Strawberry Fields

Upon my return to New York City, from Blackberry Farm, I did what anyone who grew up in the city might do on a hot summer evening. I met a friend for dinner in Central Park. In order to continue the theme of going places named after berries and to the reverse the tenor of solitude, we chose the Imagine mosaic in Strawberry Fields. I arrived early, and had the great pleasure of sitting and watching all of humanity walk by and pose with the circular design that is embedded in the pavement. Some of the worlds biggest freaks came by to examine the scene; coming down from their high, smile with their girlfriends, or fall in love. I can't think of anything that would seem out of bounds at this little intersection just off 72nd Street and Central Park West. Strawberry Fields has long been a pilgrimage for Beatles fans eager to visit the place Lennon used to go in the mornings to write his music. He was later shot in front of his apartment building, The Dakota, across the street. That evening, however, one particular person caught my attention. It was a boy of about eleven-years-old. He looked like any eleven-year-old might, yet he and his family made quite a show of photographing him with the mosaic; the boy making dance gestures, holding his rocket pop and grinning ear to ear. It was very impressive to see this little showman run off all the freaks and tourists.Yet, there is a history and relevance to this place that belongs to a generation that this kid was not part of, and to some extent neither am I. (I do remember driving by The Dakota on the way to school and seeing all the photographers on the morning Lennon was shot, but was really unsure of who the man was) The boy has not yet had the life opportunity to hear the music and make his tribute something that comes from him.

Fall Reigns

I have always enjoyed the fall season more then any other. I grew up in New York and the month of October there is the prettiest place on earth. I could feel Autumn sneaking into the air this past Tuesday, and I really did not have that melancholy feeling that once attached itself to going back to school. Quite the opposite as an adult.

Westerner

Apologies for borrowing the name of a European champion horse for the title of the blog. However Westerner was a Gold Cup winner at Ascot and a superb stayer for a small horse. I did breed a mare to him this year, that my brother gave me, so there is bit of bias name-wise as I travel west. Today was by far the most beautiful drive I have ever done. It started in Aspen and ended in Nevada, en route to Tahoe. I could not stop thinking about how tough the early settlers were for taking their families through and over the rugged canyons on horses and wooden wheeled wagons. They were the ultimate stayers and had the good fortune to cross the most beautiful country on earth however difficult it was. The light was extraordinary and regardless of my immersion in the desolate country was able to catch up with friends from my past. I think that the cell phone can be considered a miracle if looked at the right way. There is a lot of romance in the texture of the canyon country. It's hard not to think so when the dirt your standing on is 50 million years old. Did you know that it is iron oxide that makes the soil and cliffs red? The same mineral is responsible for the unique and exquisite color of tourmaline from Mozambique - perhaps my most favorite new color coming out of the ground in gem material. It's the soft purple that comes through as a secondary color that gives it its depth. Lots of neon here in Nevada. Kind of like it. The honkey tonk never disappoints. Great day! I will go back to Moab with a bit more time, and a bike.

It's Like Riding a Bike

I just finished biking up Independence Pass towards Leadville, CO. Half-way up the mountain a storm rolled in and changed the tenor of things. Hot and grinding became windy and cold in a matter of moments. I can't remember having more fun. Everything went cool and reminded me of how much being outside changes ones impression of everything. I did manage to work on some design ideas on the way up but down was totally involved with avoiding a huge wipeout on the way down. Don't really think I've used to word wipeout in a while. Anyway, getting back on a bike consistently has really been great, even when your soaked, tired, freezing from wind, and alone. I biked a bit in New Orleans and think I understand the place better as a result. Go see the levy, the trees, and whatever else there is to see. Entertain your senses, they give back.

Fine Tune

Last evening I went to the music tent at the Aspen Music Festival and saw Deborah Voight sing some of Mahlers later compositions. It was music that I am not familiar with, but I loved it. I probably loved it more because I really had no expectation of how it should be played, or can be played at its best. Perhaps the music was extraordinary. It was a true "ignorance is bliss" situation. Dumb and happy was I but, more importantly, inspired.

