M O N I Q U E P É A N
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To promote sustainability, culture and social responsibility — Monique Péan explores sculpture, spatiality and materiality through manipulated forms. Highlighting culture, temporality and global environmental issues through art and design, Péan is known for her structural one-of-a-kind pieces and unique materials.
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Each piece is handcrafted by master artisans in New York City using sustainable materials sourced globally through fair trade initiatives. Péan partners with artisans around the world to support traditional craftsmanship and proceeds from sales contribute to global philanthropic organizations, which provide clean drinking water and basic sanitation to people in developing countries.
fossilized dinosaur bone specimen
b i o g r a p h y
Monique Péan launched her eponymous socially responsible and environmentally conscientious fine jewelry and object practice in 2006. Péan promotes positive environmental and social change through her exclusive use of sustainable materials, which are sourced globally through partnerships with local communities and artisans. In 2009, Péan was one of the recipients of the prestigious CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award, receiving Tiffany & Co.’s former CEO Michael Kowalski as her mentor, and in 2014, Fast Company named her one of its “Most Creative People in Business 1000.” She has also been awarded the CVFF/Tiffany & Co. Development Grant and the Wallpaper* Design Award for Best Jewellery.
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Péan was raised in the Washington D.C. area and received her B.A. in Philosophy, Political Science and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Following her graduation, she worked as an analyst at Goldman Sachs & Co. while simultaneously taking design classes. She has guest lectured at Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania, The Smithsonian Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Parsons The New School for Design. Additionally, Péan founded. The Vanessa Péan Foundation, which raises funds to provide scholarships to underprivileged students in Haiti. Péan has supported charity: water since 2006 and is a Well member supporting charity: water’s operational expenses in addition to working with charity: water to build clean water wells and provide basic sanitation to developing communities. Passionate about the arts, Péan is an Art Council member and Dia Women founding member of the Dia Art Foundation.
s u s t a i n a b i l i t y
In an effort to limit the significant ecological damage and human toll caused by industrial mining procedures, MONIQUE PÉAN exclusively uses 18 carat recycled gold and recycled platinum in its pieces. The Recycled gold and recycled platinum used in MONIQUE PÉAN jewelry is identical in appearance and quality to newly mined gold and platinum and comes from a number of different sources, including existing jewelry. MONIQUE PÉAN is a supporter of the No Dirty Gold campaign. 7
The fossils in MONIQUE PÉAN pieces are found materials that do not cause environmental destruction to collect, and numerous other materials found in our pieces are similarly found materials. Additionally, we work with artisanal miners and mines that are dedicated to social and environmental responsibility and these fair trade stones are obtained in accordance with strict labor, trade and environmental laws. Fair trade stones are closely tracked from the source to the market to ensure that every stone has been handled according to strict protocols.
diamond sculpture ring with diamond pavé and diamond baguette bracelet
s e r i e s
Monique Péan is renowned for her sculptural oeuvre, designing one-of-a-kind fine jewelry pieces and objects with rare and ancient materials such as fossilized dinosaur bone, meteorite, and fossilized walrus tusk alongside conscientiously sourced unique stones with sustainable metals such as 18-carat recycled gold and recycled platinum. Each year, Péan introduces new bodies of work to the SIGNATURE, ATELIER, MINÉRAUX,HOMME and OBJET series.
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Inspired by modern and contemporary art, architecture and the natural world encountered during her travels to all seven continents, Péan juxtaposes the expressive natural gradients and relief patterns of rare materials with an architectural and conceptual discipline.
black diamonds
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HOMME evolved from PÊan’s desire to create unique pieces for men exploring materiality, form and geometry within nature. This series draws inspiration from both her travels and the indigenous communities that she works with to source rare, sustainable materials. Integrating unique and ancient naturally occurring materials, key pieces include cuff-links, shirt-studs, rings and writing instruments, and feature fossilized dinosaur bone with extraterrestrial elements of the universe seen with the inclusion of meteorite specimen.
