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A precious pair of contemporary Pre-Columbian style 22K gold disc earrings set with diamonds by Tamsen Z, Ann Ziff, New York City, 2005
These gorgeous nearly pure gold earrings are a talented Modern-day jewelry designer’s re-interpretation
and re-imagination of an ancient and classic form of adornment.
“TAMSEN Z” is the official name for jewelry designer Ann Ziff’s company which functions in much the same manner as a European jewelry house or atelier. Designer Ann Ziff imagines the jewelry pieces on paper then works alongside a highly skilled craftsperson to fabricate them in metal and precious stones. It’s a painstaking individual process to achieve a single original piece. In this manner, Tamsen Z’s original designs are even more exclusive than many from the famed jewelry houses of Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels or Bulgari, whose designs are often made in multiple editions.
These modern-day re-interpretations of ancient Pre-Columbian gold disc earrings or ornaments are a perfect example of Ann Ziff’s beautiful and precious jewelry designs. The inspiration for these earrings goes back many centuries to the antique gold jewelry made for thousands of years by various ancient pre-columbian cultures in Peru, Columbia, Panama and Mexico. Ann Ziff and her husband were important collectors of Pre-columbian gold jewelry and other antiquities as well as other ancient arts of the Americas so Ann was very well acquainted with the exquisite ancient gold jewelry traditions of the various Pre-columbian cultures, Chimu, Tairona, Sinu, Moche. These items represented power, wealth, and spiritual significance and were often worn by elites.
Ziff based these earrings on Pre-Columbian discoidal forms, possibly intended as powerful Sun symbols which were used for ear and nose ornaments, and done in different ways by different Pre-Columbian cultures as shown here above. Ann fabricated her modern versions in the same delicately hammered manner as many of the ancient varieties and she accentuated them beautifully and subtly in a contemporary manner by inserting a single small faceted white diamond set into a gold bezel on each earring.
The earrings each measure 1 3/4" in height and 1 5/8" in width, not including the beautifully fabricated gold hanging hooks. The drop including the hooks is 2 1/4". The earrings are extremely easy to wear at a very comfortable 5 grams or 1/8 ounce each and they are in excellent, almost like new original condition having only been worn a small number of times. The earrings are not signed as there is effectively no place and no manner to
do so on their thin, very delicate surfaces to stamp a hallmark. We unconditionally guarantee their authenticity. The earrings were purchased directly from Ann Ziff by us at one of her regular trunk shows in Santa Fe in 2005.
In addition to these earrings, we also have a number of other original one of a kind precious jewelry pieces by Ann Ziff which we will be listing in the days to come, a lovely natural Keishi pearl necklace, a pair of gold and citrine earrings and an Etruscan-style cast gold bead necklace, so be sure to inquire if you are interested in seeing any
of these pieces before we list them on our website.
Back to the earrings, these are exceptionally beautiful modern day one of a kind classic original pieces
beautifully re-imagined and inspired by beautiful ancient day one of a kind classic pieces by a sensitive, talented
and highly-imaginative artist. The results speak most eloquently for themselves.
Price $2,150
Above center, Tarrona gold ear ornaments, Columbia, 1000-1500 A.D. Below left, Moche silver and gold nose ornaments, Peru, c. 100-600 A.D. Below right, Colima gold nose ornament, Panama, c. 600-800 A.D. Below center, jewelry designer Ann Ziff.
All Pre-Columbian jewelry photo source and © David Bernstein Pre-Columbian Art, NY, NY. Ann Ziff photo source and © Tamsen Z.
