Temple St. Clair debuts The Odyssey collection
When I first saw Temple St. Clair’s jewelry, I’d never seen architecture transformed into jewelry so effortlessly. Founded in 1986 by the designer herself, Temple St. Clair Carr, it only took a year for the brand to find its way into one of the finest departments stores in the world, Barney’s New York.
Launching today on her web site, Temple St. Clair will debut The Odyssey collection for fall 2010, which features her classic, antique, European aesthetic, combined with some new inspiration.
“Aesthetically, it tells a story of east meeting west… the richness of the Persian Empire meets ancient Greece,” Temple St. Clair Carr said.
One could remark that the new collection, although modern, is a call back to Temple St. Clair’s roots, which had a focus on ancient artifact-inspired pieces.
“There are allusions to my beginnings with my signature granulation, my archer’s granule and my ‘temple’ hallmark but, as they are often called, my work has a much more ‘modern classic’ appeal at this stage in its evolution,” she said.
When Temple St. Clair Carr started her line, she had just graduated graduate school, studying Italian literature and art history. Her passion for both disciplines revealed her love for the arts, but it was her study of ancient jewelry that really got Temple moving towards the role of a designer.
“I had met local Florentine artisans and was having them execute my drawings of what I imagined archeological jeweled treasures to look like,” she said of her earlier work.
As always, her thirst for historical knowledge served as the muse for her newest collection.
“For inspiration, I draw on my academic and life experience and basically from stories, myths and art that I love,” she said.
In The Odyssey collection, Temple St. Clair Carr used emeralds, rubies and sapphires, along with rock crystals and moonstones to give the feel of an ancient Grecian jewelry box. Think Helen of Troy, she said.
The evil eye, one of Temple’s most iconic designs, makes a cameo in the collection. Enamored by her new collection, Temple St. Clair Carr knows one person that will be wearing “The Odyssey” all the time.
“I love the new earrings particularly in cabochon emerald and the amphora earrings,” she said of her new collection. “And I’ll definitely be wearing my new evil eye rock crystal amulet.”
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