The Art of Tina Chow

In the art of jewelry design, there are maximalists and there are minimalists.  There are many maximalists but not many minimalists.  Tina Chow's jewelry designs were quiet: a whisper close to your ear, the rustle of a soft breeze in a bamboo forest, amethysts from the tears of the gods...

I was so happy to receive this very beautiful and very special and very rare collection of Tina Chow jewelry for RARE vintage.  They are all perfect examples of the quiet beauty and strong artistry of Tina Chow.  

The Tina Chow Amethyst Cuff:

Purchase the Tina Chow amethyst cuff here.

The Tina Chow Rock Crystal Cuff:

Purchase the Tina Chow rock crystal cuff here.

A Tina Chow Clear Rock Crystal Pendant:

Purchase the Tina Chow rock crystal pendant here.

A Tina Chow Amethyst Pendant Wrapped in Bamboo:

Purchase the Tina Chow amethyst and bamboo pendant from RARE vintage here.

A Tina Chow single pink tourmaline earring wrapped in gold:

Purchase the Tina Chow pink tourmaline earring from RARE vintage here.

A Tina Chow amethyst bead necklace:

Purchase the Tina Chow amethyst bead necklace here.

xo, Juliana

Coming Soon: A Collection of Tina Chow

I can not think of a more perfect way to start the fall at RARE vintage then with a particularly special and beautiful collection of Tina Chow...

Coming soon!

A sneak peek:

love and kisses, Juliana

Just in: A Rare and Extraordinary Tina Chow Wenge Wood Cuff

Do you remember reading the New York Times (actual newspaper in your hands) and on the third page there was always a box with an ad for Bergdorf Goodman - I use to love seeing those ads.  Here is one from 1989 I believe and it shows a new African inspired rose wenge wood cuff by Tina Chow.  This is such an amazing photo - the model (does anyone recognize her?), the pose and of course, the two wood cuffs.

and so just to make it all that much more amazing, I am thrilled to have a wenge wood cuff for sale at RARE vintage!  Ours does not have the turquoise inlay like the one in the ad - if someone has a cuff with the turquoise, please send me a photo!

Circa 1989 Tina Chow wenge wood cuff available for purchase at RARE vintage

You can see that Tina Chow carefully chose the wood for this extraordinary piece by its beautiful graining.  Even though this piece is African inspired there is a refined elegance to it that is always a hall mark of her jewelry.  It is not only an incredible statement piece to wear but a remarkable objet d'art...

love, kisses and so happy to have another beautiful and rare piece of Tina Chow, Juliana

Style Icon: Tina Chow

Love this photograph of Tina and Michael Chow from 1979...

love, kisses and something fabulous is coming... Juliana

SingulEar

"Once you've dressed, and before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take at least one thing off."
Coco Chanel

Words to live by don't you think?  And if you buy, like I hope to, the earring that Camille Miceli designed for Louis Vuitton Fall 2014, you (and I : ) will already have one thing taken off.

I just hope they are not too heavy because I do want my earlobes flipping and flopping around when I get older...

Camille Miceli single earrings for Louis Vuitton Fall 2014.  Photo by Camille Miceli.

One of my style icons, Tina Chow, often wore a single earring of her own design.

Tina Chow wearing a single earring of her own design.

and I think she is wearing a single pearl earring here too:

and I was lucky enough to have had one of Tina Chow's single earrings at RARE vintage awhile back... and cross my fingers, we will have more Tina Chow pieces soon...

Tina Chow single Tibetan turquoise earring from RARE vintage.

So, ladies, single file as we line up for the wait list for the LV earring please!

love, kisses and single earring obsessed, Juliana

Tina Chow by Antonio Lopez

Antonio Lopez, the Puerto Rican born, wonderchild of 1960s, 70s and 80s fashion illustration and joie de vivre, discovered Tina Lutz, an aspiring model, and introduced Tina to her future husband, restaurateur, Michael Chow in 1971.

I have never been a huge fan of fashion illustration, I find it frustrating not to see the actual piece but when I acquired a collection of Joe Eula drawings for Halston (seen here) for RARE vintage, those images: a swish of color, a smudge of red for lip, changed my opinion on fashion illustration.  I still prefer a photograph to a drawing but I realize now that a drawing can capture its own mood and moment in fashion.

I love Antonio Lopez's fashion drawings - particularly the 1960s and 1970s - but I actually prefer his Polaroids.  They are sexy, intimate, playful and spontaneous.

