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Editorial
Exquisite!
The 2007 Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Competition was a dazzling display of British craftsmanship. The highest accolade, The Jacques Cartier Memorial Award, was won by Gillie Hoyte Byrom, the enamel miniaturist, for her plaque of Henry VIII from a cartoon by Hans Holbein the Younger in a gold and silver frame. This masterpiece is the twelfth consecutive entry by Gillie into the competition as part of a series of historic miniatures. Her work exemplifies all that is finest about the current position of British craftsmanship: patronage by a great collector, fine work, research, painstaking detail, art and great craftsmanship.
I spoke to Gillie Hoyte Byrom about how the commission came about. Gillie explained: “This vitreous enamel was commissioned by a client who has nine other pieces I have made especially for him, all of which he would now be willing to exhibit if a suitable venue can be found.
On 16th May 2006 he wrote a letter beginning “I have been thinking about the next project...” The framed enamel was finished in December 2006.
The brief for “Henry” was to base the composition on the cartoon in the National Portrait Gallery. The painting made from the cartoon was lost in a fire at Whitehall Palace so there is uncertainty about the colouring. I was asked to research Holbein’s work and design my own colouring for the cartoon. I also had to redesign the background to Henry, removing other figures.
Clive Burr cut and shaped the 18ct. gold plaque which had to withstand between 30 and 35 firings. Distortion has been my main problem. Coincidentally in June I was invited to visit enamel painters in Russia and here learnt to further refine my enamelling techniques. The plaque went for laser hall-marking to Birmingham where my own assay mark is held and then the inscription on the reverse giving provenance was engraved locally in Devon. Next the plaque went to Robin Kyte, who made the silver and 18ct gold frame, so that he could achieve a perfect fit as the entire plaque is visible.
In the meantime I researched Holbein’s work from books and from visiting the magnificent Holbein exhibition at Tate Britain in the Autumn. I also researched Tudor costume, architecture and furnishings. It amused me that books printed in the Victorian era omitted the cod piece and I decided to make it a feature, given Henry’s character. It was when I decided to incorporate a gold curtain and multicoloured carpet which were also typical features of the period, that I realised engraving would further enhance the piece. I specified this to Chris Sole whose cautious approach I appreciate.
The plaque had therefore been handled by five different craftsmen prior to enamelling. First I prepared the underlay work ahead of the painting using transparent flux and opal white for the base. I designed the piece to make a feature of “painting with gold” with the challenge of making the figure stand out against the background. The 18ct. gold base, cloisonné gold wires and gold foil all shine through the transparent flux. On test pieces ground gold leaf went dull on firing but an enamelling friend recommended 23.5ct gold powder. I used this effectively as a paste around the tiny “gem stones” of transparent ruby and black enamel incorporated in the chain of office and jewellery and also to simulate the brocade weave of the doublet, skirt and sleeves. It was another coincidence that neighbours in my village who had commissioned me to paint enamel portrait miniatures of their grandchildren, thought I could make use of a microscope they no longer needed. I used X 4 magnification to achieve the detail in Henry’s costume and jewellery, finishing the work with miniature touches of bright liquid gold on the jewellery and as embroidery on the surcote to give the enamel a three dimensional quality when it catches the light.
The background was worked in earthy coloured underglaze pigments as I wanted to separate it from the figure which I painted in my usual palette of finely ground vitreous enamel paints using sable miniaturists’ brushes. Thus, fully fortified with plenty of pigment the finished work was ready for fluxing-over and pumice-polishing to achieve a smooth glassy finish. I designed “Henry” to be submitted to this process which required a further four firings. The flux finish gives a wonderful harmony to the piece, but one has to sacrifice some of the carefully applied detail when it burns out and this is not always desirable in a carefully worked portrait likeness. After fluxing, “Henry” looked less cruel but I was delighted that the rich red of the surcote did not fade. I have been experimenting with flux recommended by Russian painters and with some British flux which is no longer available. It seems to have had positive results so I will continue my research with this issue.
I asked what it meant to Gillie to win the Jacques Cartier Memorial Award. She said,
“ Such prestigious recognition couldn’t have happened at a better time in my career and I feel surprised, delighted and blessed. It is very fitting that I currently Chair the Guild of Enamellers since the association with other artist/craftsmen has been an important influence. I am also thankful for the patronage of clients who have entrusted me with significant commissions. Enamel painting has been a personal passion for exactly thirty years this year and I seem to have instinctively followed the path without a map but there have been so many wonderful pointers along the way to encourage me – not least, the 25 awards I have received over thirteen successive years of exhibiting my portrait miniatures at Goldsmiths’ Hall. If this major award had come any earlier I may not have been stretched to my full potential. However, I echo Frank Lloyd Wright’s words when he was asked to name his best piece of architecture to date. He answered “My next !”
