Contemporary Jewellery
\zest\ feeling of enjoyment enthusiasm excitement energy piquancy
Introducing A
Zest
fter several years of creative practice in the field of painting, sculpture and photography,
we got in touch with contemporary jewellery by hazard. Immediately fascinated by the interaction of the infinite design possibilities and the jewel’s inherent limitations we decided in May 2014 to learn contemporary jewellery by traveling, encounters with other jewelers and trial and error in order to go our very own way. Together, we form “Zest”.
I
t is in memory to our good friend Tom Ollivier that we decided to name ourselves “Zest.” Unfor-
tunately, Tom left us much too early in May 2012. Signing his works “zest”, it’s him who gave us the passion of artistic expression. Observation, versatility and the importance of finding a very personal style - that’s what caracterised Tom and what we try to perpetuate with “Zest”.
Vincent Chartier
french, * 1991 It has always been clear to me the I wanted to work with
Since Delphine wanted to change her work conditions
my hands. At the age of 16 I quit school and started an
either, we thought: why not start something together?
apprenticeship as plasterer with a specialization in stucco
I was already painting for several years, so I was looking
at the association “Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour
for a profession that enables me to work with my hands
de France” (Companions of the Duty and Turn of France)
and to express myself.
Plaster is a material I was immediately attracted to of its
Jewellery immidiately fascinated me: designing shapes
wide range of techniques and the many ways to work
for the body, working the metal. Contemporary jewel-
with. Although it is widely used in the building industry,
lery is giving me the freedom to express myself, it gives
plaster bears also endless artistic possibilites. After five
me the opportunity to travel, to explore foreign cultures,
years I left the association - I felt too restricted, it was
techniques and materials, to exchange with others. Hav-
impossible to me to develop my full creativity. Moreover,
ing chosen to travel and being self-taught is still to me
being plasterer is a very physical activity, so I started to
the best decision I could have made, because even if it
have backproblems. At that time it was clear to me that I
requiers a lot of effort, it is much more rewarding to me.
had to find something else.
Delphine Nölke german, * 1988
Born and educated in Germany, I came to France in
industry, I quit a system. I did not want to go back to
2012, where I met Vincent and never left since. With a
school and follow someone elses’ path. So the idea to
B.A. in journalism and cinematic studies I first worked in
learn a profession by travelling and trial and error came
the audiovisual and communication industry. Very soon,
very naturally.
I started to rethink how I wanted to work. Sitting behind
And then there is something else, maybe a kind of re-
the screen in the office, my hands reduced to their fin-
bellion against all these industrially manufactured, mean-
gers tapping on the keypad, producing nothing concrete
ingless objects that flood the market. I wanted to create
one can touch - it felt wrong to me.
objects that are part of a story and that are able to evoke
With Vincent we started to think about an alternative,
something in the viewer. And piece by piece things fell in
something we could build together. I was looking for
place, almost as if jewellery found me. The more I started
freedom, I wanted to create something concrete with
to think about the jewel, the more I got intrigued. I got
my hands and express myself. For me, I quit not only an
hooked. And now, jewellery is always on my mind.
5
About
our work
Our work is above all a quest for pleasure: the
play, a play with shapes, a play with the body,
pleasure of creating the jewel for us; the plea-
an exploration of space and materials.
sure to wear and look at it for others. We have no pinpointed formal language, we The idea comes always first. Since we never
try to keep it as diversified as possible. We do
took courses on a jewellery school, we cannot
not refer to any style, at least not consciously.
hide behind technique. We want our jewellery
When we work, we explore, we follow our in-
reduced to the essential. We want it accessible,
tuition, we do not force it, we try to let it come
speaking directly to the viewer. Understandable
naturally. Some jewels come to us, they pop up
without prior knowledge especially not in the
in our mind, some jewels start from an idea and
field of contemporary jewellery.
become something else in the making.
