Talisman Gallery

Jewellery at Paris Fashion Week AW/2012 – Chan Luu, and Aida Bergsen

I decided against going to Inhorgenta in Munich this year, but did go to Premiere Classe in Paris for a couple of days at the beginning of March.It was great to be able to spend time catching up with Chan Luu – she took me to dinner in my favourite Paris restaurant Le Perron in the rue Perronet, where I had the delicious seafood fregola and a dish of fresh artichokes braised in mint. Since I’d already made my spring/summer order from the showroom in New York when I was there in January, we didn’t need to discuss business. Instead Chan told me about the training and support she is giving to disabled and disadvantaged women through her workshops in Vietnam. It’s a terrific programme, and she is modest about the contribution the company is making.

Talisman Gallery will shortly be taking delivery of a selection of exciting precious jewellery from Istanbul-based designer and sculptor Aida Bergsen. More about that in a future blog, when I will post images of the pieces that we will be selling. Aida and her husband Selim took me to dinner in Paris, and we talked about Istanbul – I am planning another trip after Easter.

I also managed to catch up with an old friend, the Paris-based American film director Bob Swaim (La Balance.) We had breakfast at the Cafe de Flore on blvd St Germain before he set off for the EICAS film school where is director of the International programme.

It’s hard to make time for anything other than business on such brief trips, but a trip to Cafe Verlet was possible as it is round the corner from the Tuileries where the shows are housed. This elegant little coffee importer/roaster also has a salon du the, and an extensive menu of single estate coffees and teas to sample. It’s been established since 1880 and supplies chic restaurants and discerning Parisian customers. I bought some of their wonderful glace fruits which have an intense honey-like fruity taste honey rather than the usual crystalized sugar.

I was disappointed with the jewellery I saw at the trade shows during Paris Fashion week.. At the moment gold and precious stone jewellery of the kind sold as fashion accessories in department stores and boutiques is safe, conservative and twee. High gold prices means that jewellery is becoming miniaturised. Companies are all copying each other because they’ve run out of ideas.

I’m always on the lookout for bold statement pieces in their own right, not accessories. Talisman Gallery’s USP as a retailer is to go against the grain, seeking out pieces that express the individuality of the designer and the customer who buys it. I try to find jewellery for confident women, but that also includes delicate, feminine collections from designers like Audrey Savransky and Brooke Gregson.