At H. Stern's headquarters in Rio de
Janeiro's tony Ipanema neighbourhood, a group of Brazilian socialites is
sipping sweetened cafezinhos. The group is also admiring the latest
collection from the Brazilian jewellery company that, for more than half a
century, has been marketing fine jewellery and exotic, precious stones
from the Amazon and other regions of Brazil to a select coterie of moneyed
Latin Americans and tourists.
But the new offerings are not the
traditional rings and pendants set with colourful stones that have adorned
H. Stern's display cases for years. This latest collection, which takes
its inspiration from such things as garbage, fishing nets, wood chips and
an antique elevator door, is hardly the kind of stuff H. Stern usually
sells in its boutiques, which are now scattered around the world. In fact,
the pieces have appeared on everyone from Catherine Zeta Jones to Naomi
Campbell and even Bruce Willis.
At the Ipanema store, the women -- all
of them blond, young and dressed in low-rise blue jeans and toting bags by
Prada and Louis Vuitton -- are gathered around a tray of gold rings and
pendants, gasping with delight at what is surely one of the most
avant-garde collections ever to hit a jewellery store.
There are rings and pendants that
feature small lights that flicker on and off, powered by a battery
embedded into the design. There is a pendant fashioned like an Amazon
Indian rain stick, featuring tiny gold balls that rattle when you shake it
up and down. There is a medieval-looking chain-metal breastplate made out
of brushed steel that also doubles as a doily and can be used to adorn a
dining-room table. There is even a pendant that emits a sensuous odour.
"But that's still a company secret
at this point," says Juliana Almeida, head of marketing for H. Stern
in Rio, adding that the odour-emitting pendant is scheduled for release
next season.
The company, she says, is already
inundated with orders.
"The jewellery has been a huge hit
in Brazil," Almeida says. "As far as we know, we are the only
company in the world creating what we call active, sensory jewellery."
Indeed, H. Stern is probably the only
jewellery company drawing on the unusual design of the Campana brothers,
two leading furniture designers, who have caused a mini-revolution by
using such common materials as rubber tubes and cardboard in furniture
design. H. Stern gave Fernando and Humberto Campana complete artistic
freedom to fashion 18-karat gold and diamonds into designs that resemble
cast-off pieces of cardboard and fishing lines, and feature mini red light
bulbs that the wearer can flick on and off.
The Campanas are from São Paulo and
have recently been feted at furniture-design shows including the one in
Milan. Now they are causing the same sort of buzz in the world of fine
jewellery.
"We consider our stuff for H.
Stern to be very modern, for people who love to break down barriers and
aren't afraid to be different," says Humberto Campana.
Prices in the Campana collection range
from US$1,600 for the flickering earrings to US$114,000 for a
rope-inspired necklace in white diamonds.
H. Stern does not have a boutique in
Canada, but orders can be placed through the customer-service desk at
their Manhattan flagship store, 645 Fifth Avenue. The number is
1-800-7HStern. - Isabel
Vincent Saturday
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