Clars Auction Gallery is the largest full service auction house in Northern California. The Gallery holds a two-day auction once a month. The Jewelry department at Clars is seeking a Specialist for the department. It is one of the most important departments in the company and generally has two full time specialists plus occasional interns.

The applicant will have four major responsibilities- 1) Ability to interact with clients to obtain consignments of jewelry and time pieces, which includes knowing how to evaluate their fair market value. This may involve contract negotiations, as well as doing written appraisals occasionally; 2) Cataloging the jewelry and time pieces properly; 3) Ability to market the jewelry to potential buyers; 4) The skill to work with and perhaps enhance the abilities of other Specialists.

The applicant will also assist with the many everyday duties of the jewelry department, including research and display of property, marketing, public relations, and administrative tasks including the review of consignor statements, inventory control and various customer service duties.

Approximately 150-250 fine and costume jewelry lots are auctioned each month. The specialist must be able to distinguish fine jewelry from costume jewelry. Each piece must be described accurately using Clars testing equipment, and occasionally consulting with an outside expert.
The ideal applicant:
* Has a background in jewelry and time piece appraisals along with sales, business development and marketing
* Is GIA certified
* Has pre-existing contacts in the jewelry world
*Has Auction House experience


The applicant must:

• Be detail-oriented and possess excellent follow-through
• Be able to work self-directed as well as function as part of a team
• Have strong organization, critical thinking and communication skills
• Have a reliable source of transportation for out-of-office appointments
• Have substantial knowledge of Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel and feel comfortable learning and adapting to new computer software



•Compensation: Salary Commensurate with Experience

Redge A. Martin
President
Clars Auction Gallery
5644 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland, CA 94609
www.clars.com
redge@clars.com
(510) 428-0100x103

GIA Accepting Fall 2012 Scholarship Applications
Richard T. Liddicoat scholarship winners announced
 
CARLSBAD, Calif. – March 1, 2012 – GIA (Gemological Institute of America) will accept scholarship applications for the remainder of 2012, downloadable on its website, beginning March 1 through April 30. Scholarship recipients are eligible to participate in laboratory classes in the U.S., a variety of eLearning courses worldwide and the Institute’s campuses in Hong Kong, London, the Middle East and Taiwan.  
 
A number of $1,500 awards for eLearning courses and $1,295 awards for U.S.-based lab classes are available. The scholarships, sponsored by private donors and the GIA endowment fund, supplement GIA’s wider scope of offerings.
 
“As part of our mission to provide education in gems and jewelry, we believe it’s instrumental to make opportunities available to those that require a financial boost,” said Bev Hori, vice president and chief learning officer of GIA. “The Institute has educated more than 300,000 professionals worldwide, and we look forward to growing this number.”
 
Richard T. Liddicoat 2012 Scholarship Winners
GIA recently announced the 2012 Richard T. Liddicoat (RTL) Scholarship recipients: Soha Javaherian of Madison, Wis., and Casey Sharpe of Los Angeles, Calif. The RTL Scholarship awards two full scholarships for the Graduate Gemologist program each year.
 
Javaherian, recipient of the on-campus scholarship, graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His grandfather is an eighth generation jeweler in Tehran, Iran, and he plans to share in his long family history by using his GIA education to immerse himself in the industry.
 
Sharpe, recipient of the distance education scholarship, is a graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Currently working as a jewelry designer, Sharpe will continue in this role as she pursues her gemological education to enhance her gemstone knowledge.
 
The RTL Scholarship program was created by the GIA Alumni Association in 2003 to honor Liddicoat, the Institute’s former longtime president and chairman.
 
The second GIA scholarship application period is June 15 through Oct. 30. For more information, call (760) 603-4131 or email scholarship@gia.edu.
 
