Prestige Promenade pearls and sweets
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/252925
29 W W W.thejeWelrybook.CoM c o n t e n t s d av i d w e b b r e t r o s p e c t i v e David Webb The Legacy Lives On In the summer of 2013, months before the opening of David Webb retrospective on Jan 16, 2014 (David Webb: Society Jewels, through April 2014 at The Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach), I had the treat of being invited to the David Webb atelier for a tour of the workshop, preview and discus- sion about the upcoming exhibition. Whisked up from the boutique on the ground floor to an elevator, which opened to the showroom and the behind the scenes workshop—I was transported to a fantastical world where culture, history and celebrity meet. Since David Webb opened his first shop on East 57th street in 1950, all pieces still continue to be produced on his premises. Co-owner Mark Emanuel—who along with Sima Ghadamian and Robert Sadian, acquired the company in 2010 and moved the business to its newest location at 942 Madison Avenue—spoke enthusiastically about the expansion of the company, the archives: 80,000 original molds and over 40,000 color pencil sketches. I met the foreman and the jewelers, many who have been there at least since the 1970s, who still retain and display reverence for the technique and legacy of this eponymous house. There were 18K gold pieces that were cast and hand-hammered and laid out to be connected into a bib style necklace akin to body armor. "Do you see yourself wearing this?" Emanuel asked. I answered that it might be slightly more of an overstatement than statement for my small chest, but I then immediately saw a color drawing of a pair of ruby, diamond and emerald earrings and said, "I would definitely wear those." Turns out it was an original sketch of a pair of earrings Jackie Kennedy owned that were being recreated for the new collection. I went on to covet a carved emerald and gold necklace that was being pieced together. "This is very similar to one The Duchess of Windsor owned," Emanuel explained. "We are changing the shape of the center stone and some of the other details," he continued. 28 W W W.thejeWelrybook.CoM By Beth Bernstein Dressing society and defining American jewelry David Webb Zebra Bracelet with diamonds, rubies, black and white enamel, set in 18K yellow gold and platinum