THE DIRT
Ian Saude designs jewelry for sophisticated women who live and express themselves on their own terms, women who have an innate sense of style and confidence - in short, Delamina women. He questions the current jewelry marketing concepts of FOREVER, ETERNITY, CHERISHING. He wants the women he designs for to feel alive, not trapped in a greeting card.
Ian is inspired by Light, Nature, Fine Art - both classical and modern, Architecture, the Human Form and most of all, by Space. The open and accommodating quality of Space is the source of infinite creative potential. It is nothing whatsoever, and yet it is the fundamental medium through which everything manifests.
Ian was born in Hollywood, California and was raised on the Central Coast. He attended the University of California at Berkeley and studied English Literature and Classics. After graduating with honors and living in the Bay area for several years, he moved to Katmandu, Nepal principally to study Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and meditation techniques with several of its greatest living masters.
While living in Katmandu, Ian started visiting the local jewelry craftsmen to learn more about their methods. Surprisingly, most of them still relied on tools and techniques that had not changed significantly since the Middle Ages. Fascinated and inspired by these ancient traditions of craftsmanship, Ian indulged his own lifelong love of art and design by collaborating with these artisans to create jewelry and objects which formed his first collection.
Ian is influenced by fashion of the 1950s and early 60s. Cary Grant and Grace Kelly with a little dose of David Bowie thrown in every now and then!
EVEN DIRTIER
How would you categorize your jewelry designs in general?
Classic
Utterly feminine
Of the moment
Which celebrity do you most envision wearing your designs? And what would they be doing?
Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman always manage to look stunning, especially on the red carpet, and they both know how to wear jewelry to their best advantage. Penelope Cruz and Jennifer Aniston both have a sort of natural beauty that a lot of women can identify with, I think. I see them in cashmere and denim meeting friends for coffee, or having cocktails on some sunny seaside terrace in tailored linen dresses and colorful summery stoles. I like their quality of being wholesome, fresh and approachable, while still looking extraordinary and sexy at the same time. I like to think of much of my jewelry in the same way.
What type of jewelry do you like to wear?
Finding good jewelryfor men is hard. I hope to change that before too long, but in the interim, I like clean looking rings and chains, sometimes with a single quirky or punk element. I like big gemstones but rarely wear them. A splashy pair of cufflinks or a quality watch is always good. Black diamonds also seem very masculine to me. I'm not a big fan of a lot of the cookie-cutter twisted silver and Indonesian-inspired looks that are now dominating a lot of jewelry for men. I think that they could end up being like big shoulder pads were in the 1980s!
What is your idea of a dream vacation?
A villa on an un-peopled beach in the tropics overlooking a patch turquoise sea... Or a quiet mountain retreat in a place that is conducive to contemplation.
What article of jewelry do you think most enhances a woman's body? Why?
That depends on the woman and what she wants to accentuate or minimize. A lovely choker or pair of drop earrings can do a great job of framing her face and bringing light and color to her eyes and complexion. A really long strand of pearls or pave chain can elongate her silhouette and look very dramatic. I love it when older women stack rings or layer bracelets that they have collected over many years. These are often meaningful adornments that tell her story and are facets of personal history that signal to others all the different women she has been. They convey a sort of wisdom and perspective that I like.
What aspect of your jewelry is most reflective of you?
Much of my design as well as my life is about achieving balance between seemingly opposing forces. It is an ongoing exploration and a continual process of learning, growing and achieving synthesis. To me, making art is about creating little offerings of beauty that help to shatter our perception of the world and of our lives as being mundane. Every moment is, in fact, an opportunity to discover something extraordinary within the fabric of our experience. We usually just neglect that. But sometimes something we love, often a piece of jewelry, can act like a talisman to remind us of who we really are and to see that the source of the extraordinary is within ourselves.
Preferred metal:
18k gold. I also love platinum for white diamonds, but I love the warmth and richness of gold.
Most likely to get energy from:
Yoga, meditation, reading good books, lively conversations with friends
Preferred shopping venue:
10 Corso Como and the old shopping district of Milan around Via Monte Napoleone. Antique and curio shops in Katmandu. Indian spice markets. Anyplace they sell nice gemstones.
Favorite Art Museum:
Hard to say. The collections of Greek & Roman antiquities at the Musei Vaticani are extraordinary, as is the Uffizi's collection of paintings, especially from the Italian Renaissance. NY has great modern art museums. The collection of Buddhist statuary and relics in the Indian National Museum as well as a few great pieces housed in the Museum at Sarnath are very memorable to me personally. I would love to see the Guggenheim in Bilbao someday. I love the building.
Home decor/design:
I like contemporary European, especially the way Christian Liagre and Rem Koolhas conceive of it.
Preferred abode on the rode:
Any place clean, quiet, tastefully-appointed and central. I like to walk a lot, so it's great to stay someplace that is near whatever I'm interested in seeing. You can only really get the rhythms of a place when you get out and see it on foot.