Alternate Designer Picks

By Emma Testill, Jewellery Catalogue Manager at Fellows Auctioneers.

Fellows’ 3rd December Jewellery sale is full of designer delights, and Lots 437, 438 and 439 are three amazing ‘Alligator’ pieces by award winning American designer, Barry Kieselstein-Cord.

The ring, earrings and necklace are beautifully crafted and really show the detail and care taken by the designer to create such life like features. The pieces we have are all signed and dated as B.Kieselstein-1988 and stamped 18K.

The Kieselstein-Cord brand was founded in 1972 in Manhattan, New York, and was named after the designer’s original family names of Von Kieselstein and Winercord. Kieselstein-Cord is well known for his luxury jewellery collections, a favourite designer amongst celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Jay-Z to name a few. He retailed his first silver collection in 1972 which was swiftly acquired by Georg Jensen.

After spending decades in the luxury jewellery and fashion world, some of his most noteworthy collections are now held in museums across the globe, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre in Paris.

Lot 443 in the sale is a pretty impressive 18ct gold aquamarine cocktail ring, by one of Brazil’s most exciting jewellery designers, Carla Amorim. This statement cabochon ring is signed Carla Amorim, with additional retail marks for Mappin & Webb. Amorim set up her brand with her sister in 1993 and together the family have expanded their business across the globe retailing in many high end jewellers, including Mappin & Webb in the UK and luxury department store Neiman Marcus in the USA.

Her unique designs are heavily influenced by the colours of nature and the spiritual surroundings of the Amazon rainforest. Some collections carry a more distinctive structural and architectural reflection of mid-20th century Brasilia. Celebrities known to have accompanied their look at red carpet events with Carla Amorim jewellery, include Jennifer Lopez, Eva Mendes and Emily Blunt.

Although a relatively new name to our Jewellery sales, it would seem that Carla Amorim’s collections are regarded as some of the best in Brazil. With her designs and influences still evolving, coupled with the use of bold gemstones, the Amorim brand is surely one to keep an eye on.