SOLANGE - JEWELLERY FOR CHROMANTICS

Summary

Podcast Summary: "SOLANGE - JEWELLERY FOR CHROMANTICS"

If Jewels Could Talk with Carol Woolton
Host: Carol Woolton
Guest: Solange Azagouri Partridge
Release Date: November 14, 2024

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Introduction

In this captivating episode of If Jewels Could Talk, Carol Woolton engages in an enlightening conversation with Solange Azagouri Partridge, a renowned British jewellery designer celebrated for her playful and innovative approach to jewellery design. Solange, the former Creative Director of the esteemed French Maison Boucheron, brings over three decades of experience to the table. Her works adorn the permanent collections of prestigious institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Paris's Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Recently, she has published a book encapsulating her extensive collections and inspirational journey in the world of jewellery.

Notable Quote:

"Jewellery can be a plaything, can’t it? It is a plaything for women and men, but they're just things that you can fiddle, enjoy and fiddle with and look at and love."
— Solange Azagouri Partridge [36:11]

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Early Career and the London Creative Boom

Carol begins by reflecting on Solange's entry into the London jewellery scene during a period of significant creative surge in the mid-1990s. Quoting Hamish Bowles from American Vogue (December 1996), Carol highlights how Solange's salon became a hub of creativity amidst contemporaries like John Galliano and Alexander McQueen.

Notable Quote:

"Creating an envelope in which to show my jewelry, creating an atmosphere, creating a vibe, creating a space that perfectly showcased the jewelry, is really a way of kind of branding yourself, and it made an enormous difference."
— Solange Azagouri Partridge [04:00]

Solange emphasizes the importance of timing and environment in establishing her brand. Starting from humble beginnings at her kitchen table, she transitioned to a physical store on Westbourne Grove, which not only provided structure to her life as a mother but also attracted high-profile clients, including Madonna.

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From Personal Needs to Professional Design

The conversation delves into Solange's personal journey of designing her own engagement ring. Dissatisfied with existing options, she sought to create a piece that resonated with her personal style—favoring the natural elegance of an uncut diamond over the traditional faceted ones.

Notable Quote:

"I don't want it to be too ostentatious. I didn't feel like a faceted, shimmering, glittering diamond. Felt very me."
— Solange Azagouri Partridge [06:02]

This pursuit not only fulfilled her personal needs but also ignited her passion for jewellery design, leading her to explore diverse materials and techniques beyond conventional diamonds.

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Design Philosophy: Embracing Color and Chaos

Solange's design ethos is deeply rooted in her love for vibrant colors and the harmonious chaos they can create. She challenges the diamond industry's dominance by exploring a myriad of gemstones and enamels, believing that jewellery should reflect the colorful and chaotic nature of the world.

Notable Quote:

"I think the world is not tastefully beige. The world is very colorful and very chaotic and different things live side by side. And why not do that with jewellery?"
— Solange Azagouri Partridge [09:20]

Her preference for saturated colors, such as the magical combination of red and green, underscores her belief in jewellery as a medium for personal expression and creativity.

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Innovative Collections and Artistic Expressions

Solange discusses several of her notable collections, each inspired by different themes and concepts:

1. Platonic Collection ([16:38] - [17:13]): Inspired by Platonic solids and geometry, this collection integrates mathematical concepts into jewellery design, creating pieces that are both visually striking and intellectually stimulating.

2. Super Nature ([17:54] - [18:43]): Drawing from Dr. Lyle Watson's Super Nature, this collection celebrates the extraordinary aspects of nature, incorporating elements like labradorite to symbolize storm clouds and lightning.

3. Secret Garden ([35:07] - [36:11]): Part of the Metamorphosis collection, this ingenious piece transforms from a jewellery box into wearable items like cuffs and necklaces, embodying the whimsical essence of a secret garden.

Notable Quote:

"Jewellery can be a plaything, can’t it?"
— Solange Azagouri Partridge [36:11]

Her ability to blend functionality with artistic storytelling sets her work apart, making each piece not just an accessory but a narrative in itself.

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Leadership at Boucheron and Legacy

Solange recounts her transformative experience as the Creative Director at Boucheron, where she introduced innovative designs and revitalized the brand's jewellery lines. Her tenure was marked by groundbreaking collections such as "Dangerous Beauty" and "Quatre," which continue to influence contemporary jewellery design.

Notable Quote:

"It was a gold collection. Gold feels really safe and solid and ancient."
— Solange Azagouri Partridge [23:13]

Her leadership not only bolstered Boucheron's prestige but also bridged the gap between ancient craftsmanship and modern aesthetics, leaving a lasting legacy.

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Personal Insights and Emotional Connections

The discussion shifts towards the personal significance of jewellery. Solange believes that jewellery should carry deep emotional connections, serving as tokens of love and personal milestones. Her Sentimentals Collection, inspired by various forms of love—filial, romantic, and platonic—embodies this philosophy.

Notable Quote:

"I designed pieces to express all of those different kinds of love."
— Solange Azagouri Partridge [40:32]

She shares touching anecdotes about the emotional impact of receiving and giving jewellery, highlighting its role in fostering personal connections.

