Solange Azagury-Partridge knows a thing or two about what makes for iconic jewelry design. Her pieces are in the permanent collection of the V&A London and Les Arts Decoratifs at the Louvre. Her 1995 “Hotlips” rings have become modern jewelry icons, emblematic of the perfect pout. She’s constantly pushing the boundaries of jewellery design, from days of the week kinetic rings to custom soundwaves immortalized in pave diamonds. Now, a new publication from Rizzoli Solange: Jewellery for Chromantics details the London-based jewellery designer’s rise and impact on the jewellery-making industry in the last thirty-five years.
What is your definition of a “chromantic,” this merging of the two words chroma and romantic?
Yes, so that’s exactly what it is, it’s the merging of those two words and I did a whole collection for Chroma (my love affair with color). I think color is absent a lot with jewellery and I want to make sure that I dont ignore it. You can play with metal colors, there are hard stones, there are enamels, so there’s an endless array of colors you can play with and it can help you design more inventively.
How does your own “chromance” or love of color show up in your life? When did you first fall in love with color?
Always, really; I’ve always loved being surrounded by color. I do wear color, but I just love surrounding myself with color so my home and office environments are very color infused. There’s something medicinal about color. I kind of need it to go through my retina and into my retina. Color symbolism is very deep, it’s not just surface. There’s endless meaning behind it all!
Is there any specific color that has shown up a lot in your life?
Green is the color that I need. I seem to be wearing a lot of green as well these days. Whenever I design a piece of jewellery my initial tendency is to make it emerald, as i said in the book i have to force myself not to use green.
How do you make those color and design decisions when designing a piece?
I suppose every idea informs the colors you’re going to use. The gold hinge bangle for example had to be made of solid gold and the blade necklace was depicting blades of glass, so the best way to do that was in gold with translucent enamel atop. So it’s often the idea itself that informs what color needs to be used.
You’ve also said that pop art is a source of inspiration for you. How do you draw connections between art and jewellery making?
Well, I love the way pop art is so vibrant, it’s a little bit cartoon-like and it has a joy and irreverence to it. I think sometimes jewelry can get heavy and serious and dry and I don’t think it needs to be, I think it can be more joyful. There are so many issues in life and really
Anything can distract—clothes, jewelry, the environment—and can lift your mood. Jewellery is no exception to that!
Is that really what you’re aiming to evoke with your pieces—levity and fun?
I think when people are spending money on a piece of jewerly they should be able to wear it often and not be afraid of walking around with it. Some of my pieces are intrinsically valuable and why don’t they flaunt their value? It’s because I think it can make it a bit less of a difficult thing to wear and enjoy. If the piece is colorful and has a touch of playfulness, people are not going to think it’s worth stealing.
It’s not as precious.
It’s not as precious, exactly. I’m not thinking about jewelry in a precious way. I’m not thinking about intrinsic value, I’m thinking about which stones can express ideas. It might be a diamond, it might be a piece of lapis lazuli and it doesn’t really matter. I’m just kind of mixing them all up and making sure the colors work.
There’s a real sense of play that I get from your work.
I always feel like pieces of jewellery are toys for grown ups. It’s like delving into a little micro-world, like when we are little. The focus of your eye just has to get smaller and smaller and look at the final detail of the piece.
How do you sort through the inspiration?
It’s always the mysterious question, isn’t it, “How are you inspired?” If you are creative, you can be inspired by anything really. The question is if it is worth spending any time and money on…is it actually any good? I get lots of different ideas and it’s a matter of narrowing down what’s worth concentrating on and exploring further. Often they are feelings more than anything solid. Feelings were the base for the Sentimentals collection. Sentimentality is so derided and looked down upon, but it’s important to feel things. The love for your children or your friends. Some things are talismanic. You have romantic love….so many types of love. I was basically exploring the emotional attachments we have to things and people and so that can be quite inspiring as well.
Jewellery itself is quite sentimental too in the way it’s passed down and the way we buy jewellery to commemorate certain occasions.
Yes, there are many reasons to buy jewellery, but very often it’s a sentimental reason and reasons associated with love of somebody, but of course there are all kinds of different types of love.
Was it love that brought you into jewellery making or something else?
It was actually love…love of my husband. My engagement ring was the first piece of jewellery I ever designed. I was working at the time at a decorative arts gallery who also sold 20th c. fine jewelry by designers like Van Cleef, Suzanne Belperron, and Cartier. It really opened my eyes to all these amazing designers and what was possible. It really sparked my interest.
Solange: Jewellery for Chromantics is published by Rizzoli priced at £73.00. Stockist – Solange.co.uk
All Image Credits: Solange: Jewellery for Chromantics
