From An American In Paris, Custom-made Jewelry in The New York Times

From An American In Paris, Custom-made Jewelry by Bernadine Morris, Published in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/05/style/from-an-american-in-paris-custom-made-jewelry.html

JAR, which stands for Joel Arthur Rosenthal, is a name which continually pops up when one is reading about jewellery design in the late 20 century and so I felt compelled to pull up a few articles on him, which wasn’t easy as he seems to be very reclusive.

This article, in fact, is 30 years old, dating back to when JAR was still gaining a certain kind of momentum across the globe. Rosenthal seems to be considered one of the greatest jewellers that was active in the 80s. His pieces are inspired heavily by historicism and the modern styles such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco. In this article he explains that his designs are based on the stones and the gems that he uses and not the other way around. This might be the reason why all his pieces, save one, are one of a kind.

Morris explains that JAR does not believe that earrings should match each other and are just as beautiful, if not more, when they are asymmetrical. The jeweller also tells Morris that, when designing, earrings have to be seen on a woman’s face otherwise they “can be a disaster” as JAR says.

This article helped me get a glimpse into who JAR is and why he is considered so important. Reading up on Rosenthal, I get the distinct impression that he was as important to 80s and 90s jewellery as Lalique was in the 1900s and 1910s. Although I have sourced enough books for this particular essay, I feel that it would not be wasted to get a book dedicated to this designer.

References

Morris, B., 1985. From an American in Paris, Custom-Made Jewelry. The New York Times [Online] 5 October
Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/05/style/from-an-american-in-paris-custom-made-jewelry.html
[Accessed 13 April 2015].