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March 2020 (38)
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We have just a while ago embarked on a new decade. Even though it is just a year changing it makes you feel that you are leaving something behind you and welcoming something new.
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Even though a challenging economic reality hasn´t made it easy to get by or grow in the jewellery business we can look back at the past decade with confidence. The development in the work the international jewellery organizations are doing, for example the question of ethics and transparency in material supply, are slowly but surely evolving towards a more sustainable and transparent direction.
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Dear readers,
The consumer is more and more aware of environmental and fairness issues. They ask us questions about the origins of materials and how we deal with issues such as sustainability and carbon footprint. These are questions that we, as entrepreneurs, with present standards given not always have the full answer to give. Our responsibility to our clients is to put these same questions forward to our supplier chain and demand that they provide us with the answers and information needed. This is the only way we can achieve the transparency that is so important in our line of business to maintain the crucially important trust of our customers. This, together with all new technical innovations on the market, will actually bring us into a new decade of opportunity. We tend to feel safe in the well-known environment and many of us suffer from a mild resistance to change. But the world around us is in constant change and the sooner we embrace the opportunities change offers, the more successful we can be in our task of bringing our old and very traditional trade in to a completely new phase. So let us be open for what the future has to offer and let us all together, during the new decade, build something new and prosperous founded on our thousands of years of tradition. Henrik KIHLMAN
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AMBER TRIP RAW TRADE IS HERE AND ONLINE! Contact us via:
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March 2020 (38)
AMBERIF AND AMBERMART REVOLUTION UPCOMING
JEWELRY GARDEN PRESENTS ST.PETERSBURG JEWELLERY
INTERVIEW WITH AGITA PUTANE
SYNTHETIC DIAMONDS: TECHNOLOGY AS AN ART
INTERVIEW WITH ALAIN ROGGEMAN
IGOR BRASIŪNAS IS A ROMANTIC OF POSTMODERNISM
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Baltic Jewellery News / March 2020 (38) Manufakturu st. 16-7, LT-11342, Vilnius, Lithuania; tel. +370 687 72 175; e-mail: magazine@balticjewellerynews.com Editor / Henrik Kihlman Designer / SAVITAI, Translators / VERTIMU GURU, CIRCULATION 5 000 Distribution in the whole Baltic Sea Region. Copyright: Contents of “Baltic Jewellery News” are copyright. ISSN 2335-2132 Reproduction of material in part or in whole is not permitted in any form without the written authorization of the publisher. The editorial office is not responsible for the content of advertisements and for the accuracy of the facts presented by the authors.
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CONTENT /
MINING 10
The Underground Economy of Amber: A Destabilizing Threat to Ukraine
ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS 72 76 80 84 88 90 92 96 100 104
Terhi Tolvanen’s roots Lumoava, design as a winning concept Art & love Marita Lumi: my jewelleries are picture books, full of eventful stories Author and execution – Jevgeni Kampus Interview with Alain Roggeman Jewellery magical value fascinates me every day. Jurga Gusarovienė Interview with Erika Kundavičiūtė Taurus – modern classic for daily elegance Jewellery – a relationship to body, identity & heritage
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Igor Brasiūnas is a romantic of postmodernism
MARKET REVIEW 114 116 117 118 119
Kaliningrad Amber Combine prices Worldwide price for raw amber Silver prices Gold prices Major jewellery trade fairs
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Luxury Jewellery in Russia Luxury Jewellery in Romania Amberif and Ambermart revolution upcoming Amberif New freshwater pearls – upcoming revolution The department of jewellery at the Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz Legnica SILVER festival 2020 Baltic amber. The greatest passion of Ewa Rachon Traditional food products of Sambia and innovations with components of Baltic amber The treasures of St.Petersburg: jewelry exhibition Jewelry Garden presents St.Petersburg jewellery Positive vibes at the Finnish fair Finnish jewellery art acknowledged with prestigious state award Tibetan amber community Qatar established itself as a major player in global amber industry Interview with Agita Putane Unusual amber Synthetic diamonds: technology as an art Jewellery Expo Ukraine 15th anniversary of Baltic Jewellery News
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THE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY OF AMBER: A DESTABILIZING THREAT TO UKRAINE Nicole KALCZYNSKI The sociopolitical climate in Ukraine has become an increasingly popular topic. News pundits, security experts, and civil society representatives have continuously expressed concerns over the development of unnerving events throughout the state. Most commonly, the discourse revolves around the war on Ukraine’s eastern border where government forces are deadlocked in a violent struggle against Russian backed separatists. However, on the state’s western border a new, and largely unrecognized threat has emerged. The illegal trafficking, extraction, and exploitation of amber has created an informal economy where organized criminal groups and corrupt government officials reign supreme.
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the Rivne, Volyn, and Zhytomyr oblasts the informal amber trade has grown to amass hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit profits annually. In these regions, organized criminal groups work in tandem with corrupt officials to exploit locals and garner control of amber rich lands. The aptly named “Amber Mafias” exploit local populations to extract amber by illegally mining the precious stone with the help of industrialized pumps and hoses. The amber rich regions are plagued by a lack of opportunities, unemployment, and low wages yet amber mining offers locals an incentive to garner weeks’ worth of income through mining. A raw kilogram of amber can sell anywhere from $1,000-$3,000 US on the black-market, while only 29% of the population has a monthly income that exceeds $218 US. With few options available, locals rely on illegal amber mining to make ends meet. If the trade were shutdown, hundreds of locals would lose their livelihoods.
The informal amber trade has become so lucrative that nearly anyone can get involved. Amber miners can vary in occupation from students, retirees, and even priests looking to make additional income. However, the informal trade is fraught with dangerous risks, and has become increasingly violent as corrupt officials and criminals battle over territorial control. In January of 2017, masked assailants opened fire on a group of young men in a café, killing one and critically wounding bystanders. In another instance of violent clashes, hundreds of locals faced off with police and blocked off a highway to prevent the shutdown of an informal amber mine which led to the hospitalization of eight police officers. Stephan Tsaryuk, the chief of police in Dubrovytsya was quoted as saying “It’s not a little bit dangerous, it’s very dangerous…We have an open war in the east and a secret war here” Members of parliament have taken steps to criminalize the informal
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criminal groups have created a chain of destabilizing effects. Millions of dollars in lost income are bypassing the state’s official budget, violent clashes between locals, law enforcement, and OCGs are becoming increasingly common while large swathes of territory are becoming informally governed by nonstate actors resulting in areas where few legal mechanisms function. This poses a deadly risk to an already fragile state. So, why is this important to consider when discussing the intensifying tensions on Ukraine’s eastern border? Simply put, the nation is being fractured on multiple fronts, yet none are gaining as much attention. On the one hand the state continues to fight against separatists in Donbas while simultaneously being weakened by the corrupt mismanagement of officials – leading to the emergence of informal economies that further destabilize the state. As Ukraine seeks to join the European Union and NATO the risks associated with the informal amber economy pose an ever-growing threat to legitimacy, social cohesion, and the rule of law which could easily squander these aspirations and propel the state into further instability.
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when extracting amber). This has left lawmakers in a stalemate pitted against the lure of illicit funds and corruption while coping with the destructive aftermath of amber syndicates. Most importantly, the corrupt mismanagement of officials across the Western region of Ukraine illustrates that the state’s fragility extends beyond the conflict on the eastern border and severely weakens the state’s ability to secure its future. This raises the question – if the war in Donbass was mitigated, would Ukraine truly be able to rebuild its national cohesion? In order to do so, Ukraine would have to acknowledge and combat the longstanding effects of systemic corruption present in all ranks of government. Moreover, the state must provide greater incentives for legitimate professions in the form of gradual salary increases to curb the allure of amber mining and bribetaking. Lastly, legal mechanisms need to be introduced in tandem with local actors to allow regional companies to license amber mining certificates as a way to create state sanctioned trade and extraction of the raw material. By expanding their reach into amber rich regions, organized
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amber economy, however as it currently stands the trade is simply too profitable to sway lawmakers to enforce stricter legislation. Amber mafias have deep rooted ties with corrupt officials that can easily influence the success of passed legislation. In February of 2017, draft law #1351-01 was introduced to parliament and aimed to legalize amber mining as a legitimate profession. The draft proposed the creation of an amber exchange where legally sourced amber could be sold and recommended that local mining companies handle the extraction of amber regionally. The project would leave the control of mining amber to companies which could issue licenses for locals seeking to prospect the stone. However, this change in law would mandate prospectors to pay a 20% tax on amber, among other fees for the retrieval of amber (payments for land repossession, and government remittance). The proposed changes were met with poor reactions from parliament, as they opposed higher rates of taxation and raised concerns over the implementation of countless environmental protections (as the use of industrialized pumps is more lucrative albeit more destructive
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
LUXURY JEWELLERY IN RUSSIA Report provided by Euromonitor International
HEADLINES L uxury jewellery registers retail current value growth of 7% to reach RUB25.3 billion in 2018 L ocal currency volatility affects retail value sales growth W omen’s luxury fine jewellery registers stronger retail current value growth than men’s in 2018 R LG OOO leads with 22% of retail value sales in 2017 L uxury jewellery is expected to register a retail current value CAGR of 8% (CAGR of 4% at constant 2018 prices) over the forecast period to reach RUB37.6 billion in 2023
PROSPECTS CURRENCY FLUCTUATIONS HAMPER RETAIL VALUE SALES GROWTH In 2018, luxury jewellery continued to recover from the slowdown registered over 2015-2016. At the same time, high local currency volatility continued to limit growth. Leading companies that operate in luxury jewellery in Russia align their pricing strategies with world standards, which subsequently predetermine price increases due to increasing inflation rates. Increasing economic instability and uncertainty in the financial sector were of greater concern to affluent consumers than local currency volatility. These factors affected demand for luxury jewellery in 2018 and contributed to slower retail current value growth than the previous year; the local currently weakened notably in August 2018 after US sanctions were imposed. Local currency exchange rate fluctuations and economic conditions will continue to hamper retail value growth in the category. MIDDLE CLASS GRADUALLY RETURNS TO LUXURY SHOPPING Over 2015-2016, luxury jewellery witnessed a notable outflow of middle class consumers, for whom such products became unaffordable. However, in 2017 and 2018, middle class consumers started gradually to return, is the increased their shopping activity in multiple personal luxury categories including jewellery. Despite ongoing economic instability, Russian consumers were already accustomed to harsh financial realities and started to spend more money in the country. According to Sberbank analysis of VIP client spending by premium cards in 2017, jewellery remained among the top five categories along with apparel, travel, grocery and foodservice. This reflected Russian consumers’ perception of jewellery as a good investment, particularly women’s jewellery – considered a key category in jewellery. ■
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Report provided by Euromonitor International
HEADLINES L uxury jewellery records 6% current value growth to reach RON398 million in 2018 R ise of women purchasing for themselves offers clear opportunity for future growth W omen’s luxury fine jewellery records highest current value growth of 7% to reach RON211 million C ie Financière Richemont SA leads luxury jewellery with a 40% value share in 2017 O ver the forecast period, luxury jewellery is set to record a 5% current value CAGR (a2% value CAGR at constant 2018 prices) to reach RON506 million in 2023
PROSPECTS LUXURY JEWELLERY RECORDS CONSISTENT GROWTH Luxury jewellery recorded healthy current value growth in 2018. Favourable economic conditions increased local consumers’ disposable incomes and their willingness to spend on jewellery. Sophisticated and mid- to high- income consumers in Romania continued to trade up to luxury jewellery that allowed them to reflect their own status. Moreover, diamonds are a marginally smaller segment of jewellery in Romania, but this segment is set to grow because diamonds decreased in price on a global level, which makes them an investment opportunity. In addition, it is important to mention that online sales of jewellery in Romania are just beginning to open up. Being in its initial stage, very few legal players are offering jewellery online but this is set to change over the forecast period. RISE OF WOMEN BUYING FOR THEMSELVES It is important to highlight the rise of female self-purchasers in Romania. As women continue to make gains in the labour force, the self-purchase trend offers one of the clearest opportunities for future growth of luxury jewellery. Offering a selection of fine jewellery that appeals to women looking to celebrate personal achievement or buy something special to reward themselves, should become as much a focus for jewellers as bridal and other similar occasion-related jewellery. ■
Luxury jewellery is rapidly shifting
a strong emphasis on customised and personalised pieces
towards
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LUXURY JEWELLERY IN ROMANIA
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / POLISH JEWELLERY REPORT
Sławormir FIJAŁKOWSKI
AMBERIF AND AMBERMART REVOLUTION UPCOMING Anna SADO
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There is no denying that the importance of traditional jewellery as a personal amulet or the necessary addition to the image is systematically decreasing, so the conscious recipient has to be sought much more intensively than just a few years ago. We focus constantly on maintaining interest among existing buyers, we also try to reach new customers from the Y generation – hence the emphasis on contemporary design, uniqueness, a modern story about amber as a carrier of symbolic meanings. We will definitely have to wait for the outcome of our efforts, but the first step in this direction will be initiated this year. We talk about amber all the time, meanwhile silver and gold jewellery producers are also exhibiting at Amberif. How are the organisers intending to take care of them? Indeed, almost half of the exhibitors at Amberif, the largest exhibition event in Poland, are silver and gold jewellery manufacturers, as well as manufacturers of machinery, jewellery devices and prefabricated products used in jewellery production. It is worth noting that an increasing number of amber companies are expanding their activity, offering collections with other gemstones, diamonds or simply precious metals. It cannot be denied that due to the location of the show in Gdansk, amber has had a privileged position so far. Yet in autumn, at the beginning of the fall season, we are planning a new edition of the jewellery show and together a series of promotional events titled Gdansk Jewellery Week, during which we want to prioritise goldsmiths, author jewellery and all jewellery and commercial innovations. We are also assuming it to be a significant step to balance the subsequent editions of Amberif between the legitimate aspirations of amber amateurs and Polish and international companies with an explicit jewellery profile.
Will Gdansk Jewellery Week replace Ambermart? The current Ambermart will become one of the three most important elements of Gdansk Jewellery Week – next to the show dedicated to additive technologies, commonly known as 3D printing, which are firmly entering the world of jewellery not only as a prototyping method, but increasingly as a production strategy and forum supporting e-commerce, especially through such media as Instagram. This combination is not accidental as trade moves to the network, in the executive sphere CAD / CAM technologies dominate. Gdansk Jewellery Week will be an attempt, probably the first in Europe, to associate these two areas: traditional jewellery and amber industry with the world of communication and digital engineering, hoping that they will generate synergy. In addition, we plan to refill the Gdansk Jewellery Week with a lot of cultural events, characterising with the quality that would ensure professional audience interested in contemporary jewellery to return to Gdansk in every possible context – business, design, and media.
This is not even an evolution, this is revolution… …a brave and risky but necessary step. Let’s hope it is the first step in the right direction that will allow us to build an important opinionforming hub of modern goldsmithery in Gdansk – still with a discreet but clearly amber accent.
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What are the most significant changes awaiting us on the 27th Amberif show? There are many indications suggesting Amberif 2020 will be a major surprise for visitors. The organisers have introduced many significant changes to improve the image quality of the show and, hopefully, will confirm the position of Gdansk as the World Capital of Amber. To this end, a central area has been established in the amber hall, in which only renowned companies offering their own collections of gold and silver jewellery with Baltic amber will be found. In the near future, associations with goldsmithery and design must provide the backdrop for the business strategy that will help arouse interest with amber jewellery in the most demanding customers. When we use the term “amber jewellery”, first of all we mean, JEWELLERY, and only then AMBER, hoping that with the deteriorating economic situation in China, where the key commercial argument was the raw material, we will be able use the creative potential of the jewellery industry, which will allow us to return to European markets with a high-quality original goldsmith product. Another area that will be strongly promoted during the show is the Designer Gallery, where we also took care of the refreshed arrangement of the exhibition space. We have also launched a strong marketing campaign around the world, hoping that the original Polish design will become as recognizable distinguishing feature of Amberif as amber jewellery.
Amberif has been largely redefined. Does this also apply to target groups to whom this intensive marketing campaign is addressed around the world?
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The year 2020 will be a breakthrough for the participants of the Amberif and Ambermart shows in Gdansk. Professor Slawomir Fijalkowski, a new curator and programme coordinator, announces far-reaching changes – and not only organisational.
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1
2 1 GDAŃSK AMBER LOOK jewellery & fashion 2019, jewellery by CHILLI Ireneusz Glaza & fashion by Paweł WĘGRZYN 2 GDAŃSK AMBER LOOK jewellery & fashion 2019, jewellery by A2 JEWELLERY & fashion by Olga ZIEMANN
Gdańsk is the World Capital of Amber. The heart of Gdańsk’s Old Town features the Amber Museum, with the oldest examples of amber crafting, spectacular heritage artefacts and specimens of natural inclusions. Nearby Mariacka (St Mary’s) Street has many stores, galleries and workshops of contemporary amber artists and, all over the city, there are multiple references to its amber heritage, including a football stadium which looks like a piece of Baltic amber. Once a year, at AMBERIF Gdańsk, Poland’s largest jewellery trade fair and the world’s largest amber show, amber jewellery is available in a uniquely huge selection and in the best quality. In 2020, we want to emphasize our position of a global leader in a special way by introducing a new layout in the hall dedicated to manufacturers of amber jewellery: from unique items, limited collections, to outdoor jewellery inspired by current trends in jewellery fashion. AMBERIF is not just about amber, with over half of its 470 exhibitors manufacturing original silver and gold jewellery, gemstones and fashion accessories. The Design Gallery with its unique design zone and art jewellery from nearly 70 Polish and European goldsmith artists is AMBERIF’s pièce de résistance. This specialised trade show is also an annual opportunity for influential meetings of experts from many areas of business, science and art, a venue for conferences, symposia and cultural events. The most important of them is the one-of-a-kind GDAŃSK AMBER LOOK jewellery&fashion gala, at which designers of original fashion and unique jewellery collections present their joint creations. Contemporary design is featured in AMBERIF DESIGN AWARD, an international design competition curated by Barbara Schmidt. This year’s theme of Ultimate Beauty prompts a reflection on the importance of aesthetics. The aim of the competition is to promote amber as an inspirational material for artistic interventions, with its main award being the Mayor of Gdańsk’s Prize of PLN 10,000. AMBERIF will see the premiere of the AMBER TRENDS exhibition and its accompanying picture book; also, awards will be presented in the exhibitor-dedicated AMBERIF SELECTION Most Innovative Product Competition. Come and meet us at AMBERIF, the 27th International Fair of Amber and Jewellery in Gdańsk, Poland, 18-21 March 2020. It’s good TO BE here! amberif.pl
Amberif 2019 GOLD MEDAL in the WORKMANSHIP EXCELLENCE Category ROZENBERG Maciej Rozenberg Bransoletta L'Orfeo Archeology by Maciej Rozenberg
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NEW FRESHWATER PEARLS – UPCOMING REVOLUTION When the first small nucleated freshwater pearls (7mm size) were shown in Hong Kong in autumn 2017 the fact was hardly noted in the jewellery press. But in 2018 larger amounts of these new pearls appeared on the market and it became obvious to the pearl trade players that it was the beginning of the revolution, which could dramatically change the cultured pearl market in the forthcoming years. What are these new pearls which fire the imagination of pearl trading companies? SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT BEAUTY It is the sphere that has been – for centuries - considered the most perfect shape, and perfectly spherical pearls have always been the most appreciated ones. The natural pearls have this most desired shape only very rarely as the process of forming the natural gem is purely accidental and its resulting shape is affected by many factors such as shape of the seed, initial placement and size of mantle tissue and disturbances of the mother of pearl layers creation. It is not surprising then that the pioneers of the pearl culture were searching a way of obtaining perfectly spherical gems, and the experiments aiming at improving the shape of the pearls have been conducted up to this day. In the case of seawater pearls the technique for obtaining perfectly shaped pearls was discovered at the beginning of XX century and has been commonly used since that time. But the freshwater mussels for decades resisted the man’s efforts to apply the same procedure and the pearls obtained from these species were only very rarely round. Two common techniques have been used in pearl culture for years:
1. Growing the pearls in the oyster’s gonads with the use of spherical nucleus implanted together with a piece of mantle tissue epithelium (mother of pearl producing cells). The nucleus plays a role of a shape pattern which enhances the probability that the resulting pearl will be perfectly round. 2. Growing non-nucleated pearls in the mantle of freshwater mussels. In this case, only the pieces of epithelium are implanted into the cuts made in the mantle (a muscle adjacent to the shell and covering the mussel organs). The technique allows to make up to 50 grafts, but attempts of using round nuclei have not been successful for many years. The pearl market in XX century was thus dominated by two types of distinct pearls – non-nucleated, mantle grown freshwater pearls produced in vast quantities (used mainly in popular jewellery) and more exclusive nucleated and gonad grown seawater pearls. The spherical shape was an attribute of the latter ones almost exclusively. THE FIRST MAJOR CHANGE – EDISON PEARLS (2012) The experiments aiming at obtaining spherical nucleated freshwater pearls were intensified at the beginning of this century and eventually resulted in success – gonad grown bead nucleated spherical shape freshwater pearls that came out in 2012. Offered by two Chinese companies, they appeared on the market under two different names – Edison and Ming, the first one becoming more popular and widely used. They were very different from what Chinese farmers had produced until that time – mostly round or semi round, sized from 10 to 20 mm, and supplied in much smaller numbers, as only one pearl could be grown in each mussel.
