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

Francesca Amfitheatrof Tiffany's New Design Director

Years ago (late 1990s I think, you know, the 90s were kind of a blur : ) my husband gave a me a collection of jewelry by a talented young Italian designer, Francesca Amfitheatrof, and for a long time, I wore them every day.  The silver bean rings are a still a favorite.

Now Francesca Amfitheatrof, that same (wildly) talented jewelry designer, has been named the first female design director for Tiffany's and has already debuted her first collection: Tiffany T.

love and kisses, 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

The Lightness of Kazuko

I am always happy when we receive new pieces by Kazuko.  They have a lovely sense of lightness, the  gold seems spun magically around the crystals and semi precious stones.  I adore our new collection of Kazuko which has the transparency and lightness of sea glass...

Kazuko 'sea glass' pendants wrapped in gold

Buy the Kazuko pendants here.

love, kisses and One on One Healing Pendants, 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

Just in: La Peregrina

Okay, well, not really the famous La Peregrina - found by a slave, worn by a few queens and at least one diva... but la Peregrina as interpreted by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel.  

Slightly military-inspired, from entwined gilt, hangs 'la Peregrina' large, elegant, majestic, mysterious...

Just in:

Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel entwined gilt brooch with a substantial faux pearl I like to call 'La Peregrina':

Circa 1990s Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel 'la Peregrina' brooch.  Available for purchase at RARE vintage.
info@rarevintage.com or 212.581.7273

and some photos of that other legendary big pearl...

love, kisses and bigger really is better, Juliana

YSL Rocks Some Heavy Metal 80s Style

What to wear with delicate lace, a wisp of chiffon, a Rag and Bone tee, a ball gown, a LBD, a cozy sweater in Aspen, a strapless dress in the Turks and Caicos?

Yves Saint Laurent understood the mix - the mix of masculine/feminine, peasant/luxe, vintage/modern, tough/fragile...

I love this  bold, oversized stud necklace from YSL circa 1980s.  Mix it up.  And rock some heavy metal!

For more information or to purchase, please email info@rarevintage.com 
or phone 212.581.7273

You can see more of our YSL collection here and here. We have much, much more to post!  

Charming! A New Collection of Kazuko just in at RARE vintage!

A couple of weeks ago I received a phone call from someone wishing to part with a collection of Kazuko jewelry.  They were all given as a gift by Kazuko to our client and it is a delightful collection of pendants - mostly hearts, wrapped in gold wire.  

Get ready to be charmed!

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 . 

Toujours l' Amour: YSL

I have only just begun posting a wonderful collection of Yves Saint Laurent jewelry from the 1980s and early 1990s.  If you missed the first pieces, you can see the sea anenome brooch here and the Lalanne inspired alligator cuff here.  

I adore these flirtatious earrings with black velvet bows and a faceted jet heart.  Love and the emblem of love, the heart, was an important paint of Saint Laurent's iconography.  And these would be so great for holiday parties!

For more information or to purchase, please email info@rarevintage.com or phone 212.581.7273

YSL and The Deep Blue Sea

I had no idea when I held this small striped SAINT LAURENT rive gauche box,

that when I opened it, I would be staring deep down into an undulating sea...

Video taken at the Musée Océanographique by me

Saint Laurent was inspired by the books he read, the people he met, the art he saw.  He lived in a sensory world and that world filtered through 5 avenue Marceau.

I adore this jeweled sea anemone YSL brooch which looks as beautiful as the ones in the video above that my children took this summer at the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco.

It too undulates with its articulated tentacles.  And the blue is the color of the sea...

Circa 1980s Yves Saint Laurent rive gauche sea anemone brooch.  

Available at RARE vintage.  

For more info or to purchase, please email info@rarevintage.com or phone 212.581.7273

Mamma Schiaparelli Says Wear Your Peas

Like a good Italian Mamma, Elsa Schiaparelli wants you to eat your peas - wait a minute, that is not right.  Let me start over: Like a good Italian fashion designer Mamma, Elsa Schiaparelli wants you to wear your peas!

Schiaparelli was well known for the natural motifs she incorporated into her fashion designs and her interest in Surrealism both of which are reflected in this whimsical brooch.  

House of Schiaparelli 1950s signed peas brooch.  For more information please email info@rarevintage.com or phone 212.581.7273

Roi of Light: Chanel and Louis XIV Le Roi Soleil

Recently, in the renovation of the Ritz in Paris, a previously undiscovered Charles Le Brun painting was discovered hanging in plain sight in Coco Chanel's suite and was sold at Christies by the owner of the Ritz, Mohamed Al Fayed, to benefit the Dodi Al Fayed foundation.  Charles Le Brun was the masterful decorator of Versailles who brought the magnificent vision of Louis XIV to a mirrored, gilded, parqueted, dressed to impress reality.  Louis humbly chose the sun as his emblem and became known as Le Roi Soleil.  And his emblem appears throughout Versailles such as on this door knob...

In the mid 1980s Karl Lagerfeld began amassing a collection of 18th century furnishings to live la vie Louis XIV.  It is from this period in Lagerfeld's life when he was successor to Coco Chanel and buying armoires by Jean-Henri Reisner, one of the master furniture makers under Louis XIV, and lighting his dining room solely by candlelight, that he did these super fabulous Le Roi Soleil earrings.

I love that KL put the gilded Sun God on a large resin disk.  Magnifique don't you think?!  And truly, who has visited Versailles does not dream of living la vie Louis XIV??

Circa 1990 Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel Le Roi Soleil gilt and resin earrings.  Signed.

To purchase please email info@rarevintage or phone 212.581.7273

RARE vintage Weekend Style and Inspiration: Kazuko and the Angel

One of our wonderful blog readers sent me this image of Kazuko jewelry hanging from an angel and I thought it was perfectly heavenly and inspiring.  Thank you for the image!

One of One: Kazuko: The Gold Collection

Part Two in a Three Part Series on a Single Owner Collection of Kazuko

To see more Part One of our Kazuko collection or to read more about the unique Kazuko click here.

It is interesting to see where fate takes us.  I never would have known that my early passion for fashion and for vintage fashion in particular would eventually lead to a store on 57th Street but here I am and loving every moment of what I do.  Kazuko collected antique textiles and beads and then she began making scarves from her collection of fabrics and adorning them with the beads she collected.  And from there she started wrapping stones with silk threads and when the silk did not hold the stones she began using gold wire.  And from there began a career that would take her signature jewelry to Barneys and for years that jewelry greeted everyone who came into Barneys. 

You say Artist, Kazuko says Artisan.

"I wanted to do something from my hand and from my heart" Kazuko said.  The first jewelry she created for Barneys were single quartz crystals wrapped in gold to be pinned on.  Then she started doing hearts wrapped in gold.  "Barneys is not a heart store" said Judy Collinson, executive vice president of Barneys. "But she kept bringing them back" and Barneys did become a 'heart store'.

For more information or to purchase please email info@rarevintage.com