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Creative Process and Future Endeavors

Solange speaks candidly about her creative process, often drawing inspiration from a diverse range of sources, including literature and nature. Her ability to translate abstract concepts into tangible jewellery pieces is a testament to her versatility and innovative spirit.

Notable Quote:

"Sometimes I just. Sometimes I don't know. I finished one collection. I have no idea what I'm gonna do next."
— Solange Azagouri Partridge [41:52]

Looking ahead, she hints at ambitious projects, including another intricate collection titled "Eden Garden of Eden," which promises to delve into mythical themes with pieces like snake bracelets and apple rings encased in lavish gemstones.

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Conclusion

The episode culminates with reflections on the enduring allure of jewellery and its capacity to encapsulate personal and universal stories. Solange's journey from a passionate individual designer to a leader in the luxury jewellery industry serves as an inspiring narrative of creativity, resilience, and emotional depth.

Notable Quote:

"It's so true. Yeah. Books and chocolate, I'm always happy to receive. And diamonds and emeralds and rubies and sapphires."
— Solange Azagouri Partridge [44:08]

Listeners are encouraged to explore Solange's newly released book, Songs, which offers an in-depth look into her expansive body of work and creative inspirations.

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Key Takeaways

• Innovative Design: Solange Azagouri Partridge's work transcends traditional jewellery design by integrating vibrant colors, playful elements, and storytelling.
• Emotional Connection: Jewellery serves as a medium for expressing deep personal emotions and connections.
• Creative Leadership: Her tenure at Boucheron exemplifies how visionary leadership can rejuvenate and redefine a brand's identity.
• Future Aspirations: Solange continues to push boundaries with upcoming collections that blend mythology, nature, and intricate craftsmanship.

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For More Information:
To delve deeper into Solange’s creations and read her latest book, visit carolwalton.com. Join the If Jewels Could Talk community, now spanning 149 countries, and stay tuned for upcoming episodes exploring the rich tapestry of jewellery's history and artistry.

Transcript

[Carol Houlton]

We're so done with New Year. New you this year it's More youe on Bumble. More of you shamelessly sending playlists, especially that one filled with show tunes. More of you finding Geminis because you know you always like them. More of you dating with intention because.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

You know what you want and you.

[Carol Houlton]

Know what, we love that for you, someone else will too be More you this year and find them on Bumblebee. This episode is brought to you by Fooley Gemstones.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Diamonds are like the the coolest girls at school. They're blond haired, blue eyed, tall and willowy. And all the other coloured stones have to compete with her because the diamond industry has marketed itself so incredibly well. So that a lot of stores and brands and places that you go only sell you diamond jewelry as if it's the only thing that exists really. But what I like to do is just explore everything.

[Carol Houlton]

I'm Carol Houlton, the voice of jewellery. Welcome to if Jules Could Talk. I'm an author and broadcaster and the woman who initiated the role of jewellery editor at magazines like Tatler and Vogue. This is a podcast for everyone, for people who do like jewellery, for people who don't realise they like jewellery, and anyone intrigued by fascinating facts, new ideas and forgotten histories. So join me as I tell sparkly tales and meet all sorts of people delving into four centuries of jewelry culture and investigate what's happening now. I'm very happy to be here this morning with Solange Azagouri Partridge. She is the British jewellery designer known for her playful and witty take on jewellery executed with a modern take on classic craftsmanship. She she's the ex creative director of the French Maison Boucheron, and her work is in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Paris's Musee des Arts decoratif, and in 2002 she was a nominee for Designer of the Year by London's Design Museum. And she's just published this week a book about her three decades of her collections and inspirations. Thank you, Solange, for coming today.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Thanks for having me, Carol.

[Carol Houlton]

I wanted to start there's a great quote in the book from American Vogue, December 1996, in which Hamish Bowles was writing about the surge of young creative talent in London at the time. In the worlds of fashion, film, theatre and jewellery. He noted designers like John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, as well as the artist Damien Hirst. Rachel Whiteried creating a sort of any type of atmosphere. There was a lack of snobbishness and great creativity and he said the slow Eyed jeweler Solange Azagouri Partridge holds court in her jewel box salon. Solange, I wanted to know how important do you think it was that you started at this moment when there was this creative boom happening in London?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Obviously it was important, wasn't it? But at the time, I suppose we were all youngish at the same time, and we were all starting out. And when I got the shop on Westbourne Grove, it was really because I lived very close by, and it was a street where tumbleweed blew down it and full of scruffy old antique shops, which I loved, by the way. And it had a very cheap rent, and I was able to continue to be a mom, and it just happened to be the right moment. It was amazing because before that, I was working from a. I was presenting anything I had made from my kitchen table. That's the way that a lot of people start out. I know. So all of my clients were basically friends, family, friends of friends. And it just reached the point where people were either coming before work or after work. And my life was not structured. So I thought if I had a place I could go during normal working hours, things would improve. And they did. And, you know, in a way, creating an envelope in which to show my jewelry, creating an atmosphere, creating a vibe, creating a space that perfectly showcased the jewelry, is really a way of kind of branding yourself, and it made an enormous difference. And, you know, one of the first people who walked through the door was Madonna. So, you know, it was kind of perfect timing.