All of us can cherish the excitement of these words whether or not we are prize-winners.
This award is given at the discretion of the Council to the piece of finished work that is judged to have achieved the highest standards of craftsmanship and design.
This year Charlotte De Syllas gave up judging to enter her specially commissioned ‘Dragon Fly' brooch in tourmaline and gold.
A senior judge commented: “Charlotte has produced a very difficult piece in tourmaline which shows all her craftsmanship and artistry. Tourmaline is a particularly difficult stone to carve. All the judges know Charlotte De Syllas as one of Britain's most accomplished stone carvers.'
Talking to Charlotte about the brooch she explained: “Tourmaline is very unpredictable, very temperamental. Internally it's a hexagonal structure with a triangular crystal structure on the outside. In terms of carving tourmaline it means that the stone has a lot of tension in it and can easily shatter.
Best Junior, Gold Award & Special Council Award
Tomasz Donocik
Only recently qualifying from the Royal College of Art Tomasz Donocik has won Best Junior, Gold Award & Special Council Award for his Gold plated silver bangle with leather and blue sapphires.
QVC Fine Jewellery Design Award
Natalie Spencer of UCCA won this special award sponsored by the television sales company QVC who will promote Natalie's designs and work with her to produce new and exciting ranges for sale on television. The award has a cash prize of £500.
Silversmithing – Finished pieces
Andrea Loring of UCCA won the Gold Award for this silver bowl with black nylon thread. The judges in this section were looking for concept and innovation combined with the sensitive use of materials.
Andrea Loring, Silver Bowl with black nylon thread.
Silversmiths (Senior) – Gold Award
Silver and Jade Condiment Dish by Ray Walton.
Chasers (Senior)
Katey Felton won a Silver Award for this set of three vases. The judges were looking for accuracy of form and depth in chasing and repoussé work.
Smallworkers
The Gold Award was given to Rebecca Joselyn, a self-employed silversmith who produced a wood and silver Holy Communion Set.
The award was given for a piece which exhibited artistic merit for the qualities needed to produce a piece of objet d'art.
Setters (Senior)
Ian Read won a Gold Award and a Special Council Award for setting this complex platinum and diamond ring.
IJL SPONSOR UNIQUE NEW FASHION JEWELLERY AWARD
As Special Patrons, International Jewellery London presented a new innovative Award for fashion jewellery at the Goldsmiths' Craftsmanship & Design Awards. The Gold winner, Kirstie Farquhar (a student at UCCA), designed a piece that was both visually stunning and pioneering, raising her work above the extremely high standards set by the competition.
IJL is dedicated to recognising bright new talent and has supported this aim by developing a unique partnership with the Goldsmiths' Craft & Design Council. The new Award, entitled ‘Back to the Future', invited entrants to create a piece of jewellery that is visionary yet wearable; the type of piece that would be likely to appeal to the trendsetting consumer of the future.
The category was chosen to mark the 50th Anniversary of IJL in 2006, in keeping with the dynamic and exciting plans for the show moving forward towards IJL 2007.
All of the Goldsmith's Craftsmanship & Design Award winners will be displaying their work at IJL 2007 on a stand specially dedicated to the Council. This Show highlight will give the entire industry an opportunity to enjoy some of the best British design and craftsmanship.
2008 Centenary Year.
2008 promises to be a great year for the Goldsmiths' Craft & Design competition. Being the 100th anniversary of the competition many craftsmen are feeling that this would be the year to pull out all the stops and produce a truly extraordinary piece to win one of the big prizes. On top of this a book is being planned using the Goldsmiths' Company archive of past winners. Coupled with a renewed enthusiasm for public relations the committee is prepared to publicise the great craftsmanship burgeoning in the UK.
The Council enters its Centenary year in 2008 under the Chairmanship of Mark Gartell, a silversmith. The competition is receiving record numbers of entries and enjoys the support of many major companies and organisations throughout the industry.
Cartier have assured the Council of it continued support as well as the founding Patron, The Goldsmiths' Company. The Council is enjoying the second of three year's exhibiting at the International Jewellery London Exhibitions thanks to Reed Exhibitions.
