Stories

In Dieuwke’s skilled hands, metal transforms into narratives. Her unique jewelry collection, entirely handmade, is more than mere adornment; it symbolizes love, memory, and personal journeys. Each piece from Dieuwke Raats Goldsmith is a personal adventure, an expression of a special moment, a cherished person, or a deeply held thought.

Reuse in grand fashion

They are accessories rather than jewellery in the classic sense. For quite a few years, Michelle Lowe-Holder seems to have one rule of the game: work with materials that are already there. Nitrous oxide canisters picked up off the street, for example. Or very thin birch wood left over from industry

Shapes from everyday life and fragments of memories become elegant jewellery with Mayumi Okuyama. A design starts with a flutter of butterflies, for example. The shape of butterflies silhouetted against the sky has such a lightness that your eyes can hardly comprehend it. At Mayumi Okuyama’s workbench, this phenomenon is translated into feathery lines of brass and steel wire. The lines dance around your neck, on your ear or in your hair. Last year she won an important prize in Brazil with it.

Colour, lots of colour, that is the first thing that strikes you about Ronit Cohen’s jewellery. She rolls strips of paper into a cone or cylinder. The resulting beads get a special layer so they can withstand moisture. And then the composing into jewellery begins. Ronit not only strings the cones, she also sets them upright next to each other. This results in beautifully wide bracelets. The artist finds her paper or buys it in shops. But it is also possible to roll photos or personal texts into a bead. The message is known to the wearer. 

The fragile skeleton of a cactus

Sophie van Dooren is a young jewellery artist. She deals with the theme of fragility. It involves the uncertainties of our times, such as the pressure humanity puts on nature. In 2021, she experienced the floods in her home region of Limburg, the Netherlands

SIERAAD would not be SIERAAD without offering unique gold and silver forgings. The techniques are based on centuries-old craftsmanship. But that does not mean that you cannot be innovative in gold and silver!

Korea is hot

If there is one country in the spotlight, it is Korea. Pop music, ceramics, design and jewellery are all equally hot. The group of six well-known Korean contemporary jewellery designers, Secon Lab, is no exception. Half of the group bases their work on traditional jewellery materials. The other half explores non-traditional materials such as leather, textiles and plastics. There is a constant exchange between new and established artists in the group. Materials and techniques are critically examined. Does all the work resemble each other in the end? On the contrary. The artistic signature of each group member is strengthened by it.

You can no longer ask the somewhat stiff-looking ladies and the occasional gentleman. For whom had they made themselves so beautiful? Or even shown some sexy skin? 

A technological tour de force – that is what Wallace Chan’s jewellery is. The pieces are large, colorful, studded with hundreds of precious stones and popular among royals and other rich people. The Hong Kong artist is a master in working with titanium and has invented a series of unique techniques and materials.