black custom jewelry bracelet with a pearl in shape of a flower. My friend who works at Bochic looked at it, completely outraged and almost insulted!
“How can you wear such a bracelet when we have the best of your taste in jewelry at the office?” The next Monday, on a rainy afternoon, I went to meet David, the owner of the company, at his New York Fifth Avenue showroom. My friend was there and she was wearing a stunning gold bracelet in a shape of a snake that absolutely captured my attention. Completely enchanted by that piece, I realized I did not pay attention to David who was saying it was pleasure to meet me.
David Araon Joseph, born in England, had been in the music, film, screenplay and production industry as well as the diamond business. He represented jewelry designers in his own gallery without finding in the market something he had been missing for a long time. That something happened to be his wife, Miriam Salat, a former civil engineer and fashion jeweler who started her career selling her designs in the streets in Soho, New York and then at Barney’s to pay for her Ph.D. studies in Psychology.
The time Miriam and David met, they both seemed to identify with the archetypes of bohemian life paradoxes. Adventurous mountain biking in the desert sands but also relaxing in the glamorous Positano with a shopping break in Capri. Living both contradictory experiences was very inspiring and motivating to them.
David Joseph is a romantic, a classic aficionado of the La Dolce Vita–archetype of living. Miriam pays attention to the technical details, the ancient tradition of craftsmanship, the creative innovation in modern living.
While looking outside on the falling rain, David tells me that not everything in their collection is totally designed. Sometimes they are just observers, they watch tantrums, body language, fashion statements, or limit themselves to collecting vintage jewelry. Their sources of inspiration are the Mediterranean and colorful countries like India and Turkey. In their wanderings, they could be attracted by an object, stone or pendant and will after that recreate together a new meaning to that piece.
I realize after wearing a wood bracelet together with luminous citrine earrings and a bone ring, that their creations never have a single and unique element to them. Materials are intelligently, elaborated and carefully integrated with one another. At Bochic, they are not afraid to dare, reuse, recycle, reinvent, reconstruct, or recreate. Like in Bohemia, it is all about the atmosphere, a way of life, a state of mind. Just like poets, painters, absinthe drinkers or dandies, their work is timeless in movement where ethnicity and classical elegance blend in with natural nonchalance.
Bochic has become the collection of choice among Hollywood’s red carpet celebrities such as Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, Eva Mendes, Hilary Swank, Penelope Cruz and Rihanna. On magazine covers, they show off bold Bakelite cuffs and over-sized rings, all hallmarks of the collection. At the premiere Pat the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, Angelina Jolie chose a pair of rose cut diamond earrings and a matching diamond bracelet.
Talking about trend setting, the Art Deco ‘Noir’ collection for Fall 2008 mostly in bakelite and vintage diamond pieces is presented in Europe this month by Bochic as an intrepid innovation with a classical comeback in the world of jewelry design.
The sources, precious gems, rose, slice, single and rough cuts diamonds are not about the quality. Without a doubt Miriam and David Joseph are connoisseurs of color, texture and sensation, but more about the vintage look, and a typical infusion of Mediterranean ‘terres d’ailleur ‘, a well-known and enduring Bohemian mainstream starting in the 70’ by the precursor Yves Saint Laurent (may he rest in peace) and his muse Thalita Guetty in Marrakech. The exotic flair of the Old Orient collection, Morocco-Egypt-India, is the Bochic inspiration and its counter-culture, their modern and globalized fusion with the West.
Bochic plans to merge the splendor of the Old Spain, Moorish style, Flamenco, and mosaics (immortalized by Goya) in future creative pieces of treasure.
Pay attention because you’ll see them coming!
Joelle’s Tips:
The Jewelers: Bochic
