which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cartier,

[chatbandit]

Re: which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cart

i'm completely infatuated with Mauboussin! the only mention of them on this site is here so i thought i'd say

Their Madison avenue store makes me wince. It's an edited, streamlined collection. Not all over the place. Not for everyone. Fabulous Audrey Hepburn murals. Incredible espresso. 2 floors. it's an EXPERIENCE. they enjoyed just discussing possibilities for 2 hours. the way generations ago, Tiffany's or Cartier may have been. Open to custom design. All about the customer. It's the only place I've tried on e-rings but my heart is set.

 

[JewelFreak]

Re: which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cart

Chatbandit, you make me want to hop on a plane to NYC just for the fun of going to Mauboussin! Sounds wonderful. I've spent a few hours at high-end independent jewelers yammering happily -- one in New Orleans brought all his varied colored tourmalines out of the safe & we played with them (I did, at least!); another showed me his custom projects in the works & toured me through his CAD apps, as well as hauling out the microscope for me to look at my own spinel -- but none of the size & depth of Mauboussin. Lucky you!

Leviev and Graff are the world's best jewelers. They surpassed Cartier, Tiffany & Winston years ago.

Graff is my idea of ultimate (except for Oscar Heyman Bros., which is matchless). If I get to choose where to spend my time in heaven, it will be Graff or Heyman!

--- Laurie

 

[smitcompton]

Re: which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cart

Hi,

Yesterday there was an TV interview with a top executive from Graff. Apparently Woody Allens latest movie(idon't know the name)
has a scene where a wealthy woman is going throught hard financial times and was looking to sell her jewelry from high end retailers who she names, Graff being one. The dialogue suggests that these high end jewelers tell you how their expensive jewelry is worth so much, but when you try to sell it, you can't give it away.

Well Graff took exception to that scene, so much so, that they came on CNBC to refute the statement of the woman in the movie. He did it light-hardedly, but wanted all to know this was untrue. He gave the stats on diamond increases for the past 20 yrs to show good diamonds hold their value. But an important point he made was that people should buy the best diamond they can afford, even if it is a small one. Not the Biggest.

Yesterday i looked at OWD for the first time. I thought the diamonds looked awful. I don't understand why they are recommended on here. I think the standards on PS are falling. Diamond Seeker keeps the standards up. I would take Graff seriously. If you want to retain value but the best you can afford.

The exception to the above is a purchase like Neil made recently. Pretty nice diamond for the price. But OWD, ??????

I put my questions here because my thought process went along with the Graff comments.


Annette

 

[Circe]

Re: which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cart

I think it's a matter of taste, not objective standard: for example, super-ideals have always left me cold, and when I look at lines like - gentle joshing, Smith! - HoF, I don't really see the appeal, though I'm happy for those who have them and love them. For those who love old cuts, OWD actually has a great selection, and their customer service is apparently fab. (I don't have a dog in this race, btw - I've never done business with them, though I hope to in the future.) But I do think there's a difference between even the high-end mainstream lines of today, like Graff and Leviev, and what Cartier and V&C *were,* back in the day.

Clever(ness).

With enough money, anybody can acquire and simply set a great big rock. But I don't think that's equivalent to Cartier making a modern-day set of regalia for a maharaja on one day and a platinum vanity for an English Lady on the next and an amusing set of his-and-her golfing accessories (with sapphire, moonstone, and pearl, 'natch) the day after that. The custom element and the element of wit are something that I think we see more in smaller individual jewelers nowadays, because for large corporations, the profit lies in a very different approach, and it's the bottom line that matters most.

I think, of the names named in this thread, JAR and Mike Robinson are probably the closest. I'd toss Zadora (http://www.zadoradesign.com/jewelry.html) in there - he made a WATER LILY room for one client with gold and platinum dragonflies that actually hovered (magnets). But I think it may be, if not a dying art, then certainly an art that's going to be practiced on a different scale than it was back in the day when labor costs were cheaper and pride in craftsmanship was higher.

 

[smitcompton]

Re: which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cart

Hi,

I want to clarify my comment on OWD. I looked at the stones(not jewelry) available from the most expensive on down. They were I1-I2 diamonds with loads of carbon spots for in the 40 K's . There was one decent looking one that was suggested for Debs friend Barb in another thread. That was about the only stone that looked good on the high end prices. I continued from there working my way down and found similar results. Perhaps the jewelry section is better. I don't have dog in this fight either, Oh it isn't a fight. Just My Opinion.


