The consummate Susan Grant Lewin Collection – recently donated to Cooper Hewitt – captures the diversity and achievements of contemporary art jewellery with nearly 150 significant works from the last fifteen years by designers from the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.

The brooches, necklaces and rings reveal how these contemporary jewellers have revolutionised the medium in transforming traditional jewellery conventions into current forms of expression. Descriptions of specific works demonstrate that while the mastery of materials and techniques is critical to the creative process, it is not an end in itself but a means to accomplish an aesthetic vision. Statements from each designer and a full gallery of the jewellery accompany the series of extraordinary, rousing, uncommon pieces.