The Style Series: Jean Prounis

I’ve always had an affinity for the past,” says the jewelry designer Jean Prounis. Resembling artifacts on display in the Met Museum’s Greek and Roman Galleries, her eponymous collection of handwrought recycled-gold chains and gemstone pendants pays reverence to the past — from ancient curios to her great-grandfather’s 1940s-New York nightclub, Versailles — while simultaneously accompanying each wearer throughout time to come. “Developing meanings behind your pieces is another way of connecting with your soul,” she muses. “I just couldn’t imagine being without jewelry.

Below, Prounis discusses her own antique treasures, including a Georgian mourning ring and '70s souvenir jewelry, and how — and how not — to wear your bijouterie.

When did you develop your passion for antiques?

I’ve always had an affinity for the past and old things. When I was 13, you would have thought you were in a time machine to the 60s. I so wished I’d gone to Woodstock and was obsessed with dressing to [match] that period… I remember my mom being like, ‘What is going on?’

From a young age, I loved peering through my grandparents’ objects — there was a story behind each piece. They passed when I was 13, and I was like, Okay, we have to keep everything! Things just aren’t made like they were then — the artistry that went into objects for daily use was at a different level.

I actually now have a lot of [their collection] in my own apartment. I have one cabinet that’s full of chinaware and crystal glassware from [my great-grandfather’s] club, Versailles, and I keep their silverware in my kitchen drawers because I think these things are meant to be used. I also always reference the books that I kept from my grandfather’s library — those in themselves are beautifully worn and full of his notes. Having that human touch in these objects, whether it’s a book or a hand signature on a piece of work, is so special.

Why were you drawn to jewelry?

Jewelry became this really organic way for me to tie my passions for antiquities and creating together. I tried other materials, like ceramics, but I fell in love with working in gold; it felt like the ultimate connection to the past since it has such a rich material history and connects to the natural world as well as to design. The surface is quite soft, so it picks up a lot of textures and personality as you wear it — it becomes a reference of time, which goes back to my love of the past and being attentive to what’s come before. Developing meanings behind your pieces is another way of connecting with your soul. I just couldn’t imagine being without jewelry.

How does antique jewelry influence you as a designer?

I look a lot at Greco-Roman, Etruscan, and Nubian jewelry. What I also love about those pieces is that a lot of them were worn with intention rather than expression. Back then, people wore a certain style to bring about fertility, for example, or good fortune; we carry that forward today by designing our pieces to celebrate life’s milestones versus I’m wearing these earrings because they look good with my outfit. There’s this depth to antiquities —  how we can reference that and how historians can collect that information — that always blows me away.

The Met and the Getty Villa in L.A. are my two constant sources [of inspiration]. When I’m traveling, especially in Europe, I try to go to any archaeological museum I can — there’s tons in Greece and Italy, like the Benaki in Athens or the Archaeological Museum of Pella, which has a really wonderful display of jewelry and objects. The V&A’s jewelry room is outstanding because it shows you quite an extensive history of jewelry, starting from shells, nuts, and seeds to contemporary pieces, like Hemmerle. Having that historical reference is incredible.

More and more, I also look at more modern Deco pieces, which have clean lines, organic forms, and not as much ornamentation. There’s something quite refreshing about that. It’s very different from what I’ve designed in the past, but I’m trying to play around with it since I love focusing on the stones to highlight the piece and having the goldwork be a frame.

Do you collect antique jewelry?

Yes, definitely. Earlier this year, we went to the Miami Beach Antique Show because I love seeing how things are made — the actual mechanics of a piece — and revisiting how I might, for example, close a piece. A lot of those details and techniques have become a lost art, so it’s important to collect and keep an archive of what exists. Every April, we highlight antique stones with our recycled gold Gaea Roz rings. It’s a way of showing how fine jewelry can be circular. That’s what luxury is.

What does your own jewelry box look like?

I’m pretty routine in what I’ve got, which is interesting. I would love to wear more of my line, but I get so connected to the pieces that it’s hard to take them out of my rotation and then have to sell them, which I did for the first five years. Now, I’m set in what I wear daily — I’ll change out pinky rings here and there, and I have six earrings on rotation, which I just swap around. For a fun dinner or special occasion, though, I’ll wear more statement pieces or a larger gemstone ring.

I wear my archival pieces on the weekends when I’m off duty — otherwise people will want to buy them off of me! I have a Georgian shield-shaped mourning ring with hair in it and a Deco pinky ring — it doesn’t scream Deco, but it’s probably from the 30s — that features a spinel with old mine diamonds around it; someone told me that spinel was added to August’s birthstones — which I was thrilled about because I’m really not a peridot girl — so I got that to celebrate the news. From my grandmother, I have a seed-pearl charm bracelet and this really fun souvenir piece — a die cut medallion of the Acropolis on a curved chain — that she got in Athens in the '70s; I just love how '70s travel jewelry was made of gold because it was so cheap then. I also have a lot of Southwestern jewelry — I wear it rarely, but I collect it because I think it’s a really beautiful part of American and native history. The stones — turquoise and coral and lapis — resonate with me. I don’t have any designer pieces.

Sometimes, if I’m traveling or outside a lot, I’ll just wear my bracelets and my smaller earrings, which resets my appreciation in a way; when I put the heavier pieces back on, connecting with that weight of high-karat gold is just unreal. It’s always a warming feeling.

Do you mix jewelry periods and materials?

I think mixing it up and being eclectic is great. Yellow gold works really nicely with diamonds, platinum, and white gold, especially with rings. For my 25th birthday, my mom gave me her old 18-karat Cartier Santos watch, which she saved up for when she graduated from nursing school. That goes so well with our gold. I’d say mixing 18-karat and 22-karat is fine, but I wouldn’t mix 22-karat with 14-karat because it feels like you might as well just be wearing white gold.

Do you have any other rules when it comes to wearing jewelry?

If I’m wearing big earrings — I’m talking about, like, three-inch earrings — I’d never wear an earring in my second hole or a necklace; if I did, though, I’d wear a simple chain — just a strand of gold — without anything on it. I like having my ring placement off-balance and tend to never be symmetrical: I’d never wear rings on my index and pinky, but if I do wear a pinky ring, I also need to have a ring next to it, or I’ll wear rings on my index and middle or on my index and ring finger. And I think it’s nice to stack a bangle with a chain bracelet and keep it really simple; if I’m wearing a heavy gemstone bracelet, I’d never mix that with something else. Highlighting and letting these things have their focal points is important.

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