Faerber: More Passion, Less Business

Collecting today. Is it better to aim for vintage or contemporary items?

Both are valid areas, depending on the period of focus, which can encompass an extremely wide
time span, from before Christ to today. A jewelry collection should span the centuries, from the Renaissance to the most avantgarde designers, such as Hemmerle, Otto Jacob, Theodore's, Wallace Chan, Taffin, Ming, Daniel Brush, Boghossian, Forms, and above all, Jar. The process is the same for art collections: a collector starts with the old masters and arrives at the most current names to give a sense of completeness to the whole thing.

Contemporary designers are certainly more “affordable”, although it always depends on the object itself. It is hard to identify artists who might turn out to be big business in a few years or decades. We are currently seeing a super valuation of pieces from the 1960s. In the past, the collector's market was based more on the beauty of an object, but in the 1980s, the trend started to changeand pure marketing took over, urging everyone to buy pieces that were in vogue.

What makes a piece collectible and a definite bargain?

The brand and the maker of an item help a lot, as does the provenance, that is, the past owners. If they were celebrities, the price of the jewelry can skyrocket. A prime example: the wedding band that Joe Di Maggio gave to Marilyn Monroe on their marriage was worth about $300-400, but was auctioned for a million. Liz Taylor's jewelry also fetched high prices, but in cases like these, it is the myth surrounding the owner that attracts attention. Personally, I look closely at the workmanship and aesthetic beauty of a piece of jewelry. What reveals the details is the back, just like with clothes or carpets: you turn it over and see the attention to detail and from there you can learn many things.
For me, it is never a question of carats unless it is a common object, classifiable by the aesthetics of a historical period but nothing else. An Art Deco diamond brooch, for example, will be worth more for its stones than for its history.

Faerber Collection has branches in Geneva,Faerber Collection has branches in Geneva, Paris, New York and Hong Kong: does col-lecting differ according to destination?

In the past, collectors were more likely to followtheir instincts, the passion of the moment. They
think differently now. Collecting today has a decidedly international appeal thanks to the internet. We
all have the same background and we might start doing it for the same reasons: brand, value and in-vestment, but the substantial difference lies in the end goals. Generally, an Oriental remains focused
on the short or long-term investment, while in Geneva, Paris and the US, it is ultimately the pleasure
of owning an object, of wearing it, that prevails. Then there are those who focus on a specific styleand those who focus only on certain stones, suchas rubies, sapphires or exceptional diamonds.

Can you think of any “forgotten” pieces thatturned out to be a good investment?

Collecting also follows trends. Some 20 years ago,no one was buying pieces from the 1960s or ‘70sbecause they were outclassed by Art Deco items. However, there were people like Amanda Triossi,for example, who started hoarding Bulgari piecesat reasonable prices and now she owns one of themost prestigious collections around. Advice for an aspiring collector? Follow your heart, trust your eyes. I have manyinsignificant pieces in my collection that I love.Sometimes very expensive items are “cold”. Theydon't arouse the same emotions in me. When youbuy a piece of jewelry from the heart, you are sure you will never sell it. I can say that I have only oc-casionally bought with the intention of reselling, but one thing always prevails in my purchases:the quality of the raw materials and workmanship. 

Then it will never depreciate. Faerber Collection was founded in 1968. Anecdotes and special pieces?

We have a few early 20th-century pieces by Castellani, which we will never part with and which
I sometimes love to wear (Ida, ed.), as well as aring by Jar and one by Boucheron. In the past, weowned the necklace that Napoleon Bonaparte hadmade for his wife. We only kept it for a few weeks because it was immediately resold to the Louvre. It is a thrill to see it again every time we got to themuseum and it certainly enhanced our reputation.