The Idol of Restraint

Jewelry designed by Tina Chow rarely comes up for auction-because no one wants to part with it. Her legacy, however, can be spotted more often. If you know where to look.

- STELLENE VOLANDES

"It's mythlike jewelry," says Claibourne Poindexter, senior jewelry specialist and vice president at Christie's, of the powerfully minimalist pieces designed by the late model and activist Tina Chow. "I've seen maybe eight things ever come up for auction."

That is partly due to the challenge of identifying Chow's work. "A lot of it is unsigned. There is really nowhere to sign the Kyoto bangle," he says, referring to one of her trademark pieces: a quartz bangle wrapped in blackened bamboo. But jewelry designed by Chow is also difficult to come by because it is deeply valued by those who are lucky enough to already have it. "We haven't seen a lot at auction because her jewelry is so treasured by its owners," Poindexter says. "And they are out there still wearing it."

In 1993 Christie's New York sold 91 items from the couture collection of Tina Chow. There were garments by Fortuny, Balenciaga, Chanel, and Yves Saint Laurent, as well as 30 lots of jewelry, "mostly Mexican silver and some Schiaparelli costume," Poindexter says. And though he knows of only two of Chow's own creations that have been sold at Christie's, "the market remains frothy for anything she touched and designed. She was one of the great style icons of the 20th century."