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Temple St. Clair’s Bejeweled ‘Menagerie’
In the third and final installment of the designer’s high jewelry collection, commemorated in a new book, Temple St. Clair took inspiration from struggling species.
This jaguar ring is one of eight pieces from Temple St. Clair’s “The Big Game” high jewelry collection. Each of the animals featured is endangered.
New York-- Animals are the theme of Temple St. Clair’s “haute couture” collection, and for its third and final installment, the designer turned her attention to immortalizing species that may only survive in history books.
Called The Big Game, the final piece of St. Clair’s high jewelry trilogy made its debut at New York’s DeLorenzo Gallery, where it will remain on view through February 15, 2017.
The collection depicts eight different species that are endangered. One of the animals, the Baiji dolphin, has even been declared functionally extinct by wildlife experts.
The Big Game also features a rhinoceros, wolf, bat, leopard, jaguar and bee; each animal is commemorated in a separate piece of jewelry rendered in 18-karat yellow gold and set with an expansive array of colored gemstones.
“I have created jeweled portraits of animals that I particularly love, many of which are extinct or threatened,” explained St. Clair.
“These are romanticized versions of the animals,” the designer continued, “each captured in a moment of stillness or activity within a peaceful environment. The choice of gemstone colors and the patterns of detail reference the impermanence of our time on earth.”
Temple St. Clair’s “The Elephant” ring is rendered in 18-karat yellow gold and features purple garnet, demantoid garnet, color-change garnet and diamond.
“The Leopard” ring is made of 18-karat yellow gold and ebony, with Ceylon sapphire, emerald and diamond.
“The Wolf” ring in 18-karat yellow gold, with natural tanzanite and diamond
“The Baiji Dolphin” bracelet is comprised of 18-karat yellow gold with Burmese star ruby, Ceylon star sapphire and diamond
“The Bat” ring in 18-karat yellow gold with green tourmaline, sapphire and diamond
“The Jaguar” ring is made in 18-karat yellow gold with Brazilian Paraiba tourmaline and diamond
“The Rhino” ring in 18-karat yellow gold with aquamarine, Ceylon sapphire, emerald and diamond
“The Bee” bracelet in 18-karat yellow gold with Imperial topaz, emerald, Ceylon sapphire and diamond
The first iteration of St. Clair’s high jewelry collection was called Mythical Creatures and debuted at the Museum of Decorative Arts at the Louvre during Paris’ haute couture week in January 2015.
The second chapter, called Wings of Desire, was presented at the Salon of Art + Design in New York in November 2015.
The entirety of St. Clair’s three-part haute couture collection is featured in a new tome from Assouline, appropriately titled The Golden Menagerie, which will begin shipping on December 15.
St. Clair began her career as a jewelry designer 30 years ago; her very first collection was featured in Barney’s New York’s then brand-new fine jewelry department.
She creates her collections in Florence, Italy, working with the renowned goldsmiths of the Florentine jewelers’ guild.
In 2016, St. Clair received the Gem Award for Jewelry Design. For more information visit TempleStClair.com.
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