A PAIR OF MADEIRA CITRINE AND DIAMOND PENDENT...

A PAIR OF MADEIRA CITRINE AND DIAMOND PENDENT EARRINGS, BY FANNY BLANCHELANDE

Each highly articulated trio of Madeira citrines between brilliant-cut diamond links, suspending from a similarly-cut diamond surmount, mounted in 18K blackened gold, diamonds approximately 2.80cts total, signed Fanny Blanchelande, Madeira citrines approximately 30.00cts total, length 6.7cm

It was in Monaco, the tiny city in the French Riviera home to a host of luxury jewellery boutiques and shopfronts, that first provided jewellery designer Fanny Blanchelande with an introduction into the world of jewellery. Born to a French father and Argentinian mother, Fanny’s daily walk to school in Monaco followed a route of jewellery stores whose glittering interiors grabbed the attention of the young schoolgirl, sparking a lifelong passion for gemstones and jewellery design. The only member of her family to show an interest in the field, Fanny felt sure she could make a career in jewellery following an insightful encounter with a renowned jeweller in Nice. As a present on her fifteenth birthday, she was given the chance learn the ropes of jewellery design with a leading jeweller in the area. The experience left her with no doubt that she wanted to turn her passion for jewellery into a full-time profession.

In 1995, Blanchelande completed the prestigious GIA in Los Angeles, opening up a flurry of job offers from collaborators in Geneva, London and Place Vendme in Paris, all hoping to work with her. Twenty-five years later, and now a mother of two, Blanchelande has built for herself a wealth of experience and expertise in the jewellery industry, back home in Monaco, where her love of jewellery began. Since 1998 Blanchelande offered her services by appointment only, creating an air of confidentiality and exclusivity, which allows clients to commission bespoke pieces in a private setting, embodying the subtlety of her practice. Recently however, the jeweller has launched her first public collection, sold in a choice selection of retail shops, which has brought an undeniable element of fun and creativity to the world of Haute Joaillerie.

Blanchelande’s work in her recent jewellery collection is driven by her passion for travel and an overarching fascination with the energy of the sun. The jeweller has enjoyed magnificent sunsets and sunrises on her travels. From the setting of the sun on the Greek islands to the view of a magnificent sunrise over Angkow Wat in Cambodia, the impact of the sun is clearly reflective in Blanchelande’s choice of materials. The Madeira citrines for these earrings were chosen specifically for their blazing golden-orange hue, reminiscent of Blanchelande’s sight of the iconic New York skyline at dusk. Their slightly industrial edge is an ode to the steel of the skyscrapers climbing a burnt orange sky. Another pull towards the use of citrines for Blanchelande is their South American origin. Found predominately in Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay, naturally-coloured citrines such as these are an ode to her ancestry on her mother’s side of the family. The Madeira citrine is a particularly rare gemstone and its natural colour makes it one of the most valuable of all citrines.

Blanchelande’s sun-inspired citrine pieces are infused with a sense of the light in the sky at the opening or ending of the day. Her decided aim for her customers when wearing these pieces is to “feel strength, power and happiness”, which Blanchelande associates with her own experience of these moments in nature.