Plat­inum, 18 Karat White Gold and Dia­mond ban­gle bracelet/clip brooch by Ray­mond Tem­plier, France circa 1935. Sotheby’s Mag­nif­i­cent Jew­elry Auc­tion April 14, 2011, esti­mate: $90,000–110,000

Ray­mond Tem­plier responded to the mar­vels of the mod­ern world like wheels, cars, and machin­ery in an uncon­ven­tional way: he designed jew­elry that boasted man’s tech­no­log­i­cal accom­plish­ments rather than nature’s mirac­u­lous gifts. While tra­di­tional jew­el­ers hoisted gem­stones onto a golden pedestal, Tem­plier took the same mate­ri­als and abstracted them, mess­ing with their emblem­atic dis­tinc­tions. In effect, he cre­ated art. Where shadow lent ten­sion, glit­ter refracted and illu­mi­nated — it was a kind of chiaroscuro that isn’t easy to accom­plish when all is meant to shine. Yet this was his self-directive, “‘A piece of jew­elry is above all dark and light and not just sparkle.”

A scion of the Parisian jew­elry house of Mai­son Tem­plier et Fils, he began work­ing in the fam­ily firm in 1922. His sculpted per­spec­tive changed the way jew­elry was per­ceived. Plains are simul­ta­ne­ously matte and reflec­tive, geom­e­try informs the over­all com­po­si­tion, and artistry — he was a found­ing mem­ber of the UAM, Union des Artistes Mod­ernes — was the higher call­ing for jew­elry. His cre­ations may have been born dur­ing the Art Deco period, yet they remain age­less in all respects. Even in func­tion­al­ity. The cen­tral ele­ment on top of the ban­gle may be removed and worn as a clip brooch. Here multi-tasking is raised to an art form — and time has lit­tle to do with it.

On April 14, 2011, Templier’s ban­gle bracelet/clip brooch will be up for auc­tion, together with an entire cat­a­log of mes­mer­iz­ing jew­els. Visit Sotheby’s for more information.