Besides her high profile clientele, Sylvette Blaimont’s artisanal talents come alive with her work in precious metals like Gold and Silver. Seeing glory in shape, texture and volume, she sets out to create her wearable art pieces based on an innate calling—she sometimes will take the time to craft an entire collection that she might reconsider selling, simply to get it out of her system and respond to her deeper passions.
Catching Sylvette at her different stages of inspiration is a thrilling experience, and at the same time, she will work with you to develop designs customized to your preferences. After seeing Sylvette premiere her work at a past Pretty Little Things event, I realized that this artist is not interested in the systematic, but rather the organic development of each and every emotionally charged piece. We set a time and place, and I graciously accepted the artist’s invitation to take a closer look at how she works at her studio in Pearl Al Marzoug, the setting where her inspirations take shape and form.
Her jewelry, like intricate ornaments, decorates her studio. Because Sylvette also incorporates wax molds to produce her work, she highlights that this is done for an ergonomic element in design that adds volume to her work. She adds, “Once a piece is cast, I have endless options and it’s my game, I can play.” Texture, as it seems, is highly individual to Sylvette.
She might be a Parisian at heart, yet this artist’s passion for travel and making jewelry landed her in New York in 2005, where she started taking courses and spent two years training with a certified Gold Smith. Learning handmade techniques like enameling and the antique technique of granulation, she would later on combine all that she has learned to create bespoke pieces that would capture the attention of New York’s crème de la crème. Publications like Elle Magazine, Glamour, and Le Monde embraced her first line of entirely handmade pieces, while Sylvette’s clientele included Brooke Shields, Demi Moore and Naomi Watts.
What you will find with Sylvette’s intricate work are hand forged gold and silver pieces that emit exquisite beauty and personal charm. From beautiful bangles and rings engraved with whimsical poems, quotes, and adjectives, to organically shaped rings and necklaces; Sylvette creates one of a kind pieces that vary from solid gold, to being gold plated, depending on her clients’ request.
A pendant she was wearing particularly captivated me during our meeting as it almost resembled a hollowed out half of an ancient scarab. She recounts the story of its creation with a smile, “I created this piece thinking I was going on a cruise on the Nile with my husband. I engraved the inside with the saying, ‘Drifting along the Nile, in search of golden light and precious perfumes’.” Although they never made the trip, that pendant remains timeless in style and is esthetically enchanting. She then shows me a simple gold ring, where she uses the technique of stamping designs via the use of a rolling mill. That’s the magic behind Sylvette’s work; she expertly blends textures to manifest her interest in creating volume. Her pieces seem to have a common element, yet each piece has its own personality. Interestingly so, these pieces can easily be worn together as well!
Her next step is to complete her Masters in Gemology, as Sylvette highly values education, attributes her progression and success to both working and continuously studying in her field. “The more you design the harder it gets. When you start doing something as an artist, your personal history and personality comes through in your first collection. From there, I worked on conceptual volumes that are abstract because I really hate being labeled as a certain type of designer.” Her next inspiration: repetition. Anything can inspire Sylvette, from concepts to textures; she can even start a piece with a color, or even a complete mistake. A simple sphere she molds may transfer into a masterpiece with different elements. Yet now, her eyes seem to wander towards the repetitive patterns, architecture and anything around her. She comments, “My work isn’t the product of a process, but serves more as an answer to a question. Perhaps it is an interpretation of how I can transform an interest into a material piece.”
Just like Sylvette once cut her roots, and left Paris to New York, she does the same with her work in Kuwait. She is ready to explore new concepts, ideas and influences. She adds, “When I found my place in Kuwait, I realized that there is a market for my work. The local talent in Kuwait very pleasantly surprised me. It was a pleasure exhibiting alongside the fellow jewelry designers at PLT –the quality of work is amazing.”
Sylvette Blaimont launched her new line jewelry, and made it available to a larger audience by creating silver pieces, plated with 18 kt or 24 kt gold. She still makes a point in using top quality gemstones such as diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies. For more about her work, please visit www.sylvetteblaimont.com.
