VIVIENNE BECKER is a world-leading, award-winning jewellery expert, historian, journalist, author, lecturer and broadcaster. She is renowned around the world for her specialist knowledge of the history of jewellery, for her passion and contagious enthusiasm for gems and jewels, and for her in-depth understanding of today’s jewellery world. As an award-winning journalist, she is a Contributing Editor to the Financial Times’ How to Spend It magazine, a contributor to The Telegraph and Saturday Telegraph and to magazines around the world, and has a regular column in Sotheby’s magazine. 

As an author, she has written many books on the history of jewellery design, some of them standard works on their subject, and contributed chapters to several more books. She has collaborated with former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, on the best-selling book about her collection of brooches, Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box.  As a lecturer and broadcaster, known for her in-depth knowledge, passion and engaging style, Vivienne speaks on all aspects of the jewellery world, past and present, on history and contemporary trends, on gems and jewels, all around the globe. 

As a creative consultant and trend-forecaster Vivienne works for international brands and organisations, sought-after for her speciality of bringing the past into the present, fusing history and heritage with contemporary style and global design, social and cultural trends.

Vivienne began her serendipitous career by working in the antiques trade, during a school holiday, buying and selling jewellery.She enjoyed it so much, met so many interesting people, collectors, dealers, passionate eccentrics, that she decided to stay, spending three years learning all she could about antique jewellery.  When she decided to get a “real” job, pursuing a long held ambition to be a journalist, she worked first as assistant to the Fashion Editor of SHE Magazine, and then as a writer on Antique Collector, where she was able to develop her speciality of jewellery. Her experience in handling jewellery, meeting collectors and dealers, during her years in the trade proved an invaluable grounding for her career.

Eventually she branched out on her own as a freelance writer and jewellery historian, and since that time Vivienne has written extensively on jewellery, both antique and modern, and often on decorative arts in general, or lifestyle features, for a wide range of newspapers and magazines in Britain and the United States.  She was Jewellery Editor of Harpers & Queen, (UK) and is now a Contributing Editor to the FT’s How To Spend It, as well as a contributor to newspapers, magazines and specialist publications around the world. Vivienne’s first book, Antique and Twentieth Century Jewellery,has become something of a “bible”  for collectors, and she has followed its early success with a stream of books, both glamorous and learned, several of which have become standard works on their subject. She has also contributed chapters to several major books.  2013 saw the publication, by Assouline, of the magnificent limited edition art book, The Impossible Collection of Jewelry: the 100 Most Important Jewels of the 20^th Century. Vivienne has organised and written catalogues for major exhibitions, notably the Jewellery of Rene Lalique, the milestone 1987 exhibition at the Goldsmiths’ Hall and 1993- Jewels of Fantasy, the Swarovski-sponsored touring exhibition of 20^th century costume jewellery.

During the course of her work as a writer, Vivienne has also enjoyed success as a creative consultant, working for many years as jewellery consultant for Swarovski, followed by a consultancy for Faberge and further design and research projects for major international brands and jewellery houses. Vivienne was a member of the original team behind  Gem Visions, Swarovski Gems’ acclaimed annual trend and design service. She continues to work as a member of the team, travelling the world, in search of trends, design directions, giving trend presentations. She is in demand across the world as a speaker, an acknowledged authority on her subject. In 2000, she toured South East Asia, giving talks on Art Nouveau Jewellery for Christie’s; in 2013, she was invited to give a trends presentation at the Hong Kong Jewellery Show,  and to judge it’s Design Excellence Award, and in 2014, will travel to Macau to be one of three pioneering “influencers” at the DFS Masters of Time event.

In January 2003, Vivienne was honoured with an inaugural Gem Award for Excellence, presented to her in the category of International Press, by the Jewellery Information Center of America– the communications and public relations arm of the entire American jewellery industry. The newly instigated awards celebrate and honour journalistic excellence in the coverage of jewellery. Vivienne continues to lecture and broadcast widely on her subject.

Since her first book, Antique and Twentieth Century jewellery was published, in 1980, with its focal rather than chronological viewpoint, Vivienne has gone on to write many more successful books on the history of jewellery design.  Art Nouveau Jewelry, (Thames and Hudson) and Fabulous Costume Jewellery (originally Fabulous Fakes),the first book to chart the history of costume jewellery,  (Schiffer), have both become standard works on the subject.  Rough Diamonds documented the story of Butler and Wilson, and in 2005, Vivienne was honoured to be asked to collaborate with former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, on a book about Secretary Albright’s celebrated collection of brooches.  She worked closely with Secretary Albright, researching the collection and the story of political jewellery, contributing the history of brooches and setting the collection in social and historical context.  The book, Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box, was published in 2009, and launched with an accompanying exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York City.  The book soared to the top of the New York Times’ best-seller list. 

