In her book on the iconic jeweler, Ruth Peltason traces the extraordinary trajectory of his still-coveted creations in our cultural landscape. 

 Welcome to the Jewelry Connoisseur Podcast, and now your host Sonia Esther Soltani.

 Welcome to this new episode of the Jewelry Corner Podcast. I'm your host, Sonia Ester Soltani, Editor in Chief of Rappaport. At Rapaport, we cover the estate jewelry market and auctions on a regular basis. There are signed pieces that always attract a lot of attention, the creations of David Webb, the iconic American jeweler. In this podcast, we're not going to discuss prices, only art. My guest is Ruth Peltason, a jewelry historian and editor who wrote Elizabeth Taylor, My Love Affair with Jewelry. Her latest book is The Art of David Webb, in which she explores the connection between the jewelry and the artistic influences that nourished Webb's creative process. This is a deep dive into David Webb's story, and I hope you'll enjoy as much as I did.

  Hi, Ruth. So nice to have you on this podcast today. How are you?

Very well. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

It's such a pleasure. As I said a bit earlier, the book is magnificent. It is such a beautiful book. But before we get into the book, I would like you to tell us a bit more about David Webb. I know he's such an icon, and just to ask who is he actually, who is David Webb and how did he become such a famous designer?

And Ruth, when is the turning moment, when is the shift where it becomes David Webb that we know to then, you know, the, style that we're familiar with, the opulence, the volumes, obviously the yellow gold as well, being very present. when does that happen and how, does that happen?

I really like, Ruth, how you um, outline this journey as well, this discovery of art and culture and this whole world and it's also this world vision. that's shown in his, pieces. and I think that's the beauty of your book, that you put together this dialogue between the jewelry and the inspiration. So can you tell us a bit more about the genesis of the book and how you decided to have this, two facets of the work of David Webb together?

It's one of my favorites, I have to say. The simplicity of it, the volume, the just, you look at the two of them together. And it's so striking and it's just, you know, it's two icons together. So have to say, when I was going through the book, I thought, wow, I love this ring.

Yeah. And then, It's fantastic. And here's another, uh, jewelry favorite one. So this photograph by Man Ray, and here's the theta. Here's the, what they call the friendship bracelet. Well, anyone who knows these conjoined hands are the theta symbols. but in Man Ray's photograph, she's got these little, this little tiny, conjoined hands down there at the bottom. Well, guess what? Those were made by Schlumberger for Schiaparelli. So how about that for sort of, oh, I don't know, encoded jewelry, I suppose. Um, but if you're me, you find that thrilling and I really do find it thrilling. So we never stopped looking. We just kept, ah, this is fun. Here's Dior and here's the earrings. So we tried to, I suppose in a way, what we wanted to do, what I wanted to do was. absolutely show David Webb's jewelry as art, but also open up a dialogue about jewelry as art to really say. It is as deserving as anything else we see in museums, and that is very, very important. It's very meaningful to me. It's very meaningful to Mark Emanuel, the creative director and co owner. Mark's from a family of artists. so in terms of selecting pieces for the book, we were like two siblings together. we fight quite a bit, but we fight with a smile. He basically bribed me, bringing me a smoked salmon sandwiches every Saturday morning. And I gained a lot of weight meeting him every Saturday. And we would discuss what pieces of jewelry to put in the book. And we also discuss constantly the art. Um, Mark and I have for years gone to the Met together. Many a Sunday we'll go to the Met or an art fair. And he'll squat down and he'll look at a, Rodin and he'll say, Now Ruth, look at the seam work. This is where they join the cast. And he looks at art the way he looks at jewelry being made in the workshop. Which brings me to the other point. If you look at the jewelry made in the workshop, you realize why it's art. You look at these men and women, and they work on a piece of jewelry from start to finish. It does not change hands. It's that person's piece. And that dedication, that artistry, what the French would call savoir faire is evident. throughout the making of that piece of jewelry. So whilst I think that the argument that jewelry is art can be made for many, many houses, many houses, in this case I was looking at the vernacular of David Webb and how it addressed the broader world of art.

And I think the book shows it very, very beautifully. for people are listening to the podcast, who are not watching the video, we'll show all the pages and the correspondence that highlighted, Ruth, in this podcast. So they have an idea of this beautiful dialogue between, art, And the work of David Webb and how they, really speak to each other. And I think it's so interesting because, you know, when you see a Picasso, you see Goya, and you see Velazquez, you know, you always, it's like, there's nothing created in a vacuum. And it's respect to an homage to what was before. It's not imitation, as you said, you know, it's like something, really taking the tradition and, creating your own voice and your own signature. And I think that's what David Webb did so successfully. And that's why it's such an iconic designer, for so many people. And as you said, the house is still producing beautiful pieces. So, it's, almost an Ongoing ongoing story. Ruth, I would like to thank you so much for your passion and for having produced such a beautiful book. It's the holiday season now, so if you're a jewelry lover, you know what to put on your wish list. it's The Art of David Webb is published by Rizzoli.

They did a beautiful job and I must do a shout out to Takaaki Matsumoto, our designer who designed the first book and also Takaaki and I did the Elizabeth Taylor book together. he's a gorgeous designer, so I do want to make a special thanks to him and to Ilan Rubin, our photographer. So we were the same team from the first book as well.

And I would like to ask you to wrap up. Actually, you mentioned Elizabeth Taylor, and I think Elizabeth Taylor is wearing David Webb jewelry, on the cover of the book that you wrote.. What is the story of this David Webb jewelry that she's wearing on that cover?

Thanks, I love that story. and thank you so much, Ruth, for loving stories and jewelry so much for all of us to enjoy. I think people will find the book absolutely fascinating. It's a joy to, go through, but it's also a pleasure to read. The narrative is superb, so I would encourage anyone who loves jewelry, to buy a copy for themselves and also to gift it to someone who loves jewelry because that they will thank you. And not just to have it as a beautiful coffee table, but to really read it because you will learn so much. And, it's really a fascinating read. So thank you so much Ruth for, being our guest on this podcast.

It's a real privilege. Thank you very, very much

 Thank you for listening to the Jewelry Connoisseur podcast by Rappaport Jewelry Pro. This episode was hosted by Sonia Ester Soltani and produced and edited by Vanina You can find all our episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and read more about diamonds, colored gemstones, high jewelry designers, estate jewelry, and the latest jewelry trends on Rappaport. com slash Jewelry Connoisseur. Please subscribe to get all our new episodes and if you liked this one, leave us a review.