This week something unusual happened, let me explain;
In the gem world you learn something new every single day. A mine may become exhausted and the price of a stone rocket. Conversely a new source of a particular material found and the ‘old’ becomes unfashionable. The business is always changing.
So what’s unusual about that?
This week three of our clients told us something we like to hear,
Colour is back.
We work with many different sectors of the trade, we also supply many overseas markets, so fashions or trends often come at different times.
This was different, independent of each other; they had all said the same thing. Being coloured stone specialists this was great news.
It occurred to me this may relate in some way to the commoditisation of diamonds.
I am sure many of you are familiar with the ‘internet ‘wise-guys’ who can buy limitless quantities of diamonds ‘IGA certificated’.................. at prices around half of your cost.
Equally the ‘we bought this on holiday in [insert destination] can you tell us if we were stupid?’
But how many can properly evaluate the colour, hue, saturation, clarity, lustre and transparency of a gemstone. All without a ‘certificate’ listing alphabet and numerals.
No that takes a whole lot more experience than a piece of paper. Perhaps that was the ‘Colour is back’ our clients had all realised upon.
Are you maximising your Gemstone sales?
BCTF, held in Hall 1 of the Harrogate exhibition centre, is open daily from 09:30hrs until 17:30hrs with free on-site parking. There is also a complimentary shuttle bus service operating which transfers visitors between Harrogate Railway Station and the venue. Buyers wishing to attend can pre-register online at www.bctf.co.uk. The Great Yorkshire Showground is situated on the outskirts of the picturesque town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
hazeljewellery@yahoo.co.uk
www.hazeldavison.co.uk
BCTF stand number 402
This season British designer, Hazel Davison will be launching her new collection, ‘deco’, at The British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF), Harrogate, Stand 402, April 15, 16, 17, 2007. Although well established, this is the first time that Hazel will be exhibiting at BCTF.
The ‘deco’ collection uses a combination of natural patterns, inspired by the sea, and geometric shapes. Hazel has introduced cubic zirconia into the designs to work with the semi-precious stones to enhance the patterns and add a little sparkle. All designs are primarily produced in silver set with semi-precious stones, but can be made in gold. Trade prices start at £9.00
The new range will be joined by some of her other collections including ‘lobster basket’ where large bangles and chokers are woven from fine wire and textured sheet silver. ‘Sea gems’ is another geometric collection, but one of her long standing best sellers, and ‘Sea kelp’, which is organic but has simple clean lines.
The Gianfranco Ferré women’s collection for the winter season 2007/2008 – presented in Milan on Friday, February 23 – has culminated with a top studded with Dalumi diamonds.
This one-of-its-kind precious creation is covered by more than 900 diamonds mounted in white gold, over 300 carats and a retail price of 1.000.000 euros.
The Gianfranco Ferré creative direction decided to entrust the item realization to an expressly small team of individuals who would concentrate exclusively on the Diamond Item. A sole embroiderer was dedicated to the hand-sewing of diamonds one by one onto the cut fabric, with expertise of the finest haute couture ateliers.
New Monthly Diamond Price Report
J-Dex is proud to introduce this month the Diamond Price Report. This report is brought to you with the collaboration of Polygon.net, the industry's largest internet marketplace, and will be published on a monthly basis both online at www.j-dex.com and in the J-Dex magazine.
Polygon, in business for over 22 years, is an Internet network dedicated exclusively to Industry professionals. Retailers, wholesalers and industry service providers use Polygon to buy, sell, and network.
For more information on Polygon, visit www.polygon.net/uk.
The Diamond Price Report is derived from Polygon's “CertNet”, an online trading system with an average inventory of 300,000 polished diamonds of all sizes, shapes and quality, and with a wholesale value of approximately US $2 billion. These diamonds are listed for sale to dealers and retailers, by hundreds of polished diamonds' wholesalers located across the World.
Prices are expressed in US currencies, per-carat, wholesale, based on mean asking price averages for GIA-graded round diamonds in Polygon's “CertNet” online trading system, as of the date shown. Prices listed in there do not reflect actual closed prices nor consumer selling prices. This monthly report is provided by J-Dex for the benefit of the trade. J-Dex readers are encouraged to use the Diamond Price Report as an additional source of information when sourcing diamonds. For more details, please consult the Diamond Price Report at www.j-dex.com.
This price report is provided by J-Dex for the benefit of the trade.