2011/12 brought the publication of a cluster of new books, including the story of Henkel & Grosse, the Pforzheim makers of Christian Dior costume jewellery, De Beers Diamond Jewellery, tracing the background of diamonds and De Beers, and Alexandre Reza, a luscious limited edition, a biography of the great gem merchant and jeweller, the father of modern jewellery. 2013 saw the high-profile launch of her book, the Impossible Collection of Jewelry: The 100 Most Important Jewels of the 20^th Century, (Assouline), a limited edition art book. Her latest volume is a book about Sevan Bicacki, the supreme artist-jeweller from Istanbul, published in Autumn 2014.

Antique and Twentieth Century Jewellery l980

Art Nouveau Jewelry l985; new paperback edition l999

The Jewellery of René Lalique (exhibition catalogue) l987

Fabulous Fakes l988 (re-titled Fabulous Costume Jewellery)

Rough Diamonds, the Butler & Wilson story l990

The Magic of Crystal l994

Ethnic Rich (exhibition catalogue) l996

Metamorphosis (Design Megatrends, Swarovski) 2002

The Art of Crystal (Daniel Swarovski) 2005

Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box 2009

Grosse & Bijoux Christian Dior: the story of Henkel & Grosse, 2010

De Beers Diamond Jewellery, 2011

Alexander Reza, 2011/12

The Impossible Collection of Jewelry: The 100 Most Important Jewels of the 20^th Century, 2013

Sevan, the story of Sevan Bicacki, 2014

Vivienne has also contributed to a number of jewellery books, including Master Jewellers 1990, Jewels of Fantasy l992, and compiled the jewellery chapters for the new Millers Encyclopaedia of Antiques. She has written numerous essays for museum and private exhibition catalogues, covering subjects as varied as cufflinks, antique costume jewellery, Indian diamonds.  She has also written catalogues and special entries for Christie’s, including the Agra Diamond and Sarah Bernhardt’s bracelet.

In l999 she wrote an introductory essay for the catalogue called “Fragments …Pages stolen from a Book of Time”, accompanying an exhibition of new works by leading British artist-goldsmith Kevin Coates.

Vivienne contributed a chapter on Contemporary Indian Jewellery, to Beyond Extravagance, the lavish book documenting a private collection of Indian jewelled arts, to be published by Assouline in the Autumn of 2013. Most recently, she has written a chapter in the forthcoming book on the Cartier Panther (due for publication in 2015) on the evolution of the Panther jewel at Cartier, from 1914 to the present day.

As a lecturer and broadcaster, known for her in-depth knowledge and contagious enthusiasm, Vivienne speaks on all aspects of the jewellery world, past and present, on history and contemporary trends, on gems and jewels, all around the globe: in 2000, she toured South East Asia for Christie’s, lecturing on Art Nouveau jewellery; in Athens, she has given a talk at the Ilias Lalaounis Museum, In Lisbon, at the Gulbenkian Museum, on The Jewellery of Rene Lalique; in Japan, on Jewellery and Fashion; in Hong Kong, on Jewellery trends; in Los Angeles, pre-Oscars, on jewellery and the movies, in Palm Beach, on coloured diamonds, and in London, on a wide variety of topics, from Art Nouveau and Art Deco jewellery, through the Jewellery of Rene Lalique, and the jewels of Verdura and Schlumberger, to the history of costume jewellery.

She is the first port of call for news stories on important jewel sales, from the 2013 sale of Sotheby’s Pink Star diamond, to high-profile auctions of the jewels of Liz Taylor and the Duchess of Windsor.   Along with her broadcasting work, Vivienne is often invited to judge design competitions and awards, both in the UK and internationally, including the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show, 2013 and Couture, Las Vegas, 2014, and to give talks and presentations at major events. In 2013 she was flown to Palm Beach, Florida, to give a talk on a private yacht on coloured diamonds and in October she was privileged to be invited to officially open the milestone exhibition: the Cheapside Hoard, London’s Lost Treasures, at the Museum of London.

On several occasions, Vivienne has been invited to speak at the Victoria and Albert Museum, notably in a series of “In conversation with . .” events, in which she has interviewed Stefan Hemmerle, of Hemmerle, Munich, Pierre Rainero, Style and Heritage Director of Cartier, Paris, on the story of the Cartier Panther, and in November 2014, the artist-goldsmith Elizabeth Gage.