When we say essential, we do not mean minimalist. We are looking for clear designs and
Jewellery is for us inevitabely connected with
sharp shapes.
the traditional jewellery techniques, means the work of metal. Although the borders be-
For us, the most direct access to the viewer
tween wearable objects and jewellery tend to
passes through beauty, a universal language
be blurred in the field of contemporary jewel-
and yet perceived differently by each person.
lery, we understand the pieces that we make as
We are convinced that beauty, however mys-
jewellery - made for the body and meant to be
terious it may be, is a fundamental need. Hu-
worn.
manity never came to understand the essence of beauty and we do not have ultimate wisdom,
We only use natural materials. We work mainly
therefore our approach is intuitive and explor-
with silver, sometimes with bronze. Our cur-
atory.
rent work is mostly made of mammoth ivory, coral, horn, seashells and nacre - materials we
Soldering a ring.
6
Wearing jewellery is for us pure pleasure and
brought back from our four-month journey to
designing jewellery is nothing serious. It is a
Southern Morocco.
Shapes.
The Quest
for Zest “The Quest for Zest” is initially the name of our blog, a kind of logbook with which we document the evolution of our project from the very beginning on. Our aim was on one hand to share our experiences and to show the evolution of our work in order to introduce our readers to contemporary jewellery. On the other hand we wanted to encourage people to think out of the box and to leave the beaten tracks. As we explained in the introduction text, we decided not to attend a jewellery school but to
4 months in Tiznit
in 4 minutes
learn jewellery by the means of traveling, encounters and trial and error. And it is only in retrospect that we realized how well the word “quest” fits the project. Because it really turned out to be a quest. We are not only discovering the field of contemporary jewellery, we also dis-
To watch our video Tiznit - A Jewellery Journey to South Morocco flash the QR-Code or go on https://vimeo.com/zestcreations/tiznit
cover techniques, other cultures and different ways to work. One cannot find what he isn’t looking for and really fast we recognized that our approach had to be very active. Forcing us constantly to push ourselves further, forcing us to be aware of what we want to do, of what we want to learn.
8
The final trigger for our decision against a jewellery school was our encounter with Julie Decubber, a french contemporaray jewellery designer, who traveled herself and who told us about Tiznit, a town in the middle of nowhere in Southern Morocco, where silversmithing has a very long tradition. Some years ago she had been there herself working in a traditional jewellery workshop for a month. So we decided to pack our bags and try our luck. We hurled into this adventure without much preparation - first of all because with Moroccans you cannot plan, you have to live from day to day. And when we finally got there it was very easy to get in contact with the jewelers and after several days we found Ahmed El Guerche, in Tiznit not only well known for his jewellery but also a respected local figure. Ahmed received us in his studio where we worked everyday side by side, together with his three employees, his brother Abdelwahed, Ali, a jeweler, and Simo, an engraver. Ahmed, Ali, Abdelwahed and Simo taught us a lot, they taught us the essential jewellery tech-
niques and they intoduced us to Morrocan and Touareg jewellery. But especially Ahmed taught From left to right: Ahmed on his workbench, Ali on the polishing machine, Abdelwahed cleaning his filings
us a lot more. He taught us the love for silver, he taught us to make with what we got and has the same passion for jewellery, spending himself almost all of his time in his jewellery workshop. He is one of the most genereous and sincere people we ever met, and we all could learn a lot from him about life.
Endless horizons of Morocco.
Place El Mechouar, Tiznit.
Much more things could be said about these four months that we spend in Tiznit, where you still find traditional Moroccan life and where tourism is yet less developed than in other parts of the country. This journey - only the first amongst others - not only taught us about jewellery. It changed our way of seeing things and it doubtless had an impact on how we approach jewellery, on how we work and on how we live.
Left: Ahmed’s son playing with the polishing machine. Right: Tiznit’s foundary.
Dressed up as traditional berber bride and groom.
Back in France since March, we converted a store-room into our first studio where we work since July. Of course our wanderlust is still strong, as soon as possible we’ll pack again our bags to discover foreign jewellery cultures. Our next destination ? We haven’t decided - yet.
Studio transformation.
Jeweler’s bench at Ahmed’s workshop.
