“This pendant didn’t come about after a great deal of consideration, but from a simple find in 1975 among the shelves of the BHV store,” explains its creator Gilles Jonemann whose work is based on basic and ordinary materials. “I hung this pretty chrome-plated eleven-centimeter wrench, just one of many, on a leather lace. It became obvious when a client asked me to mount her diamond and seeing both on my workbench, I detected the clash of symbolic references between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.” This jewelry piece, one of the first to emerge from the idea of altering an object’s meaning, won De Beers‘ “Diamonds International Awards” aimed at modernizing the use of diamonds. It is today considered a major piece in jewelry history.
