Piece of the Week: Carina Hardy’s ‘Birth of Venus’ Necklace
Carina Hardy’s “Birth of Venus” necklace sculpted in 18-karat yellow gold with three diamonds ($11,475)
"With Mother’s Day around the corner, womanhood is at the forefront of many people’s minds.
The “Birth of Venus” necklace combines the strength and softness of women in this depiction of the 15th-century Sandro Botticelli painting.
The brand’s founder and namesake, Carina Hardy, transformed Botticelli’s artwork into a necklace for her “Venus” collection.
It portrays the moment when Venus was born from sea foam in a scallop shell, which some art historians recognize as a symbolization of the birth of beauty and love.
Hardy was inspired by the resilience and grace of women when designing this piece, said the brand.
Using 18-karat yellow gold as her medium, she created a piece that is at the intersection of artwork and jewelry.
She sculpted the scene into a water drop-shaped pendant, resembling a womb, with the goddess of love at its center, accented by three diamonds.
“We were working off the idea of water and its organic sculptural essence as well as exploring very figurative, literal artistic representations of Venus, the goddess of love and fertility that show up in many different cultures throughout the world, across time,” said Hardy.
“When we started working on Botticelli’s Venus, we had one of those wonderfully joyous and pleasurable, but elusive ‘ah ha!’ moments. Venus rises from the water; water carries her to shore in a seashell. So, we decided to place the figurative Venus in organic sculptural water drops, as women are very connected to the rhythms of water around us and within us.”
Carina Hardy is the daughter of designer John Hardy.
She launched her first brand, ... "
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