I really find that music and paintings do more to cultivate creativity than anything. Listen to something foreign and beautiful and you are traveling. I might as well have been in Vienna. It makes me want to make beautiful things. At those  moments the life-goal becomes leaving jewelry behind that charms for generations.  The pursit of money is lost, fame, transient and what remains is a desire to make beautiful things. I get a strange high when a piece of jewelry is finished correctly. I am very rarely impressed  by modern jewelry for a multitude of reasons. The same can be said about my feelings for opera. I have seen more operas and listened to more soundtracks of great recordings then is good for me. I anticipate moments in specific pieces of music and judge the piece based on my former feelings and knowlege of it. When the delivery is great it makes magic. Truly great moments at the opera are never forgotten.

Yankee Bricks

One of the things I like to do in Nantucket is the tree walk. The trees on this island are some of the most spectacular in our country because they have not been exposed to the Dutch Elm virus, in the case of the American Elm, or many of the other diseases that have killed our native trees. The American Chestnut being a terrible loss. Being an island, they avoided much of the natural spread of disease. In the case of the American Elm, it is the most well-preserved stand of trees outside of Central Park. My first jewelry collection was based on the fissured bark of these trees. They are so organic and knarled, and as a very near-sighted youth it was the only part of the tree I could see; nose pressed close to the bark. There was no way I could see the entireity of the tree. I give great credit to my fascination with texture in jewelry to my nearsightedness. Recently, I have gone back over some of the pieces I did in the first collection. Though it is not what I want to do now, with gold at all-time highs (much of the collection was big, heavy gold) I believe the pieces to be really strong. They remain the core of what interests me. I think this evening I will take a walk with my camera and photograph some of the textures that abound on this island. The tentative plan is to use some of the fissure shapes with purple pimple back Mississippi River pearls, as well as do some sea weed dangle drops. This is a wonderful walking island, always something new to find.

Turf in Time

Marcel Proust wrote the most wonderful book called Swanns Way. I have always taken it to be about memories and how the best part of our memory is what we can't remember. The memories that take external stimulus to trigger in our minds. Perhaps it's smelling a perfume that reminds you of childhood, or a certain song that brings you back to adolescence and a particularly eye opening evening. I get such a rush during the rare occasion I see or hear something that transports me to a time gone by, and by extension am addicted to the agrarian life. Everything has a smell and  a sound outside in the fields. I do admit that I really don't adhere to the traditional farmer lifestyle. The past week was spent painting jewelry at the farm and bushhoging with a bottle of Claret between the races at Royal Ascot. There is no question that Royal Ascot is the best week of racing in the world. Horses belong on the grass. Such a beautiful spectacle. Most importantly there were so many things that came back to me sitting out there on the tractor. Fresh cut grass I imagine does it for everyone, minus the urban youth. Sunday, as you know, was Fathers Day. There was also plenty of fresh cut grass.

Bring It

I am not out of bed yet, but seeing very clearly. Why does it seem that dreams are forgotten unless we remember them and talk about them immediately after we wake up? Capture them fresh or never. My father has always said that he got many of his best ideas when he was sleeping, and I believe him. There is fantasy and beauty in ones' dreams. I dream in color and I think its easy to tell others who do as well. The extra step is to have the confidence to execute the ideas during waking hours, to believe in what your mind gives you when you are not trying. Somehow using the ideas I get while sleeping seems the most natural, and usually winds up producing great pieces of jewelry. Passion is born during the days and nurtured at night.

The Arc

Animals have been a major theme for me this past week. Ever since the bobcat ran across the tracks in front of me I feel like I have been staring into the eyes of creatures at every turn. The zoo started the week with a bang; shortly followed by a trip to Angola prison for chit chat with the incarcerated, and the purchase of a percheron hunter (thats a horse). I had moments on horseback, a small skirmish with fleas on my dog, the release of two rabbits to Jimmy Club's pastoral lawns, several hours with the egrets in Audubon Park and the purchase of a chicken. Each of these experiences have something to do with jewelry and the challenges inherent with using animals as a theme in pieces of jewelry. My personal belief is that the most important individual pieces of jewelry ever created are animal themed. Take the Cartier panthere, or the David Webb frog cuff bracelets, Slumberger's jellyfish brooch, or Verdura's South Sea pearl elephant pins as the very tip of the iceberg.