Here is Tina Chow as captured by Antonio Lopez in Polaroid...

Tina in her gauzy Fortuny Delphos Dress:

Tina Chow by Antonio Lopez

Tina with Michael Chow.  I LOVE her dress!  Does anyone recognize the designer of the dress?  Chanel?  Maybe Chloe?

All images from Antonio Lopez: Fashion, Art, Sex & Disco by Roger and Mauricio Padilha

Treat this with Love: Tina Chow

A recent addition to the outstanding and unrivaled collection of Tina Chow jewelry we have had at RARE vintage in New York is this smoky quartz ring:

It comes with its original handwritten note by Tina Chow, noting that it is carved from a single piece of smokey quartz, that it is sturdy yet delicate and to treat it with love.

I have had so many happy days at RARE vintage and I am always grateful for the discoveries that lay waiting in the closet of our clients, their sisters, aunts and grandmothers.  I love seeing what has been held onto - regardless of fit - it is just there because it makes them happy and feel good.   

One of the happiest days at RARE vintage is when a rare piece of Tina Chow's jewelry comes through our door. I sometimes wish we had more pieces by Tina Chow but then again her jewelry comes to us when a client is ready to let it go and only then.  It is often not an easy choice because her jewelry acts as a talisman to the women and men who own it.  And to me too.  It is more then Tina Chow the Style Icon, it is Tina Chow the Artist, the Jewelry Designer, the Craftsman... 

Treat this with love, wear this with care...

A Tina Chow smoky quartz ring with original Tina Chow note . 

Kazuko: The Meaning of Beauty

If you are a long time reader of our RARE vintage blog, you will know that in addition to our wonderful collection of Tina Chow jewelry, we have also had really wonderful pieces by the jeweler and artist Kazuko.

I was thrilled to acquire this collection for RARE vintage which I think is particularly outstanding and especially beautiful.   I am very excited to see a ring that the owner of this collector has - alas she is not parting with it : ( but of course I don't blame her : )

What I love about Tina Chow and Kazuko is that their pieces were not only beautiful to look at and to wear but they were meaningful beauty.  They were meant to be talisman to the people who bought them and there is not one person whom I have bought the pieces from or sold them to who has not appreciated this magical quality about them...

Detail...

Kazuko available at RARE vintage

Monday's RARE vintage Photo of the Week #3: Tina Chow

Is there any better way to start a stylish week off then with the super stylish Tina Chow?  As I am certain you know, we have had an unsurpassed collection of Tina Chow's jewelry at RARE vintage which has been an enormous privilege as well as an enormous source of excitement for me personally and, of course, also for our clients.

Tina Chow could wear a grey cashmere sweater and black Kenzo pants, brand spanking new haute couture from the newly appointed designer for Chanel Karl Lagerfeld in 1983, vintage haute couture from Balenciaga, Vionnet, Poiret and Fortuny with such ease and casual chic that her unerring sense of style has made her one of the best dressed women of all time.

But she was not just a woman of style - she was a woman of substance - which I really think most super stylish women are.  A true sense of style is found in women who love not just fashion but history and design.  

This is one of my favorite photos of Tina Chow.  She is wearing a Fortuny silk pleated gown with her own jewelry.  

Tina Chow in Fortuny and Tina Chow jewelry

It has been erroneously published that she was wearing lucite (!) jewelry with her Fortuny gown but she is in fact wearing her own amazing crystal quartz cuff and bracelet and one of her spectacular bamboo wrapped Kyoto bracelets.

Tina Chow's sense of style is unique to her and it continues to inspire us...  as Yves Saint Laurent said, "Fashion fades, style is eternal".  Tina Chow is eternal...

I am always looking for rare and pristine examples of Tina Chow's incredible jewelry.  Please feel free to contact me at info@rarevintage.com or phone 212.581.7273 if you have a piece or collection you would like to part with.

RARE vintage Weekend Style and Inspiration: Tina Chow

The beautiful and talented Tina Chow

RARE vintage Weekend Style and Inspiration: Tina Chow

My inspiration (and not just for the weekend): Tina Chow in Vogue 1987.

A Tina Chow Bamboo Wrapped Fluorite Pendant

It is always with great excitement and joy that I welcome a new piece of Tina Chow jewelry into RARE vintage.  There is the sensuous pleasure of holding one of her carefully selected stones, there is the amazement of seeing the perfection of her craft and the beauty in every detail of the jewelry that she made.

