2. Ellen von Unwerth
A B O U T B E T O N Y V E R N O N
Daring, provocative and boundary defying, Betony Vernon is no ordinary jewelry designer, just as her designs
are no ordinary jewels. A dedicated sexual anthropologist, Vernon aims to liberate minds from their ingrained
societal conditioning and it is her personal mission to “empower women and men to enjoy
and share greater pleasure.”
The daughter of a British civil rights activist and an American pilot and inventor, Vernon’s childhood was
imbued with a sense of liberation and exploration of the arts, music and nature. Having achieved a degree
‘with outstanding honor’ in fine arts as well as a minor in gold-smithing, Vernon pursued her love of jewelry
and craftsmanship to Florence and then to Milan, where she achieved a masters in industrial design at the
prestigious Domus Academy. She currently resides in Paris
Vernon has since collaborated with some of the world’s finest fashion and design houses including Missoni,
Gianfranco Ferre, Swarovski, Pampaloni, Alexander Wang and Fornasetti. She created and hosted a series
for MTV called “Le Boudoir” and her work is featured in numerous international exhibitions. Her pieces are
worn by the likes of Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie, Vincent Cassel, Christina Aguilera, to name a few and have
featured in the world’s leading style titles. Vernon’s pieces were chosen by Karl Lagerfeld to take center
stage in his 2011 Pirelli calendar and most recently by Nick Knight for his “Selling Sex” show in London.
Aside from being a muse and collaborator with some of the most celebrated names in fashion, Vernon has
long nurtured an acute interest in human sexuality and following the launch of her Paradise Found Fine Erotic
Jewelry collection she has achieved international renown as a pioneer on the path of sexual knowledge.
Vernon’s Paradise Found collection is ‘the bridge’ between her craftsmanship in jewelry and a
wider philosophy of sexual awareness and empowerment. Ultimately, Vernon is both a designer and
sexual anthropologist at any one time.
4. The Boudoir Bible
The Uninhibited Sex Guide for Today
BETONY VERNON
ILLUSTRATED BY FRANCOIS BERTHAUD
T H E B O U D O I R B I B L E
“Seductive wisdom requires cultivation and knowledge. Betony Vernon’s Boudoir Bible can elevate even the most love-
savvy to the status of Erotic Maestra or Maestro!”
— Dita von Teese
A comprehensive and instructional guide to the new sexual landscape, covering “new territories” such as
bondage, role playing, and sex toys that would make your parents blush. Currently published in English,
French, Portuguese, Czech and Polish. The Boudoir Bible will also be available in Russian & Tawainese in
2017. The bestseller reflects Betony’s deep belief that everyone has the right to enjoy truly satisfying
sexual relations, without prejudice.
Since the publication of The Joy of Sex in 1972, the sexual landscape’s boundaries have been expanded to
include a host of practices that are unthinkable in that classic tome. Although it also covers the basics, The
Boudoir Bible fills those niches missing from other sex guides nicely, with full, elaborated chapters on rope
bondage, restraints of sound and sight, erotic flagellation, and the stimulation of new erogenous zones,
among innumerable other offerings. Well-researched, The Boudoir Bible is written from a joyful,
sex-positive point of view.
Going beyond the “lovemaking” of older guides, this witty and uninhibited tome expands the sexual act to
encompass “verboten” topics, with chapters entitled “The Genital Gym,” “Nipple Tease,” “Male Ejaculation
Control,” and “The Anthems of Anal Sex.” Illustrated by the renowned artist François Berthoud, whose
provocative creations have graced both Prada campaigns and museum exhibitions, The Boudoir Bible
provides a fresh view of sexuality in the twenty-first century.
5. “Betony understands that sex is the center of the greater whole. She has committed herself to exploring it, and she is
right—the important thing is to dig straight down to the core. White is the symbol of purity, but as the sum of all colors,
it can be seen as the addition of experience. On the other hand, black, the absence of color, is pure. Betony instinctively
always chose black.”
— Philippe Starck
“Everything my mother didn’t know about sex and if she did would have changed the subject. Every man who digs
women should read this, not to mention the obvious beneficiaries.”
— Glenn O’Brien
“The Boudoir Bible celebrates what it means to be human: appreciate our bodies, nurture our souls, and love
transcendentally. Don’t miss out on this ticket to Paradise!”
— Elle Macpherson
“In the age of fashion and art, Betony Vernon reminds us that true luxury is not something you can buy, but something
we give to each other. By revealing the secrets of the “Sexual Ceremony,” she turns fetish, perversion, and kink into an
intimate science, and a joyful self-expression.”
— Olivier Zahm
“Betony Vernon, protean, legendary, and above all woman - has the imagination and the courage to bring back to sex,
and to the heart, the centrality they should have.”