Change One Thing

I have a great attraction to seeing things I am familiar with out of their usual environs, simply because I barely recognize  them. The other night after quite a few champagnes, I must admit, I was introduced to a young woman to whom I politely greeted and introduced myself. The problem was that I am currently making her engagement ring, we have had three meetings and most importantly I really admire her work as an art curator and am an overall fan of hers. One would think that I would have instantly recognized her, think again. The problem was that the other night we were in a honky tonk in uptown NOLA and our meetings have taken place in New York and Jackson Hole under more formal auspices. Obviously she has not changed that much recently, however she seemed like a completely different person, by changing venue.

Magnolias on 5th

I have had the very good fortune to see the magnolias blooming for an extended period of time this year. They arrived earliest in New Orleans and I have seemed to catch them on great days in Charleston and now in New York. It's supposed to be 90 degrees today in NYC. Usually, I find it very difficult to paint my renderings in Manhattan, however the exception is this early springtime. There is so much anticipation of the growth to come and the city looks so clean. The palate that I am gravitating towards is the ivory whites that set off colored gemstones so well. The opaque honesty of mammoth ivory reminds me of the creamy petals of the magnolia tree outside The Frick Collection. That is a tree for the ages. The opaque also justaposes so well with the transparence of faceted stones. Today will ceartainly produce a rendering of a clients aquamarine in a ring setting with mammoth ivory, and perhaps some deep blue sapphire. Better get it done before French Quarter Festival.

Beauty that Never Sleeps

 Designed as a flexible band or cuff, comprised of twenty one unique “bricks” handmade and defined by gently rolling, carved green prehnite and white cacholong,  high polish and bead-blast finish; three bricks comprised of fields of pavé-set, full-cut cognac and colorless diamonds and tsavorite garnets; the reverse of each brick fitted with an 18K yellow gold high polish bow-motif grill; mounted in 18K yellow gold Full-cut cognac and colorless diamonds, total weighing approximately 4.79 carats Signed on the interior clasp with Nicholas Varney/18K   

 Bruce Weber's beautiful photo shoot of the lovely and timeless beauty, China Machado, in this month's W magazine showcases another timeless beauty, a Nicholas Varney three-row brick bracelet.  The sister to the bracelet featured in entree magazine this spring, this silhouette is striking and playful, a perfect combination of stark white cacholong and rich green prehnite. 

The bracelet is currently available at

Marissa Collections.

1167 3rd Street South

Naples, FL 34102

(239) 263-4333

 

or by calling Nicholas Varney Jewels at 212.223.1043

 

 

 

 

 

Hunting for Pearls

Here in Tucson, Arizona at the Gem Show looking for natural pearls. It's a constant search for quahogs or cassis that I been on for years. Strange to get them in the desert, right? Everyone should come to this show once in their lives. -Nicholas

Jewelry in pursuit of the world's rarest and most beautiful stones

Welcome to the newly re-designed Nicholas Varney Jewels website! We encourage you to take time to explore the many pieces in the Gallery section of this beautiful site. Nicholas Varney, for the first time ever, invites his many fans and collectors to view, in their own homes, his works of art. Take pleasure in the stories and inspirations of pieces such as the Diamond, Moonstone and Purple Quahog pearl necklace. A truly, one-of-a-kind necklace. Varney spent over 2 years collecting these outstanding pearls; finally gathering the twelve that define this piece. Appreciated for their rarity and beautiful purple hues ranging from lavender to deep eggplant, the quahog pearl is historically known as the first "currency" in the Americas. Paired with over twenty-five carats of Siberian Colorless Diamonds, this necklace is fit to be seen and better to be worn! The necklace is currently available at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. Or, by contacting Nicholas Varney, at 212 223 1043. We look forward to sharing new inspirations, events and new arrivals. Visit us soon!