She was a true artist.

A rare Tina Chow bamboo wrapped fluorite pendant:

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Do You Have A Spare 2,000,000 Euros?

You do?!  Well lucky you because this wonderful Jean Dunand for Madeleine Vionnet games table can be yours!  It is up for auction in Paris with an estimate of 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 (so if you only have a spare 2,000,000 euros it may not be yours.  Sorry!)

Image courtesy of Artcurial-Beist-Poulain-F. Tajan

The table has a very stylish history.  In addition to having belonged to the great designer Madeleine Vionnet, it also had been in the collection of Michael and the very great Tina Chow and you know how much we love Tina Chow here at RARE vintage.

The living room of Michael and Tina Chow with the Dunand table in the background: 

Image from a Passion for Collecting: Decorating with Art and Antiques.

Get that paddle ready!

Treat This With Love: A Tina Chow Temple Ring

Treat with this love.
Wear this with care,
the same way you
would wear an emerald
a piece of jade, a
piece of glass

-T Chow

January 25th was the twentieth anniversary of Tina Chow's death.  

It is wonderful for me to be able to share with you, this extraordinary Tina Chow Temple Ring in Tourmaline and the beautiful note from Tina.  

Tina Chow Temple Ring in Tourmaline

Friday Favorites!

You know when you see something and you just immediately fall madly, passionately in love and know that it has to be yours?  Please.  Were you thinking men??!  No, loves,  I'm talking about clothes and jewelry!  This is a fashion blog after all.  'Madly, passionately in love with Daniel Craig and have to have him' is another blog ; ) I'll be starting that one any day now...

Well, when I saw these Tina Chow rock crystal amfora shaped earrings, I knew they were perfect and that I had to have them.  I wear them all of the time and live in fear that my scarf will push one out and I will lose it.  

Here are My Friday Favorites!  My babies:

Tina Chow rock crystal amfora earrings.  Private collection.

My Journey With Tina Chow

My journey with Tina Chow began from afar.  It began with an admiration of her unique sense of style.  And then an admiration for the jewelry she created and a desperate and very frustrating desire to have a piece made by Tina and finding nothing available.  Slowly I began finding pieces for my own personal collection and for the store.  

It has been an incredible journey discovering these pieces and incredibly exciting discovering the scope of her work.  This piece, a black jade pendant, signed by Tina Chow, is modern, minimal and sensual and beautifully made. 

Tina Chow Black Jade Pendant

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Tina Chow in Her Wire Wrapped Earrings

It is incredible for me to look at this photograph of Tina Chow in her own jewelry and realize that I have had nearly every piece in the photograph available for sale at (and only at I might add) RARE vintage.  Well, truth be told, the temple ring has not been for sale at RV - it is comfortably ensconced in bubble wrap in its original parchment box with Tina's glossy inky black signature on the interior in my bedroom.  (How chic is that?!  The signature is not loudly branded on the outside but discreetly and beautifully placed on the interior.  I tried on a great pair of Gucci cruise pants this week but the label!  I felt like I had a billboard for Gucci on my ass and I am sorry but my behind is nobody's billboard.  Thank you very much.)

The earrings that Tina is wearing are very similar to the wrapped rock crystal pair that we just received at RARE vintage.  Beautiful and perfect no?

Santa Baby: RARE vintage's Christmas List

The Icon: An Amazing and Rare Tina Chow Rock Crystal Cuff

Carved from a single piece of rock crystal is this extraordinary Tina Chow cuff.  The words extraordinary and quiet come to mind when describing Tina Chow's jewelry.  The words: perfection, healing, fine and rare also come to mind.  Tina Chow was photographed wearing a similar cuff with her Kyoto bracelet.

It is not for the faint of heart jeweler to attempt to carve a cuff from a single large piece of rock crystal so I think the words audacious and undaunted also describe Tina Chow's work as a jeweler.  But then the words delicacy and tenderness come to mind as well.  Tina Chow's jewelry was collected by men and women who loved her work when it was originally crafted by Tina and a talented group of artisans and by new clients who also love and covet her designs.  Thank you Tina.  Your talent and legacy endures.

A rare and beautiful Tina Chow rock crystal cuff.  The cuff has a wonderful large Tina Chow signature.  Please note there is an extremely small chip on one corner of the cuff which does not at all distract from the beauty and wearability of the piece.  The cuff measures nearly 7 1/2" around.  Opening is 1".  Cuff is 1 3/4" wide.

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