The high cost of production and limited supply resulted at very high prices at the beginning, comparable to their seawater counterparts. But the market success soon resulted in increasing the volumes produced and it took only 3 years for the new gems to reach the level of 30% of total freshwater pearl supply, so the prices dropped substantially. At the same time, the farmers stopped the production of non-nucleated pearls bigger than 10 mm, as Edison became a more attractive option. Small-sized freshwater pearls were however still produced with the use of the “traditional” method, as growing them in gonads would not be economically justified. Mantle grown pearls can be produced in bigger amounts, so the experiments with grafting nuclei to the mantle were still conducted. The success eventually came in 2018. NEW FRESHWATER PEARLS (2018) – THE REVOLUTION THAT WILL CHANGE THE MARKET Small freshwater nucleated pearls of a spherical shape were first shown in Hong Kong in 2017, and their first lots appeared on the market in 2018 offered under the names of “new freshwater pearls”, “Mini-Ming pearls” or just “freshwater nucleated pearls”. They are grown in the same shells together with the Edison/Ming pearls, and the process of production is as follows: 1. One-year-old mussels get the gonad grafting (epithelium + big nucleus) for the purpose of growing Edison/Ming pearl 2. After 18 months the same shells are opened again and get 10-15 mantle grafts (epithelium + small nucleus, usually 6-7 grafts to each wing of the mussel) 3. The pearls are harvested when the mussel is 4 years old and the result is one big gonad grown pearl and 10-15 small mantle grown pearls.
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The quality of nucleated freshwater pearls offered in strands in 2018 was still very far from you could get buying even medium quality Akoya pearls – although the shape was more regular than in the case of other FWP the gems were still not round, and the luster and quality of surface were low to medium.
The whole cycle is 3-4 years long, and the technique used for grafting is still kept secret. What we know from research done by SSEF 1) is that drilled nuclei are used, so we can guess that the epithelium is placed in the hole in the nucleus which probably helps to keep it adjacent to the bead when forming the pearl sac. In 2018 the pearls offered had the size range of 5-8.5 mm and sizes up to 10 mm
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are available now, so the nucleated freshwater pearls cover the whole range of 5-20 mm. The pearls have a relatively thick nacre, which is the reason why only a very small percentage of them are perfectly spherical. Anyway, they have more regular shapes than most of the” traditional”, non-nucleated ones. In the first lots offered in 2018, most of the pearls had smaller or
bigger imperfections on the surface, and the luster was not any better than in the case of the other freshwater pearls. They were offered at the prices comparable (or slightly higher) to top quality round non-nucleated pearls, but the quality factors (luster/ surface) still made me choose the later ones at that time. In 2019 much more of these new pearls appeared on the market and
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A handful of top-quality new freshwater pearls offered in 2018. Only a few of them were perfectly spherical. Most had spots on the surface, which made me choose traditional ones then, but the first results of the new technique are promising.
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Strands of natural pastel colour new freshwater pearls. The imperfections of shape are more visible at this photograph as pearls were photographed on a light (contrasting) background. Nevertheless, they seem to be a milestone when compared to most of the traditional FWP strands.
I could find some really good ones that met the high-quality standards established in our company. We can expect a growing supply of that top quality pearls together with expanding and maybe improving the use of the new technique. And when this happens the prices should also fall with increased supply. Pearl trading companies agree that this invention will change the market of freshwater pearls. WHAT CHANGES CAN WE EXPECT IN THE FUTURE? Any forecasts made on the basis of these early lots offered may be flawed, so probably no attempts to make them have been made so far. Anyway based on the present market situation one could hypothesize that the next decade may bring the following changes: 1. The traditional technique used for freshwater pearl growing will soon become obsolete, and the new freshwater pearls will be superseding the non-nucleated ones pretty fast. Increasing the scale of production will be much easier as the existing Edison/Ming pearl farms will provide the natural
base for growing new pearls to the benefit of the farmers. The latest environmental regulations in China will also favor quality over quantity production. 2. The prices of cheap button-shaped and drop-shaped freshwater pearls will substantially increase. Relationship between the price and the shape will become weaker as it is now in the case of seawater pearls. If the traditional technique is completely abandoned, the prices of these forms may even rise by 100-200% in the case of dropshaped pearls and by 300-600% in the case of buttons. This forecast is based on the analogy to price/ shape relations of seawater pearls which are all grown on nuclei. 3. The change of price structure will eventually hit the cheap pearl jewellery segment, where buttonshaped pearls are commonly used – the producers of such jewellery will have to raise the prices or accept very low-quality pearls. It will not happen fast as there is still a lot of low-quality drop-shaped and button-shaped pearls on the market, so the supply should be quite stable for the next few years
4. The use of seawater pearls in luxury jewellery does not seem to be threatened, as the characteristics of the new gems cannot compete with those of top quality seawater ones. Although the shape advantage will not be so visible, the luster of the best Akoyas seems to be difficult to achieve in the freshwater environment. However, the spread of prices between low and highquality Akoyas will certainly increase, as the new pearls will surely be an interesting alternative to the cheapest seawater ones. The next years will definitely be very interesting, and there is no doubt that the pearl market will experience big changes. Will they follow the path described above? We will see it quite soon. ■ Piotr Denejko pearl expert, member of Jewellery Experts Association (SRJ), Poland owner of Gemartis pearl trading company, Poland e-mail: gemartis@gmail.com
1) Hänni, H.A.(2018): “Mini Ming” Pearls ahead: a challenge for Akoya? The Journal of the Gemmological Association of Hong Kong, Volume XXXIX (2018), 34-35
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Aleksandra SZULC
THE DEPARTMENT OF JEWELLERY AT THE STRZEMINSKI ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS IN ŁÓDŹ
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By Olga PODFILIPSKAKRYSIŃSKA The Department of Jewellery at the Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź is the only place in Poland where education leading to a Bachelor or Master of Art in jewellery design has such a broad scope – primarily artistic, but also technological. Every June and September, several graduates leave the Department to set off their professional career in artistic jewellery after defending their degrees.
W
hat were the beginnings of teaching jewellery design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź? In 1959, so 60 years ago, a Haberdashery Ateiler was founded by Lena Kowalewicz-Wegner within the Study of Apparel, Haberdashery and Fashion Magazine Design of the State Art School (which later became the Władysław Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in 1996). The very person of the main instructor triggered a unique approach to the design of jewellery in the Studio. As an active painter, also delving into collages and sculptures, and a student
of Władysław Strzemiński, she saw jewellery as one of the areas of art, treating the creations as objects connected with the life space and shape of man. She wrote: “The basis for shaping contemporary jewellery is abstract-spatial-sculptural thinking.”1 Apart from organising the atelier and fighting a long battle for its proper perception and funding, Professor Kowalewicz-Wegner’s indisputable achievement lies in the introduction of a variety of materials – often production waste – into jewellery design; they were not treated by the artist as imitations and substitutes, but as legitimate resources always used with care and respect for their character. Another curious aspect was a repeatedly and distinctly drawn line between artistic thinking and craftsmanship, with the latter, according to Prof. Kowalewicz-Wegner, too often equated with artistic jewellery: “We do not teach crafts. We are a forge of abstract thinking, so of the best there is. By establishing mental foundations, we give the keys to solving any artistic problem.”2 At a 1 Helena. Lena Kowalewicz-Wegner and the Łódź Jewellery Design School, Exhibition Catalogue, ed. M Dzięgielewska, Łódź, 2016, p. 126 2
op.cit, p. 117
later date, the facility took the name of the Atelier of Fine Forms (precisely the Atelier of Fine Forms, Metal, Leather and Plastic Haberdashery), to be transformed after 1971 into the Atelier of Clothing and Jewellery Elements Design and later into the Atelier of Unique Jewellery. In 1972, a parallel Atelier of Fine Industrial Forms and Jewellery, led by Zygmunt Ogrodowczyk, was established at the Faculty of Fabrics and Clothing. During the first years of educational activity related to jewellery design in Łódź, the two ateliers hosted (apart from the head lecturers) a number of great artists working as assistants and lecturers, e. g., Andrzej Jocz, Barbara Rose, and, above all, Andrzej Szadkowski, who took over the leadership in 1984 and headed the already renamed Atelier of Jewellery and Haberdashery Design. Since 1985, another prominent figure shared the knowledge with the students – Prof. Andrzej Boss, currently leading the Atelier of Goldsmith Form at the Master’s level. Prof. Szadkowski was the first head of the Chair of Jewellery, established in 2002 and co-shaped with Prof. Andrzej Boss. The Chair was later headed by Prof. Andrzej Boss (20082016) and dr hab. Olga PodfilipskaKrysińska (2016-2019). There was
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Joanna MACH
Marcin NOWAK
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Martyna WOSZCZAK
Natalia PIETRZYKOWSKA
Sergiusz KUCHCZYŃSKI
another major change due to the restructuring of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, namely the creation of the Department of Jewellery in 2019, which triggered the growth of the unit’s autonomy. The Director of the Department is dr hab. Olga Podfilipska-Krysińska. Currently, the Department of Jewellery at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź is composed of five main design ateliers: Jewellery, Goldsmith Form, Enamel, Medal and Interdisciplinary Visual Activity. The scientific and technical staff of the Department is composed of Prof. Andrzej Boss, dr hab. Ewa EffenbergKaja, dr Jarosław Kolec, dr Sergiusz Kuchczyński, dr Michalina Owczarek, Tadeusz Michalak, Marcin Nowak, Sylwester Pietras, dr hab. Olga Podfilipska-Krysińska, Prof. Jolanta Wagner and dr Magdalena Walczak. Students discover the secrets of technology and materials science, computer-assisted design, ceramic and glass technology. They also learn how to set up and run their own jewellery business. Thorough general art education ensures that each student passes several semesters in ateliers dealing with drawing, painting, sculpture and composition; young artists are taught how to solve artistic problems so they can cope
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more efficiently with design and seem to avoid the “craftsman thinking,” so negatively assessed by Lena Kowalewicz-Wegner. The course of the studies also includes theoretical subjects, which help to understand both the past of art and humanistic thinking as well as comprehend the course of the history of designing objects, clothing and jewellery. Technological education at the Department is actually twofold – on the one hand, each student learns the basics of atelier work in creating jewellery in the conventional manner; on the other, acquires the skill of working with 3D design programmes, model creation and prototyping with 3D printers and digital machines. Regardless of the professional career path of young designers, they should be able to handle even the greatest challenges. The highly individual approach to young artists, respecting their particular character and creativity, has remained crucial and unchanged for almost 60 years. The programme of working with students is adjusted to each one’s skills and creative preferences. Just as in the previous decades, the pedagogical staff and studying youth see jewellery as an object of art, an item which exists under the conditions determined by a
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wide range of artistic decisions of the designer and in a form stemming from the relationship of jewellery with the life space and shape of each human being. We live in a world flooded with objects – some are cheap and poorly designed, there are also those with an interesting design which does not justify their existence anyway. Contemporary young designers face largely different problems and search for answers to questions considerably different than their peers who set off 10 years ago. This is another challenge the lecturers and students of the Department must overcome. Although we ask ourselves the question “is designing worth it?” more and more often, we also hear the answer of the young people more and more frequently; they say it is worth it, but design has to be perceived from a different perspective. Accurate and thoughtful design, respecting both the recipient and the world we live in, seems to be a response to the problems of our surroundings and the environment. Young designers want to create jewellery from materials that would be discarded otherwise, or items which, if designed correctly, become companions for many years. Respect for materials unnoticed by others, a concept introduced
by Prof. Lena Kowalewicz-Wegner, comes back now as a remedy for the problems around us. Related to the series of exhibitions entitled “Golden Creations” from 10 years ago, which summarised the 50 years of jewellery design at the Łódź Academy, the then Vice-Rector of AFA, Prof. Andrzej Szadkowski, wrote in his introduction to the Catalogue that the words of Lena Kowalewicz-Wegner “remain the centre of attention of the lecturers at the Łódź Department of Jewellery.”3 I can say that this statement undoubtedly holds true even after a very busy and creative decade. Despite the fact that a lot has changed in the last 10 years – the educational possibilities of the Department have grown noticeably, a whole series of changes related to the generational exchange of pedagogical and technical staff has taken place, the machinery and computer park have expanded, the offer aims at being state-of-the-art –it is the jewellery and new, insightful, abstract and artistic thinking about it that have always remained so crucial in our minds.
3 Golden Creations. Jubilee of the 50th anniversary of the art of jewellery design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, Exhibition Catalogue, ed. E. Effenberg, Łódź, 2008, p. 6
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“Legnica Jewellery Festival SILVER 2019”, awarded
LEGNICA SILVER FESTIVAL 2020 Legnica
SILVER Festival, one of the oldest (with over 40-yearlong history) and most important events presenting and documenting contemporary art of jewellery making, as every year, invites all lovers of jewellery to Poland in spring. This year's edition will take place from April to June, and the culmination of the event is planned for May 8 & 9. As always, the main event of the Festival is the thematic competition exhibition. This year the organizers have faced artists and designers with a difficult task, as the topic of the International Jewellery Competition is the poignant question: Still Human? Apart from the Competition show, as usual in Legnica, there will be exhibitions from the regular Festival series: About the Artists, Silver Schools and Debuts. Professor Andrzej Szadkowski, founder of the Jewellery Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, Marion Delarue and Delphine Perrache, both from France, will present their creative output as individual presentations. Studios from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava and from
the Faculty of Jewellery and Metal at the Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai will be presented as “silver schools”, while the debut show will belong to Luiza Mężyńska – a student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. A unique exhibition prepared for the Festival will be devoted to the work of Mieczysław Gryza – an artist, jeweller and performer who died in 2019 and who was associated with Legnica Festival for years. Legnica will also host the 6th edition of the international project “Extranalities”, initiated by Herman Hermsen and Timothy Carson, as well as the international “Ecosight”
competition, organised by the Amber Trip fair. The Jewellery Artists’ Association and the Amberif Fair in Gdańsk with their flagship exhibitions: “Presentations” and “Amberif Desing Award” respectively will also be present as regular guests of the Festival. The project devoted to the history of Polish contemporary jewellery, which started in 2019, will continue in 2020. The first part presented Polish jewellery from 1945-1979. This year’s exhibition aims to present in a crosssectional way the development of Polish goldsmithing industry from the 1st National Review of Jewellery Forms (1979) until the change of the event's formula to international (1999), emphasizing the role of Legnica as a centre for shaping trends in this field and documenting its achievements. And these are still not all the attractions prepared by the organisers. The Festival will include as many as 15 jewellery exhibitions, poster and photo exhibitions, a theoretical seminar, a jewellery show and a show of traditional goldsmithing techniques during the Museum Night, happenings, workshops and other events. ■
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Ewa Rachoń with jewellery designer Mariusz Gliwiński during the opening of Ambermart 2019. Photo by MTG SA
BALTIC AMBER. THE GREATEST PASSION OF EWA RACHON Anna SADO In the ranking of people who most contributed to the promotion of Baltic amber in the world, she would certainly take first place. Although many other people also have their invaluable and huge contribution, she definitely overcomes everyone in terms of commitment, selflessness and effectiveness in infecting others with her passion, i.e. amber.
Perhaps
everyone knows Ewa Rachon. Her face is probably the most recognisable among Polish personalities associated with Baltic amber. She has been the Director
of AMBERIF, the International Fair of Amber, Jewellery and Gemstones, since 1994, and the Director of AMBERMART, the International Amber Fair, since 2000, and honoured many jewellery trade fairs in the world with her presence. Being the greatest and most recognisable Ambassador of Amber and the Polish amber industry, able to make it attractive like hardly anyone, she made the right assumption that amber is so beautiful that it leaves no one indifferent. She learned this feeling well from an autopsy – if it were otherwise, work would remain just a job for her, while it has become a great passion from the very beginning. This love, combined with the conviction of the legitimacy of her
aim, made it everything possible for her. When she came up with the idea of an Amber Fabergé Egg for the city of Gdansk, she did not give up until she reached what she had strived for (although many expressly voiced doubts over her). The first thing to do was contact Victor Mayer from Pforzheim, which had exclusive rights to design, manufacture and sell Fabergé jewellery all over the world. What happened next probably surprised her: the wife of the company’s owner, Heidrun MohrMayer, turned out to be born in Gdansk, and immediately welcomed the idea (besides, this marked the beginning of a beautiful friendship between the ladies). This is how the Millennium Fabergé Egg was created and donated
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the energy of talented people that determines the attracting power of amber.” Ewa, thank you for giving us an opportunity to be with you in this wonderful amber capsule of time and we hope that our amber – and social – paths will cross again more than once in the future.
