“This, for example, is something nice for the gentlemen,” says Bene Altmuller, as he takes a realistic plastic rendering of a slice of roast beef and slips it into the chest pocket of his jacket. “Something different from the ordinary handkerchief,” he says, waving his hand in a debonair flourish.

          Somehow the roast beef suits Mr. Altmuller, who styles his hair in a bizarre spikey point resembling Pee Wee Hermann’s. His partner since 1970, Gerhard Bogner, is equally eye-catching in a tie printed with silhouettes of Scottish terriers and suspenders adorned with one of their trademark carrot pins.

          At first glance they appear to be nothing more than a couple of weird guys with a food fetish, but they are actually substantial artists, not just in jewelry design, but in a wide range of mediums, from sculpture to architecture and theatrical costumes.

          The food thing is just a phase, Mr. Altmuller explains. “You do one thing after another. It’s just for fun. This is jewelry for communication. If you wear it many people will come up to you ask, ‘What’s that?’

          The plastic food brooches sell for about $5-$10 each, while those in a combination of plastic and white gold retail for as much as $500. “The sausages and meats sell better in southern Europe while the fruits do better in the north,” Mr. Altmuller says. “The pizza clocks, as might be expected, are selling most in Italy.”

          The food line flopped in the US. “The Americans don’t buy anything that costs more than $1,” Mr. Altmuller says.

          Their 18k gold plated bon bon rings sell for about $200 and come in five different flavors, from chocolate to raspberry. The bonbons are detachable so that a woman can buy one ring and change the bonbons at her whim.

          “It’s for women who go out to the opera at night,” Mr. Altmuller says. “You can’t work in the kitchen with this. It’s not every day jewelry.”

          Outside of the food line, Altmuller-Bogner Design offers such esoteric pieces as “The Man in the Ear Earrings.” The 18k gold earrings sell for about $40 and feature a human figure hanging on to a golden rope. On one ear, the man appears to be climbing up the rope. On the other ear, he is climbing down, holding a diamond in one hand.

          Mr. Altmuller explains the concept behind the earrings: “The man is climbing into the brain. He finds a brilliant idea and he climbs out the other side with the idea in his hands.”

          Human figures are also featured in their ring designs, and carried over into their line of eye glasses. One pair of gold framed glasses has a tiny gold man cleaning the lenses. Another pair depicts an acrobat suspended on a wire between the lenses.

          “We also make eye glasses that change reality,” Mr. Altmuller says. “For instance, we’re making ‘beautiful weather’ glasses to wear in winter.” He shows a photograph of a man whose head is encased in a huge globe containing a plastic sun, birds and greenery. Interesting, although not terribly practical.

          “And then we have ‘holiday glasses.’ When you are very tired in the evening you can come home and put them on.”

          Some of Altmuller-Bogner Design’s other innovations include a portable champagne bar in the form of gigantic caviar tin that hitches to the back of a car, costumes that make funny noises for a theater of sound production and party decorations that make the guests feel like they are descending from heaven as they enter the ballroom.

          “At the moment we are working on a new street lamp design for a town in Austria,” Mr. Altmuller says. “It will look like flames shooting straight up from the street.”

Pearl winners push trends forward P.118

          The International Pearl Design Contest in Tokyo, an important indicator of the leading edge in pearl jewelry trends, celebrated its 20^th anniversary in April with works from Japan and 32 other countries. The number of countries participating in the contest was the highest thus far with 522 entries from overseas.

          From the 1,027 entries, 100 prizes were awarded.

          The judging committee consisted of 17 judges including Yasuji Iwakura, director of Japan Jewelry Designers Association, Yasuki Hiramatsu, professor at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and Junko Ohuchi, a fashion critic.

          Mr. Iwakura commenting on the transition from the 20^th to the 21^st century said, “The works of this contest had a sense of play and flexibility and demonstrated a path to designs of the new century.”

          The winning pieces will be displayed at the JA Show in New York in July.

Jewelry nets $24 million at Geneva sale P.120

          Christies’s Geneva brought in SFR 25,362,140 (US$24,387,683) at its Magnificent Jewels and Jewellery by Cartier Sale in May. The three top lots sold well above 1 million Swiss francs, including: a pink diamond necklace with a center stone of 5.57 carats which sold for SFR 2,860,000 (US$1,972,414); an Art Deco emerald and diamond bar brooch of 16.38 carats by Chaumet which fetched SFR 2,288,000 (US$1,577,931); and a Kashmir sapphire ring of 31.12 carats which sold for SFR 1.628,000 (US$1,122,759).

          With the development of the Far East market, new buyers were seen in Geneva, complementing Christie’s plans to exhibit in Taiwan in September 1992.

          Eric Valdiu, head of Christie’s Geneva jewelry department, commented: “Tonight’s jewelry sale results are among the highest achieved by Christie’s Geneva. In a very selective market, Christie’s produced the second highest price per carat for an emerald and the third highest price per carat for a pink diamond as well as sapphire. Stones of this quality reflect the price levels of 1989. The Cartier sale was very successful, in which several items doubled their pre-sale estimated.”