Necklace in 18k brown, white, and yellow gold with rock crystal and diamonds, anakhouri.com, price upon request
John Daniel Powers“Some people say that Jewelry is art, But to me, it’s not. Jewelry needs to have functionality—it needs to work.” While that might seem like an unlikely declaration coming from sculptor-turned-jewelry designer Ana Khouri, it also serves as something of a mission statement for what makes her singular pieces—beloved by It Girls like Chloë Sevigny and Jennifer Lawrence—so eminently wearable. Take the showstopping collar, a year and a half in the making, that she debuted earlier this year at the European Fine Art Foundation’s annual fair in New York.
Like every new Ana Khouri design, it began as a sculpture, which became a series of silver prototypes that were refined until every curve and hinge clasp hugged the body just so. Only then was it rendered in 18-karat white, yellow, and brown gold (the latter a proprietary alloy that Khouri spent years perfecting), overlaid with hand-carved rock crystal, and finally set with a breathtaking 13-carat white diamond that seems to float in midair. “With every piece, I try to break the mold a bit, to create something different,” says Khouri. “It’s more than a piece of art, more than a piece of jewelry. I’m creating something new.”
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 18 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!
