Sotheby’s will host an exhibition of 16 unique jewels by Brazilian jewelry artist, Fernando Jorge, from November 1 to 20 at the auction house’s New York headquarters.

The exhibition coincides with a series of Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Art auctions in November. This exhibition also the first of four-city tour of this at Sotheby’s galleries the will continue in London, Dubai and Zurich.

Since establishing his eponymous brand in 2010, Jorge (who spends most of his time between London and São Paulo) has been in the forefront of the international jewelry world for his expressive contemporary pieces that bridge high fashion and luxury. His jewels have attracted the requisite group of A-list celebrities and dignitaries from Beyonce and Rhianna to Michelle Obama. His awards and honors include the Couture Show Design Awards, the GEM Award for Jewelry Design, nominations for the British Fashion Awards. He was honored as the “Best Emerging Accessories Designer of the Year” and named as one of 500 people shaping the global fashion industry by the Business of Fashion.

With his latest work, Jorge says he is visiting ideas that defined his aesthetic over the past decade.

“I am pushing concepts and techniques that I have explored before even further, making this quite a personal and special exhibition,” Jorge said in a statement.

He said he was inspired to combine materials from different parts of the world and different layers of the earth. Creating these jewels required an elevated level of technical complexity, as many of the materials are not commonly found in jewelry.

Several of the exclusive pieces explore volume, texture and color, marking a return to his Brazilian roots. “My previous high jewelry pieces were predominantly colorless, featuring natural diamonds set in gold. This time, I sought to reintroduce color, softness and playfulness into my designs,” Jorge said.

The most striking thing about the jewels is the way he combines precious materials with more ordinary objects. For example, he combines colored diamonds and precious stones with Brazilian river pebbles, marble and fossilized amber. Other precious materials offer the same contrasts, such as emeralds paired with malachite.

Meeling Wong, a jewelry industry consultant, who is friend of Jorge and has worked for the brand on the business side, calls him a “creative genius.”

“I work with many designers and he is the one person, while working within his design language, who always has something new and original to say,” Wong told me. “He would be very good at other mediums too because he is a very creative person. I know it’s a tough process for him, but I know he has a clear vision of what he wants. The results always take my breath away.”

Wong saw some of the pieces in the exhibition before he brought them to New York, and she said she has difficulty figuring how he was able to fit the gems into the crevices of the common materials and turn it into a new creative language.

“He continues to surprise me. He has a design language he owns, yet he uses a material that surprises you and somehow it works. It seems effortless but I know it’s not”

Jorge says he considers the pieces he created for Sotheby’s to be the “highest expression of his work,” marking a new chapter for his collection. “Exhibiting at Sotheby’s is a very proud moment for me, personally and professionally,” he said. “Sotheby’s transcends generations, and their platform allows me to tell the stories of these pieces’ special character.”

Frank Everett, Sotheby’s high-profile vice chairman of Jewelry, says he has known Jorge for several years and has always been a fan.

“Just when I think I’ve seen everything possible in the world of jewelry design, Fernando produces something entirely new that keeps me endlessly inspired,” Everett said in a statement. “The high jewelry pieces he has created exclusively for Sotheby’s are emblematic of his signature style where vibrant colors and unconventional materials are meticulously melded into modern masterpieces.”

In addition to the physical exhibition at Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries, a selection of approximately 70 pieces from Jorge’s main and high jewelry collections will be available for immediate purchase on Sotheby’s online marketplace.

Sotheby’s says the collaboration was two years in the making and marks the first time the auction house will host a traveling exhibition. As previously mentioned, the exhibition will be shown at Sotheby’s galleries in London, Dubai and Zurich in 2024.