Suzanne Belperron

Suzanne Belperron is widely recognized as one of the most talented and influential jewelers of the twentieth century, creating highly original and distinctive jewels that continue to inform the modern design vocabulary. Born in the French Jura region, she first joined the jewelry firm René Boivin as a designer at the age of seventeen in 1917. She quickly gained success f or her large-scale, sculptural works that combined a modern, pared-down aesthetic with an innovative use of materials and colors. Her work earned great acclaim for René Boivin, but her name remained largely unknown to the public at large.

In 1932 Suzanne left the firm and began a collaboration with noted gemstone and pearl dealer Bernard Herz. Belperron became the sole designer and director for the newly formed Maison Herz. The two opened a private salon on Rue de Châteaudun that quickly began to attract discerning and prominent clients. Groëné & Darde, a jewelry workshop owned by Maurice Groëné and Émile Darde with whom she had worked while at René Boivin, became her dedicated manufacturers. Belperron’s jewels became constant fixtures in the fashion press during the 1930s, appearing frequently in publications such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Sometimes the jewels were attributed to Maison Herz, but she was often credited as their designer, an unprecedented degree of recognition for a woman in the industry at that time. 

Many of Suzanne Belperron’s most iconic creations feature transparent and translucent hardstone, notably varieties of quartz. She became renowned in the 1920s and ‘30s for her impressively sized jewels, incorporating massive yet ethereal carved rock crystal and subtly colored chalcedony. These pieces embody the bold, modernist aesthetic of the early-to-mid twentieth century that had already been embraced by the likes of Fernand Léger and Le Corbusier. Belperron worked closely with the talented lapidary Adrien Louart who supplied her with custom-carved rock crystal and chalcedony for the creation of cuff-bracelets, rings, brooches, earclips and cufflinks. The éventail, or fan, is a motif that Belperron returned to throughout her career. Here in lot 1627, angular rock crystal plaques reminiscent of cut glass contrast becomingly with curved diamond-set bands. Like all of Suzanne Belperron’s jewels, they are unsigned, bearing only the tiny workshop marks of Groëné & Darde, but they are unmistakably hers. She liked to explain to those who inquired, “My style is my signature.”

苏珊娜·贝佩龙(Suzanne Belperron) 被公認為二十世紀最具才華與影響力的珠寶設計師之一，她創作出極具原創性且風格鮮明的珠寶作品，至今仍持續豐富著現代設計的語彙。她出生於法國侏羅地區，1917年，年僅十七歲便加入René Boivin珠寶公司擔任設計師。她很快便以大型雕塑感作品獲得成功，這些作品融合了簡約的現代美學與對材質及色彩的創新運用。她的創作為René Boivin贏得極高讚譽，但她的名字在大眾心中卻長期鮮為人知。

1932年，Suzanne離開該公司，開始與著名寶石及珍珠商Bernard Herz合作。Belperron成為新成立的Maison Herz的獨家設計師兼總監。兩人在 Rue de Châteaudun 開設了一間私人沙龍，很快便吸引了品味出眾的顯赫客戶。她曾在René Boivin時期合作過的珠寶工坊 Groëné & Darde（由Maurice Groëné與Émile Darde經營）成為她的專屬製造商。1930年代，Belperron的珠寶頻繁出現在《Vogue》與《Harper’s Bazaar》等時尚刊物中，成為時尚媒體的常客。雖然部分作品歸於Maison Herz名下，但她經常被註明為設計師——這在當時對業界女性而言，是前所未有的認可。

Suzanne Belperron 許多最具代表性的創作，皆以透明與半透明的硬石為特色，尤其是各類石英。她在1920至30年代以尺寸驚人的珠寶聞名，作品中大量採用碩大卻輕盈的雕刻水晶與色調柔和的玉髓。這些作品體現了二十世紀中前期大膽的現代主義美學，而這種美學早已受到Fernand Léger與Le Corbusier等人的擁抱。Belperron與才華洋溢的寶石雕刻師Adrien Louart密切合作，由他提供訂製雕刻的水晶與玉髓，用於製作手鐲、戒指、胸針、耳夾及袖扣。éventail（扇形）是她畢生反覆運用的主題。本拍品第1627號中，稜角分明的水晶飾片令人聯想到切割玻璃，與鑲嵌鑽石的弧形線條形成優雅對比。如同Suzanne Belperron的所有珠寶，這些作品皆無簽名，僅帶有Groëné & Darde的微小工坊印記，但它們無疑是她的創作。她喜歡對詢問者解釋：「我的風格，就是我的簽名。」