A six-story mansion in London’s Mayfair area seems typically British: a brick façade interrupted only by expansive bow windows. But take a peek inside and you’ll see remnants of another world — that of Alice in Wonderland, say its visitors, but with touches of rock n’ roll and psychedelia. One room offers emerald walls and jet-black furniture, and flows directly into a red-walled room with a carpet of multi-coloured stars. A staircase features a traditional wooden balustrade but radical steps, each with a different, though mostly neon, pattern. At the top of the staircase, an animal-print couch rests against a wall depicting an enchanted forest.
This is the boutique of Solange Azagury-Partridge, often called one of Hollywood’s favourite jewellers, who shares the industry’s passion for storytelling. It was this fondness for telling tales she wanted to celebrate when launching her boutique in 2013, along with her Metamorphosis collection — jewellery boxes that unravel into wearable jewels.
In the boutique, her jewellery and objets d’art are framed on the wall, encased in glass boxes that double as furniture, or propped up on fireplaces. They are not merely displayed, but used, reflecting Solange’s philosophy towards her jewellery — it must be “unfussy, in that it is easy and not stressful to wear”. It must also be fun, like her most iconic design, Hotlips, which she has reinterpreted over the years using gold, precious stones, and lacquer. One version even features a starts-and-stripes motif.
Her preference for showing her jewellery in natural settings led her to create films for her collections. “I started commissioning films as a way of showcasing the jewellery in a non-static way — showing it worn on a living, breathing person, rather than static and behind glass. [It’s] much more fun,” says Solange, who taps family and friends to help produce the films. Many are animated and playful, while others, like the film for Alpha, her first men’s collection, offers more drama.
Such a focus on emotion and whimsy does not equate to simple craftsmanship. Some pieces require complex techniques, especially those in the Metamorphosis collection, which took years to create. A look at even one of the collection’s five jewellery boxes explains the effort. The Secret Garden, for instance, comes in the form of an enamelled and golden greenhouse on a lotus leaf made of rose quartz and aventurine. The greenhouse walls come apart to become two wrist cuffs, while the roof can be used as a bowl (for marshmallows, suggests Solange). A floor paved with diamond, opal, and obsidian offers a removable centre that can be used as a pendant, while the remaining objects — a statuary, bench, umbrella, and shoes — are playthings.
Considering that Solange began her career as a self-taught jewellery designer, such technical complexity becomes even more impressive. The impetus for her business came in 1987, when she designed her own engagement ring owing to a preference for a rough, rather than cut, stone. Her friends’ admiration of the ring encouraged her to learn the craft, and she opened her business in 1990. In the early 2000s, she served as Boucheron’s creative director for three years. She then returned to her own brand and currently has boutiques in London, New York, and Paris.
Today, her pieces have become collectibles as much as wearables, and form part of the permanent collection of the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. One can understand, then, the emotion behind The Letter, the film for the Stoned collection. In it, a woman wakes beside her man, slips into the next room, and stealthily puts on rings, earrings, and a necklace. She dresses, packs the rest of her jewellery into a travelling bag, and leaves a keepsake ring and letter on the bedside table. As she escapes the house, she halts, as if having second thoughts. She returns to the bedroom. Quietly, the woman reaches towards the bedside table and takes the ring, not willing to part with any Solange treasure.
A wise move.