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meteorite specimen
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HMX7R105DB01W - Pyritized dinosaur oval signet ring, 18 carat recycled white gold $ 6,980
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HMX7R120DB02W - Pyritized dinosaur bone rectangular ring, 18 carat recycled white gold $ 7,480
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HMX7S102MT01W - Octagonal Widmanstätten pattern meteorite slice shirt studs, 18 carat recycled white gold $ 4,400
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HMX8T113MT01L - Widmanstätten pattern meteorite slice dimension tie bar with black Guatemalan jade inlay, 18 carat recycled palladium white gold $ 3,760
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CCM512X - Widmanstätten pattern meteorite slice geometric signature cufflinks, 18 carat recycled oxidized white gold $ 5,580
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HMX7C101DB01W - Pyritized dinosaur bone geometric signature cufflinks, 18 carat recycled white gold $ 4,760
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HMX8S101DB01M - Pyritized dinosaur bone rectangular shirt studs, 18 carat recycled oxidized palladium white gold $ 3,980
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HMX8L102DM02L - Pyritized dinosaur bone sculpture lapel pin with white diamond baguettes, 18 carat recycled palladium white gold, 0.08 TCW $ 2,360
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HMX8T110DB02L - Pyritized dinosaur bone dimension lapel pin, 18 carat recycled palladium white gold $ 1,780
p h i l a n t h r o p y
Proceeds from sales contribute to global philanthropic organizations that provide clean drinking water and basic sanitation to people in developing communities. Monique PÊan has partnered with charity: water to provide clean drinking water to thousands of people in, Malawi, Haiti, Ethiopia, Mali, Nepal and India. 100% of charity: water’s donations go directly to the field to fund water projects. 11
Nearly one in ten people in the world (663 million people) lack access to clean drinking water and more people die from dirty water and poor sanitation every year than from all forms of violence, including war. Women are responsible for 72% of the water collected in Sub-Saharan Africa and when a community gets water, women and girls get their lives back. They start businesses, go to school, improve their homes and take charge of their futures.
fossilized walrus ivory ring with diamond pavĂŠ
m a t e r i a l s
MONIQUE PÉAN strives to ensure that all of its materials are sustainable and complies with fair trade standards for the materials that it obtains. 18 CARAT RECYCLED GOLD AND RECYCLED PLATINUM: Gold mining is an environmentally destructive process that dumps cyanide, lead and mercury into local water sources. Gold mines are also linked to poor working conditions and low safety standards. In an effort to limit the significant ecological damage and human toll caused by gold mining procedures and reduce the demand for the dirty mining process, MONIQUE PÉAN exclusively uses 18 carat recycled gold and recycled platinum in its fine jewelry pieces. The recycled gold and platinum used in MONIQUE PÉAN jewelry is identical in quality to newly mined gold and platinum and comes from a number of different sources, including existing jewelry. MONIQUE PÉAN is a supporter of the No Dirty Gold campaign. REPURPOSED AND CONFLICT AND DEVASTATION FREE DIAMONDS: MONIQUE PÉAN utilizes repurposed diamonds, which require no new energy to create and thus leave a smaller ecological footprint than newly mined diamonds. MONIQUE PÉAN tracks each of its newly mined diamonds to the best of its ability throughout each step of the supply chain to ensure that no diamonds are being mined, cut or polished in regions that are engaged in conflict. MONIQUE PÉAN only purchases diamonds from countries that are full participants in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), an international cooperative monitoring system created—to ensure that the diamonds are free of conflict. Additionally, MONIQUE PÉAN diamonds are sourced from environmentally responsible mines which work in accordance with strict labor and safety guidelines.
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REPURPOSED DIAMONDS AND DIAMOND SLICES: Repurposed diamonds are existing stones formerly used in antique jewelry or for industrial cutting purposes. These diamonds, including diamond slices, require no new energy to create and thus leave a smaller ecological footprint than newly mined diamonds.
gold specimen
m a t e r i a l s METEORITE SLICE: On examining a cross-section of some iron meteorites, a unique natural relief referred to as a Widmanstätten pattern is noticeable. Named after Alois von Widmanstätten, a Viennese scientist who discovered it in 1808, the Widmanstätten pattern is a three-dimensional octahedral structure in the metal that is formed from interleaving bands of kamacite and narrower borders of taenite - the intersections are filled with a mixture of these two alloys. We typically gather our Widmanstätten meteorite slices in Finland and Sweden. Discovered in melting glacial ice, our Scandinavian meteorite is approximately 4.6 billion years old and impacted the Earth circa one million years ago. METEORITE SPECIMEN: Meteorite specimens are identifiable by undulating serrations notable on the silhouette of the fragment. Called regmaglypts, in reference to the thumbprint sized indentations on the body of specimens, these reliefs are formed by ablation when the original meteor burned through the Earth’s atmosphere. As iron-ore rich meteorites, these specimens are often dark silver and grey with deep tones and display a brusque finish. Some meteorite specimens feature sharp-edges of torn metal showing evidence of violent separation during atmospheric explosions or upon high speed impact on the frozen ground. Oftentimes smaller fragments or shrapnel extracted from the larger meteor during impact may be found nearby the meteor crash site. We sustainably source rigmalypted meteorite specimens from the Sikhote-Alin mountains in Russia. Measurements of the potassium and argon content of Sikhote-Alin iron meteorites, by activation analysis, allowed scientists to date the age of the solidification of the meteorites to 4.6 billion to 6.3 billion years ago.
