Jewelry Designer Suzanne Belperron Weathered a Worse Dictator
The design icon was part of the Resistance combatting the Nazis during WWII. PLUS: 3 jewelers who make incredible handmade chain; and fine jewelry Ring Pops from Zahn-Z.
I’ve been musing on Suzanne Belperron, an icon in the history of jewelry design, since Donald Trump—former real estate hustler and reality TV star—was elected to his second presidential term last week.
Belperron was an established, celebrated jewelry designer when the Nazi party seized power in Germany, led by Adolf Hitler. At the time, she was working as the chief designer for Bernard Herz, a major stone and natural pearl dealer in Paris, under his company name, B. Herz.
As Europe became increasingly dangerous for Jewish citizens—but before the Nazi party would murder millions of Jewish people in the Holocaust—Herz (who was Jewish) insisted that Belperron purchase B. Herz and rename the company Suzanne Belperron, S.A.R.L. to preserve it during the Nazi occupation of Paris. She did as he asked, and Herz was eventually arrested by the Nazis. “Despite Belperron’s efforts as a member of the Resistance to secure his release, he was deported” and didn’t survive the war, according to the Belperron website.
Truly horrible. But there’s a little light in this story: Bernard’s son, Jean, returned to Paris after five years as a prisoner of war. Belperron, who thought of herself as more of a custodian than an owner of the company Bernard built, offered his son the business. Jean, in turn, made Belperron an equal partner in what the pair coined Jean Herz-Suzanne Belperron, S.A.R.L. Belperron went on to become the most illustrious jewelry designer in France, and was even awarded the nation’s rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor for her undeniable brilliance.
The designer’s hallmarks include curvaceous metal, voluminous and rounded forms, and vividly colored gemstones often used as fringe for metal pieces. Many of her signature designs—including her wavy gold ring with diamond anchored by prongs to the top (see below)—are borrowed by modern jewelry makers.
I thought of Belperron this week because I’m a progressive American female. Which means this week I’m fearing for the future. Trump’s White House re-entry, which trails a clown car of cabinet appointees including pedophile and human Bain de Soleil bottle Matt Gaetz and white supremacist Stephen Miller, opens the door to a raft of scary possibilities.
The craziness and cruelty he promised to rain down on the country during his crude campaign is coming. Which means we’ll see rape victims denied abortions, school districts commandeered by religious zealots, and more atrocities. Norms, rules, and laws will be broken in the administration’s tirade against “bureaucracy.” And an historic increase in detention centers and private prisons to house the “illegals” Trump plans to round up feels inevitable.
I know half the country shares my dread right now. And Belperron and other progressive artists must have felt similar fears when hearing about Hitler’s regime in its early days. After all, the Nazi party ran and won on economic recovery; Germany has been economically devastated after World War I and the Great Depression. The Germans who voted for the Nazis yearned for a “strong” leader who would put Germany back on the world stage—sound familiar?
To be clear, I’m not comparing Trump to Hitler. Pumpkin Spice Palpatine will undoubtedly hurt innocent people over the next four years, including the hard-working undocumented farm workers who harvest most of our food. But no one anticipates that Trump will condone murder or commit genocide.
Regardless, right now half the country feels powerless, as Belperron presumably did in the early 1940s when she couldn’t save her mentor from deportation. But like Belperron, we can combat lies with truth, and choose empathy and friendship over nihilism and isolation. And we can—should we choose to—create unimaginably beautiful things, from jewelry that lights up souls to art, writing, and social movements that change minds. Who’s with me?
Just Dropped: Zahn-Z’s Grownup Ring Pop
Former architect Hiba Husayni, founder of NYC-based fine jewelry brand ZAHN-Z, wanted to create something “that would evoke the feeling of a simpler, more carefree time—like the sweetness of childhood memories,” she says. And what better symbol of youthful ease than colorful candy?
The Syrian-American designer just released her Gem Pop Candy collection, featuring ring styles that conjure classic Ring Pops—with vividly colored lab-grown gemstones standing in for the actual lolly. Each gem is custom-cut from lab-grown sapphires, emeralds, garnets, and amethysts.
There are two variations of the ring: one is a fixed, non-swappable version and the second lets you purchase multiple Gem Tops and swap them as you like. The sweet rings retail for $615, and are available here.
Chain Makers: 3 Jewelers Who Make Incredible Handmade Chain
Jewelry writer (and my pal) Amy Elliott once told me that nothing says “quiet luxury” like a beautifully handmade chain. She’s so right, and lately I find myself cooing over plain chain more than any gem-set bauble. This is in large part because handmade chain looks different from machine-made chain—the chain we’re all used to seeing, buying an wearing. Handmade chain, like a great Otis Redding song, has character and soul. You can see the mark of the hand in the final product. Here are three chain makers who really knock me out:
London-based jewelry designer and maker Lucie Gledhill says she takes a “low-tech” approach to making jewelry—and it shows in her ancient-looking fishbone-chain necklaces, spiraling Spiga chain, and classic-with-a-twist curb chain styles. She’s one of the few jewelers able to make sterling silver look and feel as luxurious as gold.
HOWL, which stands for “handle only with love,” is the brainchild of Los Angeles-based Tini Courtney, who pairs 18k gold with gemstones and carved Venetian glass to create chunky designs that look like ancient museum pieces. Courtney loves chain, and makes a ton of creative versions, typically with cast elements hooked together and often feature pearls. Swoon.
Veteran jewelry designer Alp Sagnak shows up with an army of handmade chains, many that mix silver and gold, every Las Vegas Jewelry Week (the big trade week for fine jewelry), and I’m always tempted to buy one—I will one day! His 360-degree “Atom” chain (shown above) is even more stunning in person.