[Carol Houlton]

You were the cool girl on the block. There's no doubt about that. And people were attracted, and they were a little. A, there was a slew of people who wanted to copy you, and B, there were some people who kind of. They wanted a bit of your cool. So maybe that's why Madonna was attracted.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, she saw this article that had just come out in Vogue, actually, that might have been the Hamish piece. And then I was invited to a. A dinner that my friend David Collins had thrown for her. The moment I walked through the door, she said, hey, you're that jewelry designer. Then she bought some things and wore them and, you know, and I used to see her occasionally. David Collins was one of her best friends, so it was always in conjunction with him generally.

[Carol Houlton]

So you started then at the kitchen table, but didn't you start really because you wanted to make your own engagement ring or you couldn't find an engagement ring?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yes, that was exactly right. I was working for. For an antique. Well, he was a 20th century art dealer. It's Called Gordon Watson. His gallery was like a small, a mini Sotheby's. So it had everything from everywhere, from objet furniture, decorative art, vases, Lalique dome, Rulman furniture, paintings by, you know, sketches by Warhol and 20th century jewelry. And it was the most incredible collection because everything he had was signed and it was at Cartier, Van Cleef, Bouchon, and I had to wear it all. That was part of my job.

[Carol Houlton]

Nice job.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

It was a nice job. And whenever he really wanted to sell something to a particular person, he'd make me wear that piece to kind of create desire and envy, I suppose. And I, you know, after a few years of doing that, by the time I got engaged, I was very sure about how I wanted a piece of jewelry. I was going to wear my only piece of jewelry, actually how I wanted it to look. And that's how I started designing jewellery. Yes.

[Carol Houlton]

And so what did you want for the engagement ring?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

I wanted something that was very wearable. I didn't want it to be too ostentatious. I didn't feel like a faceted, shimmering, glittering diamond. Felt very me. And so I loved the natural look of an uncut diamond. And that's what I went with, with a lovely big, bulbous dome of gold and an uncut diamond sticking out of it. The rough and the smooth.

[Carol Houlton]

And where did you get it made?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

I had it made in London and. And that, you know, that was my eternal struggle, is finding jewellers who were happy to make jewelry for somebody other than themselves and who enjoyed the challenges that I presented them with. So initially I was working with only uncut stones. I thought that was going to be my thing forever and ever.

[Carol Houlton]

How wrong you were.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, I suppose you've got to start somewhere. And I suppose I. From, you know, the stones that come out of the earth in their natural form. And I progressed, you know, then I moved on to cabochons and then it was an exploration of all the methods and ways that jewelry is made and that. That is often an inspiration because there have been so many ways of making jewellery through the ages and modern jewellery sometimes just doesn't seem to go down those paths because they are quite challenging. Sometimes it's. It's challenging to find people who are good enamellers. People can create enemlant and generally people don't want to do that because it is challenging and labor intensive and time consuming and probably not very rewarding for them. So finding people who can do those kind of things are part of the story.

[Carol Houlton]

What you have to do yeah, and I think when anyone thinks about Yves Solange they just think, wow, color. I mean you're like besotted with it. It's not just colours on their own. It's unusual colours all mixed up into different mishmashes of style. Stripes, spots, bright fluorescent. So where did that come from?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, I, you know, I do think that the world is, and I've said it in the book, I think the world is not tastefully beige. The world is very colorful and very chaotic and different things live side by side. And why not do that with jewellery? And I also think that I want people to feel the excitement when they come into my shop of when I go into an antique jewellery shop. I feel excited because things sit side by side that probably shouldn't and that completely different from completely different eras and made in completely different ways. And that's what makes things interesting and exciting and, and I like visual chaos anyway. It's, it's how I thrive.

[Carol Houlton]

And rainbows are a speciality.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well this, all the whole special spectrum of color is definitely a speciality. And you know, I was saying to somebody yesterday how diamonds are like the coolest girls at school. They're blonde haired, blue eyed, tall and willowy and all the other colored stones have to compete with her because the diamond industry has, has marketed itself so, so incredibly well that, so that a lot of, a lot of stores and brands and places that you go only sell you diamond jewelry as if it's the only thing that exists really. But what I like to do is just explore everything. You know, hard stones, they may not be considered precious, but they have a depth. They have. Sometimes it's the only way you can find a certain shade of color. It's from using, you know, going to a semi precious or a hard stone. So it's all about finding the right colour really for me.

[Carol Houlton]

And I guess the diamond dominates because of the sparkle and some of the hard stones are matte. But they have extraordinary markings, don't they? A lot of them.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

They have extraordinary markings. Yeah. I mean, listen, I don't want, I do, I love diamonds. Of course I do. I mean every, every woman does. Who doesn't? And the light it brings to your face and around. I mean I can sit on an airplane sometimes and the light hits my ring in a certain way and it's like I've got a little prismatic rainbow on the wall of, on the window of the airplane seat. So they're very fun as well. They can have that playful element.