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ADAM PSTRĄGOWSKI, PRESIDENT OF S&A JEWELLERY DESIGN Ewa Rachon has always been and will remain the ambassador of Polish producers in the jewellery industry, and for me personally, she is an advocate and friend of amber, which she praised in the world at every opportunity. I am convinced
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to say that the urban project titled Gdansk – the World Capital of Amber was launched in 2006 on the basis of assumptions developed in 2004 and was included in Gdansk Development Strategy by 2015. Ewa Rachon, along with a team of five experts in the field of manufacturing, trade and art, created the concept of Amberif and Ambermart and by 2019 had a decisive impact on the development of both events. Today they are the most important platforms for the presentation and promotion of products made of Baltic amber and their producers in the world as well as Baltic amber itself through, among others, seminars, fashion shows and international competitions. But amber means much more to her than just trade fairs – it means being active in many other fields: she is a founding member of the International Amber Association (in the years 20032011 acting as the vice president) and a co-founder of the National Chamber of Amber Commerce. She participated in projects aimed at developing a uniform naming of Baltic amber and its certification as well as in the works of the International Amber Association (IAA) for the International Coloured Gemstone Association (ICA), co-creating publications on Baltic amber. She has a member of the World Amber Council since its founding in 2006. For involvement in the promotion of Baltic amber, she has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the title of Amber Personality of the Year 2002 and the Medal of the Mayor of the City of Gdansk (2013), the Distinction by the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship for the promotion of amber heritage and design (2013) as well as the Bronze Cross of Merit of the President of the Republic of Poland (2013). To sum up the 25th anniversary of Amberif in 2018, she wrote: “How do I see the 25 years of Amberif? Probably as a magical drop of amber, the capsule of time that passes, and at the same time develops and grows more beautiful, arousing curiosity and drawing in more and more fanciers. And there is no way to free yourself. Some say it is ionization, others that it is succinic acid, while I think, it is
Adam Pstrągowski
that Ewa has permanently left a mark in the history of building Amberif as the largest amber event in the world. One could list many of her credits and talk about her contribution to the promotion of our environment. Yet the most important thing is that she never refused support, she was the voice of producers and artists creating globally recognised Polish design. I know that Ewa Rachon is the one and only, but we would all like to have as many such Ewas as possible – humanly wonderful and strongly involved in building the recognition of the Designed in Poland brand. MARCIN TYMIŃSKI, PRESIDENT OF GOLDSMITHING ARTIST’ ASSOCIATION I remember my first Amberif show, and I can’t believe that after 26 years Ewa Rachon will not be there anymore ... How was Amberif different from other shows? Definitely, the atmosphere! Such an atmosphere could be created by only exceptional commissioners, engaged in their work that they understood as building
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to Gdansk on the 1000th anniversary of the city, today being one of the most important and most admired exhibits of the Amber Museum in Gdansk. There are many more exhibits that got to this institution thanks to her. Before the city of Gdansk decided to establish the museum in 2000, she kept on repeating over several years that a city famous for its amber traditions must have its own amber museum and that it should be established by amber craftsmen. To set a good example, she was one of the first to donate several pieces of jewellery from her private collection to the newly opened facility and thus “infected” many others with this action. In this way, the foundations for contemporary and natural collections were created at the Amber Museum in Gdansk. Anyway, Ewa occurs in many places where something related to amber or dedicated for amber is happening – when the private Amber Museum in Krakow was opened in 2014, she also donated a unique gift from her private collection. Whether in Gdansk, Krakow, Kaliningrad or Rivne, Vilnius or Copenhagen, Baltic amber is our common good after all and we should care for it as best we can. Ewa lives on amber, thinks on amber, feels on amber and works on amber – a large part of her life, not only professional, revolves around amber and the opportunity to show people how wide and beautiful the world is. And in Gdansk, the World Capital of Amber, which gained this title also through her commitment and development visions, which already in 2001, she described in her postgraduate thesis concluding her studies in marketing and PR, which dealt with the issue of creating the image of amber as the Polish national brand. 20 years ago she wrote about creating the image of amber, including such elements as the use of experience and secular traditions, the use of natural raw material in jewellery, fine art creativity based on improved professional and artistic education, combining amber only with precious jewellery materials and certification of raw material guaranteeing safe business transactions, as well as about the need for a stronger identification of Gdansk with amber. Suffice it
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Marcin TYMIŃSKI
relationships with exhibitors and even visitors. For her, people were always the most important, and so we always felt it. Thanks to this, for her and for us, Amberif has become something more than just a workplace. And work has become an even greater passion! ELŻBIETA SONTAG, FACULTY OF BIOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY / LABORATORY MUSEUM OF AMBER INCLUSIONS Ewa never had a shadow of doubt that amber is not only jewellery and that at the show dedicated to amber jewellery there is also room for inclusions, and so from the initial editions Amberif was accompanied by the Paleontological Gallery (then Paleoentomological). The opening of Amberif to the world of science undoubtedly enriched the event greatly, which quickly became an important centre for meetings of scientists from around the world and presenting the current state of research, as well as a place for networking and even establishing international friendships. This “human” factor is extremely important. For her the show was not a place, but people who came to this place. And she knew how to take care of them so that they would like to come back to Gdansk every year. Elżbieta Sontag
PH.D., D.SC.,ENG. EWA WAGNERWYSIECKA, GUT PROFESSOR FACULTY OF CHEMISTRY, DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND TECHNOLOGY OF FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS GDANSK UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Ewa Rachon is a magical and energetic person, endowed with incredible charisma. Ewa believes that amber is extraordinary, just as people can be extraordinary. She has the gift of gathering people around her. Without this quality, it would be impossible to create such incredible events as Amberif and Ambermart, where natural history speaks from every place through the voice of producers, artists and scientists. Apparently, each of them perceives amber differently: jewellery, the material to manufacture a piece of work, life trapped in inclusions, or finally a substance with unique properties. However, Ewa made the show not just a trade event. It has become a place where we learn about amber, where we also learn about each other. We who all are connected by amber. Thanks to Ewa Rachon, science is also an important element of the phenomenal organism – the international amber show in Gdansk. In countless creative discussions and conversations, we search for answers to questions posed by amber. I have experienced this many times, when co-creating the Amber Laboratory for over 10 years at the Amberif and Ambermart shows, and recently also continuing the scientific Amber Seminars initiated by Wieslaw Gierlowski and Professor Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz. It was at the show that many inspirations for actions and many friendships were initiated, which also last as national and international scientific contacts. The Amberif and Ambermart shows, a globally recognised work that
has been developing by Ewa Rachon for many years, confirm that amber unites – regardless of the perspective from which we perceive it. Ewa, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all these years. JOANNA GRĄŻĄWSKA, HEAD OF THE AMBER MUSEUM IN GDANSK Since the establishment of the Amber Museum in Gdansk, that is for twenty years, Ewa Rachon has been our ambassador. Having direct contact with artists, she actively encourages them to supplement the museum collection with gifts. She admits that the jewellery she passed to the museum collection, i.e. seven artistic works, is an example of her commitment to museum collections. Ewa Rachon assisted our institution as a member of the Amber Museum Council and an expert. She gave opinions on purchases of works from contemporary artists as part of obtaining grants from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Her contribution to the process of founding the Amber Museum and its collections is enormous and worth reminding.
Joanna Grążąwska
Ewa WagnerWysiecka
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TRADITIONAL FOOD PRODUCTS OF SAMBIA AND INNOVATIONS WITH COMPONENTS OF BALTIC AMBER
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Sergey PETROV, the CSTI of Amber Association Expert, Kaliningrad, Russia Among many delights of life, the culture of food consumption holds a special place. Food should be not only useful and accessible, but also pleasant. The ancient country of Sambia (now its territory is the Baltic part of the Kaliningrad region) for centuries had many original products, including those with amber — the gift of nature. Amber is virtually the only survived messenger from the Earth's rebirth period. “Amber witnessed global disasters and the perfect, Eden-like period on the Earth, it absorbed the life experience, the smells and tastes of the ancient worlds' riches.” With evolution a man was changing, and so was the attitude towards amber. As we know from different documents and stories, multiple amber properties were most researched by medieval alchemists. The Jesuits collected the bits of information from around the globe and cherished the knowledge about the usage of “amber magic”. They deliberately encrypted their recipes to pass their experience on only to chosen, because food is an everyday necessity and a “life medicine”, not only for the body, but for the soul. Amber balsamic vinegar
AMBER BREWED PRODUCTS AMBER MEAD The use of amber in brewery by numerous druid tribes was first mentioned in the Orthodox pastors' reports in the 13th century. Amber mead was used in celebrations and offerings to the tribes' gods of nature. Amber was burned in rituals, and crushed amber was used as a medicine. The Curonians mentioned the healing properties of amber in their legends and in the amber's name — “gintars medicinal”. In 40 days, a mead properly fermented would become a wonderful product with good preservation properties because of its numerous salts and acids, including a succinic (amber) acid, that are usually present in the original nectars and honeys. Why are brewed meads worth noticing? Firstly, they have a complete set of all necessary vitamins and minerals. Secondly, it is the energy of life and a way of treatment. Thirdly, with the help of meads a person can easily “go beyond the boundaries of a material world”.
AMBER VODKA “OSOBAYA” (THE SPECIAL) Honey alcohols, extracted from a natural amber mead, are used as a source material. A pilot batch of the product was made in 2018 with the use of natural Baltic amber. Alcohol content not less than 45%. The recipe gives a specific soft amber taste and a unique delicate aroma of the “ancient amber forests”. The vodka has hangover healing properties and an energizing effect. It is recommended for military personnel working in extreme conditions. AMBER HONEY. AN INNOVATIVE WAY OF BEE-KEEPING Of course, there are no nectars and honey components in amorphous raw amber. We are talking about the use of modern biotechnology. In other words, our bees make amber honey themselves. Our enterprises produce natural succinic acid, which we taught our bees to use as a honey-acid fertilizer. The process of bee domestication was not fast (it took several years), but, after all, we get 2000 kg of a unique product annually.
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Brandenburg-Ansbach. His mother Sophia Jagiellon was the daughter of Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon. Albrecht's great-grandfather is Jogaila, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Jogaila's mother was the Russian Princess, Ulyana of Tver. Thanks to access to the Venetian schools technologies, the Duke's AMBER BREAD doctor and researcher Andreas The use of amber in baking was first Aurifaber (1513-1599), using alchemy, mentioned in the source claiming that Ancient knowledge of the benefits of amber created an elixir which provides “the Novgorodian monks saved their correlation of corporal harmony and, flock from hunger and death, when as a result, brings “salvation”. The fifth there was no sun for three years, and crops did not bring element of the elixir creation was amber (succinum). the harvest.” With the knowledge of the past and technologies of the Having connection with Prussians in the Hanseatic League, modern S. S. Savkevich's school, we present the renovation. in the dashing years, monks thought of mixing a small amount Amber Elixir is obtained by distilling natural amber honey and of crushed amber brought by merchants from Sambia with their powder of certain varieties of amber. The high quality of this own flour to get flat breads that could be stored for several honey-amber alcohol is due to the new technology of a shortyears without molding. The secret is that special varieties of term usage of amber filtration, that is capable to keep excellent natural succinite contain fungicidal compounds. Thanks to our taste and bioactive properties of the product: the elixir's high experience, we have found the optimal ratio, and presented energetic level and the perfect blend like good cognacs have. amber bread that have a five years shelf life in our Museum The properties described above distinguish Amber Elixir of Crafts in Kulikovo! from other products produced by dissolving succinic acid in Amber food flour can be used for cooking and fish smoking. ethyl alcohols, or infusing amber on ordinary ethyl alcohols. Due to the special thermodynamic properties of amber flour, Amber Elixir has a golden amber color, colorful sweet taste, fish and meat retains juiciness and all nutritional components. and the unique delicate aroma of the ancient amber forests. Thanks to amber, food acquires distinctive taste qualities and Raw plant materials, honey, water and amber for our Sambia can be called a special Sambian food product. brand products are obtained in Sambia, on the coast of the Amber balsamic vinegar is a completely natural product Baltic sea. Here, changes in weather and seasons continue made by long-term blending of amber honey (see description repeating the usual pattern which has been contributing to the above) and brewed amber mead. production and aging of amazing herbs, plants, water, honey As a result of soft long-term fermentation and strengthening, and balsamic products for centuries. Hundreds of our various amber vinegar gains strength and concentration in three to nine products disperse all around the world to be appreciated by years. The youngest, 3-year-old vinegar is perfect for salads the connoisseurs of the amber world, and every year they wait and vegetable dishes. There are different balsamic products for the new vintages. of Sambia brand that emphasize their aroma and give a unique taste depending on the variety of amber and types of herbs. Ancient map of the location Amber tea is a Sambian drink prepared from the leaves of of amber modern tea plants and natural Baltic amber pre-processed at low temperatures. Only natural succinite and its special varietes (total 126) has a sufficient concentration of amber salts and ethers that can Amber Distillery essentially enrich the taste of beverages. If we take the age of amber into account, we can rightly call it “a heavenly drink”. Tea is brewed in a traditional way: all you need is a bag of our tea and a cup of warm water (above 70 degrees Celsius). You shouldn't boil the tea because you can spoil its taste. One bag can be used 1-2 times, just like the ordinary tea. According to the tests of experts, amber tea acts as an active stimulant of cellular immunity and is effective for women's health, and also it strengthens the heart muscle. It can be prescribed by doctors for rehabilitation after operations, withdrawal from binge drinking, drug intoxication, and asthma attacks. Reaching a particular concentration, tea can be used as a stimulant of metabolism for athletes and military personnel. Of course, these short descriptions of our products should Amber Elixir is the essence product, which is the highest mention the great experience of our cluster partnership form of mastery of connecting modern technologies and specialists who work to create unique products, mainly for their alchemical researches of Albrecht, Duke of Prussia (1490friends. The human factor is extremely important in the long 1568). Albrecht was born on May, 17 in 1490 in Ansbach. His process of producing amber elixirs and products, shrouded father was Frederick I of Hohenzollern, the Margrave of in countless mysteries, large and small.
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Talking about brewed amber meads, we need to take into account quickly digestible honey carbohydrates as well as the presence of natural succinic acids. They help maintaining vigour in the elderly, especially when oxygen does not feed the body effectively enough.
SILVAMEX Andrzej Szczypior ul. Kielnieńska 60 80-299 Gdańsk, Poland Tel. (48) 58 5209700 Fax (48) 58 5209701 Mobile. (48) 501 236895
20—24 May, 2020 2019 statistics: Exhibition space 24 000 Exhibitors - 559 Visitors - 19 895 Trade buyers - 4 292 JUNWEX NEW RUSSIAN STYLE exhibition, organized by MediaHolding JUNWEX, was established in 2002. Since then it has grown
Organizer: Media-Holding JUNWEX
and became key middle-year event in Russian jewellery industry. During the show, companies present latest spring-summer collections and new trends for local market. All type of fine jewellery can be found at the show - from silver and fashion jewellery to high-end and premium jewellery pieces, made by local jewellers.
5, Lodejnopolskaya str. Saint-Petersburg Russia 197 110
All-Russian Jewellery Competition - is the event that supports Russian manufacturers and gives trade buyers better understanding of what is really worth buying because jewellery items are chosen by Supreme Expert Board, formed by jury members of the competition who are honored art-specialists from Kremlin
Tel.: 007 (812) 303 98 69 ext. 55 95 E-mail: overseas@junwex.com
Museums, The Hermitage, Russian Museum. Exhibition is settled in a modern venue of Pavilion 75 on VDNH (119, Prospect Mira, Moscow), located in a large green park, very close to the downtown and underground station VDNH.
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Dmitry KAZANTSEV and Alina STAROVOITOVA
THE TREASURES of ST. PETERSBURG: JEWELRY EXHIBITION We’re here today to welcome you to the Northern Capital of Russia to an extraordinary jewelry exhibition called “Treasures of St. Petersburg”. So, what makes it extraordinary? First of all, it is located at the city’s old mansions and palaces that used to see the key persons of the Russian Empire, the luxurious balls and receptions. The NaryshkinTrubetskoy Mansion, the Princess Yusupova Palace and the Chancellor Bezborodko Palace will open their halls to host collections of jewelry companies and craftsmen from Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia and Finland.
The Project team includes 12 professionals headed by Mr Dmitry Kazantsev and Ms Alina Starovoitova. Now, we have some questions for Mr. Dmitry Kazantsev, the General Director of the exhibition.
The
Treasures of St. Petersburg is usually held monthly for 4 days. Such an unusual format was developed by ArtExplorer Group in 2014 and has been successfully implemented since then. The project is in high demand both among visitors and participants. At least 100 factories and designers participate in each exhibition; apart from gold and silver jewelry, they produce pieces of plastic and lapidary art, art weapons, silverware, etc.
Hello Dmitry. Could you tell us how you came up with the idea of your exhibition? Our company has been operating since 2008. First, our main activity was holding antiques and art auctions. In 2014, we decided to expand the auction format and complement the pre-auction exhibition of antique lots with an exhibition of unique gifts from contemporary artists, craftsmen and jewelers. Just after the first such exhibition, we realized that the jewelry trend was the most promising, so we followed it and made jewelry exhibitions a separate project. At that
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moment, St. Petersburg had no large retail jewelry exhibitions. Right with the pilot, we managed to gain the trust of the participants, which was the key point for the further development. Project by project, we are improving the advertising campaign and expanding the customer base. Today, about 20,000 people visit our exhibitions. Every exhibited object is an implementation of fine designer jewelry art. Yet to enhance the effect, it was decided to locate all the exhibitions in the city palaces closed for visiting or sightseeing outside the exhibitions. So, The Treasures of St. Petersburg lets its residents and visitors find the treasures of the city history. Typical visitors to your exhibitions, what are they? Most of our visitors are tourists from the regions and from abroad during holidays and in summer. Jewelry is valuable and understandable in any world culture. Still, our main guests are local people.
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No surprise they are mostly women (over 60%), but men also like to visit our exhibitions to choose a jewelry gift for their darlings, their friends, or just for themselves. The exhibition is divided into several sections. There are premium halls of exclusive jewelry collections – for those looking for something unusual and sophisticated and ready to pay the price. But there are sections of more affordable manufacturers as well. They are for those whose shopping is not that expensive, yet more frequent. Many our buyers (13%) visit our every single exhibition, each time trying to find exactly what they are looking for. Still, our visitors always buy high quality and original design at any price. Usually we exhibit 100 to 250 companies and craftsmen offering items of various techniques and for various prices. So diverse are our visitors. Jewelry exhibitions are not your only development trend, are they?
Well, they are definitely the key trend. For 5 years, we have had over 70 exhibitions of various themes. We’ve started a shop of designer jewelry and gifts, “Sokrovischa Shop” (“Treasure Shop”); it sells modern jewelry and arts and crafts (including those by our exhibitors – at their retail prices, i.e. free of any extra charges). We’ve also launched a focused online store selling designer jewelry and gifts of some our exhibitors. At this point, we are focusing on our growth within the field. So, what’s the next milestone? Any new projects, any new fruits waiting to ripe? What is in development? Our short-term plans are developing a chain store. Here, our main objectives are wider range of products and more retailing units. As for the exhibitions, they are our daily work. Each new exhibition event has its improvements. We are discussing the prospects and opportunities for entering the regional market.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / RUSSIAN JEWELLERY REPORT
BUSINESS INSIGHTS / RUSSIAN JEWELLERY REPORT
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RUSSKIYE SAMOTSVETY
“JEWELRY GARDEN” PRESENTS JEWELLERY OF ST. PETERSBURG St. Petersburg with its historical past, magnificently splendid architecture and unique spirit could not not determine the emergence of the best jewellery traditions in this city, related to such jewellers as C. Fabergé, C. Bolin, H. Kemmerer. Modern companies and artists-jewellers of St. Petersburg respect the traditions of the Russian school of jewellery while moving forward at the same time: they improve technologies, use new equipment and materials along the traditional ones. For this reason, new trends and formats emerge in jewellery.
Р
УССКИЕ САМОЦВЕТЫ (“RUSSKIYE SAMOTSVETY”) should be distinguished. Its history goes back to the distant year of 1912. Currently it is a modern technological company, where handcrafting is still practiced alongside modern technologies. “Gemstones” enthrals lovers of jewellery crafts with the splendour of its pottery, embodied by silver and colourful enamel used in interesting plastic, jewellery adornments conveying the spirit of C. Fabergé. Alongside the large ones, small companies develop their activities as well. For instance, one of them – “ANNA NOVA”. Its brand reflects the best traditions of gemstone carving. It is of
great importance to the jewellery of Russia, because this trend in particular has been developed in the Ural region and the Northern Capital. Scenes of life made of stone, fragile flowers, figurines – all of it is embodied in stone by the hands of artisan-wizards and it is the pride of the stone carving school. Another fascinating company - ЕКАТЕРИНА КОСТРИГИНА („Ekaterina Kostrigina“). Here, the old techniques organically intertwine with the new, modern methods of art. The company has gathered true artists into a team, gemstone carvers, enamel craftspeople, the works of whom amaze and bewitch. Modern world is moving forward and alongside the traditional jewellery new trends and technologies emerge. They are entertained by young designers and design brands in their pieces. A design brand “Idoll” presents one of the modern trends, where all pieces are made of metal frames and polymer clay which allows to mould shocking, realistic forms. The adornments of a brand “Caviar Jewellery” have been used in the making of“Matilda” a film by Alexei Uchitel, which caused quite a stir throughout Russia. Extremely brutal pieces of a brand “OSSA” which uses silver, sapphires, kornerupine, rauch topazes for its adornments are also worth mentioning. The world is moving forward, and with it the jewellery of St. Petersburg – very traditional and very extreme at the same time. All that is left is to wish that there is enough space for all trends of the manifold jewellery of the Northern Capital.
RUSSKIYE SAMOTSVETY
www.jewelrygarden.ru
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EKATERINA KOSTRIGINA
CAVIAR JEWELLERY
OSSA Jewellery
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IDOLL
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ANNA NOVA
BUSINESS INSIGHTS / FINNISH JEWELLERY REPORT
Petri JÄRVINEN. CEO of GSW Finland
POSITIVE VIBES
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AT THE FINNISH FAIR 19.-20.10.2019 At the Gold, Silver & Watch –fair a very positive feeling was apparent. 52 exhibitors from different countries were participating. Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania and Great Britain were represented by several companies. The venue close to the Vantaa Helsinki airport is convenient for visitors from abroad, and also for Finnish visitors from other towns than the capital.
