there’s not a whole lot of information online about either of the designers whose work is pictured here.  gerd rothman created the gold collar seen top, and jean despres designed the ring below.  i do know that rothman began creating conceptual work in the early seventies.  i was initially drawn to the simple and graphic form of this necklace, and was further intrigued to learn that each of the discs contains the fingerprints of members of a family.

jean despres was an art deco designer who palled around with modigliani and di chirco in paris.  warhol ended up being a fan.  i’ve really been feeling the graphic form of art deco lately, but a lot of it doesn’t age very well.  with these two pieces you have the best of both worlds– a contemporary, conceptual artist that draws from the tradition, and a deco piece that looks as if it could have been made today.

there are books available about each on amazon… gerd rothman: jewellry and jean despres: jeweler, maker and designer of the machine age.  I haven’t seen these yet, but they’ve been added to the ever growing wish list.