A Really Fashionable Investment? “Art as Jewelry” |

In the last few years, investing in fashion has been a recurring topic on many sites. Even financial publications focused on this theme, highliting the importance of vintage Haute Couture designs or the value of iconic pieces by key designers, at times mistakenly claiming that this or that bag is supposed to be a safe investment for the future. Yet, if you do have the money and the will to invest in fashion, you should maybe opt not for a bag or a gown, but for a rare piece of jewellery.

Until Wednesday Christie's offers the chance (to wealthy collectors…) to pick a piece from its "Art as Jewelry" selection. This auction – the first Christie's online sale of artist jewellery and a subset of Christie's New York's first-ever "20th Century Season" – features over 70 lots from some of the 20th century's greatest artists, architects and designers.

The wearable artworks on sale include bracelets, brooches, pendants, rings and cufflinks by Jean Arp, Pol Bury, Enrico Castellani, Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Carmen Herrera in collaboration with Chus Burés, Jesus Rafael Soto, Kenny Scharf, Anish Kapoor and many more.

Alexander Calder's 1938 brass and steel wire brooch is actually among the most expensive ones and it is estimated to reach $90,000. The lucky collector who will get it will definitely feel like Peggy Guggenheim. Calder created jewellery for her and Peggy Guggenheim once stated about his pieces, "I am the only woman in the world who wears his enormous mobile earrings."

Roberto Matta's "Cacastrello" (a pun on the Italian words "pipistrello", that is "bat", and "cacca", "shit") gold and glass-bead necklace with gold pendants in the shape of bats inlaid with diamond, moissanite, and rubies, will appeal to all lovers of Surrealism. Born in Santiago, Chile, Matta, was a major figure in 20th century abstract expressionism and surrealism and his works bridge the natural and supernatural worlds.

Given the recent revival of Italian artists Paolo Scheggi and Agostino Bonalumi, Enrico Castellani's "Superficie" necklace would be a great investment, and it would also offer the lucky collector scooping it the chance to wear around the neck a very portable version of Castellani's amazing canvases.

Fans of kinetic art should instead opt for Edival Ramosa's rhodium treated silver and anodized aluminum necklace, or Pol Bury's gold articulated ring. Inspired by an encounter with Alexander Calder's mobiles in 1950, Pol Bury began to create his own form of kinetic art from 1953, abandoning painting to create sculptures that moved with captivating slowness. From the 1960s, the artist's material of choice became highly polished, reflective metal, with demi-sphères, such as those featured on this ring, becoming a preferred motif.

Among the most desirable pieces there is Man Ray's gold and lapis lazuli "La Jolie" necklace made for Italian firm Gem Montebello, well known for its collaborations with a wide range of artists.

Man Ray incorporated his avant-garde jewellery into shoots with celebrities including Catherine Deneuve (he portrayed her wearing his spiralling Pendantif-Pendant earrings in 1968).

The "cheapest" and rarest investment in this auction? Andrea Branzi's modular ring. This exceptionally rare piece by the influential Italian architect, designer and theorist tackles the relationship between the artificial and the natural and the ring is constructed in a very clever way with all the elements forming it existing separately so that the shape is left to be determined by the person wearing it, giving them the choice of one round element or a square one.

Lots are estimated to fetch between $1,000 and $70,000 and you can bet that, for some of these pieces, offers will be even higher. The sale runs on Christie's web site through May 18 and, though it is a shame there are no pieces by Lucio Fontana or Niki de St Phalle in this auction, there may be a chance that in future Christie's will give this special category more attention. This is indeed the first time jewellery designed by artists is given a stand-alone auction.

There are many fashion collections that reference art, but owning one of these pieces is probably the only way to turn yourself into a real work of art, while making at the same time a better investment than a designer handbag.