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GOLD, SILVER & WATCH Fair 2019
The
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2-day fair was clearly more popular to be visited on Saturday, but the informative short speeches on Sunday were also popular. Hundreds of shop owners, buyers and other interested visited the fair, and more than 200 companies were represented. The visitors were mainly interested in checking out new trends, brands, learning to know the people behind the companies, but of course, also business was made. Maybe orders weren’t streaming like in the ”good old days”, but the exhibitors didn’t have to leave emptyhanded. The short speeches held on Sunday was seen as a new fresh input. Topics discussed were social media, lab-grown diamonds, the security of the jewellers and some stories about well-known brands in the business. The more unofficial part of the weekend was held as a cocktail party on Saturday evening. Music, food, and drinks made the evening a nice gettogether and the feeling was closer to a family reunion than an official business party. Even though the jewellery shops are having a rough time overall, they were very satisfied with the outcome of the fair. A lot of new products were introduced, as well as totally new companies presenting new products that could be attractive for the jewellery shops. The customers were also pleased with the extra money worth offers, Christmas campaigns, and custom made packages that were offered. Best of all was still to meet all the people face to face and getting to know each other better. Nowadays the business is more often made only by email and you have no idea of how your contact person looks like. CONTINUING THIS YEAR 31.10-1.11.2020 The positive feedback ensured that there will be a Finnish jewellery fair also in the future. The organizer is more than happy to get more feedback, proposals, and ideas to make the fair even better this year. Most of the 2019-exhibitors already booked themselves into this year fair. We will be seeing exhibitors from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, and Russia and of course, most of the exhibitors will be Finnish companies. The organizer made a poll after the last fair asking the exhibitors and visitors opinion about the date of the fair. The main opinion was that the fair could preferably be held on the weekend of All Saints’ Day. This year the date for the fair is accordingly 31.10 – 1.11.2020.
Gold, Silver & Watch -fair SCANDIC HELSINKI AVIACONGRESS Near Helsinki-Vantaa airport Robert Huberin tie 4, 01510 VANTAA, Finland gswmessu@gmail.com
Welcome as exhibitor or guest to our next fair at 31.10-1.11.2020 More information www.goldsilverwatch.fi Petri Järvinen +358 400 530 541 gswmessu@gmail.com
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FINNISH JEWELLERY ART ACKNOWLEDGED WITH PRESTIGIOUS STATE AWARD Henrik KIHLMAN Taidehalli Tampere 2014. Photo: Jenni Sokura
Jewellery artists have, during the last fifteen years, strengthen their position in the finnish jewellery scene by working together in the Finnish Jewellery Art Association that was founded in Lappeenranta 2005. This determined work has resulted in recognition on the highest level with the awarding of the state prize of design in 2019. HOW DID IT ALL START? One of the first major manifestations in jewellery art in Finland was a big exhibition, KORU 1 (JEWELLERY 1), organized by the Lappeenranta Art Museum and South Carelia Polytechnic in 2003. The exhibition became quite successful and received a good amount of publicity in the press. So much that it was decided that the concept should continue and new KORU exhibitions
were planned for the future. However the organizers felt that it would be useful with some additional help from the jewellery community in the hard and time consuming work of organizing exhibitions. Due to an education program in jewellery art at the South Carelia Polytechnic in the city of Lappeenranta the region hosted a small, but active, community of jewellery artists. In the year of 2005 a group of twenty artists decided to form an association for jewellery art. The purpose of the newly formed association was to promote Finnish jewellery art in general, to lecture and educate and to help with organizing bigger events, such as exhibitions. The association is open for jewellery artists but also for non-artists that have an interest in jewellery art and want to help promote the cause. Today we can count 104 members.
TAKING OVER AS ORGANIZER
The successful KORU exhibitions continued with the follow-ups KORU 2, 2006, KORU 3, 2009, and KORU 4, 2012. When it was time for
KORU 5 in 2015 the time was ripe to let over the whole responsibility for the exhibitions to the association. This was a major step forward in the work of promoting Finnish jewellery art. The group is now an independent performing unit attracting new members to join. The work becomes purposeful and the exhibitions are starting to circulate in various
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / FINNISH JEWELLERY REPORT
WAYS OF INFLUENCING There are many ways of promoting your agenda. A small association with limited financial resources need to use its creativity. Lectures and small happenings is a natural part of the activity but apart from officially participating in various events unofficial means have also been used. Flash mobs are one of them. During fairs and other events members of the association have dressed up in unison dress code and marched around the event wearing their jewellery pieces visibly for the public to see. Apart from getting the attention of people it is a very good way of really showing the jewellery being worn instead of looking at it in a showcase which is the normal case in exhibitions. INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITY Most of the activities has so far been directed to a domestic public. The series of KORU exhibitions have been shown only in Finland but of course the goal for the future is to have them circulate internationally as well. In the year of 2014 a seminar “Jewellery Art Seminar” aimed at
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www.korutaideyhdistys.fi
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PROJECTS FOR THE FUTURE At the moment focus is set on the upcoming exhibition KORU 7 that will open in 2021. Planning for the following KORU 8 in 2024 has also already started. The activity is, with the growing experience, becoming more professional. The state design award of 14000 € brings a major relief to the association and will enable a broader field of activity. Getting official recognition for the work done so far opens up new doors for the future. Jewellery art is on the rise and the association has been growing steadily. Being able to employ a manager would be a dream come true. So far everything has been done on a voluntary basis and having a designated person to coordinate the projects would be of great importance and it would also help to ensure the continuity. The founding of the Jewellery Art Association fifteen years ago has been a major step in establishing jewellery art as an art form equal to the other art forms in Finland. It has been a long and rocky road, but step by step we can see results of the work done. The press and the public has taken an interest in the exhibitions and the activity of the artists has not gone by unnoticed. Right now we look at the future with good hope and confidence.
The Finnish Jewellery Art Association stand at the International Handwerksmesse Munchen, 2010. Photo: Anna RIKKINEN
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MAIN OBJECTIVES As mentioned earlier the objective of the activity is to make jewellery art known for a larger public. To achieve that goal the association has provided smaller exhibitions with its members. They have given lectures on different occasions and, maybe the most visible, participated in different art and design fairs as a group. Participating in the modern art event “Art Helsinki” in connection to Habitare fair for interior decorating and design in Helsinki has brought good attention on jewellery art. Being present at art fairs has eventually opened a new market for contemporary jewellery art. In previous years the state collections of art did not include jewellery art. This door has now opened and now jewellery has become a part of those prestigious collections.
an international jewellery public was held at the Design Museum in Helsinki. Eighteen Finnish jewellery artists had the opportunity to make a short presentation of their work for the audience. The presentations were followed by general discussions. Present at the seminar was representatives from many important jewellery galleries such as Coda Museum Apeldoorn in Holland and the Jewellery Museum in Pforzheim in Germany. These contacts that emerged from the seminar have already resulted in a cooperation between the parties. So far the association has presented itself on the international arena by participating with a stand in the International Handwerksmesse in in Munich 2010.
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museums in Finland. Organizing events of this magnitude creates a lot of work and this way of working together for a purpose you cherish also strengthens the group as a whole.
KORU5 – International jewellery art exhibition, Imatra Art Museum, 2015. Photo: KORUTAIDEYHDISTYS
KORU5 – International jewellery art exhibition, Imatra Art Museum, 2015. Photo: KORUTAIDEYHDISTYS
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / TIBETA N JE W ELLERY R EPORT
TIBETAN AMBER COMMUNITY Interview with Sonam SANGPO
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skin care, it helps to keep your body energetic.
Jamga, G.Guntorius, Zado, Sonam Sangpo
What amber means to you, what is its value in your country? Tibetans believe that among all mineral gemstones, amber is an incredible stone that is so smoothly soft and its natural scent is so pleasant that you want to breathe it over and over again. The attractions of its different colours, sizes, shapes, and smell show the beauty of our Mother Earth and its nature. Amber has been one of so well known by intentional jewellery lovers and it is an indispensable ornament in Tibetan society in the past several thousands of years so far we know. We have been using amber as an ornament for both humans and as well as for Buddhist statues as we offer precious objects for thanking God of being serving our World. As Tibet has so many different regional provinces, we use amber in different ways of wearing because we believe that amber has so many significant health benefits, such as it helps to get rid of bad breath, it is good for your
Where you find your buyer, your partners? As being a Tibetan I have so many international market experiences in gemstones business, especially I got so many good opportunities here in Europe amber markets and especially here in Lithuania, I feel amazed and I was warmly welcoming this Vilnius Amber Trip exhibition organizers and I got many good friends of the amber business. I feel so good coming here and I wish we can promote the market of amber in the future. Which other stones do you work? I mainly do the business of Himalayan art, for example, Dzi beads, Buddhist art, all kinds of antique things, including jewellery, for
example, corals, ambers, turquoise, etc. I buy so many different shapes, colours and size ambers. What a memorable amber jewellery you have bought? The biggest old amber necklace I have ever bought was 2500 grams total. What is the hardest part in being in this business? I have been in touch with ambers' experiences I think around more than 25 years, I mean like since I was a little child we used to wear ambers when I was in Tibet. The hardest part of the amber business is not to meet the honest business dealer. I mean some people sell hitting ambers in coloured and looks old but in fact new beads in coloured, and some people sell pressed ambers for high price telling that it’s old. And also market changes up and down which is so hard sometimes. What was the worst decision you think you took in this business? The worst decision I made in the amber business was in 2014-2015. I bought so many very top quality old ambers and I kept them for a better price which I didn’t sell for good profits. And then suddenly at the beginning of 2016 amber market gone half price down in China and in Tibet which made me big loses.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / AMBER TRIP CLUSTER REPORT
QATAR ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS A MAJOR PLAYER IN GLOBAL AMBER INDUSTRY Hussain AHMAD
The huge success of the second Katara International Amber Exhibition has made Qatar a prominent member of the international amber community, said international expert and CEO and General Manager of Amber Trip Giedrius Guntorius, an annual amber exhibition held in Lithuania, and one of the biggest amber exhibitions in the world.
“It is kahraman everywhere,” G. Gun torius said, referring to the Arabic word for amber. “I am visiting this show for the first time and I am really excited to see that this country has a strong and deep amber culture like my own country Lithuania. It’s a kahraman life in Doha,” he added. The second edition of the amber exhibition with participants from 13 countries and more than 90 stalls showcasing an array of exciting amber products concluded recently. The second amber exhibition in Qatar is a testament to the huge popularity and acceptance of the first show. “It’s easy to organise a first show. You can do it and forget it if you want, but to organise it a second time, and which means to continue it in the coming years, means something else. This shows the first show was a huge achievement. I thank
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said the annual exhibition at Katara would help promote the amber tradition in Qatar and enhance the country’s position in the global amber industry.
Katara Cultural Village for inviting me to this exhibition,” he said. G. Guntorius, who has been in the amber industry since early 1990s, said that Qatar’s huge interest in amber will be reflected in the increased participation from this country in Amber Trip to be held in Lithuania from March 11 to 14.
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G. Guntorius
“Last year, we had around 20 participants from Qatar in the show and this year we are expecting 50 individuals and companies to participate”, he said. “We have more visitors from Middle East this year and will have special prayer rooms at the expo for these visitors,” he added. Qatar and Kuwait are two leaders in amber in the Middle East now, he said, adding that the demand for amber and its prices have gone up all over the world. According to industry sources, 600 tonnes of amber raw materials are mined every year of which Russia contributes the highest with 400 tonnes. G. Guntorius said that amber is the gold of Lithuanians, in the same way as oil is considered the black gold in the Gulf region.
China is the top market for amber products, followed by the Middle East and Europe.
“It’s easy to organize the first show. You can do it and forget it if you want, but to organize it a second time, and which means to continue it in the coming years, means something else.
This shows the first show was a huge achievement. I thank Katara Cultural Village for inviting me to this exhibition.” www.balticjewellerynews.com
International Baltic Jewellery show Vilnius
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INTERVIEW WITH AGITA PUTĀNE By Simona GULBINIENĖ
Agita PUTĀNE in the gallery, 2019 Photo by Ieva ANDERSONE
BUSINESS INSIGHTS / L AT V I A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT
How did you get the idea to open the art gallery “Putti” in 2000? I had obtained my bachelor’s degree at the Institute of Pedagogy in Mathematics, already had 2 children, and a second bachelor’s in International Relations. Then I decided I needed to start doing something more; Latvia had become independent, opening up a road to many new opportunities. Everywhere and everything "was boiling", the only thing remaining – to make the right decision. At that time, I removed all my 50 chains from my neck, removed many of my rings and put them all deep inside the drawer. I decided that in the future I would only wear jewellery made by artists. I realized that I want to speak to the world using the language of jewellery. I became interested in Latvian jewellery artists and was searching for a place where one could purchase their works. As it turned out that there is no such place in Riga. This was the reason for bringing together jewellery artists in one particular place in Riga, where their art could be viewed and purchased. I met Latvian contemporary jewellery artists who had recently graduated from the Tallinn and Riga Academy of Arts – Guntis Lauders, Andris Lauders, Valdis Brože, Janis Vilks, Maris Šustins, and Maris Auniņš. I was at the right time, at the right place, and met the right people. Eventually, I developed a great love for jewellery, especially when an intellectual dimension is added, it evolves into something more complex and meaningful; the love is still there today. All of us were young, full of energy and ready to jump into the unknown. As a result, Art Gallery PUTTI was established in 2000, initially uniting young Latvian contemporary jewellery artists with a completely new, unusual look at jewellery. Initially, I focused on promoting solely Latvian contemporary jewellery artists. Why you chose “Putti” as the name of the gallery? The name of the gallery comes from the Italian name Putto – a playful angel figure in fine art, used in paintings and reliefs of
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What are the biggest challenges art galleries face? Every exhibition at the gallery has been a great challenge for me. I have to give my all to prepare for each exhibition as well as to actually carry each of them out to the very end. It is very important to me that a person comes to the exhibition and addresses one or more works of art. It is important for the visitor to obtain the feeling – I want this artwork. To keep everyone satisfied – the client, the viewer, the artist and of course myself. I start preparing for each exhibition at least a year in advance. First I think of the concept, I look for artists who fit the concept of the exhibition, I talk to them, then work with social networks, the media, I invite professional stage designers, organize the opening of the exhibition, work with clients, viewers. It is also important for me to sell the works. To me only then it means to me that the exhibition has been completely successful.
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gallery presents only handcrafted jewellery of exceptional quality. These original jewellery creations may be observed as art and design objects as well as complementing accessory that brings character to the outfit and can be a conversation-starter. Gallery holds four themed group or solo exhibitions per year. Putti represents jewellery by such recognized designers as Valdis Brože, Jānis Vilks, Zane Lavrinoviča, Māris Auniņš, Guntis Lauders, Andris Lauders, Māris Šustiņš – all of them graduates of the Latvian or Estonian Academy of Arts. Different international jewellery artists, as Ted Noten, Märta Mattsson, Felike van der Leest, Tanel Veenre, and Gigi Mariani have had exhibitions in Putti. Unfortunately, 2020 in March, Putti Gallery closes down. Thank you for all the years that the Baltic jewellery world has been richer in events, exhibitions, and acquaintances..
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The
the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Initially, the gallery was in a different location. At the original location, there was an old 15th-century brick wall that had retained its pristine appearance. Since the 15th century is renowned for its renaissance in art and architecture, we also choose PUTTI (the plural from Putto). Our logo is also made with the letters of this period.
Amber in contemporary art jewellery International exhibition, May 2014
ZOO is life Norvegian contemporary jewellery artist Felieke van der Leest, April 2014
Conceptual jewellery International exhibition; jewellery by Ana Cardim, September 2011
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Art gallery Putti was established in Riga in 2000, it focuses on local and international contemporary and conceptual jewellery.
BUSINESS INSIGHTS / L AT V I A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT
UNITED IN DEATH Swedish jewellery artist Marta Mattsson, November 2013
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FANTASTICI! Contemporary Italian Jewellery Italian contemporary jewellery exhibition; jewellery by Gigi Mariani, October 2013
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – JEWELLERY IS NOT ONLY JEWELLERY The exhibition by Hungarian artist Reka Lorincz and German artist Gisbert Stach, September 2017 SIMPLY TOO NATURESQUE* Estonian artist Tanel Veenre’s personal exhibition , November 2014
I established a gallery and became a gallerist. The first challenges were exhibitions of contemporary jewellery. I had never even heard of conceptual jewellery before; this concept and direction were unknown to me. Since I always like to learn something new, the next big challenge was to organize an international exhibition of conceptual jewellery. My drive is always to do something that allows both the viewer and myself to think in a much wider field, and recognize the purity of the message and thought. For the first time, we dived deeper and attracted international artists. I also had not seen much of themselves an either their artwork. We simply searched the Internet for works that appealed to us and then invited
artists to participate in the exhibition. It was an exhibition where we first thought carefully about scenography. Space, design details, ornaments, texts, everything has to interact and come together. First, the aesthetic appeal, then it evolves into the intellectual dimension and then into a meaningful event. Reducing something to its very nature is a great challenge and an achievement. We invited 29 artists to participate in the exhibition. I was very worried, but only 2 refused. Only later did I find out what the grandmasters of the world of jewellery participated in the show – Ted Noten, Ana Cardim, Gigi Mariani, Nicola Estrada, Sigurd Bronger, Felieke van der Leest, Lisa Hasimoto, Tanel Veenre … With exhibitions, I show myself, the viewer, the client, that art can change the way we think about it, how we look at it. I show to them as well as myself that the world of jewellery is much deeper than we think. I want to ignite interest in the jewellery world. Perhaps even change the frame of thought of jewellery. In your opinion what were the greatest achievements of your gallery? I cannot tell you what the gallery's biggest accomplishment is. Everything I have done in the gallery over the last 20 years has been a great achievement for me. Because I have always challenged myself to do something new, to explore the uncharted territory. I always wanted to show something new in the gallery, to say something new. However I never rely on anyone, I always have my personal instinct turned on – I choose everything with my heart, mind, and soul. I have a lot of respect for the deep meaning that an artist has given to a work, but if I cannot perceive it, the work is indifferent to me. From childhood, art has always served me a specific purpose – I derive pleasure from it and through it, I have met many interesting people. It creates content for everything. For this reason, I consider the gallery's greatest achievement to be the excellent direct collaboration with artists who have turned into real friendships. It has also helped a lot with the gallery everyday work as all projects become more alive, meaningful and passionate. Then the exhibition is not simply about basic content, it has become more relevant. It is my fuel. What is your opinion on contemporary jewellery, what trends do you see? There have been many different exhibitions in the gallery. Of course, I respect the current close connectivity of the world, but I do not follow trends. I make trends myself. I travel around exhibitions, read articles, interviews a lot, but I choose my own independent path. A sense of taste is very important. To me beauty is, in a sense, pure and clear without unnecessary definitions – it speaks for itself. When I am wearing jewellery, it is also very important for me to feel like it has this intellectual value – carefully thought out form, sophisticated style, humour, and colour choice, creative solution and of course quality. I want this set to scratch my mind. If the artwork breaks at first use, then I am very angry. The client must be warned that the piece of work is meant to be sitting on a shelf. I am not talking about conceptual jewellery here. They have a completely different task. Nonetheless, I have noticed that many artworks that are fragile and nonfunctional are called conceptual jewellery. Funny. I personally feel that there is only a handful of artists that I really enjoy
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THE METAMORPHOSES OF PEARLS IN CONTEMPORARY AND CONCEPTUAL JEWELLERY International exhibition, October 2018
SLOTH, 2008 Emmanuel Lacoste from exhibition 7 DEADLY SINS IMAGE, 2015
Greed, 2008 Emmanuel Lacoste from exhibition 7 DEADLY SINS IMAGE, 2015
“Putti” has had the spotlight on Latvian jewellery-makers since the year 2000, featuring both their ready-to-wear and display-only items. Who will take your place in Riga? I am closing the gallery and I will no longer be a gallerist. Everything, place, the person has its own time and place. I am completely changing my life. I am going to live in the countryside on our 90 hectares of land, where I will plant forests, clean the ponds. I want to keep horses and chickens. No more business. I want to enjoy the seasons, nurture my grandchildren and simply slow down the pace. I want to live only for myself and my loved ones. Perhaps over time, another activist will replace me with a new outlook, attitude and new thinking, open mind, energy and new ideas, and a great will to achieve something. But it will be a completely different story.
