Intarsia Jewelry Box by Nicolai Medvedev and Susan Helmich
Opening day at the AGTA show was truly memorable with the premiere of “Treasure Chest II with Blue Boy” (see above, left), a joint collaboration between intarsia master Nicolai Medvedev and jewelry designer Susan Helmich. The exterior of the chest is adorned with Australian opal, Paraíba tourmaline from Brazil, diamonds, South African sugilite, Burmese maw-sit-sit, turquoise from the Sleeping Beauty mine (Arizona) and Nevada, gold-in-quartz from Australia and California, Utah dinosaur bone, 22K gold, and a matched pair of exquisite opal slices from Virgin Valley, Nevada. This type of Nevada opal is commonly referred to as “conk” wood, in which the cells of the original wood have been opalized. The slices featured on the front of the box came from the Bonhams opal and phenomenal gem auction in 2021.
The stingray “Blue Boy” on top was designed and hand carved by Helmich, created from 22K gold with Paraíba tourmaline and diamonds (see above, right). The interior is lined with burl wood veneer, with jasper inset into the lid, malachite (Bisbee, Arizona), and an 18K gold hinge. The chest, which took two years to complete, is the second in the series from Medvedev and Helmich. Their first chest featured an octopus.
