The Diary of Honorine

JOYS, JEWELS & FIG JAM

[honorinejewels]

THE PRECIOUS INTERVIEW : DAISY HAMBRO AND TOBY ADCOCK

    Who said shirts were old-fashioned ? Not these two. Three monsoons ago, Daisy Hambro and Toby Adcock gave into the creative superbeat of India and launched their line of cool, pastel-colored men's shirts. Their signature ? An ikat-lined cuff. Their logo ? A hand embroidered bicycle. Their motto ? To give 10% of their profits to help educate underprivileged Indian children. Anything else ? Yes : the shirts flew off the shelves of their Goa pop-up last winter and a little exotic bird told me, it is now London's turn to succumb. Today in the Precious Interview, meet the two behind Tobias Clothing.

  If you weren't shirtmakers, what would you be ? 

  Toby : A marine biologist.

Daisy : teacher What is your first memory of jewellery ? 

  Toby has to answer this one. Getting his mother's wedding ring stuck up his nose...only Toby ! Your favourite off-the-beaten-track destination ? Can you tell us why ?

  The Mary Budden estate up in Uttarkhand. It is so remote ! It's a 4 hour winding road from the nearest train station. It just feels so peaceful being nestled in the hills surrounded by the icy tops of the Himalayas.  Can you describe your ideal day in Bombay ? 

  Picking up bric a brac in Chor Bazaar, lunch at The Table and ending with a swim and a rosé spritzer at Breach Candy!

Your favorite Honorine Jewels piece ? 

  My christmas present : the Baba necklace.  A picture, painting, or sight, that makes you happy. 

  The view from our apartment in Bombay. We are lucky enough to have a sea view the whole way round and on one side we can see the sweeping set of the queens necklace which lines Marine Drive. Who do you dream to see wearing Tobias ? 

  Steve McQueen when he does the motorbike jump in The Great Escape......you said dream right?!

[honorinejewels]

LAST WEEKEND

Last weekend at a wedding in Provence. Strong Honorine Jewels presence.

[honorinejewels]

THE PRECIOUS INTERVIEW : OLIVIA ROLAND

If you have met Olivia Roland, then you remember her incredible green eyes and the sparks in them, her bird-like voice and the incredible grace that inhabits everything she touches. What does she do ? Whatever she likes. She writes beautiful portraits, books, she reads for others, she transforms old Hermès bags into pieces of art, and speaking of art, she makes her own : poetic, colorful collages that grace the walls of a few happy few. 

In her Precious Interview today, she tells us about picnics, Nicolas de Staël, and finding wedding bands in the sand.

If you weren't an artist and a writer, what would you be ?

Difficult to say as « i am what i am »… i admire people who are passionate with what they do, whatever it is. I i weren’t an artist and a writer, i wish i ‘d be anything - a taxi driver, a butcher, a doctor… - as long as i felt i was at the right place which means that every day of my working life i would wake up and be happy to go to work.

What is your first memory of jewellery ?

I must have been 5 or 6. And was sitting in a convertible car, more like a jeep kind of car, that belonged to my sister’s boy friend. It was summer. And in the sand gathered on the floor of the car, i found a ring, a golden wedding ring. I did not tell anyone, it was my treasure. I felt i had discovered the moon ! Your favorite off-the-beaten-track destination ? Can you tell us why ?

Off the beaten track destinations are pure luxury to me. Intimate places. Off season. I like Cucuron, a small village in Provence. I like The Cap Ferret, in september, when everyone is gone. It ‘s the most beautiful place in the world to me, with the ocean on one side and the bassin, interior sea, on the other one. To be on a sailing boat, at sunset, and to be lucky enough to see some dolphins and to have a picnic with a good white wine on the Banc d’Arguin, sandbanks between the ocean and the Bassin. Can you describe your ideal day in Paris ?

No ideal day really as i like to walk and stop in a cafe to read my paper but also to go to the fleemartket in Vanves  or pop at a friend's for lunch. I am lucky to be freelance and to invent my life every day. I have my days : stay at home and read and work ; go and see exhibits and bookstores ; visit friends… I hate routine !!! Your favorite Honorine Jewels piece ?

I like the pieces with writings. I have a ring, for instance, a chalcedony set in gold, which looks like a candy to me, with indian sayings that i do not even understand but i feel that they protect me. A picture, painting, or sight, that makes you happy.

A picture, any painting from Nicolas de Staël. Maybe, i ‘d say the smaller ones. There is a vibration attached to them ; they make me feel i belong to a unified world. A sight ? Mountains covered with snow. I love the feeling of snow. No more noises. Peace and protection… What are you reading at the moment ?

At the moment, i am reading my friends’ scripts and manuscripts ! 

[honorinejewels]

Cult !

[honorinejewels]

LOUISE LAWLER

Since the 70s, the American artist Louise Lawler questions the relationship between art and its surroundings. She documents the journey of a piece of art, from the gallery to the delivery truck and finally, into the collector's home. Does the way it is hung, lit, put in perspective with other objets, changes a piece of art ? Yes, she tells us. It gives it another dimension, it makes it part of a larger story. 

