At Victoria and Albert, Jewels Go High Tech

By SUZY MENKESJULY 22, 2008LONDON - It could be defined as a new "crystal palace" - and what more fitting place to install it than in another monument to Queen Victoria's era, the edifice dedicated to herself and her husband? The mirage of glass and glitter that is the new jewelry gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum is one of the must-do visits of the summer. There are even lines of eager visitors waiting to enter a space that is both redolent of history and startlingly modern, with its two-tier galleries joined by a glass spiral staircase.But it is not just the transparent jewel box of an exhibition area, imaginatively designed by the architect Eva Jiricna, that has brought a gust of modernity to jewelry display. Nor is it the gems themselves, although they include, as well as historic pieces dating back 800 years, the work of 140 living designers. Contemporary art from the 20th century includes works made out of acrylic, papier-mach or knitted nylon.The revolution is in the embrace of multimedia. Screens dotted through the gallery, either with rotating images or as computers on which visitors can search and learn, are an imaginative addition to what is already a splendid display."It's about telling the story of jewelry in a comprehensible manner from 1500 B.C.," says the senior curator Richard Edgcumbe, whose first showcase is of jewels celebrating birth, life and death. If you turn in another direction, a film shows the hip London designer Shaun Leane creating a diamond ring from gem to final jewel.AdvertisementThe result is an intriguing mind game, not unlike the effect of a computer's visual sound bites or of a split-screen television. The viewer can be looking at Napoleonic jewels while other historic pieces come into focus in a console frame. The installation of these running videos, zooming in on jewels in paintings of their time, shows how embellishment was worn, bringing the past to life.Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box.Invalid email address. Please re-enter.You must select a newsletter to subscribe to.View all New York Times newsletters.Similarly, you can turn around and, from the display of Faberg with all its intricate nuances of craftsmanship, take in a few diamond tiaras - and then use a computer interactively or search for specific images from 7,000 on offer.AdvertisementFor the technologically challenged, V&A Publishing has brought out a revised version of "Jewels and Jewellery" by Clare Phillips, which is a well-illustrated and lucidly written book about the museum's comprehensive jewelry collection and its cornucopia of objects from a Celtic gold collar made in Bronze Age Ireland, through the sinister black lacy Berlin ironwork of the 19th century, to a blue steel "feather" necklace from 1980.The expansive revolution of the V&A's collection required money and that came as a 7 million, or $14 million, gift from William and Judith Bollinger, after whom the gallery is justly named. The American entrepreneur and his wife have set a standard for display which the museum hopes to bring to other projects. Those have already included work by Eva Jiricna Architects Limited (EJAL) on a new sculpture gallery and on the enlarged museum shop. Jewels designed by Jiricna are on sale, as well as those from the contemporary artist Grayson Perry, the jeweler Wendy Ramshaw and even by the burlesque performer Dita Von Teese.The focus of this transparent gallery is on the individual pieces. And in spite of the close proximity of the jewels, there is much to wonder at, if you extract visually just one item. To look at, they are all stunning in their artistic variation. And to think of the hours of workmanship that has gone into their creation over the centuries is to marvel at the skill and imagination of humankind.A version of this article appears in print on July 22, 2008, in The International Herald Tribune. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|SubscribeWe're interested in your feedback on this page. Tell us what you think.