About GIA
An independent nonprofit organization, GIA (Gemological Institute of America), established in 1931, is recognized as the world’s foremost authority in gemology. GIA invented the famous 4Cs of Color, Cut, Clarity and Carat Weight in the early 1950s and in 1953, created the International Diamond Grading System™ which, today, is recognized by virtually every professional jeweler in the world.
 
Through research, education, gemological laboratory services, and instrument development, the Institute is dedicated to ensuring the public trust in gems and jewelry by upholding the highest standards of integrity, academics, science, and professionalism. Visit www.gia.edu.  
 
# # #
__________________________________
Kristin A. Mahan  
Public Relations Coordinator
Gemological Institute of America (GIA)
The Robert Mouawad Campus
5345 Armada Drive
Carlsbad, California  92008
Tel: 760-603-4184
Email: kristin.mahan@gia.edu     
www.gia.edu

The World's Foremost Authority in Gemology™
Ensuring the Public Trust through Nonprofit Service since 1931.
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately delete it. Note that any views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of GIA. GIA takes every precaution to protect e-mail recipients, but recipients are responsible for checking any e-mail and attachments for the presence of viruses. GIA accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.

Man Ray’s jewelry by Gem Montibello

Among the rash of artist/goldsmith collaborations that came out in the sixties and seventies, Man Ray’s jewelry truly stands out. To see what I mean, visit the Picasso to Koons: The Artist as Jeweler exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design and compare Man Ray’s dramatic sculptural designs to the wall of flat, stamped gold plaques produced at the same time by François Hugo from drawings by Pablo Picasso and Max Ernst. No comparison.

Man Ray’s most famous pieces look a little challenging to wear, but they are superb pieces of craftsmanship – thanks to Gem Montibello, the Italian firm who produced them – and more functional than they appear. His Optic-Topic gold mask, for example, would appear to completely blind the wearer, but if you look closely, you can see a network of tiny drilled holes forming a spiral pattern.

Optic-Topic gold mask designed by Man Ray, 1974, 79/100 edition, produced by Gem Montebello (Diane Venet collection)

“You see through them as well as with glasses. It’s interesting,” says Diane Venet, who owns this gold mask, one of 100 produced, along with most of the jewelry on display. “Man Ray was always breaking his glasses and he loved to drive fast. So he had a discussion the Giancarlo Montebello about glasses and finally, after a few months, they came up with this.”

Pendantif-Pendant earrings of 18kt red gold by Man Ray, 1970, edition of 12, Gem Montebello

I’m not sure if she was implying he wore this while driving fast. If so, he was crazier than we thought. Man Ray was born in Philadelphia in 1890, which means by the time he designed the mask, he was 84. He died in Paris, his adopted home, two years later.

The spiral gold earrings (right) recall the spiral shapes in Man Ray’s work during the early years of the Dada movement and the title, Pendantif-Pendant, reflects his obsession with puns and alliteration. But most people refer to these as “the lampshade earrings,” because the design stemmed from a lampshade Man Ray designed in 1919.

The earrings shown have a conventional post but the originals are 5 1/2 inches long and hung from a wide curve of wire. They weren’t designed to hang directly from the lobe but to loop over the top of the ear. Clever. Man Ray’s idea – or Giancarlo Montebello’s?

Montebello produced this gold and platinum ring, signed and dated by Man Ray, in 1970, around the same time as the earrings. Venet proudly owns one of an edition of twelve.

LeTrou ring of 24kt gold and platinum by Man Ray, edition of 12, Gem Montebello (Diane Venet collection)

Man Ray had a couple things going for him that Picasso and Ernst lacked: an extensive background in fashion photography and a genuine interest in creating unique, high-quality, wearable sculpture. He also had Montibello producing his jewelry.

Giancarlo Montebello set up his workshop of highly-skilled craftsmen in Milan, in 1967, inviting a select group of internationally-known artists to contribute designs. Montebello’s team collaborated closely with the artists. Not all artists are household names, at least not in the U.S., but their jewelry definitely stands out above the rest.