Prices are per-carat, wholesale, based on asking price averages for GIA-graded round diamonds in Polygon's “CertNet” online trading system, as of the date shown. Mean averages are computed, with certain adjustments made to minimize data error and ensure internal consistency.
In certain categories GIA reports are rare, and in those cases stones with other laboratory reports are used as well.
Those categories are:
one-third carat: J and K colors and all I1 clarities; one-half carat, three-fourths carat and nine-tenths carat: K colors and I1 clarities; one carat and above: all I1 clarities. This matrix counts SI3 as I1 for purposes of computing averages. In general, finer makes will command higher prices, as will stones at the higher end of each weight range.
Readers are urged to consider this data merely as a source of additional market information.
Our best show....ever!
B&N bucked the trend at this years NEC and celebrated their best ever show in over 35 years of exhibiting.
“We came to the show this year with two very strong offerings; a fantastic new Palladium collection and some very feminine diamond bands both of which were enormous successes and our customers just loved them!” enthuses Gary Williams, B&N's sales director.
As with all collections from ‘bien', The Palladium Collection and their new diamond bands are supported by a bespoke marketing service and come complete with branded display stands and bespoke point of sale material.
For more information on any ‘bien' product, please call their Sales Team on 01707 255 000 or email sales@bnrings.com
Dennis Allen to work with Spring Fair Birmingham
Spring Fair organisers Emap TPS have announced that Dennis Allen will be working closely with them in an advisory role.
Dennis has in depth knowledge of the jewellery market and has exhibited at Spring Fair for over 25 years, with invaluable contacts and experience across every element of the industry. He is a past Chairman of the BJA and was a founder of Emagold UK.
His knowledge and experience of the jewellery market will help guide the direction of Jewellery at Spring Fair, ensuring that it continues to build on its many strengths and offer a unrivalled UK spring dateline for jewellery suppliers and buyers.
The first of the 2007 fairs with exciting new styles & colours – and tools for creative boutique artisans
Martin Foster Reviews the Leading Italian Jewellery, Tools and Machinery Fair.
Vicenzaoro Winter is the most prestigious international exhibition of goldware, jewellery, silverware, watches, and gemstones. Oromachine, a dedicated machinery hall, exhibits the tools and machines to produce it all. Running a full week from 14-21 January, 1600 exhibiting companies occupied 71000 sq metres.
Fashionistas consider Italians to be “theatrical” with their dress and jewellery statements and it is doubtless true that they are. What we perceive as “courageous” this year will be regular in the rest-of-the-world front-line fashion houses of next year so watching Italian trends provides a mighty good indicator of what to expect.
Because Northern Italy is so influential in fashion determination and such a major manufacturer we can rightly expect to see emerging tools and equipment which is of interest across the luxury watches, jewellery and precious metal industries.
In accord with this, Mr. Moaz Barakat, Managing Director of the World Gold Council said, “With Italy’s pivotal role as the centre of innovation and excellence in the design and manufacture of gold jewellery, we regard the robust Italian gold jewellery business as critical to the growth of global gold consumption.”
To put this in context, gold jewellery consumption in Italy is currently a little over 70 tonnes per annum and the total production in 2006 of silverware was 1300 tonnes of which a staggering 650 tonnes was silver jewellery!
So at the Vicenzaoro Winter Fair we saw the materials, the tools and equipment and the end products all setting the pace for 2007.
Watches from the big Italian jewellery houses are simply a platform for value adding with precious settings. These classic heavily set watches, like the weighty jewellery pieces will always have a stable market but these do not set the trends. The fashion shifts are determined by watches selling for around £150-£400 which in turn are carefully watching the impulse buyers in the under £150 market.
These price points should not be taken too seriously in Italy. In this country all the makers seem to be saying that the regular big Swiss makers are far too conservative. The watches here are still bigger and styles far more outgoing than anything the Swiss contemplate in Basel. Round and square cases up to 53mm with chronograph and date functions are popular and a simple timepiece is certainly de rigueur unless it is heavily stone-set.
Big machinery for working precious metals for jewellery or watch cases and bracelets is high expense, and those interested to see and buy will visit the fair personally.
Of more interest to specialist and boutique artisans are some of the new machines and tools. Actually most are not new at all but are new to the jeweller and watchmaker. There is quite an osmosis occurring between the dental, jewellery and watchmaking industries as particular technologies develop to solve special-need problems.
JewelryScanner from Laserdenta AG is a 3-D scanner (designed originally to produce artificial teeth from a scanned mould of the patients real teeth), adapted for jewellery or odd-shaped 3-D articles.