In September 2001, stranded in Europe after 9/11, she spent time in Avignon as a guest of gallerist Yvon Lambert. Between Lambert's house and his museum where Sol Le Witt, Jasper Johns and Daniel Buren are (among others) exhibited, Louise Lawler was, workwise, pretty much in heaven - although at the same time shaken by 9/11.

During these months she took pictures of Yvon Lambert's personal collection and of the museum. Ten years later, gifted all the prints to the museum in memory of these eerie times.

I saw them in August 2011 during the "Temps Retrouvé" exhibition at the Fondation Lambert in Avignon, and I have never stopped thinking of them.

[honorinejewels]

THE QUESTION MARK OBJECT

We have just moved into our new flat in Paris and are still in the process of furnishing it. Or rather, we are thinking of furnishing it. And maybe we won't, in the end, because the emptiness of it is lovely and soothing.

One of the things I have always loved about decoration is the idea that a home done up with taste should nevertheless have a weird piece of furniture. Something that doesn't fit with the rest. Something strange. Something which even after a long time, you can't decide wether it is ugly or beautiful : a question-mark object. 

A sort of shrug, or wink, or joke, to prevent an interior to take itself too seriously.

And so I have been keeping my eyes open.

What do you think of this one ? I am obsessed with it.

Photo source : Suck My Pixels

[honorinejewels]

GRAZIA

[honorinejewels]

FRIDAY BEAUTY

Merci, Sonia Delaunay.

Photo source : Mid Centuria

[honorinejewels]

HAPPY FIRST OF MAY

Photo credit : Michelle Wooderson

[honorinejewels]

TURRELL MAGIC

Those who sometimes read this diary know my passion for James Turrell. And so on Friday when I took my sister, boyfriend, and boyfriend's mate to the Grand Palais "Dynamo" exhibition, I was looking forward to one thing in particular : the pieces by James Turrell. I wasn't disappointed. Pure magic. To all in Paris who haven't been yet : do.

This one below is not from "Dynamo", but it's magical too, and perfect to say : Happy Monday.

Photo credit : Chroniques du Chapeau Noir

[honorinejewels]

FIRST TIME

Last month I presented my new fine jewellery collection at White Bird in Paris. One of the journalists who took the time to come is Géraldine Dormoy-Tungate, the wonderful blogger of Café Mode and the editor-in-chief of L'Express.fr Styles.

She took a picture of me on the street outside White Bird and instagrammed it.

I never, ever, ever like pictures of me. But this one, I really love.

There is a first time for everything.

[honorinejewels]

GEMMYO

Sorry, I have been too busy to tumblr. 

The reason ? My transcontinental move. 

Yes, it's official. Honorine Jewels will now be operating from the City of Lights, Love and Ladurée : Paris.

The production (and a little piece of my heart) remains in India, where I will still go three times a year. But the office is now in Paris !

The other big news is that I have another baby.

It's called Gemmyo, and it is the e-shop I co-founded two years ago with a bunch of amazing people. Here we are :

We sell fine jewellery that you can customize the way you want. Yes, we are an online jewellery store ! 

You can buy anything, from a tiny cross pendant to an emerald band or even, as we say in French, your "bague de fiançailles". 

The nice part : you choose your own colorway of metal and stone. And it's all made in France. Yep.

What I do at Gemmyo ? So many things ! Mostly, I source our beautiful stones, look after the editorial and well, just work at making it more awesome every day.

Here, for you, what I am wearing today :

It's the Ophelia ring in rose gold. Amazing, no ?

[honorinejewels]

POISSARDES

Finally, the new fine jewellery collection !

To start with, what about my absolute favorite piece from the collection : the "Poissardes" earrings ?

The word "poissardes" means a shape of earrings that was very popular in the 19th century among the fishmongers ("poissonnieres") of Les Halles, the biggest market of Paris. The ladies there, quite fierce and loud, liked big, chunky jewellery. This particular shape of earrings therefore took their name.

I had to bring a sample from France to India to show the workshop how the mechanism works. Now they love it too.

They will soon be at White Bird, and we already have pre-orders !

[honorinejewels]

All-time favorite ! Happy Tuesday !

[honorinejewels]

Le Sirenuse

In a couple of weeks, our Bauhaus collection is going to be available at Le Sirenuse.

Yes. The legendary, beautiful, glamorous Positano hotel. With its breath-taking view, red walls and candle-lit restaurant.

Is there a more dreamlike location to buy fine jewellery ?

I have never been personally but now counting the days until I make the trip there to talk to the sales ladies.

Photo Credits : Le Sirenuse, 1000 Lonely Places, Kiwi Collection

[honorinejewels]

Have a great weekend with Lotte Lenya !

[honorinejewels]

LUCIAN FREUD

Another very beautiful picture of Lucian Freud young. Note, in the bottom right corner, Freud's early "Head of a Greek Man".

Photo Credit : Lettre de Paris