Located in a quiet brownstone off Madison Avenue, FD Gallery brings an intimacy to the world of rarefied collecting—fitting for a place most often sourcing directly from private estates. The gallery, which opened in 2010, specializes in 20th-century jewelry by such marquee houses as Cartier, Bulgari, and Van Cleef & Arpels, alongside a handful of contemporary artists who are exemplars of adventurous, painstaking craftsmanship. Under the direction of Fiona Druckenmiller, a former equity portfolio manager on Wall Street with a longtime passion for storied jewels, the curation at FD Gallery has geographic and stylistic breadth while retaining a recognizable perspective. The pieces here have not just lived a life—they have been the life of the party. The word exuberant often comes to mind, in the case of big-personality cocktail rings and colorful pendant earrings. Humor finds its way to the fore in animal- shaped charms and brooches. Glittering Art Deco bracelets and neoclassical intaglios act as wearable emissaries of art history. And there are old-guard markers of sophistication, by way of everyday objects, from letter openers to boxes, rendered in precious materials.

This pursuit to document the storied lives of art makes FD Gallery an inspired partner for the first edition of the Madame Grey Estate Catalogues.