The scanning process takes up to fifteen minutes depending on the scan quality and size of the model. The JewelryScanner software calculates a 3-D surface model from the “point cloud” that can be loaded directly into CAD software as an STL file and processed into a wax model for casting in the normal way. Apart from the obvious jewellery potential, missing or damaged clock case decorations, spandrels etc are target uses for this in antique clock restoration.
The new scanners are based on laser technology developed and constantly improved by German and European engineers over the last ten years.
Another arrival from the dental world is an enamelling substitute of great versatility, strength and durability.
Colorit® from Heimerle + Meule GmbH allows the individuality and creativity of enamelling without a fusing oven. Colorit® is available in a wide variety of colour shades (translucent and opaque) which will mix freely according to personal choice. This compound material strengthened by ceramics, hardens under blue light. The material is easy and fast to process, grind, polish. It is strongly adhesive, shock-resistant and wear-resistant and is an ideal material for high-quality and individual colour creations.
Laser welding machines are becoming smaller, more convenient and more affordable. Rio Grande from New Mexico USA, demonstrated Neutec laser welding machines which are full floor standing or at a much lower cost, the compact tabletop PulsePointTM Studio delivering high quality laser welding. For a demonstration, 20mm squares of stainless steel which had been cut to size with bolt cutters were welded back into a straight line strip.
The strength of the weld was remarkable and it could not be bent even in a strip of about 80mm. More remarkable was the complete absence of heat staining along the weld line.
It will even weld silver very well and if as we know, we can weld silver then everything else is easy.
The PulsePointTM Studio needs only 41cm x 38cm of workspace, weighs less than 28kg, is easy to move, set up and easy to maintain.
However the most interesting tools for the exclusive jeweller are the stamping dies produced by TEKA Meccanica s.n.c. which can be used in a manufacturing context with automatic machines or interestingly for the artisan, with a hand assembly press. TEKA planned a very practical two-piece equipment set for making tubular chains with a claw coupling system. The first die cuts out the single pieces and the second enables assembly of the chain in a hand press.
A chain made by this process can have several shapes and dimensions and be round, oval, rectangular, triangular etc and the way the links lock together eliminates any need to be welded.
The assembly jig is hand operated and the jeweller has the choice of using any precious metal such as yellow, white or rose gold in combinations to produce a variety of round, flat oval or rectangular form snake chains, for necklaces, bracelets or trimmings for bags and belts.
A wide selection of chain links, earrings, huggies, chain links and types is possible. For more information about this most useful tooling range visit the company website at http://www.tekaonline.com.
There are other exhibitors with abrasives, hand tools, machine tools, small plating outfits, polishing machines, ultrasonics and all the requisite needs of a high class workshop for a range of industries.
The overwhelming unifying factor was the very high quality of the products exhibited. But this should be no surprise as this is Italy and it would be a brave man who said that the Italians don’t know top quality even if they are occasionally a bit theatrical with what they wear!
There are two more Vicenza fairs this year:-
Vicenzaoro Spring 12-16 May 2007
Vicenzaoro Autumn 15-19 September 2007
Only a few selected products can be reviewed in a report such as this. The best way to have full coverage of the products is to give yourself a holiday and visit Vicenzaoro yourself.
DAVRAN
A small selection from the hundreds of charms we make and stock in 9ct and silver, two historic and one new Angel.
We have been asked for an Angel charm for many years, but with everyone’s mental image of an Angel being slightly different, and no photo to go on we never got around to it.
We have however finally combined as many characteristics as possible of the Guardian Angel we all have, I’m told, and the charm has been an instant success.
Women might be waiting longer to get married to the right guy. But when it comes to engagement rings, boy are they getting exactly what they want. In this month's trend column, Claire Adler charts a trend towards individualistic and one-off engagement rings.
Wedding and engagement rings comprise approximately 60% of all diamond jewellery retail sales, according to Saul Singer, formerly a senior researcher at the Rapaport Group and now a founder and director of Diamondcelebrations.com, an online retailer of certified loose diamonds and fine diamond jewellery.
Armed with this statistic, trendspotting in the engagement ring department has to be a worthwhile exercise.
Singer sums up the general mood: “Traditional diamond solitaires will always be popular. But we are anticipating even more interest in natural coloured stones and individualistic styles looking ahead to 2008,” he says.
