Seaman Schepps: 118 years young - Jewelry Connoisseur
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Seaman Schepps: 118 years young – Jewelry Connoisseur


The dynamic spirit of this storied New york city jewelry expert is on display screen at its brand-new Madison Opportunity flagship.

Seafarer Schepps had an inherent skill for developing fashion jewelry that boosted a female’s charm. “Typically, fashion jewelry symbolized social status or monetary standing. However Schepps’s pieces flattered the user, instead of displaying household wealth,” describes Anthony Hopenhajm, who obtained the brand name in 1992. Referred to as “America’s court jewelry expert,” Schepps– who lived from 1881 to 1972– created for design icons varying from Barbara Hutton and Marlene Dietrich to the duchess of Windsor and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. However his origins were far humbler.

Raised by immigrant moms and dads on New york city’s Lower East Side, Schepps matured in a world of tenements and pushcarts. Hopenhajm thinks that this melting pot of noises and sights had an extensive impact. “Color didn’t terrify him,” he states.

Schepps initially started a business in California in 1904, however went back to New york city in 1921. He opened a shop around the corner from the Algonquin Hotel, house to the famous Round Table of authors and artists, who became his buddies and customers. Although he lost that shop throughout the Great Anxiety, Schepps later on opened on Madison Opportunity and ultimately relocated to Park Opportunity, where the store stayed for the next 60 years.

Rio bracelet in 18-karat gold with emeralds, aquamarines, tourmaline and diamonds.( Seafarer Schepps)

Non-traditional combinations
Development and irreverence are at the heart of Schepps styles. “He took possibilities. He made bracelets out of wood and put diamonds on seashells,” states Hopenhajm, including that Schepps’s absence of official training might have been a benefit, considering that it released him to experiment outside the stringent boundaries of conventional fashion jewelry style.

” He didn’t begin with a pencil and paper. He was motivated by the products,” relates Hopenhajm. At the time, the design was single-stone fashion jewelry– “all diamonds or rubies or emeralds.” However Schepps had fun with innovative mixes, flawlessly blending valuable and semi-precious stones with crystal, wood or ivory. His usage of wood ended up being a “trademark style of the brand name,” according to Hopenhajm; he indicates the numerous versions of the ebony wood Boat Link bracelet, which have actually consisted of silver, diamond, and white ceramic accents

Shell fashion jewelry likewise ended up being associated with Schepps. “He would take a low-cost shell and embellish it with countless dollars of stones,” turning it into the best device for his trendy clients, states Hopenhajm. “There was absolutely nothing more stylish than using this with a linen colored blouse in the summertime or a leather coat in the winter season.”

Anthony Hopenhajm, who acquired Seaman Schepps in 1992. (Kris Tamburello)
Anthony Hopenhajm, who obtained Seafarer Schepps in 1992. (Kris Tamburello)

A love of color
Color was a dominant function of his styles. Traditional examples were his Rio bracelets in peridot, aquamarine and emeralds; the Junio pendant in soft blue chalcedony and sapphires; and the Garden bracelet, progressing with rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds.

Schepps had a whimsical side too. Snuff bottles, which he found on a journey to Asia, ended up being a style aspect for a bracelet. He cut them in half and integrated them with white topaz, emerald and jadeite. The latter was a “preferred and regularly utilized stone for its soft and lovely color,” states Hopenhajm, including that it was not frequently in usage amongst American designers.

Schepps used the exact same style visual to males’s cuff links, which he produced in shell, crystal and jade. “Like his fashion jewelry, the cuff links have actually stood the test of time,” states Hopenhajm.

” A great deal of the fashion jewelry tends to be enjoyable,” he continues, describing his preliminary destination to the brand name. “Pieces made more than 60 years earlier are as preferable today as they were then.”

Silhouette earrings in 18-karat gold with walnut wood and yellow sapphires. (Seaman Schepps)
Shape earrings in 18-karat gold with walnut wood and yellow sapphires.( Seafarer Schepps)

Resuming doors
The business’s custom of “ingenious style with a twist” is on complete display screen at its just recently opened flagship on Madison Opportunity. “Like Schepps, we are motivated by the products,” states Hopenhajm. Just like the initial pieces, all the fashion jewelry is produced in New york city.

Similar To a Parisian hair salon in the 1930s, the brand-new store ushers customers into a world of hushed sophistication in the middle of a scheme of soft blue and beige. Hopenhajm wished to develop a “peaceful environment for revealing stunning things,” with the fashion jewelry as “the stars of the space.”

An Italian Rococo mirror from the 1850s and a Baccarat crystal and steel chandelier act as accessories in addition to links to the past; both pieces were initially in the Park Opportunity shop. The 50 feet of window screens, on the other hand, will alter seasonally.

The very first level likewise accommodates a retrospective of Schepps styles. For the very first time in 15 years, pieces initially produced for American heiress Doris Duke will be on display screen– though not for sale– consisting of a grape cluster brooch with a mix of colored sapphires. The lower level, available through a circular staircase, homes Schepps’s initial service journals and over 5,000 initial illustrations and sketches. Initially kept in basic picture albums, they are now protected in archival paper. Hopenhajm intends to utilize the area for unique occasions and instructional conferences.

Wallis Simpson in Seaman Schepps Bubble earrings. (Seaman Schepps)
Wallis Simpson in Seafarer Schepps Bubble earrings. (Seafarer Schepps)

Resonating through the generations
” These styles make good sense, 118 years after Seafarer Schepps was established,” mentions Hopenhajm. “Individuals are tired of the sameness that remains in the marketplace. They value what is handmade and stunning.”

He sees the fashion jewelry as going beyond generations– an observation he’s obtained from interactions with moms and children. He likewise indicates the appeal of the brand name’s stores in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and Palm Beach, Florida.

” It’s an aspirational brand name for lots of people since of the special styles and innovative usage of products,” states Hopenhajm. And the Seafarer Schepps story itself resonates with individuals. “Self-taught and self-made, Schepps transformed himself. He represents a real American success story.”

The Seaman Schepps boutique on Madison Avenue. (Kris Tamburello)
The Seafarer Schepps store on Madison Opportunity. (Kris Tamburello)

Main image: Precious jewelry showed at the Seafarer Schepps store on Madison Opportunity. (Seafarer Schepps/ Kris Tamburello).


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