A black and gray banded agate and 18 karat gold abstract design pendant, by Kutchinsky, UK, 1971.

Kutchinsky (1893-1991)

Joseph Kutchinsky was born in London, England in 1914 to a Polish family with an old jewelry business. Joseph Kutchinsky learned both jewelry skills and client services, became the overseer of Kutchinsky’s watch production, and later company head.

During the heyday of British jewelry in the second-half of the 20th century, Kutchinsky was referred to as the “David Webb of London”. They were known for their innovative use of hard stones and bold fashion-forward designs, a departure from the more traditional, gold and diamond jewelry of the 1940’s and 1950’s. During this time, the company produced sculptural gold rings with lapis and tasseled sautoirs with tiger’s eye, not to mention, hardstone pendants with brutalist or geometric gold designs. This work became so important to their firm that they even designed a special drill for hardstones.

All of this innovation led Kutchinsky jewelry to become highly collected by celebrities and jet-setters.

Joseph’s son Paul joined the family business in the 1980’s but the company found itself in financial turmoil and in 1991 it was sold to Moussaieff Jewellers Ltd.

Read more about Kutchinsky and their contemporaries in our catalog, London Originals, available for sale here.

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