Rebecca Rau’s roots shine through in Then & Now, a new fine jewelry collection that merges ancient artistry with contemporary design — erasing the boundary between artifact and adornment, museum and wearer.
On Saturday, the New York-based designer and fourth-generation antique dealer showed the collection at M.S. Rau, her family’s New Orleans gallery known for its world-class art collection, rare antiques and jewelry. It is at this gallery where Rau said she developed her expertise in jewelry and objects and continues to source inventory.
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“Designing has been a way for me to spread my wings and pursue something creative,” she told WWD. “It enables me to utilize my eye to pick not only objects but also colored gemstones, which has been a particular passion that has developed.”
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Then & Now is a fusion of antiquity and contemporary design. Drawing upon genuine historical artifacts spanning from 1200 BC to 1880 AD, each one-of-a-kind piece integrates ancient treasures with modern gemstones, precious metals and pearls.
The designs are a marriage of masculine and feminine aesthetics. While many of the objects skew more masculine in appearance, particularly some heavier, raw bronze artifacts, Rau’s goal was to soften them and make them feel more approachable and wearable.
“Sometimes ancient antiquities are exhibited in a way that your experience with them feels like dark and heavy and so serious.…I wanted to make them a bit livelier,” she said.
The purpose of some artifacts is known, like a wheel-shaped bronze seal stamp dating to 1200 to 800 BC, which Rau said would have been used to mark documents or goods. Others remain a mystery. “It’s kind of suspending my desire to really understand these things, because with objects that are thousands or hundreds of years old, we’re not always exactly sure who owned them and what they were used for,” she said.
Among the jewels, the Reimagined Jasper necklace lies at the heart of the collection. The Renaissance-inspired statement centers on a 1st-2nd century AD cut brown-jasper fragment, framed by unheated orange zircons and Umbalite garnets. Tahitian gray pearls add depth, while the pendant hangs from an 18-karat yellow gold French book chain, circa 1865.
A rare Gothic pendant of early glass and high-karat gold gives the Glowing glass necklace a celestial feel. Dating to 14th-century Europe, the pendant is suspended from a modern 18-karat paperclip chain that transforms the piece into the present.
The Protectrice necklace reimagines a 13th-century Spanish gilt-bronze harness, once perhaps part of a noblewoman’s girdle or a horse’s ceremonial armor, adorned with an 11.68-carat no-heat pink tourmaline and Tahitian baroque pearls.
A Bactrian amulet symbolizing the sun and celestial motion that dates to circa 1200 to 800 BC inspired the Criss-Cross necklace. The four-spoked votive wheel is surrounded with pink spinel, rubellite tourmaline and sapphire, anchored by a baroque South Sea pearl. It hangs from a Victorian lariat chain, transforming a relic of devotion into a modern jewel.
The process has been a “creative challenge,” Rau admits, as she strives to preserve the integrity of each artifact — from the ancient Bactrian amulet’s vivid green patina to the delicate luster of high-karat gold. Each piece is designed with reverence: gemstones can be removed, allowing the artifacts to return to their original state if desired. Finding skilled jewelers who both understand her vision and possess the confidence to work with such rare, fragile materials has been another part of the challenge. “But there’s a history of that — there are very few jewelers who work with antiquities,” she added.
Several creations feature handmade antique chains, which Rau selected for their craftsmanship and quality. Among her favorites is a French antique book chain from around 1865, a piece that deepens the collection’s narrative on time, transformation and history. “When I was looking for these chains, they were so scarce. I do fear a lot of people have already melted the gold, and if they haven’t, it’s just people holding on to things,” Rau said.
Then & Now is just the start of Rau’s exploration of wearable works of art. Several other pieces are in production.
“I love the gravitas of things that have a lot of age. I’m really interested in the fact that humans have been compelled to adorn their bodies with jewelry for as long as humans have existed. I love that. It’s kind of a conversation with people of the past and a reminder that there’s a continuation of this tradition, even as technology feels like it’s rapidly changing and expediting our world,” Rau said.
The official launch of Then & Now will take place during NYC Jewelry Week on Nov. 20 at the Jill Newhouse Gallery on the Upper East Side. The collection’s retail prices go up to $36,500.