Vivienne is equally at home speaking on radio and television. She has worked on, and appeared in television documentaries, notably in programmes on Royal Jewels, produced by Imagicians TV, and wrote the television script for Diana, A Model Princess, also produced by Imagicians. She has made many appearances on daytime television, including the 6 O’ Clock News, and various Cable TV programmes and has given many radio interviews, around the UK, and abroad.

Since her early days, first on SHE magazine, where she wrote human interest features, and then on Antique Collector magazine, Vivienne’s work has regularly appeared in magazines such as Harpers & Queen, Vogue, (UK and US) Woman’s Journal, Elle, Homes and Gardens, House and Garden (US), Connoisseur (US), Art & Antiques  (US), Art & Auction, (US) and in specialist magazines such as the Orient Express, PrivatAir, Brides (UK). She has contributed frequently to newspapers including The Times, The Observer, Daily Mail, The Independent, Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Saturday Telegraph.

Currently Vivienne holds an esteemed position as a Contributing Editor to How To Spend It, the Financial Times’ hugely successful luxury magazine.  She also writes regularly for the Saturday Telegraph magazine, the Telegraph, and has her own column in Sotheby’s magazine, as well as contributing to www.howtospendit.com, to Introspective, 1^st Dibs’ on-line magazine, and to luxury magazines, like Graffiti, the magazine for the House of Graff.

As she has acquired in-depth expert knowledge on the jewellery industry, on design, branding and communications, Vivienne has taken on the role of creative consultant for a number of British and international brands and jewellery houses, especially heritage brands.  Her speciality as a creative consultant and consultant art director is to bring the past into the present, taking a holistic approach, making history relevant, modern and on-trend, building  collections and the stories behind them, and following through by writing communications materials.  She has worked with brands including Links of London, American Express, the Richemont Group, De Beers, the newly revitalised Faberge, and Rio Tinto’s Argyle Mine, amongst others.

In l987 Vivienne Becker was invited by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths to organise and write the catalogue for the first major exhibition of the jewellery of René Lalique, which was held in London, at Goldsmiths’ Hall in l987.  The exhibition proved to be one of the most successful jewellery exhibitions in London for many years, attracting some 30,000 people. During the course of the exhibition Vivienne lectured and broadcast extensively on Lalique and his jewellery and has become the acknowledged expert in the field.

For many years, she worked as a Consultant to Swarovski, the world’s largest producers of cut crystal stones, for fashion and jewellery. In l989 she was asked to research, curate and co-write the catalogue for the international exhibition, Jewels of Fantasy, 20^th century Costume Jewellery, which was sponsored by Swarovski, and which went on to tour the world for several years. From that time until 2007 Vivienne worked closely with Swarovski, latterly with Nadja Swarovski, as a Creative Consultant for Jewellery, helping to build the brand and bring crystal to the attention of directional designers around the world. Amongst other international projects for Swarovski she has researched and written their annual Trend Books, analysing forthcoming social, cultural and fashion trends, organised an annual Costume Jewellery Design Competition and a Fashion Jewellery Forum, and initiated and developed Swarovski’s high profile international catwalk jewellery project, Runway Rocks, which was the subject of a Fashion in Motion event at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in November 2004.  For Runway Rocks, Vivienne invited selected jewellers around the world to come up with their ultimate vision of jewellery for the catwalk.  Runway Rocks was launched at a directional fashion show held at Sketch in London, in April 2003 and has been touring the world since then.  Vivienne wrote a book on Daniel Swarovski, celebrating 15 years of this couture accessories collection, and a book on the Magic of Crystal, the first book to chart the story of this pioneering, world-leading company.

As a key member of the creative team, Vivienne was instrumental in creating Gem Visions, the industry-leading design and trend forecasting initiative instigated by Swarovski Gems, Swarovski’s genuine and created gemstone brand. Continuing to build on this project, Vivienne researches design and socio-cultural trends and writes the annual Gem Visions book.

Vivienne has worked closely with both Christie’s and Sotheby’s, writing specialist catalogues, for example on the Agra Diamond, or the Sarah Bernhardt Fouquet bracelet, both for Christie’s or contributing footnotes,  as with a collection of Egyptian Revival jewels for Sotheby’s, and in 2013, she made a video with David Bennett of Sotheby’s on the magnificent pink diamond, the Pink Star.

These are just a few of my favourite things.

• Vivienne Becker
• London United Kingdom
• 0778 317 737
• vivienne@viviennebecker.com