The JAR Paris Collection

Discover the exclusive world of JAR, one of the world’s most acclaimed and influential jewellery designers in two volumes. Volume 1 - Printed in 2013, this is the second edition of the book that was first published in 2002 at the occasion of “The Jewels of JAR - Paris” exhibition, held at the Gilbert Collection, Somerset House, London from November 2, 2002 until January 26, 2003. This volume shows a selection of the jewels made since the shop’s founding in 1978. Volume 2 - Published in 2013 at the occasion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition “Jewels by JAR“ in New York held from November 20, 2013 until March 9, 2014. This volume features the jewels created since the 2002 Somerset House exhibition. Since opening JAR in 1978, with the help of his Swiss friend Pierre Jeannet, Joel Arthur Rosenthal, has become one of the world's most sought after jewellery designers. A native New Yorker, Rosenthal moved to Paris after graduating from Harvard and has lived in the city for most of his adult life. He experimented in scriptwriting and then needlepoint, opening a shop where he experimented with unusually coloured yarns. It's clientele included designers from Hermès and Valentino. Rosenthal was one day asked if he could design a mount for a gemstone, setting his career in a new direction. His signature includes setting gems in pavé arrangements, so finely wrought as to be virtually invisible. Rosenthal uses dark metals to amplify the colour of the stones. Fewer than 100 pieces are crafted annually, each item is handmade one-of a kind creation and truly bespoke. Rosenthal does not use marketing or publicity. His shop in Paris' Place Vendôme has no display window, no regular hours and does not advertise. It opens its doors only to a select few and by appointment and invitation only. Rosenthal has had two major exhibitions of his work, in 2002, Somerset House in London. Then in 2013 the Metropolitan Museum in New York gave him his first retrospective exhibition featuring 400 pieces.