[Carol Houlton]

But back to the colour your Big townhouse that you had for a while in London's West End. And I'm in the staircase. When I think of that staircase, you had just different carpets, color patterns on each step of the staircase, going up. It was incredible.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Oh, I know. That was my dream staircase. That was really. Because I'd had all these carpets in all these shops all over the world that I had closed after I'd broken up with my investors, and I didn't want them to go to waste. So I just. Just thought, you know, one night I woke up with a kind of ding, and I cut them all up, and that's how I used them.

[Carol Houlton]

But you particularly love red and green together, don't you?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

I do.

[Carol Houlton]

Is that one of your favorite combos?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

It is one of my favorite combos. I love mono color, so I love in. I love saturated green or saturated red or saturated blue. But then together, red and green I find quite magical. And it's maybe possibly because they are two sides of the same color in a way. Some people who are colorblind can't distinguish between red and green, so. So it's almost like they are back to back.

[Carol Houlton]

Twins.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah, they're kind of twins in a way.

[Carol Houlton]

Particular green enamels with green stones you call viridian.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, viridian. It's just another way of saying green, isn't it? I mean, there's chlorophyll, viridian.

[Carol Houlton]

Verdant.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Verdant, yeah. And there are lots of different stones that give you the color. There's chrysoprase, which is a lovely apple green. There's malachite, which is a darker, deeper green, you know, injected with some black sometimes. There's emerald green. There's peridot green. Any. Any and all the greens. Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

Yeah, me too. I love green. Massive color. And I mean, Hot Lips comes in. I mean, just more colors than you can imagine.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah, well, that's what. That's what's so great about enamel. So not only do all the varied stones of varied preciousness give you color, but enamel adds even more. Even more ways of. Of kind of. Of giving color. So it's really great fun to use. It's like makeup. It's like nail varnish, like makeup. It's just really having fun. I think when things are too precious and too revered, if things are put too much on a pedestal, they end up in your jewelry box, and you don't wear them, and you become afraid of them. And I think it's terrible to be afraid of your jewelry. I think you need to be able to wear it as much as you possibly can and it needs to become a part of you and just feel natural and normal. So I think I was once given an incredible 20 carat diamond, I mean really insane. And I put it in a black gold, quite chunky setting and she was able to wear it so often and I mean people who know, know, but then the people who don't know and don't need to know.

[Carol Houlton]

It could be anything.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

It could be anything. And that's what you want from your jewellery. I think you don't want every person to know that it's incredibly precious and some people are not honorable.

[Carol Houlton]

The world's moved on, hasn't it, when people used it to show off and.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

The world's moved on. I mean some people still want to show off with their jewellery and also you can still show off. It's like an insider knowledge thing. That's another way of showing off, isn't it? But you don't have to be show off in that flash way anymore, I don't think.

[Carol Houlton]

No. Or it could be showing off that you've got something superstition, stylish that no one else has got.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yes, showing off your, your taste and style. Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

So color the. You know, the main thing I think about you then the second one is words because it's wit, wordplay. And I think you told me once that basically the start of every collection starts with a word or a, a group of words that you've been exploring and looking at.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah, well that may, that maybe comes from my upbringing. You know, I grew up speaking French and I did a language degree, it was Spanish, I speak a bit of Italian and also I did translating and I love reading. So words are everything to me really in a way. And when I design, I mean I, I can, I can translate anything into a piece of jewelry. So any thought I have I could turn it into a piece of jewelry for better or worse. They're not, I'm not saying they're all, they'd all be good but, but, but yeah, some, some words are so complete that they tell a big story on their own. So for example, the word Platonic, it was a collection I did about diamonds.

[Carol Houlton]

In fact, and that was about geometry.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah. The Platonic solids are the building block of maths and life. And one of them, the, the sort of dodecahedron, it's an octahedron is a naturally for is, is a natural shaped diamond and that. So I thought I'd start from there. So. And then all the Shapes. All the shapes of the Platonic solids and mathematical concepts came into that. And that's how I started playing with it. That's how I created a diamond collection from one word.

[Carol Houlton]

Words like tied up, pop tails, stoned. Stoned. You explored every kind of meaning of.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

The word, every meaning of it, from a woman being stoned physically to cherry stones and date stones and plumstones to gemstones and getting stoned, being high. So that. That gave me lots of. Lots of things. Lots of themes to play with for that collection. Yes.

[Carol Houlton]

So it's something that you're reading at that moment that just sort of clicks in your head and you think, oh, my God, I can explore that word.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Absolutely.

[Carol Houlton]

And what are you reading at the time? Are you reading novels? Are you reading?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

It can be anything. It can be anything. I mean, I read novels a lot, but sometimes. I mean, another. Another collection I did was called Super Nature, and that was a book I read by Dr. Lyle Watson. And it's about how nature is super, super nature. It's unbelievable. And then he is just like a book full of incredible facts about, you know, whether it's the, you know, your body clock and how you can. You can leave something in the dark and it will still. A plant in the dark, and it would still flower at the same time as all the other plants in the world at that. Or. Or something will fertilize at the same time, even if you isolate it. So things are kind of built into creatures. You know, fact.

[Carol Houlton]

To survive.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

To survive. And the fact that I don't know how many thousands or millions of tons of space dust fall onto the earth every single day. Things like that. Incredible facts like that. And then I just thought, you know, supernature. And then I wanted to work with. To explore all the elements of nature, so earth, air, fire, water, and the ether. So that was another one of my.

