Any designer whose press release includes the word sybaritic is not your usual animal. So it is with London-based jewelry designer Solange Azagury-Partridge, who was once a linguist. Her unwearable jewelry is currently aglint and aglow at Design Miami, as the centerpiece of Sebastian + Barquet’s exhibit; never mind that Sebastian + Barquet usually specialize in 1940s to 1960s American and European design, they couldn’t help being attracted to Azagury-Partridge’s voluptuous chandelier. Like something out of The Thousand and One Nights, Azagury-Partridge’s chandelier recalls ancient Persia with its globose form and pensile ornamentation: it’s as sensual as Scheherazade’s silken pantaloons or Sinbad’s pointy slippers. Azagury-Partridge compares the chandelier’s Oriental decadence to “the lost earring of a mysterious and shameless princess”—a fantastical object reminiscent of nineteenth-century luxury that virtually emanates “the wicked aroma of dangerous and mesmerizing beauty.”

Her chandelier strikes me as the perfect symbol for Miami, whose tropical heat and Caribbean influence make the city a den of extravagance—the city maintains an almost colonial flair for the debauched. It borders on the sickeningly sweet—like an overripe mango, its sugars pooling in crystalline orbs atop the fruit’s sticky skin. I can think of no better place for Azagury-Partridge’s chandelier to reign supreme, making the very fixtures drip with gems. And that’s the very idea behind Unwearable Jewels: the collection “features decorative objects that incorporate precious and semi-precious stones … each one more excessive than the last.” Encrusted with 220 carats of diamonds, the Gold and Diamond Chandelier is made from delicate links suspended in arcs to form a sensual pear shape that ends in a sharp point, reminiscent of the central medallions of ancient Persian rugs. The chandelier’s 18 ct. white gold, however, is blackened, giving the material a smoky effect. Azagury-Partridge’s design, with its opulent materials, recalls the exotic: hanging Moroccan lanterns and strong Turkish coffee, not to mention the more tempting Eastern delights—figs and harems come to mind.

A jewelry designer with no formal training, Solange Azagury-Partridge began her Home Collection auspiciously in 2005 with the Pergola Chandelier, a colorful arrangement of grape bunches—quite Dionysian. Designed for Swarovski, Pergola launched at the Milan Furniture Fair and at 100% Design in London. The Gold and Diamond Chandelier continues Azagury-Partridge’s bejeweled extravagance—this time at Design Miami, where her newest Unwearable Jewel serves as an apt symbol for the city’s lavish tastes.