New from NYC Jeweler Jean Prounis: 'Moderne' Brings 1930s Manhattan Art Deco to 22-Karat Gold

New York jeweler Jean Prounis has introduced Moderne, a new collection that looks back to the art deco of 1930s New York. The brand's own description calls it an early twentieth-century memory, refracted through its material language of 22-karat gold.

The design references are specific: the art deco architecture and graphics of Depression-era New York, and pochoir prints, the stencil-colored illustrations popular in that period. The geometry and layered color of those prints are translated into jewelry.

The materials are 22-carat yellow gold, rock crystal, heirloom diamonds and colorful gemstones. Two pieces stand out among those named for the collection: a jade sautoir necklace, the long, draped style associated with the era, and the Rosemary ring, set with a carré-cut diamond.

Every piece is made by hand in Manhattan's jewelry district. Prounis was founded in New York in 2017 by Jean Prounis, who describes the label as a way of carrying on a family lineage of creating treasured memories.

For anyone interested in seeing the work in person, the brand offers private appointments, custom design consultations and what it calls jewelry conversations, open to clients near and far, and bookings are made through its website. The site also sorts its work by category, including earrings, rings, pendants, necklaces, bracelets and cufflinks, so the collection can be browsed alongside the brand's earlier edits.

For New Yorkers drawn to period detail, Moderne offers a local angle: a collection built from the city's own design history and made within a few miles of where that history took place.