[Carol Houlton]

I remember that there was a big piece of labradorite with Dutch. You know, like streaks of diamonds as sort of lightning coming out.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Exactly. So the labradorite was the storm cloud, and the lightning bolts came shooting out of it. Yeah. That's one of my favorite necklaces.

[Carol Houlton]

Is it?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

So. And then you take words and you literally write them in script.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah. So I. That actually came from my little. My daughter when she was very little. She drew what became my little kind of clouds and birds and all of those little creatures. But she wanted to wear a ring, and her hands were so tiny. I thought, what on earth could I do for her? And then I just thought I'd write Her name, Mardi in script, in gold script. And that. That was the first scripturing I ever did, and now it's one of my bestsellers. So, you know, we get orders all the time for. For script rings.

[Carol Houlton]

And apart from doing names, you can choose a label that you think suits you, whether that's Lady Bitch.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Oh, exactly. So then I. Then I've extended them to the hot lips range. So they have all sorts of words. And, you know, strangely, the rudest words are the most successful. People like to have a. What's good about them is you can't really see what they say. So even if you have a very rude word on your finger, nobody can really see what it is. They can just see some nice twisted gold or colored enamel. And until you look closer. So that's another little personal thing for yourself.

[Carol Houlton]

A secret.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

It's a secret.

[Carol Houlton]

I mean, is there a word that you've had that. That has shocked you?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

No.

[Carol Houlton]

Or you thought, gosh, that's really unusual.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, somebody wanted the word, and I wouldn't do it because I just thought to have shit on your finger is not very nice. So I. I just didn't think that would be a good move. When I told them that, they suddenly realized, so.

[Carol Houlton]

Oh, that was good. And what did she have instead? With no off.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

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[Carol Houlton]

So I was just interested when you use the phrase visual chaos, but then at the same time, you describe the strict geometry of mathematics, and I think that, you know, you do have these opposing forces going on, and I wonder what. What wins out? Does it depend what the collection is? Or are you that person and you have these. You fight with these opposing forces within you?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, I can control them, I suppose. I mean, I can kind of separate them out. So it just depends what the idea or what the concept needs at that time. But in my life, I think I'm not a perfectionist, and I think I like visual chaos and I kind of am, but I also like a very tidy space and I like things to be organized. So I have both. I suppose I have both. Like we all do. We all have opposing forces within us, don't we?

[Carol Houlton]

The other thing I thought about you, that is opposing, is your fascination with the ancient and the modern, because you did a great collection based on Stonehenge and everything that that means. And then you'll do modern cocktails and bright enamel. And you're fascinated by the English modernist, Andrew Grima. So I found that quite interesting as well.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah. I think it's all. All kinds of things that. That are interesting, aren't they? They are. I mean, Stonehenge is a particular fascination because we drive past it every time we go to Somerset and it always looks different. Sometimes it looks enormous and sometimes it looks really small and sometimes it looks like it's glowing and sometimes it looks really dull and insignificant. So I don't know, it has this. It has this changeable quality to it. But it also. I think that was the solid collection where I wanted. It was just after Covid, I wanted everything gold and it was all. It was a gold collection. Gold feels really safe and solid and ancient. And ancient, exactly. It's ancient. And so that's what that collection was all about. And, you know, Stonehenge somehow embodied. Embodied all of those things at the same time. So that. That was a way of creating a sense of security, I suppose, you know, and that's what your. Your jewelry can do, that, doesn't it? It's like. It's like so many people, so many nations wear all their jewelry all at the same time, don't they? That it's like their dowry. They walk around with it all day, every day, and that's their safety net, isn't it?

[Carol Houlton]

So we've talked about it on if Jules could talk with Julia Samuel.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

The psychologist. That. That the role of ritual is very comforting in jewellery.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yep.

[Carol Houlton]

And the connection. And if you don't have it on, you feel disconnected to maybe your life or the person who gave it to you, and you want to feel that security and closeness.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

I sometimes, very rarely leave the house without any jewelry on. And it's the strangest feeling.

[Carol Houlton]

It's like being naked.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

I feel as if I'm floating.

[Carol Houlton]

I don't know, I feel naked and like out of sorts.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

And like I'm just wrong.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah. So I kind of have a little. I mean, even if it's a hot lips, I kind of stash them all over the place so that if I leave the house without anything, at least I can put something on when I get to work. Or something.

[Carol Houlton]

Because it got quite a lot when you get to work.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah, when I get to work. It's true. I. Sometimes I have one knocking around in my handbag, just in case I forget.

[Carol Houlton]

So you created this huge buzz around you. People were sort of making vigils to Notting Hill to come and meet you and see you. And then Tom Ford heard about you and admired your work. Through Tom Ford you got taken up by Boucheron as a creative director. And that was a really sort of groundbreaking thing in jewellery.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, it was because at the time, I mean, I think Victoire de Castellan was at Dior at that point, but Dior was still like a. It wasn't really a jewellery house just yet. It was still a subsidiary of the clothes. Now all the big houses have cottoned onto the power of jewellery and they've.

