Super-stoned on nature’s beauty, Celedonio jewels from Buenos Aires are massively scaled, colorful and dramatically textured. And that’s just for starters. These dream-like jewels (www.celedonio.com.ar/) are also intricately studded, interwoven and alive with richly colored stones, pearls, feathers, crystals, silken leaves and other fine materials.
Celebrating Nature’s infinite variety, Celedonio’s organically baroque jewelry creates theatrically intriguing and beautifully original visual effects.
Ornamenting women with the elemental power, dignity and allure that’s often absent from more gemologically distinguished; more expensive jewelry, Celedonio jewels compel people to pay attention to you. Whenever you wear them, you become increasingly intriguing and hard to forget.
These remarkable jewels are designed and fabricated in Buenos Aires by Celedonio Lohidoy, who cultivated a colorful imagination as vast and resilient as a field of wildflowers while growing up in rural Argentina. Celedonio’s background in interior design and architecture also helps account for the structural integrity, sculptural sophistication and richly hued palette that characterizes his designs.
Celedonio’s fantastic jewels remind us that for all our technological advancements, Nature remains our Source. Like many of the jewels designed by Verdura and David Webb, Celedonio eloquently expresses how Nature is the origin of all intelligence, elegance and beauty. It seems perfectly natural that he uses indigenous stones. (Amethysts, topazes, agates, jaspers and rock crystals are all mined in Argentina.)
Transcending mere adornment, Celedonio jewels also serve women as talismans for cutting a beautiful figure as they move through life…a la the “bella figura” concept. (Roughly translated from the Italian: “beautiful figure.”) Bella figura means putting your best foot forward; taking the time and making the effort to cultivate your appearance, and in so doing, dignifying yourself.
Thus Celedonio jewels imbue woman, the nurturer and life giver, with an aesthetic grandeur, unique beauty and visual power. This aura strongly suggests how she lives, loves and works with dignity, style and daring.
Celedonio’s baroque, autumnally toned forest necklace is a case in point. Spanning across collarbones and measuring about six inches high, this surrealistic statement is woven of plush silken cords that twist in tendrils from which grow silken, sienna-toned leaves. The lush vegetation is ornamented with berry-like clusters of pearls, moss-like threads, brown-gold metal leaves and butterflies with beaded bodies. A trio of baroque, bronze-toned pearl crosses hangs asymmetrically from one side of the necklace. Dreamy, ornate and extravagant, this is perfect for an evening wedding, an afternoon garden party or any number of gala events.
Bronze-toned, beautifully baroque; alive with gilded moss and the sign of the cross. Photo courtesy of Celedonio. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
Wreathe yourself in a purple flower fantasy with this romantic necklace: chunky amethyst crystals and tiny, glistening glass beads form a flower bouquet that’s everlastingly chic. Photo courtesy of Celedonio. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
Large, lustrous faux pearls, crystal, quartz and glass beads interwoven with silken cords and a butterfly for good luck: this asymmetrically glamorous necklace with sparkling surface area almost doubles as a blouse! Photo courtesy of Celedonio. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
If you long to be covered in jewels and cast magical spells, then this necklace is for you. Hundreds of tiny quartz and citrine gems are ingeniously interconnected with wires to create a collar that glows like a sunrise, suffused with the light of morning skies. Photo courtesy of Celedonio. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
Butterflies, beads, chains and hunks of rough cut stones: this necklace is part Nature princess, part metro-punk. Wear it with an evening gown, a garden party dress– or with a T-shirt and jeans. Photo courtesy of Celedonio. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
Negative spaces in this statement piece are complemented by dangling bars. Elemental, elegant and extraordinary. Photo courtesy of Celedonio. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
Celedonio Lohidoy draws inspiration from the forest and plant kingdoms. Photo courtesy of Celedonio. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
This green beaded flower ring magically empowers you to wear spring on your finger– all year round. Photo courtesy of Celedonio. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
Encircled by iridescent beads and crystals, you could get lost in the dreamy green depths of this ring…gladly! Photo courtesy of Celedonio. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
Why wear a single pearl ring when you can rock Celedonio’s luminous pearl bouquet that’s reminiscent of heritage Venetian jeweler Codagnato‘s cluster rings? Photo courtesy of Celedonio. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
To some eyes, Celedonio’s jewels might seem over the top or garish. Although his bijoux may hover perilously close to the kitsch borderline, they are never bourgeois and always stylish.
While most jewelry designers, store buyers, stylists and jewelry dealers classify Celedonio pieces as costume jewelry, its consummate style and beauty elevate it to the empyrean heights of de luxe bijoux.
This is because in its audaciously scaled designs and technical artistry, Celedonio jewelry breaks new ground, blurring distinctions between fashion jewelry and haute luxe jewelry.
Which is why we say that Celedonio jewels are the best Argentina art form since the tango!
Necklaces begin at about U.S.$100.00 and run to about $2,500; the most expensive ring runs about $400.00.
RATING:
Aesthetic/Design: ****. Four stars. The extravagant, nature-based aesthetic embodied in Celedonio bijoux blooms like wild flowers, transforming those who wear it into nature goddesses. Striking, massively scaled, unforgettable and strangely chic: Celedonio jewelry looks like no one else’s jewelry.
Choice of Materials/Use of Materials: ****. Four stars, because Celedonio uses astonishingly beautiful stones to create necklaces of divine fantasy and whimsy. He interweaves them skillfully with wire and cord armatures. Some of Celedonio’s elements, such as large butterflies and leaves, appear so flat and so literal that they deaden the fantasy vibe.
Craftsmanship: ****. Four stars, because each piece of jewelry is wildly intricate and ingeniously well-executed.
Relative rarity/Potential resale value: I will leave this one blank for now. I am trying to find out if everything Celedonio makes is a one-off– or not. I know he takes commissions for custom pieces and that his bijoux have been worn in episodes of Sex and the City.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO BUENOS AIRES, VISIT CELEDONIO!
The boutique is open Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
CELEDONIO LOHIDOY
Uruguay 1223
(Between Juncal and Arenales)
1er Piso, Timbre 8
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel: 4803-7598
Celular: 15 4027 1297
Email: info@celedonio.com.ar
Exterior of Celedonio boutique. Photo courtesy of Celedonio