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Reka Lorincz and Flora Vagi Contemporary and conceptual jewellery exhibition of Hungarian jewellery designers, October 2015
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What advice do you have for other galleries and young artists? I do not want to give any advice. Everyone has to look and find their own path. I can only tell you – if you really want something you don't have to be afraid. You just have to go with the flow and everything will work out fine. A lot has changed during my 20 years at the gallery. The rapid digitalization of the world has is only one of the major changes that have occurred. If I kept running the gallery, I would change everything in its root. It is necessary to maintain the dynamic. I should adopt this new reality to a new business model. I think galleries have somehow lost their main mission. Now artists can market their own works on a daily basis. Of course, you need space – a gallery – a place to create exhibitions that show the artist's growth and creativity, where the artist can convey his/her message. A gallery allows the artist to meet with clients and visitors during the exhibition and build one’s own customer database, market oneself. An artist can have his/her own team. For me, it is important that a piece of art – a piece of jewellery – does not disappear in some box or drawer, but that it is worn and remains alive. I repeat – the most important thing in the life of a contemporary jewellery piece is the fact that it is worn and that its existence outside the artist's studio does not end with displays of museums, galleries or collectors.
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as conceptual jewellery artists. My favourites are Emmanuel Lacoste, Benjamin Lignel, Fabrizio Tridenti, Ruudt Peters, Gisbert Stach, Ursula Guttmann.
What else does amber have in mind? It was on display in the Palais des Nations, Salle des Pas Perdus, Geneve, March 2015
LOVE AND EXPERTISE Double exhibition by Finnish contemporary jewellery artists Chao – Hsien Kuo and Eero Hintsanen, October 2019
What day will it dawn after the gallery closes? Will you continue to stay in the jewellery world? In the future, I will only remain in the world as a viewer, as a customer, who will buy and wear contemporary jewellery while wearing my rubber boots and walking across the meadow. What more can one want?
IN TER NATIONA L A MBER A SSOCI ATION /
UNUSUAL AMBER Interview with Maria FIJAŁKOWSKA from Moja Forma Gallery
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Małgorzata SIUDAK, International Amber Association MS: Maria, last year you celebrated the 20th anniversary of your amberrelated artistic career. Could you tell us about how your work with jewellery and amber began? Because your background is—? MF: In Polish Studies and I even taught Polish at several high schools for quite a number of years. But at some point, the desire to work, let’s say, more creatively, prevailed. Actually, ever since I can remember, I have wanted to be a designer. Maybe it was related to the atmosphere in my family home: my parents met while studying at the State Art College (PWSSP) in Gdańsk and I was born just before my mother got her degree. As a small child, I always participated in my parents’ artistic work. As for amber, it came to me one summer (it was after the second grade of high school) when, walking around downtown Gdańsk, I came to the studio at the Swan Tower. I remember the dark, atmospheric old interior and beautiful amber items, a testimony to the extraordinary mastery of the craftsman who showed them to me, and I felt let in on some secret. I think it was the beginning of my fascination with amber, although I would have found it anyway as I was born and live in Gdańsk. This is where the amber is and goes hand in hand with the city’s identity. MS: If you were to encourage young designers to work with amber, what would you tell them?
The opening of the exhibition – Maria FIJAŁKOWSKA. Photo by IAA
MF: I would say that it is great to be able to work with a local product, so much a part of Gdańsk, but also a Polish product in a wider perspective, which makes a lot of sense, especially in the context of globalisation. On the one hand, you could say that it is a “patriotic duty,” while on the other, a great opportunity to stand out in the global market. MS: In 2019 the IAA Gallery hosted your monographic exhibition Unusual Amber. What makes amber so special in your opinion? MF: Its beauty, of course! But to see it, you must first understand what amber is. It is solidified drops of resin, which often conceal traces of ancient life and which needed dozens of millions of years and often hundreds or even thousands of kilometres travelled to end up in our hands. That is why respect for this extraordinary treasure is so important to preserve its true beauty, not to ruin the delicate internal structure of amber by subjecting it to unnecessary processes. It is really worth seeing and appreciating that, in addition to opaque amber, commonly known as white amber, and to transparent amber, there are countless intermediate varieties, each of which, when properly used, can be a delight. An autoclave does not have to be an essential piece of equipment in an amber workshop. In particular, I am of the opinion that it would be a good idea to completely eliminate interference in the natural colours of amber. Why shouldn’t we promote beautiful, sunny jewellery with naturally yellow amber? Why do we insist on maintaining false ideas about amber? (Last but not least, why do we introduce colour-coated amber to the market and to the customers’ awareness, while using colours that have never been in
the amber spectrum at all?) Meanwhile, when I cut and polish amber, I can see hundreds of subtle, cool and warm shades of yellow which, in combination with various internal structures and the presence of different-coloured crust and various inclusions, yields thousands of perfectly natural varieties. It is in them that we can observe, for example, the spectacular phenomenon of internal light reflection. To me, this is the real beauty of amber. The shapes of the natural pieces are one more remarkable feature of amber. I am always happy to lay my hands on pieces in their original form of drops, stalactites, fillings, with their crust fully intact. I see in them the story of their origin and they are a good motivation to work. But in fact, every piece of amber, due to its amorphous structure, should be treated as fully-fledged raw material. For the same reason, as an artist, I have complete freedom in shaping the amber, with only my own imagination as the limit; and quite the contrary, the crystal structure of some other potential raw material seems to me such a limitation for the artist, where only the struggle for perfect workmanship remains. So that’s classic, while in amber, there is room for romanticism, fantasy and experimentation. At the same time, it is amber that, owing to its extraordinary lightness, makes larger jewellery possible without compromising its functional qualities. MS: Do you follow current trends when designing? Do you focus more on your intuition and classic designs? MF: Where there is romanticism, there is also intuition. I follow my own sense of beauty but it is influenced by the changing environment, and I also mature and change. I think I’m listening to myself, the “me” of today.
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Photo by Lech J. ZDROJEWSKI
GDAŃSKA NOSTALGIA necklace (gold, amber) – Maria Fijałkowska MOJA FORMA. Photo by Lech J. Zdrojewski
SPHERE necklace (silver, amber) – Maria Fijałkowska MOJA FORMA
VENUS necklace (silver, amber) – Maria Fijałkowska MOJA FORMA
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BLACK EGG necklace (silver, amber) – Maria Fijałkowska MOJA FORMA
Photo by Lech J. ZDROJEWSKI
MS: Where do you get the inspiration for your collections? MF: It may sound cliché but I’m inspired by amber. I begin by observing specific natural pieces, as a kind of contemplation, then emotions come and stir the imagination. Emotions are very important here but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have any general assumptions about what I want to design at the moment. I mean the nature of the collection or, for example, the way it is worn. I am thinking of the woman who will wear it. I have to admit that I design almost exclusively for ladies, men’s jewellery just “doesn’t work” for me.
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Photo by Lech J. ZDROJEWSKI
MS: Who do you make your jewellery for? Who is your customer? MF: I will give a tricky answer: first of all I design for myself; I have to be satisfied with a piece, it must match my sense of beauty. Then I wait for the feedback from my customers. Maybe that’s why—because they have a similar aesthetic sensitivity to me—interaction with customers so often gives me real pleasure. The fact that I personally advise customers in my gallery also allows me to see their needs; I make use of it in subsequent projects. More specifically: the customers are usually women who are a bit, or quite
a lot, younger than me, Polish women and people from Northern Europe; in my opinion, ladies from the South have a more classic style. Nevertheless, the unique items from my collection have also found their way to such distant places as Australia, South Africa or Mexico.
The exhibition took place on the 16th of May until 19th of June 2019 at the IAA Gallery in Gdańsk.
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SYNTHETIC DIAMONDS: TECHNOLOGY AS AN ART. PART III Diamond origin diagnostics with the DiamondViewTM help
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Іgor IEMELIANOV, Katerina KORMAKOVA, State Gemological Center of Ukraine
The article continues the previous publication in which the main differences of internal structure for natural and synthetic diamonds were given. The most common anatomic structures detected with the DiamondViewTM device help for diamonds of different origin are described in this issue. All the samples were brought for examination in State Gemmological Center of Ukraine. LAB GROWN (НРНТ) DIAMONDS RESEARCH. During the study of synthetic high pressure high temperature (HPHT) diamonds, the different photoluminescence (hereinafter – fluorescence) colors of studied inserts appeared such as greenish-blue, yellow-green, green and orange. The anatomical patterns of the studied НРНТ diamond inserts are typical for this type of synthetic diamond crystals. They are characte rized by a zone-sectoral structure which is mainly revealed as clear cross-like zoning along the growth sectors of cube and octahedron faces (Fig. 1). Almost all НРНТ crystals show the different intensity of zonal-sectoral structure under the ultraviolet radiation regardless of their fluorescence color. Thus, the crystals grew along the octahedron and cube planes, but the different colors of the fluorescence indicate their synthesis in different growth systems. LAB GROWN (CVD) DIAMONDS RESEARCH CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) diamond inserts are characterized by fine-layered zoning (banding)
Figure 1 – Typical growth patterns of the cross-like zone-sectoral structure along the octahedron and cube faces in synthetic HPHT diamonds.
Figure 2 – Fine-layered zoning (banding) in synthetic CVD diamonds.
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for synthetic and natural diamonds (Fig. 4). The crystal formation for natural diamonds is often a complex, multi-stage process characterized by changing environmental conditions with slowdowns and growth pauses, sometimes with dissolving and possibly overlaying after the growth processes. The anti-skeleton growth of natural diamond crystal is appeared in its step zoning. Whereas the synthetic diamond growth is almost one-act process, so the heterogeneities of its structure are explained by the development of different growth sectors and the zonal distribution of impurities due to temperature fluctuations in the growth process. In conclusion, it is worth noting that during the DiamondViewTM study, it is crucially important to pay attention to all possible characteristics such as the growth patterns or their residues
Figure 4 –Typical growth structures for octahedron (111) and cube (100) in natural diamonds.
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fluorescence. Type Ib diamonds have a yellow fluorescence. Only a small amount of Type IIa diamonds has green fluorescence. Among diamonds of the same type, only single crystals have yellow and yellow-orange fluorescence. It is common when fluorescence color in the natural diamond crystal is appeared in its’ zonal-sectoral structure, since the presence of different number of defects along the growth zones leads to different fluorescence color and intensity inside the crystal (Fig. 3). In addition, it is possible to reconstruct the crystal past through the different fluorescence of two major diamond growth zones along octahedral (111) and cube (100), which capture different impurities. The structure of growth patterns, the intensity, color and distribution of photoluminescence significantly differ
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NATURAL DIAMONDS RESEARCH The main impurity of natural diamond crystals is nitrogen. It is appeared by various nitrogen defects in the crystalline lattice of this mineral. According to the content of nitrogen impurities, the physical classification of diamond crystals is divided into types: Ia – nitrogen diamonds with a nitrogen content up to 0.3 atomic percent, aggregated nitrogen; Ib – nitrogen diamonds with a nitrogen content up to 0.05 atomic percent, nitrogen in the form of single atoms, unaggregated nitrogen; IIa – low nitrogen diamonds with a nitrogen content of less than 20 ppm; IIb – lownitrogen diamonds with less nitrogen content than crystals of type IIa, but with boron admixture. Type Ia domi nates among natural diamond crystals (up to 98% and more), type Ib is common among synthetic diamonds. Fluorescence color in diamonds depends on crystal lattice defects, nitrogen defects, distribution and vacancies of nitrogen atoms as well as admixtures of every single diamond. We will not deepen into the complexity of crystal chemistry and crystal physics of diamonds, because this is a very specific subject, which requires special knowledge. Therefore, we will try to outline in general terms the relationship between the color of fluorescence and the physical type of diamond, since this is important for diagnostics the nature of the stone. The most common fluorescence color for natural diamond is blue. Diamonds of subtype IaB1 have a yellow-green
Figure 3 – Different fluorescence colors indicating the presence of structural defects in the crystalline structure of natural diamonds.
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and yellowish-green, red-orange, or blue fluorescence (Fig. 2). Green and red-orange fluorescence are the most common for untreated CVD stones. Blue fluorescence color can be observed in CVD synthetics, depending on whether treatment has been applied to obtain high concentrations of N-V centers. The morphological structure of the test samples appears in banding along the growth surfaces. Most likely, these parallel lines with an almost equal distance are formed during the technological changes in CVD mach ine operation and mark the stop and starting a new cycle points during the crystal growth. These cycles create temporary changes in the chemical composition of the growth surfaces.
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(or fragments), the fluorescence color and intensity, the presence or absence of phosphorescence of the diamond. If the above features are insufficient for nature determining, the comprehensive study must be involved with gemologic microscope and sophisticated scientific research methods use such as infrared spect roscopy, optical spectroscopy, etc. Recently, at the SGCU laboratory, the DiamondViewTM device is used not only for its intended purpose – to determine the origin of diamonds, but also as an auxiliary instrument for diagnostic the nature of the rubies, blue sapphires, emeralds and alexandrites. The criteria for the listed stones diagnostic with this appliance use will be covered in the future publication.
REFERENCES 1 ● CVD Synthetic Diamond with Unusual DiamondView Image. Gems & Gemology, Spring 2014, Vol. 50, No. 1 2 ● Ю.П. Солодова, М.В. Николаєв, К.К. Курбатов и др. Геммология алмаза: учебник/Москва, 2008. – 416 с. 3 ● Верена Пагель-Тайсен. Все об оценке бриллиантов: Практическое пособие. – Изд. 9, перер. и доп./ Пер. с англ. Т.В. Калюжной. – ДонецкДнепропетровск: АРТ-ПРЕСС, 2008. – 324 с. 3 ● Новиков Н.В., Кочержинский Ю.А., Шульман Л.А. и др. Физические свойства алмаза: Справ./ Под ред. Н.В.Новикова. – Киев: Наук.думка, 1987. – 188 с. 3 ● Григорьев Д.П., Жабин А.Г. и др. Онтогения минералов: Индивиды. – М, Наука, 1975г. – 340с.
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JEWELLER EXPO UKRAINE – THE LARGEST EXHIBITION OF JEWELLERY ART IN UKRAINE May 21-24, 2020, Kyiv, Ukraine
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Jeweller Expo Ukraine is the leading international jewellery exhibition, important social, cultural and economic event for the whole Ukraine.
Jeweller Expo Ukraine is the main exhibition of Ukrainian jewellery fashion which always presents unique adornments for real connoisseurs of jewellery.
Every year Jeweller Expo Ukraine impresses with its scale, presentation of new collections, innovative solutions and intensive program of events. Participants of the exhibition establish new business contacts here and get opportunities for development of their business.
WHAT ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF JEWELLER EXPO UKRAINE 2020? Only at Jeweller Expo Ukraine there is a chance to learn the latest tendencies and trends of jewellery fashion. Jeweller Expo Ukraine is a unique event where more than 200 brands will present the widest range of adornments in Ukraine made of precious metals, jewellery with diamonds and other natural gemstones as well as exclusively designed works. You will have a unique opportunity to take part in jewellery tombolas from the leading jewellery companies and enjoy the best special offers from Ukrainian manufacturers. Interesting events! Presentations, contests, workshops and other thematic events will be held within the project. The 17th All-Ukrainian Contest of Drafts for the Best Jewellery Design. The contest of drafts is a presentation of unusual, exclusive and unique jewellery designs, a great chance to show oneself and one’s talent. VIP ZONE is a special exposition at the exhibition, presenting only exclusive deluxe items and each of them is a unique piece of art, made in a single copy.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / LITHUANIAN JEWELLERY REPORT
15th ANNIVERSARY BALTIC JEWELLERY NEWS GET TO KNOW THESE ARE ALL MAGAZINE EDITORS THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE BEST! In 2000, the Pantone Color Institute created the Pantone Color of the Year as a trendsetting concept for branding, marketing and creative society as a whole. The introduction of the Pantone Color of the Year confirmed The Pantone Color Institute as the front-runner for all things color-related. The Pantone Color Institute‘s color reports and color forecasts provide a global point of view on the movement of color across current and future seasons. Baltic Jewellery News magazine presents the best in jewellery news, latest news from assay offices, reviews and design trends, reflected objective information, main problems, achievements in the jewellery technology, important events about jewellery world. Trends are important to us as well. Every year Baltic Jewellery News magazine is decorated with the main color of the year!
“Baltic Jewellery News” is a clear and
concise title where the main emphasis is on the words Baltic and Jewellery. This is where the main idea of the magazine publishers comes from – to get jewellery business representatives from all over the world familiar with the status of this business in the Baltic sea region and to contribute to its development as much as possible. All countries of the region are involved in the creative process of “Baltic Jewellery News” because it is the only way to present objective information to readers about what is happening in those countries. I believe that the magazine will grow stronger and stronger every year and its benefits to the jewellery community are already evident. I would like to thank all those who helped us: editors, journalists, partners, advertisers and of course readers”, – Giedrius GUNTORIUS.
15 years is proof that we are needed.
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ANGELĖ JUODZEVIČIENĖ I had an amazing opportunity to work for Baltic Jewellery News. This is a fantastic, very interesting and promising project. Big thanks to Giedrius Guntoris, the author of the magazine idea. It is his faith and trust in the team that helped Baltic Jewellery News endure a tough start, become known, seen and welcome. It's great to see the magazine improve. Best of luck to you! ODILIJA GUNTORIŪTĖ Storytelling in jewellery world was an elevating experience. I have learned that jewellery can speak. From you I have learned about the power of symbols and techniques. The magic of amber and other materials and its power to send messages. Thank you for sharing your stories. VIRGINIJA ŽYGIENĖ I think the idea of creating this magazine worked well. Thank you, the Amber Trip team. You are never short of enthusiasm, optimism and professionalism. I wish the magazine continued to promote Baltic amber, to remain as important and visible. ANNA SADO Baltic Jewellery News has been connecting jewellery lovers in the Baltic Sea region for 15 years, and more. Thanks to the editorial staff's commitment and a good sense of where the pulse of the industry beats the most, we gain a lot of invaluable knowledge about what is happening on the jewellery scene in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Germany and the Scandinavian countries – frequently this is knowledge that you cannot find anywhere else. And, above all, I deeply appreciate revealing the topics previously hidden from us and connecting readers across borders, trends or cultural influences. I wish you many interesting and popular topics for the next fifteen years. HENRIK KIHLMAN My warmest congratulations on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Baltic Jewellery News magazine. I find it to be an excellent and diverse professional magazine and an ample source of information monitoring the jewellery scene in the different countries around the Baltic Sea. I am proud to have the privilege of being a part of it.
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2006
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RENATA PETKUTĖ-PLATONOVIENĖ 15 years! What a wonderful anniversary for Baltic Jewellery News. I am glad that over the years, the magazine has not only kept its readership but also found many new readers. I sincerely believe that the magazine will continue to share the latest news on the world of jewellery in the Baltic region with its readers. I wish the readers, as always, to enjoy reading, and the creators of Baltic Jewellery News magazine have endless creative ideas.
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KLOTILDA JUOZAPAVIČIENĖ I am delighted that the Baltic region has the only and unique jewellery publication. Congratulations to the magazine's publishers and readers who have been pleasing and informing us on various topical jewellery issues for 15 years already. I wish you every success.
2005
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DOVILĖ JASAITYTĖ In February 2005, we brought 3000 editions of the first magazine in the Baltic region from the printing house. Would you say it is much? After all, the region was populated by 77 million people! It was a truly wonderful feeling – a dream came true. Of course, together with Giedrius Guntorius, the author of the idea, we knew that the future of the magazine was not in our hands. We realised that the need for it would depend on the readers, those who were interested and willing to contribute. And now, Baltic Jewellery News turns 15! This proves well that the idea has been successfully implemented. The magazine has become interesting to the business and the arts not only in the Baltic region, but also worldwide. Congratulations! I am happy with all those who created and still create its sequel. Be necessary!
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TERHI TOLVANEN’S ROOTS An interview by Antonio ALTARRIBA Photos by Terhi TOLVANEN
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Terhi TOLVANEN is a Finnish jewellery artist currently living and working in France. She was born in 1968 in Helsinki, Finland. Terhi started her training in 1989 in Lahti, Finland. After graduating as silversmith four years later, she enrolled herself at the Dutch Rietveld Academy, the Netherlands, where she got her bachelor and master degrees in jewellery. After her studies, she set her home in Amsterdam and many years later love took her to the French countryside. Since her graduation Terhi is exhibiting her work in many soloand group exhibitions internationally. Currently Terhi is also teaching in the École National Supérieur d’Art in Limoges, France.