[Carol Houlton]

But they're not. They're not all coming to London to find the designer.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, people were coming to London in those days, weren't they?

[Carol Houlton]

But for fashion.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

For fashion, yeah. I mean, it was three people who. I think Tom Ford had three different people putting my name in his ear. And that's what happened in a way. Stella McCartney was one of them. Obviously was delighted to be offered the job. I didn't really know if I could do it at the time, but I just thought I can only try.

[Carol Houlton]

Did they ask you to come up with some particular design ideas that they knew they would want to explore with you?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

No, I just showed Tom my work and he said it was sick. Which I didn't really know what that meant at the time.

[Carol Houlton]

You should have that on the rings.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yes. And so I went in and I, you know, I just. They showed me every single piece of jewelry they had at the time. And I only liked two things out of, you know, a huge room of jewelry that I thought that were modern and desirable, that weren't kind of old fashioned and dated.

[Carol Houlton]

Then I went and tell them that.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah, I did. And then I went through all the work that had been done that was in production and then I looked through all the archives and then I. You know, the first. My first collection was called. And that was called Dangerous Beauty and it was. It was based on the Comtesse de Castiglione, who lived in the building where Boucheron is at the time and who was a very. She was possibly a courtesan, but anyways, she had. She loved jewelry. But I basically explored the archives from the beginning of their. When they. When Frederic Boucheron was the head of the house and I wanted to start from the very top. I wanted to work with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires only. And that's. That collection was all monochrome and it was, you know, it was really strong and really exciting and it captured the red carpets.

[Carol Houlton]

I remember Julianne Moore wearing the big chandelier.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Were those green?

[Carol Houlton]

They were emeralds. Emeralds.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Head to toe in emerald.

[Carol Houlton]

And you know, that ricocheted around the world, didn't it?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah, no, it was. It was really exciting. It was really exciting.

[Carol Houlton]

And I remember your office on the corner of the Place Vendome.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yes.

[Carol Houlton]

Oh, my God, to look at that every day, you must have pinched yourself.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

I used to walk to the office and say to myself, look up, Solange, look up, because it's not going to last forever. I couldn't actually believe it. I had to wear sunglasses in my office sometimes because it was so bright. I looked ridiculous. But it was fantastic. Corner office that had belonged to Alain Boucheron. And yeah, I was there for three years and I did the Beaute Dangereus l'eau a la Bouche because I thought Boucheron should play a play on words again, should be all about the Bouche. La Boucheron de Boucheron. But that didn't fly, unfortunately. So I did a kind of chocolate colored collection based on the mouth and food and sweets and things. I did the Not Bourgeois collection. I did the mech watch and. And then the last thing I did was the Quatre collection, which is still.

[Carol Houlton]

Flying off the shelves.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Which is the one. Yeah. So, yeah, so that was four years of adventure.

[Carol Houlton]

And you loved your time in Paris?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Kind of. It was quite tough. It's a tough city. I've kind of lived in Paris three times in my life. Once as a student, once at Boucheron, and then when I had my shop at Hotel Cast. And I don't know, I find it a hard place to live. I kind of come back to London every time and give a big sigh of relief. Something so much more free about London.

[Carol Houlton]

I mean, it is the home of fine jewellery, the original home of fine jewellery, isn't it?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

That's what they say. But, you know, a lot of the big jewellery houses have workshops in London and always have done. I think they've told the story better than us, probably.

[Carol Houlton]

So you loved it, but were happy when it came to an end. Happy to come back to London, definitely, and just concentrate on your own brand. Because that must have been hard, having both.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

I mean, basically I had two small children, so that. That was really the Hardest part. And my business, I didn't want to give up my business. So I was working a six day week and trying to keep the show.

[Carol Houlton]

On the road and living on Eurostar.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

And living on Eurostar, which I'm so thankful for Eurostar because had that was only a couple of years old and had it been flying to Paris weekly, I don't think I'd have been able to do that job. But yeah, so it was a great adventure and it taught me how to work, how to think bigger in a way and how to work with people and how to argue for my ideas because you do have to give reasons for them. You can't just do them because you need a lot of people to get behind them. It was quite. Very good lesson.

[Carol Houlton]

Yeah. A thought process to ensure why you're thinking something is. Has got a very solid backing.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

Another thing that I feel that you were ahead of the game in doing was creating films, little visual films to show your jewelry collection as opposed to a sort of static brochure or something like that. And of course you had terrific friends to do it with. I mean, they were like mini movies.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah, exactly. Little mini movies that tell a story where jewellery is part of it but not the whole thing. So.

[Carol Houlton]

So this was.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Thandie Newton was in this Thandie Newton, Jason Isaacs. And it was about, basically it was the end of a love affair and, and how the woman just decided to run away with all the jewelry. Didn't. Didn't want the man anymore, just wanted the jewelry, left the engagement ring behind. But then actually when she left, she, she ran back to get it. She couldn't bear to leave that behind either. So, you know, just lovely little ways of including jewelry that are not just the obvious, I suppose.

[Carol Houlton]

And you have. Mark Ruffalo did one.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Mark Ruffalo did one.

