Graff Contrast & Colour at Online click!

Sotheby’s Online Auction, October 30 

In a Sotheby’s Online Auction, Geneva, the Lots Begin Closing on 30 October 2020. Focussing here is, Graff’s Contrast & Colour, The Purity of Colour! 

“From the way we bring diamonds together through the skillful cutting of the stone to the making of each special piece, this is a great art form. We design what we consider to be the world’s finest jewellery. For us, it is essential that a jewel should have a mystique. There must be something enthralling and beautiful about it to capture the imagination” says Graff.

Adding more Laurence Graff focuses on the Purity of Colour! Many artists have embraced the use of a single colour to make impactful and dynamic works, and just as demonstrated in coloured jewels, focusing on only one shade can reveal previously unseen depths. Indeed, Yves Klein believed that monochromatic paintings invited viewers to immerse themselves “in the immeasurable existence of color”. 

Klein is, of course, most keenly associated with one colour in particular: International Klein Blue, known as IKB, which he registered as a trademark in 1957. 

In order to best display the true essence of the vivid shade of ultramarine he had created, Klein developed a technique which involved preparing his canvas with casein (a milk protein) and mixing the paint with a fixative. 

The intended result was that the colour would appear to hover above the surface of the canvas and appear to have great depth. 

In the same way, the most desirable coloured stones are set into jewelry that will most allow the intensity and scope of their tones to be appreciated. 

Sapphires in particular often share with Klein’s blue the characteristic of a fathomless, velveteen depth that you could almost fall into. 

When it comes to colour, with infinite shades available, it takes a true artist to pinpoint perfection and it is crucial to understand the subtleties of shade. Think, for example, of the ongoing battle between artists Anish Kapoor and Stuart Semple over access to the world’s blackest pigment and also the world’s pinkest pink. This kind of nuance is equally present when working with coloured stones, which present in hundreds of varying shades and tones depending on mineral content.