You can find other results of these collaborations at the MAD exhibit, including some gorgeous geometric gold pieces designed by sculptor Pol Bury and several whimsical figurative pieces designed by sculptor/painter Niki de Saint-Phalle and executed in colorful enamel by Montebello.

Montebello is still producing artist-made jewelry, evidenced in the exhibit by a lethal-looking spiky gold ring designed by German artist Günther Uecker dated 2011. It was inspired by his Chair with Nails sculpture. (Ouch.)

Montebello, now in his nineties, was planning to attend the exhibition in NYC when I spoke to Venet earlier this month. “I want him to see all this,” she said, waving a hand around the exhibition. “He worked so hard.”

Related posts:

Alexander Calder’s jewelry: going mobile

Salvador Dalí: bejeweled surrealism

Jewelry by famous artists

Jewelry by Picasso: the secret stash of Dora Maar

Call for Applicants for the 2012 Romero-Weber
Jewelry Camp Scholarship

Application deadline is April 30, 2012.

Centereach, NY, November 7, 2011— Antique Jewelry & Art Conference, “Jewelry Camp,” Directors Edward/Sandy Lewand invite all interested to apply for the Romero-Weber Jewelry Camp Scholarship.
Named for the late Christie Romero and Barry Weber, the scholarship honors the pair’s countless, longstanding contributions to the jewelry industry and provides the recipient with the cost of tuition for the Antique Jewelry & Art Conference, “Jewelry Camp,” that will be held July 27-29, 2012, at the Renaissance Westchester Hotel in White Plains, New York.

“All of us in the jewelry community were greatly saddened by the loss of Christie Romero to cancer in late 2009,” said Jewelry Camp Director Sandy Lewand. “In tribute to Christie, Barry Weber of Edith Weber Jewelry had the idea to establish a Christie Romero Scholarship Fund for Jewelry Camp. Yet, just one year later, Barry, too, succumbed to the disease. To carry on Christie’s and Barry’s remarkable legacies, Edward and I will continue to offer this memorial scholarship, which we have renamed the Romero-Weber Jewelry Camp Scholarship Fund.”

Applicants for the 2012 Romero-Weber Jewelry Camp Scholarship must compose a brief essay or email that explains why he or she should be selected to receive the award. All applications should be sent to jewelrycamp@me.com no later than April 30, 2012. The award recipient will be announced in May to allow ample time to make arrangements to attend the conference. While the scholarship covers Jewelry Camp tuition, the costs of lodging, travel, and food remain the responsibility of the recipient.

###
About Jewelry Camp
Open to jewelry-industry professionals, collectors, and the public, Jewelry Camp is an educational forum focused on antique and estate jewelry and comprises three days of lectures, breakout groups, and networking events. Participants have opportunities to meet and learn from top experts in buying, selling, appraising, and collecting. This year’s featured speakers will include Donna Bilak, a 19th- and early 20th-century jewelry historian; Education Director for the Phoenix Museum of Art, Jan Krulik-Belin; and Roy Rover of Roy Rover Antiques.

For more information about Jewelry Camp, visit: http://www.jewelrycamp.org and http://jewelrycamp.blogspot.com/.

For more information regarding the 2012 Romero-Weber Jewelry Camp Scholarship, please email: jewelrycamp@me.com.

The Antique Jewelry & Art Conference – “Jewelry Camp”
(631) 471-1922 or (631) 377-9766
Email: jewelrycamp@me.com
www.jewelrycamp.org
 

 
 
February 16th, 2012
Fine Diamonds Auction

More than 50 Lots of Fine Diamonds
& Estate Jewels
 
 
New York Auction Preview:
 580 Fifth Avenue, Suite 333, New York, NY
Mon-Wed 13-15th, 2012
By Appointment
 
lindy@josephdumouchelle.com

www.josephdumouchelle.com

NEW YORK   |   GROSSE POINTE, MI   |   NAPLES   |   PALM BEACH

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