[Carol Houlton]

Liberty Ross.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Liberty Ross did one. And I've got another one up my sleeve that I need to. I just need to do because it's such a good idea and it's, it's. Anyone who owns or wears jewelry will get the story. So. Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

And have you written it?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

Who's gonna start?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

I don't know yet. I don't know yet.

[Carol Houlton]

You'll find another friend who wants some jewellery. Do they get or get paid in jewelry?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Kind of. Yes, yes, they do.

[Carol Houlton]

You're not paying Hollywood rates.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

No, I'm not. I'm not. Thankfully, I couldn't do it if I did.

[Carol Houlton]

And the other thing, of course I love is the unwearable jewels. How, you know, I Exhibited your diamond chandelier at Masterpiece Fair, I think, in about 2012, and which is extraordinary. I mean, it's this beautiful sort of chain link diamond chandelier.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yes. It's really an extravagant way of expressing an idea, the idea being the word, diamond chandelier. And I thought, why not turn it diamond chandelier earrings, why not turn them into an actual chandelier? So, yeah, sometimes my ideas probably a bit too costly to execute, but because.

[Carol Houlton]

This had 200 carats of diamonds and.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

4 kilos of gold, so.

[Carol Houlton]

Yeah, that's expensive.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

That's expensive.

[Carol Houlton]

Yeah. But then you did tables, rugs.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yes, objet. Yes.

[Carol Houlton]

I love the little stone and plant pots with a little daffodil, but it had little legs.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah. I mean that, I suppose that's my kind of education at Gordon's. Gordon Watson, all those lovely ways of making things beautiful. You know, you can make a lovely pen pot or an ashtray or a trinket dish. You know, it's just nice to. To make your environment as beautiful and jaw like as you can, I suppose.

[Carol Houlton]

And something I pictured and wrote about in Vogue was the Secret Garden.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yes.

[Carol Houlton]

Now explain what that was.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

So that was part of the Metamorphosis collection. So the collection comprised five different jewelry boxes that pull apart and become pieces of jewelry that you can wear. And the Secret Garden is a plica jour and gold enamel enameled Jardin Conservatory that pulls apart and turns into two cuffs, a little trinket dish. The floor of the conservatory lifts out, becomes a necklace. All the sculptures and objects within it can hang from a chain and become a necklace. So it was just gorgeous.

[Carol Houlton]

I mean, imagine an exquisite dollhouse, that this is a sort of cupola, domed orangery. And when you look in it, it has a real life. You imagine the person who lives in it and they have a little umbrella stand and there's a little pair of wedge shoes in the corner and all these things, as you say, you can take them out and play with.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yes. I nearly called the collection Solly Pockets. They're like little, little Polly pockets. So they're little worlds. You know how, how when you're little, you just like to kind of just go into a tiny little world and imagine yourself living there. And so they are. I mean, jewellery can be a plaything, can't it? It is a plaything for women and men, but they're. They're just things that you can fiddle, enjoy and fiddle with and look at and. And love.

[Carol Houlton]

Did you sell that as one big piece or did you sell the pieces inside individually?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

No, no, it's just one big piece.

[Carol Houlton]

Yes. You didn't want to separate them?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

No, no, they're just. And everything in each one, it comes as one off design. So one of the snake pit is going to the VA now and I did, I did one bespoke, so I made six of those in all and sold four of them and one's going into the museum and I'm now making another one.

[Carol Houlton]

What, private commission?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

No, just because I've only got one left. So.

[Carol Houlton]

So what will the next one be?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

That's. Well, actually it's in the book I've hasn't quite finished. It's called Eden Garden of Garden of Eden.

[Carol Houlton]

And so you'll have snakes.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

A snake and an apple.

[Carol Houlton]

And what will it be encased in?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, it's on Amalekite. It's on a. It's on Amalekite. And chrysoprase and adventuring base. There's the kind. There's the ugly old tree of knowledge and there's the beautiful tree of life, which the tree of life becomes a necklace and then the snake becomes a bracelet and the apple becomes a ring.

[Carol Houlton]

Fabulous. I can't wait to see that. And in the miscellaneous collection, Solange, I really love that wide velvet jewelled choker. That sort of very Victoriana.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, that's also. I find that so attractive. Even without the gems themselves. Themselves. Just a piece of ribbon around your neck can be so beautiful. And I mean, I do think jewelry doesn't actually have to be precious. I think it can really be anything. It can be a ribbon, it can be a shell from the beach that you pick up and put on a piece of string. I mean, I wore, I wore a shell I picked up for years from the beach on a sleeper earring. And it was almost my signature jewel. I never took it off. So I think I would always encourage people to. Well, if you love jewellery, I don't think it. I really don't think it needs to be precious at all, ever.

[Carol Houlton]

But looking at that sort of Victorian inspiration, I wonder what's your favorite period? I think of you as art nouveau. Really, because you love those sort of stained, stained glass windows, the arts and crafts.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

That's true. I love that. I mean, Lalique is one of my heroes. Definitely beautiful, you know, poetic sensibility and.

