A walk in the woods with David Webb
Thoughts on high jewelry, bold jewelry: meaning and technique as a mean to beauty
I've never been much attracted by traditional high jewelry, the type we may see on the red carpet or at royal events. Perhaps because it is financially unattainable for me, but even if it wasn't, some of those pieces boast wealth status and not much else. With a fair share of the industry and society fixated on the price of materials followed by their ostentation potential, design and meaning take a back seat. It's boring.
In fact, the will to possess is not a requirement for attraction: on a visit to a museum, for example, we can have the complete joy of seeing the beauty of jewelry from the past without any intention to own them. The mesmerizing beauty that is a magnet to the eyes is not measured in carats alone.
I had the name of David Webb as one of those I had only seen in glossy magazines, with prices starting in the thousands of dollars—even though I knew next to nothing about its jewelry. That is until I heard the David Webb Jeweled Objects episode in Neil Marrs' podcast Jewelry Confidential. Neil has a calming, captivating voice that can make almost anything interesting, and it was more than enough to open the door to know more about David Webb.
I invite you to do the same.
A Walk in The Woods Exhibition
In early October, I had the pleasure of visiting the exhibition "A walk in the woods—David Webb's artful animals", at the brand's Flagship in New York City. With pieces reunited from collections from all over the world, this was their first in-house exhibition ever.
It was small but absolutely well-made.
I headed to their headquarters, by appointment. Then I was directed to a reserved area—two or three cozy rooms where the jewelry pieces were. But not only them: comfortable lights that compliment the pieces, a video tying the narrative and showing the pieces in detail. The rooms were filled with a very special song: a composition that combined sounds of fauna and flora with the cello of Patrick Belaga.
The name, A Walk in the Woods is a reference to the 16mm film presentation David Webb commissioned for the 1964 Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards, where he won the “Special Award for Jewelry Design”. The current exhibition presented a new video with the same essence, in which the jeweled animals were presented as if living and coexisting in that imaginary forest. Such a smart decision to use video to grow its tiny precious sculptures. The panther, the zebra, the frog, the monkey, and the snake: the pieces were arranged according to David Webb's muse animals.
Around each jewel, were sketches and drawings by David Webb himself, newspaper clippings, and paintings by known artists interpreting the jewelry. The highlight goes to the presentation of visual references that were quite non-pretentious, including children's and anatomy drawing books.
Furthermore, it was indeed an immersive and charming experience. There are things that gain our fascination only after we know them in depth—I learned so much about the creator and his reasons that they now have one more fan. Back to the subject of high jewelry: in this case, the source of value does not come from the carats, but from the ability to create a unique mini sculpture. High jewelry with an eye on technical complexity and richness of meanings.
The person, David Webb
David Webb is a New York brand at its core. Like many of the people who build the city's magic, its creator is not originally from there. He spent his early life in a small town in North Carolina, but he had big city dreams and moved to Manhattan as soon as he could. The bubbly environment accelerated his knowledge and expanded his network very quickly: informally educated designer and goldsmith, at the age of 23 (1948) David opened the company.
He lived the city at its greatest potential, being a frequent figure at museums, events, and dinners with clients—curiously, he was very reserved with his image and didn't like being photographed at all. The first animal motif bracelet was created in 1957, and in 1962 it became First Lady Jackie Kennedy's choice to make the official Gifts of State. The list of famous clients is long—even Elizabeth Taylor wore her diamond lion and pearl jewelry in her films.
David Webb was at the forefront of the market, and some of his ideas are powerful and instrumental to this day. Here's a selection of some of the ideas attributed to him:
He nurtured the complexity of his creative background, not restricting himself to a jewelry trend or so: "I had a tremendous feeling of art in me. I wanted to be an archaeologist, a ceramicist, or a jeweler. Jewelry won out".
"Boldly created, boldly worn". This is one of the typical phrases of brand communication, and it makes perfect sense. After all, what we put into our bodies is a decision about how we want to be perceived (by ourselves or others).
"Everybody wants something original. Women will shop all day for originality. Design is the most important thing." Yes! And "Women are tired of jewelry-looking jewelry, and they want one-of-a-kind pieces... Animals are here to stay." I'm not sure about the animals, but I'm all about jewelry experimentation. We already have too many rules in this life.
Hi-lo is not just a phase: as described in the company bio, David "took his love of gold and brightened it with diamonds (he never thought diamonds were just for the evening, anyway) and made jewelry that could be worn anywhere at any hour of the day". In his words—"The thing women want most today is a smashing piece of jewelry they can wear in the daytime and on into the evening". Absolutely.
Takeaways
Inspired by these ideas, here's a selection of jewelry that resonates with the power of David Webb's creations:
For more photos from the exhibition, please check out The Foyer on Instagram. I'd love to hear from you if any arise ideas from here!
I wish you a wonderful week,
Signing off—Isis