The main feature of Tolvanen´s work is the connection to nature; “It is about visualizing the dialogue between man and nature” she says. “It is fascinating to observe the human interference in the nature. The traces left behind by the taking care, the organizing or controlling nature. But the nature ´fights back´, it keeps on growing and changing. This unpredictable power of life is for me a big source of inspiration.” In Finland pine, spruce and birch forests are omnipresent, which makes it not surprising that many Finnish artists get inspiration from the forest. As far as nature is Tolvanen´s source of inspiration, it also forms her raw material for jewellery. She is using essentially different kinds of wood and branches as their basic elements; “I started collecting seriously wood around 2005. It was surprising, there is so much wood everywhere, but access to the nicest pieces is limited, it somehow always seems to grow in somebody’s garden. I realized rather fast that to be able to find exactly what I wanted, I needed time and organization. In Finland the forest is accessible for everybody, but not in France!” “Making a necklace out of pieces of branch is every time a question of getting the puzzle right. It is challenging to work with wood in this way; copying exactly a piece becomes impossible.” How does an ordinary day start in your professional life? I start my day with a cup of coffee and a bowl of (Finnish) oatmeal porridge reading my mails. Then I go for a long walk with my dog. Walking has become a real tool for preparing the day in the
studio. Sometimes I make pieces in my head to find solutions for different problems. Sometimes I just try to empty the head and enjoy the view. You have lived in Finland, Holland and France. There are different cultures and especially different ways of approaching life and ways of doing things. What have you learned of it? That the everyday life is everywhere having the same joys and worries. And that some clichés about Nordic and Southern mentalities are true indeed; I find myself even more Finnish being sometimes a bit too direct! I definitely have learned to appreciate the Finnish values concerning the respect of nature and equality in the society. These aspects are much further towards the good direction in Finland than often in central Europe. How would you describe your recent work? My recent work is called Roots. I would say it is like notes or observations about different aspects of my roots being Finnish. I felt like clearly wanting to connect myself with the work, to make some autobiographical pieces. It is about home, belonging, immigration, one´s personal space and what it means to be an artist. My roots and my path. That is where I get my inspiration. That is where my esthetical values come from. My encounters with Finnish nature and light. For example, how the forest can be a powerful experience in its dark colours, when the spruce branches are hanging down in such a melancholy, but in a soft way. Or the nightless night during the Summer months. But it is
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Brooch Tamed 2019 (series Roots 2019) Ceramics, hornbeam wood, graphite, silver Ceramics made in EKWC (2007)
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Necklace ‘Flores Nubius’ 2018 (series Flower Show 2018) Peer wood, cherry wood, pearls, silver
Necklace Two Moons 2019 (series Roots 2019) Nautilus and oyster shell, cherry and hornbeam wood, graphite, paint, silver Private collection
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Bracelet Rocks 2019 (series Roots 2019) Synthetic spinel, graphite, apple wood, paint, silver
Necklace Golden Dots 2019 Lavender wood, paint, silver Private collection
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also about my roots in a spiritual way, say as somebody who likes reading. For example, the piece Two Moons is a direct reference to the book IQ84 from the Japanese writer Murakami. In the book there is a parallel reality that is visible only when looking at the sky where one sees two moons. Everybody has his own reality, but as an artist I am very busy with how to visualize mine.
materials. I let often the branches define the shape of the jewellery piece, I just control which way the movement of the branch curves go. I also enjoy a lot of the preparation part; finding new branchmaterial, I call it shopping, while I walk with the dog. Later on, I pass by in my car and my Japanese saw.
lemons and huge flower and plant like structures, where she combines beads with heavy rusty iron. Many of her sculptures are hanging down from the ceiling like elements in a shipbuilding site. There is a big contrast between something very fine and fragile and the heaviness of the metal constructions. If the scale would change it would make pieces of jewellery.
How nature and different cultures influence your work? The fact of living now in the countryside, of course, allows me to observe all around me, colours, growing processes, light in different weather conditions. The nature in France is less rough and wild than in Finland. Some kind of a human touch is visible almost everywhere. The cultural influences are inevitable. Because I did my studies in Amsterdam, there is obviously a Dutch contemporary jewellery way of thinking in my work. I think also that my work is kind of a mix in aesthetics. Finnish aesthetics tend to be quite plain in form and quiet in colour. Sometimes my pieces have darker melancholic tones which I consider myself being the Finnish side of me. In everyday life I have nature literally on my working bench since I work with very organic
Making a necklace out
How is contemporary jewellery in France? Are there many exhibitions in museums and galleries? Contemporary jewellery is not very well known in France, but the situation is getting all the time better. In Paris there is an active group of contemporary jewellery artists called D´un bijou à l´autre organizing every three or four years an event called Parcours Bijoux to promote the field. There are several galleries in Paris, which are between arts and crafts, modern jewellery and contemporary jewellery. Every now and then there might be exhibitions even in major museums, but this on a quite irregular basis. In Cagnes-sur-Mer there is an art centre showing mainly already well-known international artists. And the gallery Alliages in Lille is promoting contemporary jewellery by organizing exhibitions and events.
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of pieces of branch is every time a question
of getting the puzzle right Can you mention a jewellery artwork or jewellery artist that has impressed you lately? Well, it is not a jewellery artist, but an American sculptor, Kathleen Ryan, who´s work definitely has strong jewellery quality. I look daily at different kinds of art and one of the qualities I like to find in art works is what I call jewellery quality. Kathleen Ryan works a lot with semi-precious stone beads creating big deliciously rotting and mouldering
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Necklace Forest Walk 2019 (series Roots 2019) Corkscrew willow wood, silver
LUMOAVA, DESIGN AS A WINNING CONCEPT Henrik KIHLMAN Photo by Kanerva MANTILA
The “Hilla” collection by Heikki HARTIKAINEN
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FROM PRODUCING CUTLERY Saurum is a factory that had a long tradition in making table silver, cutlery and a wide range of jewellery. A little bit of everything for everybody. A concept that, at the time, was working well but wasn´t preparing for the future. When in the year of 2006 a major rearrangement in the company ownership was conducted the new owners felt that this could be the time to rethink the production. Design had of course always played a big part in the company but taking it to a new level and create a brand around the design became a new challenge. The new design brand LUMOAVA (transl. enchanting) was launched at the Finnish jewellery fair GSW 3.10.2008. One can define this step as a conscious decision even though nobody knew exactly what it would look like and lead to at the time. Nevertheless everybody recognized that design will be the key word in the upcoming future. The concept of a designer based brand started to take form and the work of creating the story and the visual context around the theme was started. A mix of a skilled personnel, 3-D modelling know how and a group of top designers in the center would make an excellent base for the new direction taken.
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THE MARKET When analyzing the market there seemed to be an unfilled niche. LUMOAVA was very well received from the beginning. Even though the expectations for the new concept was high, the success took the team by surprise. The planning of LUMOAVA was done well and thoroughly so there was no need to make any big changes. The brand started to grow immediately. The fairly fast growth in sales has, of course, created new challenges in both nursing and developing the brand and foremost in handling the marketing in a proactive and professional manner. Today there is an in house full time marketing team keeping LUMOAVA thriving on the domestic market. Putting the emphasis on design has proven to be a successful move. The consumers seem to have an interest in the designers and the stories they tell. They also value very highly that the products are made in Finland using recycled materials. Local production and sustainability in the manufacturing is playing a constantly growing part in consumer behavior. THE FUTURE When I ask Heikki Hartikainen, one of the creators of LUMOAVA, how they feel about the future, he tells me that
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DESIGNERS In the beginning the designer team consisted of three designers. In house designers Heikki Hartikainen and Eelis Aleksi completed with a master goldsmith and recognized expert in 3-D design, Kristian Saarikorpi started the work of creating the visual concept of LUMOAVA. Fairly soon the obvious demand for a female designer emerged and the already well known jewellery artist Carina Blomqvist was contacted. After a visit at the premises in Kuopio both parts found each other and Carina signed on with the team. As time has passed the designer team has grown and consists today of a group of ten designers among which you can find Finnish design icons like Eero Aarnio. (list of designers at the end of article). The team of skillful designers add so much ideas and experience to the LUMOAVA concept. Their input creates an irreplaceable asset in developing the brand and the hard challenge of maintaining its success into the future.
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As we have seen in many fields design is playing an increasingly growing role in production of almost any type of goods. Everything from fashion and accessories to heavy machinery equipment. Many jewellery manufacturing companies are now facing new challenges in a world where traditional, precious metal, jewellery is heavily challenged by fashion jewellery that resembles the real thing but, due to the use of non-precious materials and high volumes, will be much cheaper in price. To combat this competition the traditional jewellery makers have to find a way to separate themselves from this growing mass. One of the obvious answers lies in design. The Finnish jewellery company Saurum, situated in the town of Kuopio has chosen this path by introducing their designer based jewellery brand LUMOAVA starting in 2008.
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Heikki HARTIKAINEN at the designers desk. Photo by Jukka Tallinen
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“Kaikkeus” by Kristian SAARIKORPI. Photo by Teemu TÖYRYLÄ
the brand has been doing very well in a very challenging time for jewellery as a whole. The jewellery business is, as we all know, struggling with the ever growing competition of accessories that are cheaper in price and flooding the market. However the past ten years of building a design based brand has proven that there is a clear niche for “real” jewellery made of precious metals. One certainly has to read the market very carefully and be responsive to the consumers demand. In LUMOAVA we feel that we have succeeded in targeting a large segment of jewellery enthusiasts and that our concept has appealed to their taste and values. We feel that we have discovered a winning concept and we work hard in developing our skills to maintain and grow what we have achieved so far. The LUMOAVA brand is now a fixed star on the domestic jewellery market and the next step will be to grow the market internationally. The work is already in progress and we have great expectations for the outcome when the time is due.
The traditional jewellery scene, as well as the rest of society, is undergoing a major structural change. The pace is very fast and it is crucial to stay on top of the wave as the technology, ways of operating and the competition is changing at a rapid pace. Just having a good product isn´t enough anymore. In order to succeed you have to control the whole pallet from design and craftsmanship to technology and marketing. This will be a challenge for many actors but it will also create a new improved culture of operating where a different variety of professionals have the opportunity to create a new future for our beloved field of jewellery. THE LUMOAVA DESIGNERS ARE: Alexa GETTING, Carina BLOMQVIST, Eelis ALEKSI, Eero AARNIO, Heikki HARTIKAINEN, Inni PÄRNÄNEN, Katri NISKANEN, Kristian SAARIKORPI, Pauliina K and Päivi KESKI-POMPPU www.lumoava.fi
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“Soturi” by Eelis Aleksi. Photo by Jukka TALLINEN
“Lume” by Päivi Keski-Pomppu. Photo by Kanerva MANTILA
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ART & LOVE
Interview by Dace VAIVARA Continued from Baltic Jewellery News No.37
Chao HSIEN and Eero HINTSANEN
Chao & Eero stands for a love story – the love of two people for each other and their love of creating jewellery. Founded on Valentine’s Day 2005 by Chao-Hsien Kuo and Eero Hintsanen, Chao & Eero design and make jewellery in their own way with original ideas, creating pieces with precious materials and traditional techniques based on traditional jewellery knowledge.
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artists work in their studio in Lahti, and their works portray the beauty of Finnish nature. The delicate and meticulous process of the work reveals their passion for what they do just as much as the strikingly unique end results do. Chao and Eero have been wor king side by side since 2005 and have exhibited their works in many countries throughout the years. Eero’s characteristic works and his unapologetic approach to reinterpreting the traditional field earned him the prestigious title of Finland’s Goldsmith of the Year 2019. This honour was awarded by the Finnish Goldsmiths Association, founded in 1905.
You are a designer, an artist and a goldsmith who has often worked with fashion designers, stylists and photographers. Witch was the most interesting collaboration and experience for you in the world of fashion? Eero: The most interesting colla boration is to work with a team of pro f essionals – comprised of a photographer, stylist, model and makeup artist – to create images that capture the moment when the jewellery is worn and comes to life. Telling different stories through images is a very important part of the works for me. Very often I see my works as being unfinished until I have had them
photographed with models, so that there are more layers besides just the piece itself. Via collaborations, I get to know many like-minded people and I usually trust the photographers in how they want to present their vision. In this way, I get to know more about how my works are viewed and their potential. You’ve said that dark is your colour in jewellery. Does this mean that colour is insignificant to you? Why is that? By colour I mean dark themes and the fascination that I have for a dark style in all fields besides jewellery. I don’t like to say that my inspiration comes from skulls or bones because I don’t use
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Eero, you’ve said that even though new technologies such as 3D printing are being called the next big thing in the field, you believe that they cannot replace the quality and perfection of a handcrafted piece. How have contemporary jewellery art trends changed over the last years, and what are the current popular trends? How have the values, styles and tastes of customers changed over time? Eero: One thing I am sure of: as time progresses, 3D printing will be able to create things at a better quality, faster, and more cost-effectively than what a human can do by hand. Some marginal areas might be excluded, but this is already happening, and it’s come faster than we thought it would. 3D printing and designing is just another tool to use when creating jewellery. My opinion is that if you work as a professional, you do need to also understand the possibilities of new technologies and see how you can incorporate them into your work in order to push the boundaries further
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Do you have a lot of discussions in your personal life about jewellery? For example, do you objectively critique each other? We have lot of discussions about many things besides jewellery because we can learn from other fields and perhaps spark fresh ideas when talking about things other than jewellery. As for our own jewellery, we have a kind of built-in system in which we are close enough, but at the same time, far enough to critique each other’s works. We know each other’s style and abilities very well and we have similar aesthetics, so we are each other’s best critic. Also, there is no need for empty compliments; we can expect an honest opinion. When one’s creating process stops or becomes blind in seeing how to make improvements, it is easy to ask the other to give his/her view so that the process can move forward again. Chao, do you wear your own jewellery, or jewellery that Eero has made specially for you? Which is your favorite or most precious piece and why? Chao: I like to wear rings, but in order to not scratch what I’m making, I don’t wear rings at work. For special occasions or fairs, I like to wear necklaces or a brooch because the best way to display a piece of jewellery is on the body.
A lot of people in art search for something that they can’t find in their everyday life. Do you believe that art can become a form of escape? One of the most satisfying things in crafts and art is that you can see your creations as they are made and you get a sense of accomplishment when you’ve finished an actual object. This is also the reason why we feel that making with one’s hands will still exist in the future, even if machines will be able to do things better, faster and cheaper. Making is not just about the end result; it is a process that connects you to the object. Do you believe that art can make the world a better place, and that it can change people? Does art have, if not exactly curative powers, at least a positive influence on people? Art is how we express our inner self, no matter through which form. It also connects people and helps us to understand each other better. What makes you happy? We are happy that we have a dream job. Even though we work long days, we love what we do and what we do also lets us see the world. At this moment, we are just happy that the sun is shining and that the wildflowers are blooming. We can take a walk in the forest on the way to the studio, and after work we can ride our bikes to the lake to see the sunset. We are also looking forward to strawberries, apples and mushrooms in the coming months. We believe that happiness is right next to you if you always keep a happy heart.
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My most worn piece of jewellery is a smiling-face ring. I designed it around 2002 when I was studying at Aalto University in Helsinki for my MA degree, but every time people see it for the first time, they are always amazed by it. I like the fact that it can also be worn in different directions so that it smiles at either others or at me. My recent favorite piece is the Sparkling Forest full necklace. I was very happy the first time I put it on – it really sparkles elegantly and I couldn’t stop looking at it.
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Do you spend a lot of time drawing sketches of jewellery? Chao: No. I have only very simple idea sketches, or very often they are just words and sentences that I want to express. I first have an image in my mind of what the jewellery could be like, and then I spend lots of time trying to achieve that by actually working on test pieces or samples. Through working, I come to understand whether this concept/idea works or not, and sometimes I discover something I hadn’t even thought of. Eero: I have two methods of working with ideas. Either I draw hundreds of drawings to find the perfect shapes and lines, or I just take a piece of hard wax in which to carve and compose new pieces in a kind of ‘flow state’. Both work for me. I also keep all the drawings well archived, so that I can go through them again and perhaps find something new when I look at them with fresh eyes.
than before. What I don’t like about 3D printing is that it often makes people do lazy designs and stay in the easy and comfortable area – and which is where you can find thousands of people capable of doing exactly the same thing. Designing with 3D programmes is just like training with traditional techniques. You still need to know how to use the tools well, understand the materials you are working with, and most importantly, come up with new ideas. If you have limited skills, you won’t be able to do what you want to do, but only what you can do. Crafting is an important part of human history because our existence is based on making and creating things with our minds and using our hands. For me, personally, with the skill set I have, I work much faster with my hands and I can also test and create more. For now, at my work, my hands are still superior tools compared to 3D technologies.
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reference pictures or any real objects as models – just my imagination. My clients and fans also share this same aesthetic of an alternative style. That sentence about ‘dark being my colour’ helps people to understand how I see my creations and the settings for them.
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1 Eero Hintsanen. Earrings “Valakia”, special edition
3 Chao Hsien. Brooch “White Forest. 10 gold flowers” 4 Chao Hsien. Neckpiece “Leafy Wind”
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2 Eero Hintsanen. Necklace “Grand Spine”
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MARITA LUMI: MY JEWELLERIES ARE PICTURE BOOKS, FULL OF EVENTFUL STORIES By Triinu TIKAS
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The life of artist and musician
Marita
LUMI has been organically intertwined
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more. Working with metals inevitably requires time and patience, and I feel that jewellery has shaped me a lot as a person. I guess true love changes the person in this way. Certainly, in a more philosophical way, metal art has taught me at the same time the simplification of complex issues, as well as the complex interpretation of simple things. Because a jewellery peace is a powerful amulet: it has to decorate its wearer and add value to that person, to amplify the strengths hidden in the human soul. Your jewellery often has quite strange creatures and different birds and animals. What inspires you? My jewellery is often associated with my love for ethnography. I have interpreted mythologies and narratives in different ways and further narrated those in my image language. I once attended Kadri Viires' events at EAA's expedition to Tšuvaššija and the Mari-El Autonomous Republic, and from there I keep up with the events and writings about the tribal people. It really matters to me that the jewellery there is especially symbolic and tells stories. Everything has a purpose; everything is justified — even if it seems like a huge mess! I am certainly not a minimalist — I believe that different pieces of jewellery can be worn at the same time and lots of it, creating a set of setu chain, a kind of jungle, which is still a complete
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system. My jewellery is created on the edge of noticeable and invisible; where there is still a lot of work to be done by scientists; where the deepest secrets of the unexplained universe are hidden. When I create jewellery, I not only create the stories associated with the topics, but I also read and introduce myself to these topics. I leave bits of the random various stories that I’ve heard and experienced hidden in my jewellery. The jewellery I have created is like a reflection of nature and should support a mythical spiritual world in a certain way. For example, earrings with songbirds should chirp an invisible poem in the wearer’s ear, make them notice and interpret the surrounding in a more charming way. Also, birds were a symbol of passing on our ancestors' intelligence and knowledge in old Egypt. Some may think that jewellery items are merely decorative, but the art is almost as old as humanity and the items have been used for magical and ritual purposes. The magical ability of the jewellery may be significant. And not only that a jeweller creates a beautiful piece, but if a person feels beautiful when wearing it, the item can have a great impact. Through increased selfconfidence, one is more active and courageous to speak, to defend one's opinion, and to set their goals. So, in that sense, jewellery has meaning and importance.
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What does jewellery art mean for you? It is a very privileged world that allows you to hide large and eventful stories in small objects. Oscar Wilde once said he had no time to write a short letter because it would take too much time for him to find the right words that would express his feelings precisely. In jewellery art, we inevitably have to take this time and abstract the stories: the story must fit into the jewellery or series, and the different materials are forms that symbolize the details of the story. I like custom-made works, those are finally the result of the style, spirituality and narrations of the customer — even if I summarize “story” with some minimalist hidden symbol. Exhibition works, however, are like adventure novels or short stories or even philosophical treatises. For the past year and a half, I have also been involved in electroforming (cultivation of material by electrolysis), gold plating and silver plating. I like the fact that my speciality allows me to learn all the time. So many things you don't know yet, but you would like to know; so many opportunities and playing field to explore and experiment further. This is a real life game for me: when I make jewellery, I feel like I write a three-dimensional picture book for transferring metaphors and stories, and simultaneously read on to find out
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with the art of adornment since her childhood, when Marita made flower crowns and spruce hats, and created jewellery for all the book characters and animals. As a conscious choice, she finally entered into a relationship with jewellery in 2004, joining the Jewellery department of the Estonian Academy of Arts. “It seemed to me that when I could chew through the world's toughest and heaviest materials, metals and rocks, the rest of the world’s problems are easy to solve,” Marita explains the important choice that influenced her life.
