5 Jewelry Exhibitions To See This Spring

Across Paris and London this season, jewelry exhibitions are blurring the boundaries between art and craft. In London, Sophia Vari’s final piece is on show at Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery, the V&A is hosting a Schiaparelli blockbuster, and Tomfoolery’s annual LOVEring showcase is underway. A short train ride across the Channel, Mellerio is preparing to unveil an installation by artist provocateur Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, while L’École School of Jewelry Arts spotlights the jewelry art of the American artist Daniel Brush.

Liens d’amour, Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery, London

Elisabetta Cipriani in London is showing the final work of Sophia Vari, who passed away in 2023, until July 3. The late Greek artist’s sculptural language translated seamlessly into wearable art in a long-term collaboration with Cipriani, who specializes in inviting fine artists to create jewellery. Vari’s jewels are miniature extensions of her monumental sculptural practice, with bold, geometric forms that sit close to the body like portable architecture.

“During our last conversations, when Sophia was unwell, she spoke to me about her work as a source of strength; something that kept her grounded,” explains Cipriani. “She told me how much she loved spending time in her atelier in Monaco, moving between her monumental sculptures and more intimate pieces. Liens d’Amour belongs to those final moments of creation. It is one of the last works she was developing, and perhaps the only one she could keep close to her during that time — I feel truly honored to present her final piece.”

The technically complex necklace Liens d’Amour is restrained and expressive, underscoring a fascination with material contrast and movement. Wood, coral, and gold are engineered into dynamic balance, in what could be seen as both a tribute to, and a consolidation of, the work of an artist who refused the hierarchy between sculpture and adornment.

Liens d’Amour is available to view at Eisabetta Cipriani Gallery, 23, Heddon Street, London, until July 3.

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac for Mellerio, Paris

The agent provocateur French artist Jean-Charles de Castelbajac brings a different kind of spectacle to Mellerio, on Rue de la Paix in Paris. His installation, Joyeux Joyaux, transforms the façade of the flagship store into a dramatic visual narrative featuring eight historical women associated with the Maison, in what he has described as “a celebration of Mellerio’s magical, romantic, four-century history; an ode to the illustrious women who have served as muses for France’s oldest jewelry house.” Castelbajac met with CEO and creative director, Laure-Isabelle Mellerio, after learning that a bracelet that had belonged to his grandmother — and also to Marie-Antoinette — had been bought back by the Maison, into their archives. Castelbajac’s signature pop aesthetic reframes Mellerio’s 400-year lineage through vivid color and graphic portraiture, bringing some of Mellerio’s most storied historical pieces out into the street to reaffirm its identity as both historic institution and contemporary creative platform.

At Mellerio, 9, rue de la Paix, 75001 Paris

Lovering, Tomfoolery London

Tomfoolery London’s annual commitment ring showcase has become a fixture on the London jewelry calendar. Known for championing independent jewelers, each spring Tomfoolery presents a thoughtful edit of alternative bridal rings from designer who bridge studio craft and contemporary design. This year, the focus is on gender-neutral rings from designers including Franny E, WWake, Ruth Tomlinson and Ciara Bowles, including rings created exclusively for the showcase and one-of-a-kind collections. Providing a counterpoint to institutional jewelry retail, Tomfoolery foregrounds personal, collectible, artisanal jewelry.

Lovering is at Tomfoolery London, 109 Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill, London N10 3HP, until July 4.

Daniel Brush at L’Ecole, School of Jewelry Arts, Paris

Curated by the artist’s wife, Olivia Brush, and the jewelry historian Vivienne Becker, the latest show at l’Ecole explores the work of a multidisciplinary artist whose pieces often bridged the usual divisions between art and adornment. With the line and light as a motif running through the exhibition, the curation of 75 object, jewels and paintings seeks to answer questions like whether a jewel needs to be worn to be considered as such, at what point a piece of jewelry can be considered a work of art, and what — if anything — fundamentally separates the two.

Daniel Brush, the Art of Line and Light, is at L’Ecole, School of Jewelry Arts, supported by van Cleef & Arpels, Hôtel de Marcy-Argenteau, 16 bis Boulevard Montmartre, 75009 Paris, until October 4.

Schiaparelli at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London

The V&A’s latest blockbusting exhibition is a treat for fashion-lovers, which doesn’t overlook the jewelry. Spanning the 1920s under the Maison’s founder Elsa Schiaparelli to the present day with creative director Daniel Roseberry, it’s a glorious celebration of the influence of one of the 20th century’s most innovative designers and her creative links with the art world. Jewelry highlights capture the full spectacle of Schiaparelli, including the Pagan choker from 1938 with its gold pinecones, and a gilded brass and rhinestone necklace designed to look like the bronchi and lungs famously worn by Bella Hadid at the Cannes Film Festival.

Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL, until November 8.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com