Full Circle
Serious painter-turned-fine jeweler Janis Provisor is returning to her roots, at least temporarily; starting next Friday, a selection of 50 of her chunky beaded gems is being given the exhibition treatment at Winston-Wachter Fine Art in Chelsea. Gallery co-owner Christine Wachter-Campbell, a Janis junkie who owns a stash of necklaces she wears "constantly," saw synergies between the jewelry and the multi-media pieces of artist Kris Cox, currently on view at the West 25th Street space. "His works are all about materials - they're very lush, imbued with wax and wood putty - so I think it will all work well together," says Wachter-Campbell. "When you see Janis's jewelry in more a typical setting, like a trunk show, there is a commercial element to it. This show will allow the pieces to really look like works of art, which they are."
To prep for the three-day show, Provisor spent time in Bali tinkering, stringing and beading. "I've been working with one woman there for 10 years, but this is the first time I actually sat there on the bench next to her," she says. Provisor also sourced stones from all over the world, and used a cache of amber her business partner brought back from a trip to Africa two years ago. "I had no feeling for amber then," Provisor says. "I just let things sit with me until I'm ready." Another first in this collection: massive rough-cut aquamarines.
Although Provisor's paintings and prints are represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Ludwig Museum in Germany, Goldman Sachs and numerous other institutions, she seems committed to craft. In addition to the jewelry, she and her husband, fellow artist Brad Davis, continue to operate Fort Street Studio, a hand-crafted silk carpet business that has found fans in Madonna, Elton John, producer Joel Silver and thriller machine Tom Clancy.
Dynamic Duo
Watch connoisseurs on this side of the pond have big reason to celebrate: Patek Philippe has just opened its first full-service retail salon in the U.S., located on the mezzanine floor of the Tiffany & Co. flagship on New York's Fifth Avenue. The space marks the pinnacle of a partnership that began in 1851, when the companies' founders struck a deal—by way of a gentleman's verbal agreement and a handshake—for Philippe to manufacture timepieces for Tiffany & Co.
To commemorate the opening, an exhibit of Philippe's horological evolution is currently on display, through April 26, on Tiffany's fifth floor. After that, it heads to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills (May 16-18). Exhibition highlights include a silver and rose gold pocket watch that was gifted to Pope Leo XIII in 1888 to celebrate his ten-year pontificate (the timepiece is engraved with his likeness), and a wristwatch, circa 1945, made for King Farouk I of Egypt. While those items aren't for sale, many others are, such as the Star Caliber 2000, a pocket watch that, with six patents, twenty-one complications and more than 1,100 individual parts, is said to be one of Patek Philippe's most complicated timepieces ever. Its price? The exact figure has yet to be determined, but a company exec says it will be in the $3 million-ballpark.
Patek Philippe's Star Caliber 2000, King Farouk I of Egypt watch, and Pope Leo XIII pocket watch
See You at Noon-ish
On our recent flight to the BaselWorld watch fair in Switzerland, we were marveling over the concept of slow living and how someone could ever achieve such a lifestyle in the fast pace of New York. Later, while frantically negotiating our nearly impossible schedule (sixty-three appointments in three-and-a-half days), our answer came in the form of, ironically, a watch. The nifty conversation piece is Jaquet Droz's limited-edition Grande Heure 24 timepiece (only eighty-eight were produced), but we prefer to call it the "ish" watch. Forget minute accuracy. Instead, it suggests a vague estimation of time between the hours of the day, i.e. 2:30-ish or 5-ish. We quickly took the watch's witty design to heart, arriving at our next appointment around 3-ish.
Time To Go Shopping
While cruising the floor at the recent SIHH watch show in Geneva, we came across a novelty timepiece perfect for the fashion lover on the go: Girard-Perregaux's ww.tc 24 Hour Shopping watch. The steel and diamond beauty ($22,750) tells the time in twenty-four different time zones, nine of which are named for famous luxury shopping districts around the world—Faubourg St. Honore, Dubai, Rodeo Drive and Bond Street, for example. What better way for jet-setters to schedule their next international shopping spree?
Nusch Rush
After collaborating with Marc Jacobs for the past four years on his runway jewelry and hats, not to mention his home collection, accessories designer Clare Corrigan is taking things into her own hands. Her new lineup of modern jewels—named Nusch, after Picasso muse Nusch Eluard—features rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings made of gold vermeil and pearls. It's now sold at Colette in Paris, and will make its way to Karry O, also in the City of Light, in Febuary.
