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14 décembre 2009

Jeweler in paradise

Rising organically from rice fields, Canadian jewelry designer John Hardy's newest jewelry showroom is a remarkable structure, located in the foothills of central

Bali

in a sleepy village called Mambal, on the outskirts of Ubud links of london sale .

Built entirely of bamboo and alang-alang grass, the 470-sq.-ft. building -- called Kapal Bambu, which means "ship of bamboo" -- is essentially two thatched 42-ft.-high walls that meet about a foot apart from each other at the top along an undulating curve. Sunlight pours in from above through a draping of translucent waxed cotton laid over the building's spine W Charm. 

Such an unconventional approach typifies the philosophy of Canadian-born Hardy, a dreamer and academic flunk who went on to build a $100 million-a-year jewelry business that is also the largest luxury manufacturer in

Bali

. Like thousands of hippies looking for a way out of the rat race, Hardy arrived in Bali in 1975 with little more than an art-college degree and a couple of hundred dollars. Soon Hardy's unique silver designs became a marker for kindred souls traveling through

Asia

. "People saw others wearing my jewelry in the airport, and it was like a secret code," he says. "Without speaking, they knew where the other had been." The code inspired a cult following and then, in 1989, Neiman Marcus placed its first order. Now, his designer line is carried by numerous department stores, frequently in an in-store shop U Charm.

The showroom was designed by Malaysian architect Cheong Yew Kuan, whose work includes not only the famous Hardy house in Sayan, Bali, but also leisure resorts throughout Asia and the

Caribbean

.

The showroom appears almost as a natural shelter one might stumble across in a forest, rather than a retail store housing exquisitely crafted jewels. In addition to the natural skylight overhead, the grass-and-bamboo walls are raised from the ground a few feet and supported by tree stumps at the base, with a good few feet of rice plants plainly visible from every angle of the store. "It is intended as a stunning, one-of-a-kind showroom that reflects the natural beauty of the property," Hardy says V Charm.

In addition to its durability, the bamboo's shape was utilized in the design to create the building's resulting silhouette -- often likened to the tall prow of a ship. Even most of the flooring is constructed from bamboo poles latched together with sugar-palm twine. The 86-ft.-long poles had to be transported to the site in the middle of the night, when the roads were less traveled.

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12 décembre 2009

Masterpieces fit for a tsar

Anything labelled Faberge has cache

ENAMELLED silver and gold from the famed Russian jeweller Faberge continues to rise in value as demand increases from starlets and businessmen links of london sale.

Carl Faberge, aged 24, took over the jewellery business established by his father, Gustav, in 1870.

Faberge focused his attention on quality of workmanship rather than opulence of materials, and quickly captured the attention of the aristocratic, royalty and the just plain wealthy Links of London Charms.

Faberge maintained a strict discipline of quality throughout his career, commenting in 1914 that even then ''expensive things interest me little if the value is merely measured in so many diamonds and pearls''.

By far the most successful Russian jeweller of his age, Faberge is probably best known for the extraordinary presentation eggs commissioned by Alexander III, and Nicholas II as gifts for the Dowager Empress Marie and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna.

But the master jeweller and his craftsmen made a vast range of objects covering all aspects of the jeweller's art S Charm.

While gold and silver were often the principle metals used for fine work, magnificent objects were produced in copper, bronze, crystal, jade, diamond and onyx, almost always embellished with fine enamels.

There are thought to be about 57 Imperial Faberge eggs, which, with a rich and poignant history, tend to sit at the pinnacle of value for Faberge.

The biggest known collection was assembled by American publisher Malcolm Forbes from the mid-1960s.

Eventually comprising around a dozen presentation eggs, including nine imperial examples, the Forbes collection was displayed widely, and probably inspired others to collect work by Faberge at various prices R Charm.

Forbes also purchased about 180 smaller Faberge items, including bell pushes, smoking accessories, picture frames, trinket dishes, cuff links and jewellery.

In a surprise but canny investment move, the entire Forbes collection of Faberge was consigned for auction in 2004, a move that shocked the jewellery market, many of whom would have loved the opportunity to buy but probably couldn't have raised sufficient cash.

The tsar had paid steeply for what were considered remarkable artworks even in their day. Some eggs took years to create. The 1913 Winter egg had originally cost around $250,000.

In 1994 this egg was auctioned and realised $7.5million, and when it appeared again in 2002 it raised over $13million.

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