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Overview Necklaces
Essaouira
Veines
Canvas
Canvas II
Pentagone
High Expectations
Méduse
Pégase
Arc I
Arc II
Same Same
Tiznit
Noir Désir
Safari
page 18
page 26
page 21
page 21
page 20
page 22
Pendants
page 16
page 16
Earrings
page 19
10
page 21
page 15
page 15
page 19
page 19
Rings
Trophée
Méduse
Boxes I
HIgh 5
Boxes II
Marinière
Montgolfière
Lunatic
Enroulade
Stuck
Topless
Up!
Bridge
Curved
Tripoli
Bowl
Iro
page 19
page 27
page 17
page 23
page 29
page 14
page 14
page 17
page 24
page 25
page 30
page 31
page 21 & 29
page 28
page 17
page 20
page 30
11
Brooches
Planetopia I
page 20 & 25
12
Planetopia II page 20 & 23
Beyond
page 18
Melt
page 24
EntrelacĂŠs page 14
Materials Mammoth ivory
Coral
Horn
Silver
Bronze
Mammoth tusk ivory comes
Precious coral or red coral
Horn is the pointed projection
This soft, white, lustrous and
One of the earliest metals
from the two upper incisors
(Corallium rubrum) grow on
on the head of various animals
precious metal possesses the
known to man, bronze is an
of a mammal called woolly
rocky seabottom, typically in
consisting of a covering of
highest electrical and thermal
alloy made of copper and tin.
mammoth (Mammuthus primi-
dark environments. Its main
keratin and other proteins sur-
conductivity and reflectivity
In contrary to silver, bronze is
genius) who has been extinct
characteristic is its durable
rounding a core of live bone.
of any metal. More abundant
a hard, brittle metal with gold-
for at least 10,000 years. It
and intensely colored red or
It is a hard, smooth material
than gold, it has numerous
en colour. It is often confused
is found in Alaska and Rus-
pink hard skeleton. It is found
and easy to shape since it is
applications beyond jewelry
with brass, an alloy of copper
sia. The now fossilized ivory
mainly in the Mediterranean
thermoplastic. In many spe-
and silverware. The majority
and zinc, although they have
tusks are a very rare and pre-
Sea and has become rare
cies only males have horns,
of silver is today in the ser-
different properties. Bronze is
cious material, buried deep
because of intensive and il-
they grow throughout the life
vice of industrial production.
for example much harder than
within the permafrost. Sibe-
legal fishing. It is since time
of the animal. Horns have al-
Sterling silver (925) is an alloy
brass. Humans have been
rian mythology tells us that
believed to be endowed with
ways been an important sym-
of 92.5% silver and 7.5% of
working with bronze for over
mammoths roamed the land
mysterious sacred properties.
bol throughout history and
other metals, usually copper,
3,000 years in various parts
many, many years ago, shap-
Its origin is explained in Greek
cultures. The Egyptian God-
since pure silver is too soft for
of the world, using it amon-
ing the earth by moving mud
mythology by the story of Per-
desses Isis and Hathor for ex-
producing functional objects.
gts other things for weapons,
with their tusks, creating riv-
seus : having placed Medusa’s
ample, are both depicted with
The Latin word for “silver”, ar-
coins, tableware, statues and
ers where they walked, and
decapitated head on the riv-
cow horns connecting them
gentum, comes from the Indo-
jewelry. Bronze starts as a soft
forming lakes where they had
erbank, her blood had turned
with creation, the moon, and
European root *arg-, meaning
golden hue and ages into a
lain down.
the seaweed into red coral.
motherly energy.
“white” or “shining”.
deep metallic brown.