— Francesco Clemente
“Betony Vernon is an inspiration leading us all to the door of sexual, spiritual possibility. She taps into the power of
sexual creative energy and the positive effects that it can have in our lives.”
— Samantha Roddick
“The Boudoir Bible is an essential tome for any one looking to have a life long, deeply satisfying love life.
You won’’t just read this book, you will experience it.”
— Aimee Mullins
6. Lara Giliberto
P A R A D I S E F O U N D
The Paradise Found collection is the first fine jewelry range to explore the possibility of adorning one’s body
with objects that can also be used for sensual pleasure. The concept evolved organically from Vernon’s
hugely popular Sado-Chic collection launched in 1992. Subsequently Vernon realized that the market did
not consider the need to have objects of pleasure that were respectful to the sacred art of making love. She
conceived that jewelry could fulfill this purpose; it could bestow a sensorial pleasure and encourage sexual
exploration as well as please the eye.
The Paradise Found collection is a sublime celebration of sexual vitality and honors the gift of pleasure in
our lives. As well as subtly sensual fashion items, the collection also features Vernon’s innovative ‘Jewel-
Tools.’ She coined this term to describe a unique and daring new approach in which jewels also become the
means to pleasure your partner – or yourself.
The jewel-tools are transformative objects to be shared and explored. Each object is designed to glorify the
human instinct to attract and excite, to heighten confidence and sensations - expanding the sexual horizons
of those who wear and share them. Through use they become symbolically charged, like portals to higher
states of being. Some of their functions are more overt, others are to the wearer’s knowledge only. After all,
simply knowing you are wearing an object that can impart great pleasure is empowering in itself.
Handmade by the finest Italian craftsmen, every design presents a dual use. Betony creates for collectors
who seek the finer things in life, including their sex lives. She founded the term Jewel-Tools to describe her
functional creations that are a refined, body-safe and durable response to the sex toy industry.
“I believe that durability is a fundamental design criteria today. I aim through my work to foster longevity,
not only of intimate relationships but our biosphere as well.”
7.
8. Lara Giliberto
S A D O - C H I C
Betony coined the term “Sado-Chic” to name her first fine erotic jewelry designs in 1992. The timeless
signature collection has been appreciated ever since for its symbolic and aesthetic appeal as well as its
functional purpose. It was the Sado-Chic Collection that would come to signal a distinct turning point in her
creative path. Vernon realized that the market did not consider the need to have objects of pleasure that
were respectful to the sacred art of making love. She conceived that jewelry could fulfill this purpose; it could
bestow a sensorial pleasure and encourage sensual exploration as well as please the eye. In spite of the
obvious void in the market for luxury erotica at the time, Vernon evolved her concept for her own pleasure
and that of a growing group of private collectors.
In 2001 Vernon decided to launch the Sado-chic inspired designs during Paris Fashion Week. She called
the body of work ‘Paradise Found Fine Erotic Jewelry.‘ Vernon naively presumed that the retailers of the
BV ‘Classic’ and ‘Talismani’ collections would embrace her erotic jewelry line, but it turned out that she was
wrong. The outcome of the week was a disconcerting realization that not everyone viewed—at least not
openly—the sensual experience as she did.
Vernon realized that in order to continue evolving the Paradise Found Fine Erotic collections she would need
to integrate the role of education into the totality of her brand. She proceeded to develop a series of classes
and in November 2002 she initiated her first group salon -- Bettering Your Sexual Skills -- at Soho House,
London. In 2013 her first book ‘The Boudoir Bible – The Uninhibited Sex Guide for Today’ was published by
Rizzoli international, making her philosophy of sexual awareness, well-being and empowerment
accessible to a wider public.
Thanks to Vernon’s pioneering work in both the fields of design and sexology, Paradise Found Fine Erotic
jewelry came to represent the heartbeat of the Betony Vernon Brand.
9.
10. Katrin Backes
N O B L E K N O T S
The most recent addition to the Paradise Found Fine Erotic collection, Noble Knots, is inspired by Shibari,
the Japanese art of erotic bondage. It is crafted in sterling silver or 18 karat gold weave that duplicates to
precious perfection the enigmatic beauty of erotic bondage rope. Noble Knots makes the transition from
behind-closed-doors and the prohibited to the explicitly visible and celebrated. Necklaces, rings, rings that
extend to decorate the forearm, belts, belts that extend between the legs or over the shoulders to create
harnesses and thigh garters are all featured. Betony continues her concept of modular pieces
that have multiple functions.
Noble Knots reinvents the bondage experience as well as representing the most elegant form of restraint
known to bondage lovers! All of the Noble Rope designs are co-compatible and coordinate with each other
thanks to a special mechanism that replaces the knot. Being transformative and having more than one
purpose is a characteristic that is consistent in Betony’s work since the inception of the BV brand.