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SEYMCHAN METEORITES: Seymchan Iron Coarse Octahedrite IIE meteorite specimens feature an incredible Widmanstätten pattern with striking natural interwoven bands of kamacite and taenite. This unique geometric pattern is specific to iron Octahedrite meteorites, formed internally as the meteorite cooled over millions of years. The Seymchan meteorite fall was originally discovered in June 1967, in a tributary of the Jasachnaja River, located in the Magadan District of Russia and was named Seymchan after a nearby town. During the original 1967 discovery, only two specimens were discovered and were immediately acquired by museum archives. However, several years ago, further exploration of the fall site has resulted in additional specimens being found. Iron meteorites of this nature are approximately 4.5 to 5.1 billion years old and the study of these specimens provide important information about the origin of the Solar System. As of 2009, only 21 meteorites had been found with a type IIE classification. meteorite specimen
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FOSSILIZED DINOSAUR BONE: Agatized fossilized dinosaur bone is extremely rare as it has been petrified with crystals during the fossilization process. This preserves the original cell structure of the dinosaur in the fossil, which can be found in its original bone shape. Due to impurities that were in the surrounding sediment, the fossils range in color from lavender to black with red, yellow, brown and blue. the Colorado Plateau is the only source of agatized fossilized dinosaur bone in the world, which ranges from 146 to 156 million years old and correlates with the Late Jurassic Age. FOSSILIZED WALRUS IVORY: The walrus is a mammal (Odobenus Rosmarus) found in the Arctic Ocean and subArctic areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Previously inhabiting tundra areas, walrus remains, including their ivory tusks, have been organically preserved in ice. As ice in the Arctic Circle melts and shifts, pieces of fossilized walrus ivory rise to the surface. MONIQUE PÉAN sources fossilized walrus ivory from indigenous Alaskan Natives who gather material from the Arctic Circle. 17 FAIR TRADE PRECIOUS STONES: MONIQUE PÉAN utilizes conflict and devastation free stones that are obtained in accordance with strict labor, trade and environmental laws. We work with artisanal miners and mines that are dedicated to social and environmental responsibility. Fair trade stones are closely tracked from the source to the market to ensure that every stone has been handled according to strict protocols. Natural rutile, natural free form black and pink tourmaline, pietersite, aquamarine and black onyx are some of the stones used in MONIQUE PÉAN jewelry. GUATEMALAN JADE: “Jade” is the general term describing jadeite. Jadeite is white in its pure state, with all other colors caused by inclusions of the minerals. Guatemalan jade was discovered near the Motagua fault, where additional faults provided fractures and openings that allowed serpentine to naturally carry precipitated jadeite from the subduction zone to the surface. Guatemalan jade is found in natural colors ranging from a bright, intense green to soft lilac, blue, pink, white, yellow, grey and black. The grey and black hues are exclusively found in Guatemalan jade.
fossilized walrus ivory specimen
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SUSTAINABLE PEARLS: MONIQUE PÉAN works with sustainable pearl farms that cultivate pearls through environmentally conscious practices, which include the use of solar power, rain catchment water systems and ecologically responsible methods of harvesting and aquaculture. PERUVIAN OPAL: Peruvian blue opal, found in the Andes mountains in Peru, is a rare and translucent stone with pastel hues. Depending on the cut of the stone, Peruvian opal may be clear, scenic (showing varying degrees of color) or dendritic with black fern-like inclusions. PERUVIAN OPALINA: Peruvian opalina is a member of the opal family and is also sourced from the Andes mountains in Peru. MONIQUE PÉAN mainly uses vibrant blue opalina, a rare and naturally opaque stone, which occurs only in small pockets of the region. Peruvian opal and opalina are special for their unusual qualities and extraordinary beauty.
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PIETERSITE: MONIQUE PÉAN uses Namibian pietersite, a mineral that is hand dredged from riverbeds by artisans without the use of chemical extraction. A naturally fibrous mineral, pietersite has been stressed and fractured by the earth’s geological processes. Deposits of pietersite are then reformed and compacted in quartz, where the mineral appears as brecciated bands of blue, gold and red. Blue is the most rare of these hues, followed by red. FOSSILIZED JET: MONIQUE PÉAN has worked to perfect the carving of fossilized jet, an organic material formed by the sustained immersion of wood in stagnant water over millions of years. Fossilized jet can be found in two forms: hard and soft. Hard jet is created by compressed carbon and salt water, while soft jet is the result of compressed carbon and fresh water.
jet specimen
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