LONDON — Solange Azagury-Partridge has completed a near-impossible task, compressing decades of work and a rainbow of color, shimmer and dreams into a coffee table book.
The designer — who began selling from her kitchen table, went on to become creative director of Boucheron, and who now caters to a loyal, international fanbase of private clients — will launch “Solange: Jewellery for Chromantics” (Rizzoli) this week.
It opens a window into her heart, her soul — and her process — and examines recurring themes, collections and colorful stones over the years. Most importantly, it delves into her inspirations and fixations.
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The book showcases Solange the astronomer, making sharp-edged earrings out of star-shaped diamonds; Solange the romantic, creating rings with heart-shaped rubies nestled next to each other; and Solange the Biblical scholar, bringing to life a curling gold serpent ring, complete with a fig leaf and apple and made with emeralds, rubies and coral.
The book also features jewels that recall armor, and ones that are inspired by royals, popes, Greek myths and antiquity. It’s a history, science and philosophy tutorial and a visual banquet in psychedelic cellophane wrapping.
There’s also a fold-out section dedicated to one of Azagury-Partridge’s most famous designs, Hotlips, a shiny, enameled ring with sensually parted lips done in myriad colors and designs.
Azagury-Partridge refers to it as a “portable kiss to wear and share,” and the design has been on permanent display in the Victoria & Albert Museum since 2008.
There is also an image of her engagement ring, which Azagury-Partridge designed herself in 1987, and which made her want to become a jeweler. She said the ring, a gold dome with an octahedral diamond bursting from the surface, said it perfectly reflected who she was at the time.
“I thought, I’m 24, I can’t wear a diamond solitaire. It wasn’t my style or my look. People would never have believed that it belonged to me,” said the designer during an interview at her London office, which was ablaze with color, including the red neon flames lighting up the fireplace.
Solange’s whole universe of inspiration is in the book, although she doesn’t necessarily see it that way.
She said putting the book together was “difficult, because I realized that my archiving is not very good. Also, I couldn’t, I couldn’t access any of my Boucheron archives because they’re in a storage unit somewhere.”
“Also, it would have been nice to have the photos from when I used to present the jewelry on my kitchen table,” but, she admitted, she couldn’t find them in time.
Azagury-Partridge has certainly come a long way since those days, but there is still more exploring, pondering and designing to do. She said her archive is brimming with hundreds of creations that haven’t seen daylight for a while.
She continues to make bespoke designs for clients (including her signature, handwritten gold message rings), and stock her two London shops, Hotlips and Solange, with a trove of color, precious and semiprecious stones, and thought-provoking designs.
She sees jewelry as a blank canvas, and feels like she has the freedom to draw anything on it. “Designing is like occupational therapy for me — I need to keep my creative brain interested and happy,” said the designer.
She also thrives on “visual chaos,” and wants to keep channeling that aesthetic into her work — and into the two stores.
She said that even as a child, she loved going into one antique jewelry shop in London. “There was everything there: all different looks, different styles. You never knew what you were going to get, or see. I want people to have that feeling when they come into my shop,” she said.
While she may thrive on visual chaos, she’s sharp-eyed when it comes to the actual design. Going forward, Azagury-Partridge said she only wants to create pieces that are “meaningful, or if I can change the conversation a little bit,” she said.
Azagury-Partridge will be signing copies of the book on Tuesday at Dover Street Market in London and will also be giving a talk at the V&A on Nov. 11. On Nov. 20, she’ll be signing books at Rizzoli in New York.
The book retails for 73 pounds, and will be sold at Dover Street Market London and Rizzoli New York.
