With border restrictions and ever-shifting guidelines on public gatherings, these are challenging times for retailers and exhibitors. But it is not deterring Angela Loh, the CEO of annual fine jewellery and watch event JeweLuxe, from championing her favourite independent jewellery designers with a special pop-up at Scotts Square.
Each month, the show and retail space will have a different theme, and this month, it’s “A European Summer”. As the theme suggests, the stars of the show are uplifting and unusual pieces by European designers who Loh admires, several of whom should be familiar to JeweLuxe regulars. They include Italian designers Paolo Castagli and Amedeo, Russian designer Tenzo, Swiss jewellery makers House of Geneva and New York City-based brand Faraone Mennella.
Says Loh, “Paolo has been sold 600 times by the likes of Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Tenzo’s pieces are investment-worthy rare gems, but he likes to be anonymous because his clients include well-known individuals. Designers like those of Faraone Mennella are like celebrities, and their pieces aren’t about high-investment gemstones, but they have their own artistic style.
“These are designers who have been written about in major publications all over the world, and I want JeweLuxe Gallery to represent that buzz and culture, and to be a collective space where people can experience this talent.” We spotlight a few of the designers on show this month.
01: Paolo Castagli
Jewellery is wearable art, and Italian designer Paolo Castagli reaffirms this with the fact that his geometric Brillante bracelet is on permanent display at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Aside from clean geometrics, the New York-based designer is known for his focus on proportions and unusual colour combinations — which are influenced by the landscape and architecture of Florence and Venice, where he grew up.
02: Amedeo
Designer Amedeo Scognamiglio got his start in the jewellery biz at an early age: At 16, he began learning cameo-carving in his father’s company, M+ M Scognamiglio. In his hometown of Torre del Greco, near Naples, Italy, the traditional art dates back to the early 1800s, but his creations are anything but old-fashioned. Featuring monkeys to skulls to human figures, his cameos, which are carved from sardonyx shell, give his jewellery pieces a classic yet irreverent edge.
03: House of Geneva
“Luxury that makes sense”: Leave it to a Swiss jewellery brand to have such a down-to-earth slogan. While House of Geneva specialises in classic and sophisticated designs, its approach to its craft is anything but old-school. The company, which was started by a family that has been in the gemstone trade for four generations, adopts practices such as the use of ethical gold and environmentally friendly extraction processes.
04: Faraone Mennella
The name of jewellery label Faraone Mennella is the surname one of its cofounders — Roberto Faraone Mennella, who passed away from cancer last June. The brand’s other founder is Amedeo Scognamiglio of the aforementioned cameo specialist Amedeo. The brand is best known for its parabolic earrings, which were worn by characters on the TV show Sex and the City in the early 2000s. Since then, their pieces have also brought some sparkle to other TV shows, movies such as The Devil Wears Prada and Wall Street — and of course, fans of their stylish, sassy designs everywhere.
JeweLuxe Gallery (#01-11 Scotts Square) is open daily from 11.30am to 7pm. For more information, call +65 9698 3292 or e-mail concierge@jeweluxe-international.com.