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Who are your favourite jewellery artists and why? I have many favourite artists. As genius artists, I have always admired all my teachers: Kadri Mälk, Tanel Veenre, Rein Mets, Kärt Summatave, Julia Maria Künnap, Florence Lehmann, and Sophie Hanagarth. Also, Kertu Tuberg, Maarja Niinemägi, Ive-Maria Köögard, Annika Kedelauk, Nils Hint, Urmas Lüüs and Keiu Koppel. I'm a bit at loss here, but I would gladly name all the jewellers who surround me and who have influenced me. I would suggest visiting Hobusepea, there are a lot of us, 70 working jewellers! Most of my favourites are of those who passed EAA, as their works generally have more to offer than merely decorative purpose. Kadri Mälk, who has been the head of the department of jewellery at EAA for a long time, has directed our generation, focusing on the integration of content and technological skills. We have been taught to see the diversity and abundance of opportunities, to make complicated and meaningful jewellery, to look for our handwriting and to be compliant. I think that our advantage of coming from EAA is, above all, the introduction of the force and power of jewellery that the wearer then puts into existence.
You also have one unique “piece of jewellery” that you put into existence as a wearer. Kantele skirt, which was also your graduation thesis at EAA. What is a kantele skirt? The kantele skirt is a kantele, and at the same time a skirt, e.g. a kantele, which can be worn as a skirt and on which one can play music. This is an impromptu project that is slowly developing. The beginning was just like most good things in life with butterflies in the stomach. As a foreign student, living in Portugal, I built a conical copper cone, on which I attached the strings. Later, I built another one, and now I can perform with other kantele player. Although before, I knew nothing about the kanteles; knowledge came to the work by studying the matter more closely. At first, I knew more about metal, and so I decided to do as well as I could. When I create a whole new instrument, it could be something that would be played and danced in at the same time. To date, a disc has been released, which can be heard in SoundCloud: https:// soundcloud.com/kannelseelikud.
You also carry out jewellery workshops; we had a good opportunity to participate in one of them. Tell me more about these. For seven years, I have been conducting jeweller y workshops where on average 2-3 people can work together at a time in six hours. This opportunity to spend one interesting day together, or, for example, young people about to marry can make each others rings to show their commitment. Or a nice gift for friends, but also for mothers and daughters... Metal is like a plasticine, which at the same time requires a little patience and the use of different technologies to shape special and timeless things. The course deals with the main methods of jewellery — sawing, soldering, rolling, polishing. A good result also requires love and commitment. The participants will definitely complete their first pair of earrings or rings in one day. To make the result more meaningful and better for themselves, I would recommend that those who come to the course should think carefully about their idea in advance. Otherwise, too much of the time will be spent on formulating the idea in the workshop and the less time will be spent on the implementation. You might try to think and draw, but also search thoughts on the internet to find the most suitable and personalized design to accomplish. It takes the most time to think about the idea for me, too. By the way, it has been interesting that many people have continued their jewellery making after the course. Some have also come back to the course repeatedly and some have quietly started to build their home jewellery studio. This could mean that the workshop has been infectious. It gives me the greatest pleasure. Comment by the author: A serious risk of infection can be confirmed from my experience! In the workshop, under the guidance of Marita, I created a ring, which at first seemed complicated and unrealizable. “There are no unrealistic ideas and everything is possible in absolute terms,” Marita assured. Indeed, 6 hours later, an idea that seemed like a real challenge, had materialized into an amazingly beautiful ring. And immediately, I had a lot of enthusiasm and many ideas to continue ...
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1. Lizard bracelet “What You Learn Is What You Get”, 2019. Gold plated silver; ca 2500 circons, sapphires, amethyst. Photo by Riina VAROL
The model is Kati VIIKMAA 2. Skirt Harp, 2015. Copper, steel, up-cycled strings. Model Marita LUMI Musical instrument with 45 chords. Photo by Krõõt TARKMEEL
3. Earrings “RGB”, inspired by Jackson POLLOCK.. POLLOCK Silver, sapphires or silver, circons. Photo by Liina LÕÕBAS
4. Horses bracelets “You Can Catch The Moon If You Jump With Your Thoughts”, 2019. Gold plated silver, ca 5000 circons, diamonds. Photo by Riina VAROL
The model is Kati VIIKMAA 5. Bat necklace “In The Night Of Thousand Stars, 2018. Galvanically grown copper, stainless steel, silver, ca 1000 circons, tourmalines. Photo by Riina VAROL
The model is Kati VIIKMAA 6. Goat necklace “The Wild Goat”, 2018. Gold plated silver, ca 100 circons, tiger’s eye, opal, hematite. Photo by Riina VAROL
The model is Kati VIIKMAA
AUTHOR AND EXECUTION –
JEVGENI KAMPUS
Jeweller from 1971 Artist jeweler since 1975 Owner of Sangla Juveelisalong LTD since 1991. www.sangla.ee
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A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / ESTONI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT
Brooch “ALFALFA” (Queen Bee) The honeycomb, as the most perfect construction in the world, symbolizes Estonia and the correct state order. The bee symbolizes the hardworking nature of an Estonian. The Queen Bee has no stinger, she is above all. She lays eggs, symbolizing lyrics…the earth must be filled with children… The tricolor is drawn from the bee’s eyes on a white pearl that shows our vision of the future…and she looks to the North.
Weight: 18,81 gr Gold 585 3,5 gr Silver 925 12,12 gr Diamonds 0,43 ct Pearl 12 ct Completed 17.11.2017
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LO G I S T I C S PA R T N E R O F A M B E R T R I P
A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / BELGI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT
INTERVIEW WITH ALAIN ROGGEMAN
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by Simona GULBINIENĖ
Alain ROGGEMAN – jeweler, goldsmith, a lecturer at the Jeanne Toussaint Institute – Parure & Bijouterie from Brussels. In his works, he uses "found" materials that he combines with silver or gold. Characteristic of his creativity are geometric shapes and figures, dots, lines, and minimalist shapes, as well as "African" motifs – there he was born and spent his childhood. He draws inspiration from nature, urban landscapes, architecture, industrial design and music. Canopy Collection, 2017. Wood & Silver. Photo Stijn WILS
Where does love for jewelry come from? What attracted you to this art? Since very young I always liked drawing and using my hands by tinkering all kind of stuff. Making some cheap fantasy jewellery gave me the possibility to get closer to girlfriends. A documentary on TV about jewellery making gave me the urge to take that direction. Remember the first piece of jewelry you created? Yes, and I still have that piece. It is a bracelet. I made when I was a student at the jewellery school, it is a kind of modernist 70’s style. I still like it even if it is out of fashion. Do you sketch, draw, capture ideas? Yes, I have a lot of sketchbooks. Very often I take one from a few years ago and “rework” some designs. What does it mean to you to grab gold, silver or other precious metal? Could you describe the whims, the character of the material ... Which material is closest to you? I really like working with precious metals, but I don’t have preference for one or another. The finality of the piece you want to make gives you the right choice of the material you have to use. So, sometimes there is no precious material at all into my work. More and more I prefer to use reclaimed, found or recycled material. It’s very funny and much cheaper. It can be wood, old toys, piece of paper or plastic,…. But, I am coming from a classical jewellery education, so the “know how” and the technical rules of the art are my directing lines.
How did amber appear in your work? Describe your personal relationship with amber. It appears after a workshop in Gdansk in 2012. Even if I knew theoretically what amber was, I never worked with it before. I discovered a huge range of possibilities and it is so nice to smell it while you are crafting items with it. I like to use it raw with little intervention and enhance it with some very simple lines around. But it is also nice to cut, saw, shape, file and carve the amber. The warm feeling of amber gives me a kind of energy. How do you rate contemporary jewelry? What trends are you most excited about? Well, I am quite critical about con temporary jewelry. I think it is often pretentious and there is a lack of simplicity from the creators. A nice piece doesn’t need a deep intellectual explanation to justify it. You like it or not. Luckily there are a lot of very good designers and craftspeople making nice jewelry. Any trend is interesting I think. Which part of the creative process do you like best? Giving shape and embody the ske tches into the final pieces. Experiment proportions and mixing materials. How would you describe your jewellery in 3 words? Minimalistic, affordable and simplicity. What kind of jewellery will people wear in 2050? I hope they will still wear jewelry, doesn’t matter what kind.
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Photo by Stijn WILS
Minimalist collection, 2019. Wood & Silver. Photo Stijn WILS
Dark Collection, 2019. Wood & Shibuishi. Photo Stijn WILS
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Amber Collection. Ring.
JEWELLERY MAGICAL VALUE FASCINATES ME EVERY DAY Interview with Jurga GUSAROVIENĖ by Simona GULBINIENĖ
Jurga GUSAROVIENĖ
A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / LITHUA NI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT
How did jewelry come about in your life? After all, you have been working outside this field for many years. I do not know if the emergence of jewelry art and science in my life can be called accidental or unexpected. It was a transformation that conquered my heart immediately. After more than five years, I think the strongest impression of jewelry was the lasting value of it. We each want to leave something behind so that people can remember us. Writers leave books, painters leave paintings, jewelers – jewelry. Their magical value fascinates me every day.
of which we will enjoy for a very short time and then forget it in the drawer. Where do you get your inspiration from? For me, the sources of inspiration are music, human relationships, emotions, nature, gems. It is always a challenge and interesting at the same time to communicate with clients who are a bit capricious, have unusual desires. Each
needing internal discipline, otherwise he/ she will soon become a cry complaining to the world that no one understands him/her and you will not make money. What kind of jewelry do you like to create most: ring, earrings or pendant? Jewelry is beautiful if it is beautiful. This phrase is banal, but true. Still I find a bracelet as a piece of jewelry beautiful
What amazes you most in the world of jewelry? I am always fascinated with original design jewelry. And it's not necessarily very expensive, luxurious jewelry. Jewelry, like other forms of art, must evoke emotion. It might sound bold, but it must shake, excite. Otherwise, it will be a mass-produced replica ring, much
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38–2020 B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
How long does it take to make a jewelry? Rings, earrings, bracelets are firstly born in my imagination. It is a process of creation. Then starts the hard, meticulous work of myself and my colleagues. Sometimes all you need is the impulse and a few days of work, but there are other times when the process stops for a few months. A suitable, perfectly polished gemstone, seen and purchased at exhibitions can dictate the idea of a piece of jewelry. But it is a unique stone. It is necessary to prepare very well so that it does not break down during construction, and make the piece of jewelry precisely.
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How would you describe what jewelry is? What is the main meaning of jewelry for a person? I tell my clients very simply – you must first like the jewelry. A beautiful ring, a beautiful jewel. Because its main purpose is to make you beautiful. Does it matter if there is a ring in a showcase that costs thousands, but does not catch the eye and there is no woman who wants to admire it or prank up? For me, jewelry is a small celebration of our lives, and I hope that these celebrations bring joy to my clients as well.
The ring. 585 yellow gold, the yellow pearl,diamonds
time I make jewelry for them, I improve and grow, I have to deal with difficult tasks, accomplish them technically. But it is through this that the most beautiful jewelry is born. How do you find your jeweler's working day ideal? I would love to come to work early in the morning and work listening to my favorite music. But usually the morning starts with calls, e-mails with inquiries, meetings with outsourcers. I always dream of breaking somewhere for at least a few weeks and devoting my time to sketching jewelry. For now, it's just a dream. We recently talked to a fellow artist at length about the need for the artist to be very organized, industrious,
and rings have a really magical power. Do you always make exactly what you customers want, or do you allow yourself to improvise? I always ask the customer – why did you choose me? I cannot please his taste and desires. It is a process of creation. Sometimes I feel that the customer thinks of me as a maid that has to obey him/her, please him/her and I cannot make jewelry for such a customer. What is the most valuable piece of jewelry for you? I give a lot of jewelry away very hard, I remember them, they are part of my life. The most valuable are the ones that the
A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / LITHUA NI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT
The ring. 585 white gold, topaz, diamonds
The ring. 585 yellow gold, onyx, emeralds
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customers give to their loved ones on a special occasion. Engagement rings, a ring from a mother to her daughter, who lives thousands of kilometers away, a ring that a wife gets from her husband after the baby is born. All these stories are very exciting; you cannot remain indifferent as you become a part of that story. It’s a big win and a big responsibility.
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You emphasize a lot that a piece of jewelry must be like a family heirloom. Did this philosophy come from your family? Jewelry as a family heirloom is my aspiration. Therefore, I always suggest making a more classic piece of jewelry, from a precious metal, with gems, because it is better to have one but valuable ring. Unfortunately, the terrible Soviet time has ruined the jewelry heritage of many of our families. People sold the legacy of great-grandparents to survive or were robbed. Jewelers help restore this. Hopefully the rings we create will remain with grandchildren. How do new customers find you? Do you attend exhibitions, advertise in the media or on social networks? I try to take part in exhibitions. I proudly call partners from abroad to come to Lithuania, attend in the exhibitions and see how many strong and talented jewelers are there in Lithuania.
The ring. The night sky. White 585 gold, sapphire, diamonds
What dream do you have for your job? I have dreams of continuing to create, work with my team, delight the Lithuanian people, and maybe people from elsewhere...
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www.aimdisplay.com.pl
AIM DISPLAY POLISH MANUFACTURER OF DISPLAYS, ETUI, BUSTS AND TRAYS FOR EXPOSITION, SALES AND STORAGE OF JEWELLERY PL
ul. Taborowa 24, 02-699 Warszawa, Poland, T/F: +48 226449815
v
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aimdisplay@aimdisplay.com.pl
ERIKA KUNDAVIČIŪTĖ.
A JEWELLER, DESIGNER OF EXQUISITE JEWELLERY, AND FOUNDER OF THE “RAGANSTRA” AND “KEEP THE SILENCE” BRANDS By Simona GULBINIENĖ
“I make everything deep from my heart.
I make all the jewellery just like myself. Each piece is entire to my taste, so the work is produced with endless love and impatience to get the result. I make rough designs, I use mostly rough stones, both straight from nature and made by nature.” The ring “The Creator”. Oxidized silver, Vera Cruz amethyst. Collection “The Creator”
Describe your creative style? From the beginning of the creative work I've used rough shapes and forms, but at the same time – natural – as they can be found in nature. I always have liked rough stones and unconventional jewellery. What is your inspiration? In late 2019 I've turned myself to God and that's my biggest inspiration right now. All my life before I was stuck in magic and mysticism thinking that that's my real inspiration but I never felt complete and could not say that I was guided by the Creator, until now. What message do you want to convey to the world through your creative work?
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but I think this is the hardest thing to do in my job – plan and manage the time.
Has the development of your style been influenced by the events of your life? Surely. Everything in my life I've expressed with art, feelings are flowing the same as my art collections. In fact, I was always a very sensitive personality but I never saw anything in Lithuania similar to my spiritual walls from people. I wanted to create something rough that was inside carrying a very sensitive message (feelings, survivals what I was feeling in those times – certainty).
Why do you think people like to wear rings at all times? I think that people are very livable and emotional. Everyone wants to stand out from the others or to present themselves in a way they want. It's like an art form that shows how creative you are or what your personality type is. Jewellery is similar to psychology. People can be read by the jewellery they are wearing. Some love minimalism and have enough with one ring. Others are more expressive and, let's say, wear titanium or blackened silver. There are rebels who choose unbelievable combinations and so on. To make a point that there are different people and different ways of expressing through the jewellery.
What is your jewellery for? My jewellery is for those who will find it attractive, obviously, but with an emphasis on more brave people because I'm not afraid of dramatic/rough forms, shapes, and stones.
Dark colours dominate your creations. Why? I like minimalism, but not necessarily in the work – more in the colours. My creations are rough and very colourful in textures already, that's the main reason why I try to maintain minimalism in colours, which one will be interested in a mysterious way and include all the design view.
How not to fall in the crowd of creators? As I've mentioned before, there is various kind of people hence the jewellery designers too. It's not like some creators/artists will be left behind, every unique jeweller choosing some type of art direction and creating with it and, of course, every time they discover something new all over again. I was always trying to try new things and those people who found the design attractive – got attached. It might take a while but not giving up is really worth it. If you keep yourself unique and do not try to copy anyone, moreover, feel that it's the right thing to do, with your creative work you will not only surprise yourself but the others too.
What is the biggest challenge in your job? Probably the hardest part for me is to keep up with time and manage my time efficiently. I'm the kind of person who doesn't really know what the date is /day today and I often forget my deadlines. I sometimes have ended up in my Workshop on Wednesday, even my Workshop days are Tuesdays and Thursdays. That pretty much explains it. Of course, this is not always the case,
How do you see yourself ten years from now? For all my life I was keen to know what's to come and how the future folds but now, I'm living with the trust in God and I know that I should not predict the future because I can’t foresee on behalf of the God. But I believe that no matter the path I will have, it will be the best/optional future for me the God has prepared. I can surely say that in 10 years there will be love, certainty, sincerity and truth.
What is your favourite piece of jewellery? I always liked rings the most and I enjoy making them. Recently I've been enjoying to create finger caps from silver and other jewellery pieces in different forms meant for hands themselves.
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What you were doing before the jewellery? I have graduated from the School of Ceramics and before the metal jewellery, I was creating art from both clay and polymer clay. At the time when I came to metal jewellery, the clay was already in the second place because after some time I really felt that it won't be my way. Hence I stopped and found myself into metal jewellery – the new amazing art space in which I can develop, even more, using the same skills I've learned with Ceramics and I really believe that it helps me to create more various designs.
Now – Love and learn how to get back in a relationship with God.
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Why did you choose to study jewellery? For a long time, I was attracted to metal jewellery but when I was willing to try, the places with such an opportunity was unreachable – in a different cityeither far away or I was not willing to move there. When life brought me back to Vilnius, I heard about a place called Vilnensis Gallery and the opportunity to have private/dedicate practices there. I went there without a second doubt. The funny thing is that on my first day I came one day earlier because I messed up with days. I felt really ashamed back then but I realized that this is my field in which I will grow.
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A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / LITHUA NI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT
The ring “Branch”. Oxidized silver, gold, amethyst
The ring “Ocean Queen”. Oxidized silver, gold, grape agates
“The ring “The tower”. Oxidized silver, iolite stone
“Rings “Rough Trio”. Rough stones, silver
TAURUS – MODERN CLASSIC FOR DAILY ELEGANCE Interview with Tauras BLAŽEVIČIUS
A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / LITHUA NI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT
TAURUS Jewels –
What is the purpose of your creation? Why do we do what we do and what is the purpose of it? These are philosophical and eternal questions. For over 20 years, jewellery has been an integral part of my life. These activities allowed me to realise myself as an artist and feel valued by both regular and new clients. The most important thing is to strive for harmony between your professional activities and the ethical principles of daily life. That is the main purpose of my creative and personal life. In your opinion, what is the most important in jewellery? Jewellery is like silent communication by which we can express the most beautiful feelings to our loved ones and to ourselves. It can be used to mark special events in life. The most
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The set of three rings; 18k yellow gold, white diamonds
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The earrings; 18k yellow gold, white diamonds, blue sapphires
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
is lithuanian jewelry brand developed by jewelry designer Tauras Blaževičius. Taurus jewelry is a result of modern minimalism and classics synthesis. All of the TAURUS works are handmade, made of precious metals, gemstones, diamonds and pearls. Unique decor of precious metals, minimalistic elegance and finesse are the main features of Tauras Blaževičius works. Years of experience and knowledge gained by learning from the best Western European goldsmiths, allows him to create a unique jewelry, designed specifically for the individual.
The earrings; 18k white and yellow gold, emeralds, white diamonds pave
A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / LITHUA NI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT
important thing in my artistic activity is respect for the guests of Taurus jewellery studio. We attempt to offer custom design, high quality gems and high quality of workmanship. Handmade jewellery is long-lasting and can be passed down for generations. What's the most beautiful/ interesting story you have about your work?
Creative activity is the most wonderful and exciting life story. I change, learn from mistakes, discover new ideas and techniques, meet outstanding people. During my activity years as an artist, I have witnessed many people’s personal stories and experiences. From the moment of engagement and the birth of a baby to the desire to leave something special to a dear person in memory of themselves.