11.
12. Gianfranco Ferré
D E S I G N C O L L A B O R AT I O N S
As well as running her own design studio, Betony Vernon consults for and collaborates with other luxury
brands. She approaches her product, furniture and jewelry design collaborations with the same sense
of passion and innovation that brought her own brand to the forefront of the design world. Betony has
collaborated with some of the world’s finest fashion and design houses, including Gianfranco Ferré,
Swarovski, Alexander Wang and Fornasetti to name a few.
Betony has over 25 years of experience in jewelry making. She is craftswoman, technician and designer at
any one time. While she privledges noble materials such as gold, silver and precious stones she does not
consider any natural material less important than the latter. She revels in the challenge of working with new
materials and cutting edge production techniques as much as she appreciates and sustains traditional
methods of hand craftsmanship. Mixing materials such as wood, marble or leather with precious metals is
one of her trademarks. Betony has experience with a vast range of design mediums.
14. Triennale
T H E O R I G I N C H A I R
Sculpted in Italian, white statuary marble from Monte Altissima the self-penetrating form of the Origin
Chair is a celebration of the sexual union.
The Origin chair has been part of a series of carte blanche since its completion in Dec 2012. It debuted
at the Triennale design museum in Milano in the exhibition KAMA: Sex & Design. This led to another carte
blanche for MUDAC- the museum of design and contemporary art in Lausanne. The show traveled to the
Gewerbemuseum in Winterthur Switzerland in October 2015. The exhibition closes May 8, 2016.
15. T H E O R I G I N M A Q U E T T E
Sculpted in Italian, white statuary marble from Monte Altissima the self-penetrating form of the Origin Maquette is a
celebration of the sexual union. The marble sculpture is a declination of the Origin Chair that was unveiled in December
2012 at the Triennale Museum of Design in Milan. The functional sculpture has since been exhibited at the MUDAC
(Museum of Design and Contemporary ART) in Lausanne and the Gewerbe Museum in Winterthur, Switzerland.
16. Raul Higuera
I N T E R I O R S
Betony creates enigmatic environments that are slightly “removed from reality.” Her first interior project
was the museum house of Piero Fornasetti in Milan. She has since created a series of interiors, that may
be best described as Boudoirs. It is here that we discover Vernon’s love for textiles, wood, leather, marble,
ceramic and glass as well as her passion for furniture design.
AD Magazine / France Annabelle / Germany
17.
18. Purple Fashion
P R E S S
The Betony Vernon brand speaks to anyone who is appreciative of premier design, luxe fashion and
exclusivity and who is curious about opportunities to enhance the quality of their intimate selves. A Betony
Vernon design never subscribes to the ephemeral nature of fashion. Categorically her creations
are timeless and ageless artefacts.
Worn by the likes of Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera, to name a few, Betony’s designs are
regularly featured in the world’s finest publications – Vogue, Nowness, Another, Purple Fashion , T Magazine,
The NY Times, W Magazine, Visionaire, V, Times, GQ, etc.
19. NY Times Madame Figaro Wallpaper
Wallpaper Purple Fashion Another Mag
Lui GQ Veoir
Hunger Dazed & Confused Vogue Russia
20. S A L O N S
Since 2001 Betony has been hosting educational salons with the aim of dismantling the pleasure taboo.
She began teaching after she realized that her erotic design work could not advance unless she was
educating her collectors.
Vernon’s Paradise Found Fine Erotic Jewelry collection is ‘the bridge’ between her philosophy of sexual
wellbeing and her revolutionary work with individuals and couples in search of greater pleasure.
Betony is open to customizing the themes for her salons from her hosts. Betony also teaches weekend
salon experiences for luxury hotels and guest houses where she covers all of the salon themes as well as
offering one to one consultations, body work/movement classes which serve to align mind, body and spirit
as well as bondage sessions which are noted for their power to release sensual blocks and experience
being physically bound.
Betony is aware that sexual pleasure is often shadowed by sexual fears which are caused by social mores,
abuse and negative experiences. The salonsare open to guests who are wanting to explore more about the
sexual realmand salons can also be tailored. Betony’s salons are designed for female only, male only as well
as mixed groups, depending on the hosts desires.
21. S e l e c t e d R e t a i l e r s
C o l e t t e
D o v e r S t r e e t M a r k e
O p e n i n g C e r e m o n y
N o r d s t r o m - S P A C E
C h a m b r e B o u t i q u e
C o c o - d e - M e r
H e r v i a
R h e i n h o l d J e w e l l e r
L u i s a V i a R o m a
f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n p l e a s e c o n t a c t :
c o n t a c t @ b e t o n y v e r n o n . c o m
betonyvernon.com
