In 1990, a team of artists working for J. Grahl Design in Newport Beach were commissioned to create 27-inch-tall, 80-pound, glass Faberge-like egg containing a miniature, working replica of the Balboa Park Carousel.
The team had no idea it would take almost 20 years to complete.
“It really evolved out of the research we did and our experience,” said Jim Grahl, founder of the design company. “At the time we started, we knew it would be an evolving project but we weren't sure how many years it would take. We've raised kids in this process.”
This summer the Balboa Park Carousel Egg made its debut at the Gemological Institute of America's museum in Carlsbad.
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Where: 5345 Armada Drive, Carlsbad
Tours: By appointment. Call (760) 603-4000.
Balboa Park Carousel
The carousel was built by the Hershell-Spillman Co. in upstate New York. Its first home was Luna Park in Los Angeles in 1910. After spending time in Coronado, the carousel was moved to Balboa Park in 1922.
Where: 1899 Zoo Drive, San Diego
Cost: $2 per ride
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Kimberly Vagner, in-kind gifts manager for the museum, said institute students crowded around the case in the main lobby as the egg was being assembled.
Amazingly, the egg didn't require any screws to secure its pieces.
“It just fits together from the music box up,” Vagner said. “They constructed it that way because they knew the piece would outlive them, and they wanted it to be easy for future generations to take apart and put back together again.”
Barry Marfleet of Tustin, an avid art collector, was intrigued by other eggs Grahl had created. He and his wife have commissioned several jewelry pieces from Grahl, and Marfleet wanted Grahl to create an egg for him.
The intricate, bejeweled egg has more than 5,000 pieces, 20 carats of diamonds and 56 hand-carved animals that replicate the zebras, giraffes and dragons on the carousel.
“Our intent was to create a very authentic mechanical piece, almost like a post-Victorian parlor piece, on a much richer scale,” said Grahl, who believes the egg defies contemporary opinions about what American jewelry artisans are capable of.
“I've been formally trained in the jewelry business and thinking things like this could only be done in Europe,” he said. “There's an opinion that has kept American jewelry artists stuck in thinking they're not capable of creating an equivalent renaissance piece. It's almost a myth buster on that level.”
The egg's glass is 45 percent optical-grade lead crystal imported from France and hand-cut and polished by Thomas Henry in Costa Mesa. The red enamel used to create the egg's shell is Grahl Design's own proprietary process.
The music mechanism at the base of the egg plays more than 20 popular songs from the late 1890s, and the tiny murals inside the miniature carousel were created by hand with one-hair paint brushes.
Carving the animals and painting the carousel took the team five years. Hundreds of pieces were discarded in the process because they didn't make the cut.
The value of the piece has not been determined, but Grahl suspects it's in the multiple millions.
For him, the egg represents more than the completion of a long project; it's a testament to the evolution of the team's talent during the past 20 years.
“We've all grown and evolved in our own talents and perceptions of what quality is,” said Grahl, adding that the members of the team now work independently but come together when “egg issues” arise.
“It's such an interesting process to be involved in something for that long,” he said.
The egg will remain at the GIA museum for the next year, and the public can view it by making an appointment to tour the museum.
“As an object d'art piece, it definitely stands out,” Vagner said. “The size and amount of work that went into everything – it's pretty amazing.”
Grahl is a graduate of GIA and has been involved with the institute as a lecturer for a number of years.
“It just seemed like the appropriate venue to start this off with,” Grahl said. “We hope to have it received by the public as something remarkable and beautiful – really a demonstration of what can happen when people come together.”
To make an appointment for a tour, call (760) 603-4000.
Leah Masterson: (760) 752-6754;
leah.masterson@tlnews.net
