Next week Verdura will release “N is for Necklaces,” a 47-page, lavishly illustrated catalog showcasing the 37 new, vintage, and reimagined designs the house will be offering for spring 2018. The layouts include archival photos, renderings, and historical snippets of text so that the Verdura aficionada, and the newly minted collector alike, can better appreciate the origin of these necklaces and what makes them quintessentially Verdura.
The cover of Verdura’s Spring 2018 catalog
“N is for Necklace” is the second Verdura catalog to focus on a particular category (the first, “B is for Bracelets,” debuted in 2016). For spring 2018, Nico Landrigan, president, wanted to focus on the house’s extensive necklace collection. He found no shortage of ideas within the company’s archives, an encyclopedic goldmine of original works by founding designer Duke Fulco di Verdura (1899–1978).
Many would point to Verdura’s Maltese cross-adorned gemstone cuffs, created in collaboration with Coco Chanel in the 1930s, as the most iconic and covetable of the house’s designs. The Byzantine collection, with its defining mosaic motif inspired by the mosaics found in the Cathedral St. Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, pays homage to this series with its vibrant amethysts, sapphires, and spinels pressed into gleaming gold. The necklace’s pendant, pictured below, can also be worn as a brooch.
Byzantine Pendant with sapphires, amethysts, spinels, and other colored stones in 18k gold on an 18k gold necklace chain
Several of the necklaces invoke one of Verdura’s most famous designs, the Wrapped Heart brooch from 1941, when actor Tyrone Power commissioned a cabochon ruby heart tied up in gold as a Christmas present for his wife, Annabella. The braided twine resurfaces in the Wrapped Pearl necklace and slinks around a collection of diamond pendants offered in every letter of the alphabet.
Wrapped Pendant with South Sea baroque pearl in 18k yellow gold
Initial Pendant necklace with diamonds in platinum and 18k yellow gold
The Night and Day lariat, with its diamond-accented, gold-dipped orbs of turquoise green and midnight blue enamel, takes inspiration from a pair of cufflinks Verdura created in 1939 as a tribute to friend and composer, Cole Porter, whose famous standard “Night and Day” (from the Broadway musical The Gay Divorce) is still cherished today.
Night and Day Lariat necklace in 18k gold, enamel, and diamonds
Other necklaces salute another important Verdura signature, the curb-link, originally created as a bracelet for actress Greta Garbo. The design, with its distinctive smooth, circular loops, ascended to icon status in the 1940s when Garbo was rarely seen without her pair of curb-link bracelets, one for each wrist. The necklace below cleverly recasts the link as stations on a long, layerable chain, a modern twist on a beloved vintage style.
Curb-Link Necklace Chain in 18k gold
There are also plenty of statement necklaces for those who like their jewels oversized and wildly colorful, including the X Necklace, which draws on a 1967 design created for Jock and Betsey Whitney. The 2018 version replaces the original’s rubies, amethysts and yellow diamonds with the most verdant peridots, sunshine-yellow sapphires, and diamonds.
It’s a springtime-perfect masterpiece that would also make the world’s most magnificent Mother’s Day gift.
One-of-a-kind X Necklace with peridots, detachable peridot pendant, yellow sapphires, and yellow and white diamonds in 18k gold
(Top image: Another view of the one-of-a-kind X Necklace with peridots, detachable peridot pendant, yellow sapphires, and yellow and white diamonds in 18k gold)
Follow me on Instagram – @aelliott718
Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
