Joe’s Special Box – Volume 45

Joden Girl

Baubles, Bling, and A Collector’s Things

250 million roses will be sold this year for Valentine’s Day.  For hundreds of years, flowers have symbolized love and romance.  Sadly, those fragrant blossoms will begin to fade the moment they’re snipped…  lasting about a week or less after you bring them home. 

Perhaps I can entice you with an alternative from Joe’s Special Box.  These stunning Art Nouveau earrings (handcrafted over 100 years ago), are in excellent condition with very little change since the day they were made.  Each vine-like drop begins and ends with a fully enameled pink bud connected with a series of faint green leaves.  The detail on every petal is incredible.  These beauties are available for just $1650. 

If you purchased just one dozen roses each year for your significant other, that would total something like $3,000…  provided the loves lasts for half a century or more.  That certainly makes these earrings seem like quite a bargain, especially for roses that are sure to last a lifetime.  

“You can go to a museum and look, or come to us and touch.”

Written by Carrie Martin

Photos by Dana Jerpe

Let Your Light Shine Down

Joden Girl

Baubles, Bling, and Illuminated Things

“In nature, light creates the color.”  – Hans Hoffman

Plique à Jour…  this French phrase loosely translates to “let the daylight in”.  In jewelry, it refers to a style of enameling akin to stained glass….  and like a finely stained glass window, it comes alive when you hold it up to the light.  The framework seems to disappear, leaving a shimmering rainbow glow. 

This piece has laid on the shelf behind Joe’s desk since the day he bought it… somehow it has managed to avoid being placed in with the regular inventory.  It’s been passed over 100 times or more – maybe even forgotten.  I think it’s because when it lays on the shelf, it doesn’t look like much.  Just metal and glass.  But the moment you pick it up and hold it to the light…  that’s when the magic happens.  

It’s a complete metamorphosis.  My eyes hardly know where to look first…  the blue, green, and purple hues are completely captivating.  Suddenly, I wanted to see more.

Symbolism abounds in this early Art Nouveau creation, and it’s all about an awakening – a resurgence of life…  Did you see the lotus blossom at the top?  The lotus has long been a symbol of spiritual enlightenment and rebirth.  Every night this resilient flower submerges itself beneath murky waters only to re-bloom the next morning without a single drop of residue on its petals, completely immaculate.

Now, feast your eyes on the brilliant blue butterfly at the center of the piece – perhaps a Blue Morpho.  Butterflies are thought to exemplify endurance, change, and hope.  They are the ultimate symbol of resurrection.  Notice that the face of the butterfly is a cherub.  Cherubs are thought to keep vigil over those in need of strength, faith, and renewal.  The hidden meaning knows no bounds.

Holding it to the light, I am bewitched…  and when it rests in my hand, I am beguiled and bewildered.  First, bewitched by the vast array of color (i.e. remember your first box of 64 Crayola’s?); then beguiled and bewildered by the complexity of the mind that was not only able to dream of this artistry, but also bring it to life.  

Call for special pricing and availability.

Written by Carrie Martin

Photos by Shelly Isacco

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