Why Collectors Clamor for Jeweler Emmanuel Tarpin’s Natural Wonders
The Parisian artist’s one-of-a-kind pieces are as captivating as nature itself.
Emmanuel Tarpin
Source: Tarpin
The first jeweler partnership that wunderkind watchmaker Max Büsser arranged was with Bulgari SpA, the 139-year-old Roman house owned by LVMH that sells about $2 billion in baubles annually. The second was with Emmanuel Tarpin, a 30-year-old independent Parisian artist who creates only 30-35 unique pieces a year.
The collaboration, which resulted in two diamond-frosted, limited-edition versions of MB&F’s FlyingT watch, speaks to the ample imagination shared by the two artists. Tarpin started his own line five years ago, after working on high jewelry for the French house Van Cleef & Arpels Ltd. His pieces look as though they were sculpted by nature’s hand: Fiery rubellites nest within paper-thin, white ceramic orchid petals. Twinkling Burmese rubies and violet sapphires create the stamen of a dark calla lily, wrapped in purple patinated aluminum—an unexpectedly lush combination of materials. Tarpin’s prices vary widely but can start at around $16,000.