Dew drops on buds (Tautropfen an Knospen)
Bracelet
2001 (made)
2001 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Of immediate appeal for its charming naturalism, this bracelet is primarily an exploration of immortality and transience, and a challenge to the conventional understanding of diamonds. Schobinger cites a poem by the sixteenth-century Japanese warrior and ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi who writes of dewdrops vanishing as quickly as life and without leaving the slightest trace. Reflecting on their visual properties Schobinger muses that diamonds like dewdrops transform a beam of sunlight into a rainbow of colours so may be used as their visual representation in a jewel (as here), but unlike the dew they bring with them associations of immortality. Schobinger challenges these associations and dismisses what he describes as ‘the marketing strategy employed by the diamond cartel, with their incessant claims that a diamond is forever, which even disregard the laws of physics. Anyone willing to risk the experiment: in the flame of an acetylene-oxygen torch diamonds burn away at 1300 ºC without residue, like dew drops…’
This bracelet is one of forty-five pieces of jewellery given to the V&A from the collection of the late Louise Klapisch.
This bracelet is one of forty-five pieces of jewellery given to the V&A from the collection of the late Louise Klapisch.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Dew drops on buds (Tautropfen an Knospen) (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Gold, white gold, enamel and diamonds |
| Brief description | Bracelet in the form of a curled twig, gold, white gold, enamel and diamonds, designed and made by Bernhard Schobinger, Switzerland, 2001 |
| Physical description | The bracelet is cast in gold from a slender tapering twig which has been bent to form a circle and held in place, where the ends overlap, by two wires. The surface is enamelld green while the five buds and the snapped end of the twig are left in gold. By each bud is a diamond in a white gold setting. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | The Louise Klapisch Collection, given by Suzanne Selvi |
| Summary | Of immediate appeal for its charming naturalism, this bracelet is primarily an exploration of immortality and transience, and a challenge to the conventional understanding of diamonds. Schobinger cites a poem by the sixteenth-century Japanese warrior and ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi who writes of dewdrops vanishing as quickly as life and without leaving the slightest trace. Reflecting on their visual properties Schobinger muses that diamonds like dewdrops transform a beam of sunlight into a rainbow of colours so may be used as their visual representation in a jewel (as here), but unlike the dew they bring with them associations of immortality. Schobinger challenges these associations and dismisses what he describes as ‘the marketing strategy employed by the diamond cartel, with their incessant claims that a diamond is forever, which even disregard the laws of physics. Anyone willing to risk the experiment: in the flame of an acetylene-oxygen torch diamonds burn away at 1300 ºC without residue, like dew drops…’ This bracelet is one of forty-five pieces of jewellery given to the V&A from the collection of the late Louise Klapisch. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.48-2014 |
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| Record created | June 11, 2014 |
| Record URL |
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