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Curved (2015)
Mammoth ivory, sterling silver 2,5 x 2,2 , 2,1 cm
Boxes I (2015)
Mammoth ivory, sterling silver, bronze Size 54 / 1,2 x 1,2 cm
EntrelacĂŠs (2015)
Mammoth ivory, sterling silver, bronze 3,1 x 3,7 cm
14
Arc I (2015)
Arc II (2015)
1,4 x 8,1 x 1,5 cm
7,5 x 2,5 x 1,5 cm
Mammoth ivory, sterling silver, bronze, coton thread
Mammoth ivory, sterling silver, bronze, coton thread
15
MĂŠduse (2015)
PĂŠgase (2015)
2,3 x 5,1 x 0,9 cm
4,4 x 2,0 x 1,4 cm
Mammoth ivory, coral, sterling silver, coton thread
16
Mammoth ivory, coral, sterling silver, coton thread
Enroulade (2014) Coral, sterling silver
Size 56 / 3,2 x 2,2 x 1,0 cm
Bridge (2015)
Coral, sterling silver Size 56 / 2,4 x 2,4 cm
Marinière (2015)
Mammoth ivory, coral, sterling silver Size 52 / 2,5 x 1,0 cm
17
Beyond (2015)
Piece of plate found on the riverside, sterling silver 2,5 x 5,5 cm
Essaouira (2014)
Moroccan fayence found on beach near Essaouira, sterling silver
18
Same Same (2015)
Seashell, mammoth ivory, sterling silver, cotton thread 6,4 mm x 4,1 cm
Noir DĂŠsir (2014)
Seashell, sterling silver 2,7 x 5,8 cm
Trophy (2015)
Seashell, sterling silver, bronze Size 52 / 2,7 x 2,8 cm
Tiznit (2014)
Seashell, formika, sterling silver, cotton thread 3,8 x 5,7 cm
19
Pentagone (2015)
Mammoth ivory, sterling silver, bronze
16,2 x 16,2 cm
Up! (2015)
Coral, sterling silver
Planetopia I & II (2015) Horn, sterling silver, bronze 3,9 x 6,7 cm / 4,6 x 4,6 x 1,0 cm
20
Canvas II (2015)
Horn, sterling silver, bronze 3,9 x 5,1 x 0,5 cm
Canvas (2015)
Mammoth ivory, coral, nacre, horn, sterling silver, bronze
3,9 x 5,2 x 0,3 cm
Boxes II (2015)
Mammoth ivory, horn, sterling silver, bronze
1,4 x 8,1 x 1,5 cm
21
High Expectations (2015)
Mammoth ivory, sterling silver, bronze, caoutchouc 5,4 x 4,5 cm
22
Shades of Grey (2015) Horn, sterling silver
Size 56 / 2,3 x 1,8 x 2,2 cm
Planetopia II (2015)
Horn, sterling silver, bronze 3,9 x 6,7 cm
23
Melt (2015)
Sterling silver, horn 6,7 x 3,4 cm
Tripoli (2015)
Sterling silver, horn Size 54 / 2,1 x 1,4 x 0,9 cm
24
High 5 (2015)
Sterling silver, horn, mammoth ivory 2,5 x 2,3 x 0,8 cm
Planetopia I (2015)
Horn, sterling silver, bronze 4,6 x 4,6 x 1,0 cm
25
Veines (2014)
Sterling silver, ancient berber pearl, driftwood, cotton thread 1,7 x 6,0 cm
26
Safari (2015)
Horn, sterling silver 1,6 x 7,1 cm
Montgolfière (2014) Sterling silver
Size 47 / 1,6 x 2,5 cm
27
Topless (2014)
Sterling silver, bronze Size 52 / 2,2 x 2,5 x 1,0 cm
28
Boxes II (2015)
Lunatic (2015)
Size 54 / 2,3 x 2,3 x 2,5
Size 53 / 2,6 x 1,1 cm
Mammoth ivory, horn, sterling silver, bronze
Sterling silver, bronze, mammoth ivory, nacre
29
Stuck (2015)
Iro (2015)
Size 53 / 2,2 x 2,0 x 1,2 cm
Size 56 / 2,4 x 2,8 x 0,6 cm
Sterling silver, mammoth ivory
30
Sterling silver, mammoth ivory
Bowl (2014)
Sterling silver, bronze, ebony 2,4 x 2,4 x 3,3 cm
31
Contemporary Jewellery
Vincent Chartier 07 82 50 13 34 vincent@zestcreations.com
& Delphine Noelke 07 81 57 09 94 delphine@zestcreations.com
w w w. z e s t c re a t i o n s . c o m
Follow our quest on t h e q u e s t f o r z e s t . t u m b l r. c o m facebook.com/thequestforzest
Contemporary Jewellery
w w w. z e s t c re a t i o n s . c o m Follow our quest on t h e q u e s t f o r z e s t . t u m b l r. c o m facebook.com/thequestforzest