Annette

 

[Smith1942]

Re: which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cart

Smitcompton - I looked at OWD a while ago and I also thought that a significant amount of their stones were awful. So it's not just you! Of course, you have to choose well and they also had many fantastic stones, too. If you choose the "Fair" cut section from my beloved Blue Nile, you'd get terrible stones too, I'm sure!

Circe - no offence taken, I had nothing - absolutely nothing - to do with choosing my e-ring stone! It was very expensive for what it is. I need to start a thread about it, though, because I want to understand my stone better. On the HoF website, it says that the diamonds are cut at 100x magnification instead of the normal x10, resulting in a perfect mirror polish of each facet and that fewer than 400 people in the world are qualified to cut a diamond the HoF way. I have no idea what this means. Perhaps BGD and WF also cut their stones at x100 magnification! The diamond does live up to its name though - it throws out a ton of coloured light. I love it, I just wish it hadn't cost so much. Anyway, threadjack alert - will discuss HoF in another thread.

I do like MRB super-ideal cuts though, just 'cos I think they're the sparkliest, to my eyes.

 

[Imdanny]

Re: which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cart

None. Next question.

 

[diagem]

Re: which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cart

Cartier will always be in a class by itself, even though its glory days are over. If you want to see some of their best pieces ever, watch the 1974 Great Gataby movie.
Leviev and Graff are the world's best jewelers. They surpassed Cartier, Tiffany & Winston years ago.

Madam B,

I believe there is a difference between "Jewelers" interpretations, I understand its your opinion that Leviev & Graff "are the world's best jewelers" in which you are certainly entitled to. I on the other side think Gem dealers and/or manufacturerers will have a hard time becoming the "greatest jeweler" as most are lacking artistic sense for reaching these objective levels. I would agree that both Leviev & Graff are perhaps great Gem dealers/connoisseurs although the majority of their Gems are generic in all terms but each one of the mentioned do own some of the greatest gems known. But there are a few more contenders in this arena which prefer staying a bit more "under the lime light" like the Steinmetz Family http://www.steinmetzdiamonds.com/en/index.html etc....

I think designers like James de Givenchy (Taffin) definitely has the potential of being recognized as part of the greatest jewelers family in the future but there are a few other contenders IMO which were not mentioned here yet.

Here are three Hong Kong based jewelers with IMO great potential for the level we are discussing:

Wallace Chan http://www.wallace-chan.com/web/
Edmond Chin http://artist.christies.com/Etcetera-21292.aspx
Michelle Ong http://www.carnetjewellery.com/#/en/collection

It is an interesting topic as knowing who will be recognized as a great[est] jeweler in the future can be quite an investment presently...

 

[canuk-gal]

Re: which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cart

Chatbandit, you make me want to hop on a plane to NYC just for the fun of going to Mauboussin! Sounds wonderful. I've spent a few hours at high-end independent jewelers yammering happily -- one in New Orleans brought all his varied colored tourmalines out of the safe & we played with them (I did, at least!); another showed me his custom projects in the works & toured me through his CAD apps, as well as hauling out the microscope for me to look at my own spinel -- but none of the size & depth of Mauboussin. Lucky you!

Leviev and Graff are the world's best jewelers. They surpassed Cartier, Tiffany & Winston years ago.

Graff is my idea of ultimate (except for Oscar Heyman Bros., which is matchless). If I get to choose where to spend my time in heaven, it will be Graff or Heyman!

--- Laurie

HI:

Perhaps you could wear these while there for an eternity? (no pun intended....)

http://www.oakgem.com/Products/Oscar_Heyman_18k_Gold_2.50ctw_Ruby_2.50ctw_Sapphire_Eternity_Band_Ring_10803.aspx

cheers--Sharon

 

[smitcompton]

Re: which jeweler of the present time will be tomorrows Cart

Hi,

I love that Yorum posted, not that I think you all are not important. You are. But if Yorum reads this, I have a question for him.

Are you the diamond cutter that cuts for GOG and that our own Diamondseeker wanted her diamond to be cut by? I don't know how many Yorums there are, I just want to be clear in my mind.

Well Yorum, I take your recommendation very seriously and when I get time I will look at the jewelers you mentiond and their work. I have made a list of all those mentioned and perhaps I will save some dough to buy something from my new list. Maybe?


Thank You All,

Annette