[Carol Houlton]

Lots of women with free flowing hair. I can think of your little female figures.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah, it's true, it's true. But I think any, I think every period has. It had, has had its moment. So I Can't really. I find it hard to be definitive about my choices in life. It's very hard when people say, what's your favorite? This, that or the other. I find it incredibly difficult to know myself, I suppose.

[Carol Houlton]

Yeah. People ask me that all the time.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

And I say, well, it depends what day it is.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[Carol Houlton]

You've talked a lot about, you know, every so often in the conversation, you mention your family, you mention your home. Do you think that jewelry is best when it's personal and that it has these sort of deeply held emotions within it?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

I think so. I mean, sometimes you can add those emotions to the piece because of the person who gave it to you. So that becomes. That piece becomes associated with the person. But that was my whole. That was the. What my whole sentimentals collection was about. It's about how. How jewelry is. You know, there are all sorts of. There's all kinds of love, aren't there? There's filial love, there's romantic love, there's this parental love, this friendship. There's all those loves. So. So I designed pieces to express all of those different kinds of love. And that was.

[Carol Houlton]

That came out around Covid, didn't it?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

That was another Covid inspired one. So solid and sentimentals were all about, you know, the important things in life is your family and your friends and your loved ones in the end. And then a bit of gold to.

[Carol Houlton]

Keep you safe to take with you, just in case.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

With you. Just in case.

[Carol Houlton]

Because one ring had, like, the sort of ideal family. Was that you and.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

And my husband. My husband and my children, yes. But I get. I've just done one with only four children on it. So different people have different. One had so many family members. It turned into a necklace and bangle because, well, the necklace became a bangle because there were too many people to include on just a ring, really.

[Carol Houlton]

So was it that just one parents and children, or was it extended family members?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

It was parents and children.

[Carol Houlton]

Oh, wow.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Yeah. And a dog. That's important. Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

So now your body of work in this book, Songs, which is beautiful, is so extensive and all your ideas are in it. How do you keep tapping into the sensibility of the moment and make the next collection that will be around the zeitgeist? How do you keep in that space?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

I don't know. Sometimes I just. Sometimes I don't know. I finished one collection. I have no idea what I'm gonna do next. Sometimes they just pop into my head. But now, you know, I mean, for example, miscellaneous came about Because I kept having different ideas, different concepts. And then I just thought, you know, this is not gonna be interesting if I go down that rabbit hole too deeply. And so I would ditch that, start on another idea, another idea. And then in the end I had loads of different miscellaneous ideas. So I just thought, okay, let's not waste them. So I put them all together in a collection called Miscellaneous. I mean, I've got a very strong idea right now, but it's going to be pretty hard to execute. So that might take a while before I can release it, show it.

[Carol Houlton]

Who do you try your ideas out on?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

A few people. I mean, a couple of people I work with and my husband. I mean, my husband would admit it himself. He doesn't know anything about jewellery and he trusts me 100%. But when a concept is strong, he gets it.

[Carol Houlton]

So he's a good sounding board.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

He's a good sounding board.

[Carol Houlton]

And he'd never ever go and buy you jewellery. Does he buy you?

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Well, I felt sad because he didn't for a long, long time. And I said, you know, you can buy me jewelry if you go to certain, you know, buy me antique jewelry and if you go. So I gave him a, you know, a couple of recommendations. And the first time he gave me a piece of jewelry, I burst out crying.

[Carol Houlton]

Really.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

And I really. Because I didn't realize how powerful it was to be given a piece of jewelry that I hadn't created myself. I didn't. And I thought this is how people feel when they receive a piece of jewelry. And it was amazing. Such an incredible feeling. And so I'm happy to think that people feel that way if they ever get a piece of jewelry.

[Carol Houlton]

For me, thank you so much for sharing your inspiration with us. And as I say, the book is out now, so it's a lovely way to have a look at Solange's work.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

Thank you, Carol. I appreciate it. Enjoy it as well. It's always lovely to talk about jewellery, isn't it?

[Carol Houlton]

And actually a jewellery book is also lovely to receive as well as jewellery.

[Solange Azagouri Partridge]

It's so true. Yeah. Books and chocolate, I'm always happy to receive. And diamonds and emeralds and rubies and sapphires. Yeah.

[Carol Houlton]

Thank you for listening. For this and other episodes of if Jules Could Talk, please go to our website, carolwalton.com podcasts do share it any way you can. We love to widen our if Jules Could Talk community, which is now in 149 countries. And we love to have a rating and a comment. And don't forget the book of the podcast is out now in all good bookstores and Amazon. Join me again in two weeks for the next jewelled nugget, when we'll be changing direction and going up to Scotland and talking about Renaissance jewels, and in particular, one jewel that remained hidden from the 16th century until its discovery. In 2017, we'll have another little whodunnit on if jewels could talk this time, why was it hidden? Who was it made for? Whose portrait was in the back of the jewel? And why did someone rip it out? Join me then and we'll try and figure it out together. Thank you for joining me. Bye Bye. If Jules Could Talk with Carole Walton is produced by Natasha Cowan, music and editing by Tim Thornton Graphics by Scott Bentley illustration by Jordi Labanda. You can find our sponsors at fully gemstones.com and [e-mail] it.