illustration by Gustave Doré, 1873

The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel (in French, La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel) is a connected series of five novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It is the story of two giants, a father (Gargantua) and his son (Pantagruel) and their adventures, written in an amusing, extravagant, satirical vein. There is much crudity and scatological humor as well as a large amount of violence. Long lists of vulgar insults fill several chapters.

Rabelais studied Ancient Greek, and used this as he invented hundreds of new words, some of which became part of the French language.^{[citation needed]} His quibbling and other wordplay fills the book, and is quite free from any prudishness.

The introduction to the series, in an English translation,^[1] runs:

Readers, friends, if you turn these pages
Put your prejudice aside,
For, really, there's nothing here that's outrageous,
Nothing sick, or bad — or contagious.
Not that I sit here glowing with pride
For my book: all you'll find is laughter:
That's all the glory my heart is after,
Seeing how sorrow eats you, defeats you.
I'd rather write about laughing than crying,
For laughter makes men human, and courageous.

BE HAPPY!