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The ring with earrings; 18k white gold, Tahitian pearls, white diamonds
The set of three rings; 18k yellow gold, red spinel, white diamonds
The earrings; 18k yellow gold, red coral, champagne diamonds The engagement ring; 18k white gold, cushion cut champagne and white diamonds
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JEWELLERY – A RELATIONSHIP TO BODY, IDENTITY & HERITAGE Interview with Sanna SVEDESTEDT CARBOO By Simona GULBINIENĖ
Sanna Svedestedt Carboo is an art jeweller and leather craft artist based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her work is focused on leather craft, curatorial practices, writing and communication of artistic work. Sanna Svedestedt CARBOO Photo by Jonas Carboo
A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / SW EDISH JEW ELLERY R EPORT
What was the biggest challenge for you in your jeweller career? Money and time, time and money. And understanding and accepting that creating things with your hands and mind, making art, is a profession and
coming to terms with the fact that there will always be people who don’t see it as a proper line of work. What is the idea behind your recent jewellery? Do you think that jewellery should have an idea behind it? For the last ten years I have been working with leather. I love to experiment with naturally tanned leathers to find new textures and looks in the material. Most often I use reindeer leather in my
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relationship to body, identity or heritage. Jewellery as an artform interests me because of the possibility to use a body as a canvas. Ever if a piece is not worn, you can reference the body, which will tell a story to the viewer.
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How do you understand jewellery? Why did you choose to express yourself through jewellery? I define a large spectrum of objects and events as jewellery. To me both a piece that you hang on the wall and a piece you wear can be jewellery. It can also be something so fragile it only exists for a brief moment or something only presented as a photograph. What they most often have in common in order to be considered jewellery, is a Brooch: Cameo Series, 2018 Naturally tanned reindeer leather, dyed
Photos by Sanna Svedestedt Carboo
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B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
How and when did your passion for jewellery start? Does any of your family members do something related to art? For the older generations of my family it was natural to craft and make everyday items that were needed around the household and for decoration. I was fortunate to grow up with my grandparents close by, and many afternoons in my childhood were spent in their kitchen doing crafts such as knitting and crocheting. The things we made were never considered to be art, and being an artist was never a thinkable career path. I didn’t know anyone who worked as an artist and I didn’t know that you could make a living out of creating things with your hands and mind.
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pieces. I my latest work, the cameo series, I make interpretations of cameos and classic jewellery pieces. I play with size and volume and material of course. I don’t think that all jewellery needs to have an idea behind it. Jewellery making can also be processed based or developed through material research. I don’t think we should set limitations or demands on how jewellery should be made. Do you have any loyal customers that wait for your new pieces of work? A few. It is magical when a piece finds its owner. I don´t have a specific person or wearer in mind when I create, but when that right person encounters the piece, it’s like it was always meant to be.
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What are your plans for the future? In what ways would you want to grow, are there any techniques that you would like to try? The last years I have spent a lot of my time working for the Swedish Artists’ Association with the mission to improve the social and economic status for artists in Sweden, a subject I am passioned about. Last fall I came back after a year of maternity leave and I have been adjusting to this new life balancing family and work. Currently I am developing a new collection of
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leather jewellery, and I also want to further push and improve my leather skills. What is your advice for someone who is planning to start creating jewellery? To learn about the field and its actors. Find where and how you want to position yourself and don’t let anyone else set limitations for what you can do. Look for collaborations and networks and when opportunities are few, create them for yourselves. Think about marketing strategies and develop one that you are comfortable with, because that is one you will actually do. www.svede.se
1 Neckpiece: Cameo Series, 2017 Naturally tanned reindeer leather, leather cords, dyed 2 Brooch: Cameo Series, 2017 Naturally tanned reindeer leather, dyed 3 Neckpiece: Building Blocks, 2013 Naturally tanned reindeer skin 4 Brooches: Cameo Series, 2017 Naturally tanned reindeer leather 5 Brooch: Cameo Series, 2015 Naturally tanned cow skin
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For Igor Brasiūnas' 65th birthday
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IGOR BRASIŪNAS IS A ROMANTIC OF POSTMODERNISM Among the other brilliant post-Soviet masters of amber craft, a special place belongs to Igor Brasiūnas (1955-2004), whose artistic path was very much influenced by Lithuanian culture.
Igor
Vladimirovich Brasiūnas (Kharitonov) was born on 31st of October in 1955 in the Urals, in the city called Lysva in the Perm region. His parents were both engineers. After graduating from secondary school, he entered the Department of Ceramics in the famous Abramtsevo Art and Industry College near Moscow. It is now a branch of Moscow Stroganov Academy of Design and Applied Arts. He was taught a little bit of everything there – painting, drawing, and sculpture. But the majors were ceramics, stone processing, wood carving and painting on porcelain. After the end of his 3rd year, Igor left the college to rush towards an independent adult life. In Moscow, he became a hippie and met his first wife, Aurika Brasiūnaitė, who was Lithuanian. He took her last name after marriage. Igor went to Vilnius with her, and there he developed his talent of carving to his fullest potential. One of his first works was a figurine of the Virgin Mother that resembled a medieval wooden sculpture. He also created a few gospel-themed compositions by order of Vilnius churches, and made little crucifixes, staffs, crosses and various presents for clerics. In Lithuania he found interest in the Middle Ages. He was passionate about the organ music and even became a Catholic.
Photo by S. LOMAKIN
His interest in religion, history and philosophy as well as his participation in the hippie movement in the Soviet Union in the 70's made him a free individual and helped him find answers for many sensitive issues in the modern art. His spiritual searches of those years combined with his brilliant craftsman skills formed him as a free-thinking, sincere and a very self-demanding artist. In the mid-1980s Igor moved to Kaliningrad. As he used to working with materials that highlight volumes such as wood and clay, he neglected the artistic capacity the Baltic jewel. It was only in 1990 that the artist for the first time tried amber as a material for decorative objects. His first works were cameos made from the amber pieces collected on the Curonian spit. At the college, Igor learned about the Russian bone cutting. Its techniques he later used in his works. We can see the usage of pierced work in the plastic composition called The Unicorn
and some other works. The mythical creature's dynamic image is seamlessly inscribed into the amber's natural shape: the unicorn's fluttering tail and mane seem to grow from the amber's body, its curvy corpus rhythms with the nugget. Being parallel to the faces of the amber plate, the corpus intensifies the artistic expression. The silhouette of the fable stallion is well read in the pierced “amber window” that frames and emphasizes the sculpture. Igor Brasiūnas was a master of fine and intricate cameos with delicately detailed intaglios, but his main interest was a carved sculpture. In carving he successfully applied his earlier experience of working with ceramics, wood and bone. Igor used to say that amber is a phenomenally complex material for sculpting. In his opinion, wood was much more suitable for creating volumetric compositions. “Undoubtedly, wood is a sculptural material that can show every bit of volume,” he said, “Amber, on the contrary, hides volumes, and the sculptor's work is barely visible. After all work and effort, there is only a naked silhouette glowing in the sun. Most sculptors would probably say that amber is impossible to work with. I can't agree with them now. I've created some works that can be called sculptures. Whether they are bad or good, they are still sculptures.” (Excerpt from an interview in 2000) As a true master of applied arts, Igor seldom made individual sculptural works. Sculpture had always been present in his works as part of a more complex product such as panels, chess boards with figures, or bottles.
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The Unicorn composition. Circa 1997. Amber. From a private collection. Photo by S. POKROVSKIY
Playing Men II bottle. Early-2000. Amber. From a private collection. Photo courtesy of the artist's widow M. MAVROPULO
The Warrior bottle. 1997. Amber. Height 8.9 cm. From the Kaliningrad Amber Museum collection. Photo by I. SOSEDKO
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The Repka (The Turnip) bottle. 2002. Amber. From a private collection. Photo courtesy of the artist's widow M. MAVROPULO
An interesting series of bottles was created by him. Simple in shape and small in size, bodies of vessels contrast with luxurious sculptural corks depicting warriors, fairy-tale witches, or an entire fairy-tale scene. The Warrior bottle resembles traditional forms of indoor sculpture. Made from transparent honey amber, the cork shaped in the form of a warrior figure holding a sword perfectly goes together with the predominantly white bottle's body. The master succeeded in conveying the inner tension of the warrior waiting for a battle to begin. In The Playing Men II bottle the master also uses contrast for achieving the greatest artistic effect. The vessel's body is an example of natural amber. By its form it resembles a paperweight, the surface of which is covered with a relief oxidized crust. The geometric vessel contrasts with the elegant cork decorated with a sculptural group consisting of two naked male bodies literally floating in the air. The wrestlers are tense and ready to fight. The master skillfully conveyed the plasticity of human bodies. He subtly feels the features of the stone, cuts off what is
The Snow Leopard bottle. 2002. Amber. From a private collection. Photo courtesy of the artist's widow M. MAVROPULO
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The Celtic cup. 2003. Amber. Dimensions: 3 x 8.4 x 7.4 cm. From the Kaliningrad Amber Museum collection. Photo by A. BARANOV
Cabinet knife. 2004. Amber, metal. Dimensions: 5.2 x 15.5 x 2.9 cm. From the Kaliningrad Amber Museum collection. Photo by I. TKACHEV
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Ecumenical rosary. 2003. Amber. Length 43 cm. From the Kaliningrad Amber Museum collection. Photo by I. SOSEDKO
excess and realizes the idea of creating a real sculpture. Everything is important to him: color, texture, shape, and the ability of amber to simultaneously reflect and absorb light. The Repka bottle is a tribute to everything elegant and beautiful. The vessel resembling the turnip from the famous Russian fairytale “Repka” is made from yellow translucent amber that is decorated with flat contour carving. The graceful cork from transparent honey amber grows from top of the composition, shaped as a stylized stem with a volute-like curl. In The Snow Leopard bottle the artist skillfully used the shape and color of amber to create a vessel with a cork shaped as a wild animal. The arched body of a leopard clinging to its prey, with its long spiraled tail and expressive muzzle with opened mouth leave no doubt about the animal's intentions. Moreover, the bottle is a kind of a dynamic toy made to resemble a carved wooden rocking horse. Amber often with its shape, surface relief or transparency prompted the
artist the image of a future work. Such works include The Celtic cup, made from a single piece of transparent amber. The elegant form of the cup is emphasized by a large decorative handle with an intricate pierced pattern depicting writhing dragons' bodies. This vessel demonstrates amber's special property – it illuminates with a ray of light. Amber works created by Igor are not only about amusement and interior decoration. They also show the master's spiritual searches and reflections about the world and the master himself. The idea behind his Ecumenical rosary is individual. They are decorated with letters and signs of different peoples, religions and beliefs. The rosary became a symbol of cultural evolution and spiritual kinship of all mankind. The Mask table decoration is a basrelief made from a large amber nugget with a cloud pattern razored by large sharp lines. What a powerful, attractive, and mysterious power lies behind it! Perhaps, the master himself is looking at us through it?
Paying tribute to the postmodern tradition, Igor Brasiūnas widely used the techniques and motifs of art of various times and cultures — from Ancient Egypt, India, Japan to the works of Russian bone cutting. But all this experience of the past was not just copied, but creatively reinterpreted by the artist. A postmodernist in his heart, he remained a romantic by his creative temperament. It is no accident that the first informal Association of Amber Workers in the Kaliningrad region, whose ideological inspiration he was, was ironically called a “Romantic project” by him. Amber is an ornamental stone used solely for decoration. Working with it, few masters can go beyond making nice jewelry and cute trinkets. Igor Brasiūnas was one of the few whose best works can be claimed high art. Zoya KOSTYASHOVA Leading Research Scientist Of Kaliningrad Amber Museum
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The Mask composition. 2004. Amber. Height 11.5 cm. From the Kaliningrad Amber Museum collection. Picture by A. SCHULTZ
MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
List of open selling prices of amber production of
JSC Kaliningrad Amber Factory* Valid from 17-02-2020
Amber of commission sorting Sort 1
Open selling prices (excluding VAT), EUR/kg
500 gr. – 1 000 gr.
4 991
300 gr. – 500 gr.
4 492
200 gr. – 300 gr.
4 087
100 gr. – 200 gr.
3 679
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2 989
20 gr. – 50 gr.
2 032
10 gr. – 20 gr.
1 016
5 gr. – 10 gr.
528
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
50 gr. – 100 gr.
38–2020
Amber of weight sorting Sort 1
Amber of weight sorting Unsorted 2 gr. – 5 gr.
114
Amber of filter sorting 2,5 gr. – 5 gr. or fraction +16
124
Fraction +14
60
Fraction +11,5
30
Fraction -11,5+8
9,8
Fraction -8+4
1,4
Fraction -4
0,6
*According to the official exchange rate of the ECB (21.02.2020) 1 Eur- 69,548 Rub
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MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
The Worldwide Price for
Raw Amber March 2020
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
38–2020
p. 116
AMBER FROM RUSSIA
AMBER FROM UKRAINE
No.
Regular Amber Piece Size
Price / 1 kg – EUR
No.
Regular Amber Piece Size
Price / 1 kg – EUR
1
+4 – 8 fraction
5
1
2 gr. – 5 gr.
110
2
+8 – 11,5 fraction
12
2
5 gr. – 10 gr.
300
3
+11,5 fraction
35
3
10 gr. – 20 gr.
600
4
+14 fraction
70
4
20 gr. – 50 gr.
1100
5
+16 fraction
140
5
50 gr. – 100 gr.
1300
6
2 gr. – 5 gr.
140
7
5 gr. – 10 gr.
270
8
10 gr. – 20 gr.
720
9
20 gr. – 50 gr.
1100
10
50 gr. – 100 gr.
2200
11
100 gr. – 200 gr.
2400
12
200 gr. – 300 gr.
2700
13
300 gr. – 500 gr.
2900
AMBER FROM RUSSIA FRACTIONS 20-50 GR. RAW AMBER PRICE CHANGE 2006 FEBRUARY – 2020 MARCH EUR per kg
4300 3900 3500 3100 2700 2300 1900 1500 1100 700 300
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 06 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03
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MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
The Worldwide Price for
Amber Silver 925 Jewellery March 2020
Amber Silver 925 Jewellery
Price EUR / gr.
Handmade
2,05
Machine made
1,58
Data
EUR / ounce
2019 08
14,61
Eur / ounce
2019 09
16,84
17
2019 10
15,77
2019 11
16,18
2019 12
15,28
2020 01
15,93
2020 02
16,33
AMBER SILVER 925 JEWELLERY PRICE CHANGE AUGUST 2010 – MARCH 2020 Eur / gr.
3 2
Handmade
38–2020
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 08 03 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 02
Machine made
SILVER PRICE CHANGE AUGUST 2019 – MARCH 2020
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6
2019 08
2019 09
2019 10
2019 05
2019 11
2020 01
2020 02
www.silverprice.org
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B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
0
p. 117
1
MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
The Worldwide
Gold Price
Monthly average 2019–2020
EUR per troy ounce
2019 January
1 120,0
1500
February
1 152,7
1450
March
1 150,4
1400
April
1 152,2
1350
May
1 141,9
1300
June
1 175,3
July
1 227,7
August
1 273,29
1250 1200
September
1 391,51
38–2020
1150 1050
October
1 349,97
1000
November
1 351,28
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
p. 118
Data/Eur
www.gold.org
1100
2019 2020 December 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01 02
1 321,17
2020 January
1 336,91
February
1 425,46
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M A JOR J E W E L L E R Y T R A DE FA I R S /
MAJOR JEWELLERY TRADE FAIRS March 2020 – October 2020
BASELWORLD 2020 Date: 30 April – 5 May, 2020 Location: Basel, Switzerland www.baselworld.com visitor@baselworld.com 24th Hangzhou International Jewelry Exhibition Date: 20-23 March, 2020 Location: Hangzhou Peace International Conference & Exhibition Center, China www.hzqiyang.com qiyanghz@163.com
HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show Date: 18-21 May, 2020 Location: Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, China Hkjewelleryshow.hktdc.com exhibitions@hktdc.org
Precious Date: 4-6 September, 2020 Location: Stockholmsmässan, Stockholm, Sweden www.preciousfair.se info@preciousfair.se
Jewellery Expo Ukraine Date: 21-24 May, 2020 Location: International Exhibition Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine www.jewellerexpo.kiev.ua info@kmkya.kiev.ua
VICENZAORO Date: 5-9 September, 2020 Location: Fiera Vicenza, Vicenza, Italy www.vicenzaoro.com sales@vicenzaoro.com
JCK Las Vegas Date: 2-5 June, 2020 Location: Sands Expo & The Venetian, Las Vegas, USA www.lasvegas.jckonline.com inquiry@jck.reedexpo.com
ARU ALMATY, The 34th International Jewellery Fair Date: 2-5 April, 2020 Location: Almaty, Kazakhstan www.kazexpo.kz kazexpo@kazexpo.kz
JUBINALE Summer Date: 4-6 June, 2020 Location: International Exhibition and Convention Centre Expo Krakow, Poland www.jubinale.com info@jubinale.com
18th International Gold & Jewelry Exhibition Date: 13-19 April, 2020 Location: Mishref, Kuwait www.kif.net info@kif.net
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AMBERMART Date: will be published Location: AMBEREXPO Exhibition & Convention Centre, Gdańsk, Poland www.ambermart.amberexpo.pl ewa.niemczyk@mtgsa.com.pl
JUNWEX NEW RUSSIAN STYLE Date: 20-24 May, 2020 Location: VDNH, Pavilion № 75, Moscow, Russia www.junwex.com overseas@junwex.com
48th MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show Date: 14-18 April, 2020 Location: Expo Centre Sharjah, United Arab Emirates www.mideastjewellery.com info@expo-centre.ae
Oroarezzo Date: 18-21 April, 2020 Location: Arezzo, Italy www.oroarezzo.it oroarezzo@oroarezzo.lt
Japan Jewellery Fair (JJF) Date: 14-16 October, 2020 Location: Tokyo Big Sight Exhibition Center, Japan www.japanjewelleryfair.com info@japanjewelleryfair.com
SIJE Singapore International Jewelry Expo 2020 Date: 23-26 July, 2020 Location: Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore www.sije.com.sg sije@cems.com.sg
SHENZHEN International Jewelry Fair Date: 10-14 September, 2020 Location: Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, China www.newayfairs.com info@newayfairs.com Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong Date: 13-19 September, 2020 Location: Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, China exhibitions.jewellerynet.com salesjgf@informa.com JUNWEX MOSCOW Date: 23-27 September, 2020 Location: VDNH, Pavilion 75, Moscow, Russia www.junwex.com junwex@junwex.com International Jewelry & Watch Show Abu Dhabi (JWS) Date: 24-28 October, 2020 Location: ADNEC, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates www.jws.ae info@jws.ae
p. 119
50th Istanbul Jewelry Show March Date: 19-22 March, 2020 Location: CNR Expo, Istanbul Fair Center, Turkey march.istanbuljewelryshow.com visit-ijs@ubm.com
IJK – 24th International Jewellery Kobe Date: 14-16 May, 2020 Location: Kobe Exhibition Hall, Tokyo Japan www.ijk-fair.jp ijk-eng@reedexpo.co.jp
New Nordic Jewellery & Watch Copenhagen Date: 21-23 August, 2020 Location: Øksnehallen, Copenhagen, Denmark www.nord-fair.dk anne@nord-fair.dk
38–2020
27th Amberif, International Fair of Amber, Jewellery & Gemstones Date: 18-21 March, 2020 Location: AMBEREXPO Exhibition & Convention Centre, Gdańsk, Poland www.amberif.amberexpo.pl amberif@mtgsa.com.pl
PALAKISS SPRING Date: 9-11 May, 2020 Location: Palakiss, Vicenza, Italy www.palakiss.com info@palakiss.com
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
XVII International Baltic Jewellery Show Amber Trip Date: 11-14 March, 2020 Location: LITEXPO, Vilnius, Lithuania www.ambertrip.com info@ambertrip.com
www.ambercombine.ru
XVIII INTERNATIONAL BALTIC JEWELLERY SHOW AMBER TRIP
VILNIUS MARCH, 202 1 P i
P i
€
€ LITEXPO
LAISVES av. 5, VILNIUS LITHUANIA
Contact us for more information:
+370 618 53538 info@ambertrip.com www.ambertrip.com
Oct. 30th—Nov. 1st 2020 Munich Trade Fair Center Europe‘s top show for jewellery & gemstones
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