“We love Hatton Garden-based New Zealander Jessica McCormack's strikingly creative approach to celebration jewellery,” adds Singer. McCormack's jewellery includes delicate earrings crafted from antique pen nibs. Heaven only knows what she has in mind for engagement rings.
The fact is that edgy fashion-driven fine jewellers have been saying for some time that the single solitaire band is far from the only way to go. But now, even traditional houses have been tracking requests for unconventional one-off engagement rings. While the market for diamond solitaire engagement rings remains robust, coloured gemstones and unusual cuts and settings are an increasingly popular choice amongst brides.
Free-thinking women are increasingly opting for individualistic engagement rings that reflect the uniqueness of their relationship. Over at Stephen Webster, the specialist in rocks for the stars, you'd be hard placed to find an unadorned solitaire on a gold band. Webster is the man responsible for an 18 carat white gold Wedlock pendant created with a view to chaining a certain Jordan Bratman to wife Christina Aguilera. He also crafted ‘Til Death' platinum wedding bands for rock chick Pink and husband Carey Hart.
Ben Day, a man passionate about coloured stones, sells frankly little else in his magical treasure trove boutique in London's Shoreditch. He has long maintained that the uniform of a plain diamond solitaire engagement ring lacks the intimacy of a carefully chosen rare coloured stone. The shelves of Day's boutique brim with beautiful coloured stones and inspiration for the unconventional engagement ring you never imagined.
Even chief executives of some of Bond Street's more traditional jewellery hotspots, from Leviev to Bulgari and Tiffany, have spotted this trend. They all speak of a strong desire for unusual, different, unique pieces and original design. Tourmalines in all their hues, yellow diamonds and topaz fashioned in a panoply of alternative cuts and settings have been been experiencing heightened demand.
At Leviev, coloured diamonds such as fancy vivid yellows and pinks are extremely sought after, “especially in the case of second and third marriages,” according to international marketing director, Celine Assimon. “We've noticed a growing interest in pavé settings which, in the case of coloured diamonds, create a spectacular but still delicate ring. Traditional solitaires are always in fashion but today, brides and grooms look for unusual rings.”
Over at Bulgari, the classical diamond engagement rings in the form of the Corona and Marry Me rings have long been popular, says a Bulgari spokesperson. “Coloured stones such as the oval cabochon cut blue topaz or pink tourmaline stones highlighted with pavé diamonds on each side, in the Caramelle collection, have become eye-catching alternatives to the traditional solitaire. The one-off pieces in our high jewellery collection with pear shapes and pavé settings offer original shapes and a unique look.”
Tiffany's chief gemmologist and UK president confirms he's also noticed the shift. “Even though the round brilliant cut diamond in our Tiffany six prong setting is still one of the most classic styles and one of our most popular, we are seeing many women who are branching out. They want more unusual setting styles with coloured stones,” he says. “There are some very rare coloured gemstones like paraiba tourmaline, an electric vivid blue that is vibrant and eye catching, intensely coloured garnets such as spessartite and tsavorite and exceptionally rare coloured diamonds - all perfect engagement ring choices and true expressions of individual style.”
Antique jewellery dealers at Mayfair's Gray's Antiques Market have also registered the change in demand. Yellow diamonds are the most desirable followed by blues and pinks, whose sheer price renders them less accessible. “People are looking for rings that their friends won't have – original designs, not mass produced,” says Stephen Forward of Beverley R Ltd. “Art deco and Victorian designs can be imitated but never matched. Combinations of unusual cuts of diamonds are also popular, such as crescent, Asher and marquise,” he adds.
But not everyone agrees that colour is the way forward for engagement rings. “Actually at Cartier the engagement ring is the rare thing that remains traditional and timeless,” says Cartier managing director Arnaud Bamberger. “Our clients tend to choose white diamonds in the classical round or emerald cuts rather than coloured stones. We have however seen an emergence of wedding bands with diamonds rather than the simple gold band.”
At Boucheron, company president Jean-Christophe Bédos hasn't noticed any increased demand for bespoke commissions. But then maybe that's because Boucheron already boasts some rather unusual offerings. There's the Raphael ring which comprises a solitaire held up by a hand. Another popular engagement option is the pavé diamond version of Quatre, Boucheron's classic ring that looks like four rings of four different types of gold lined up together.
Meanwhile, at Jess James in London's Soho, amongst an array of work from the hands of award winning and emerging designers, I have fallen in love with the concept of Lovers Rock. It's intended to cater for men terrified of disappointing their future fiancées. A molten nugget of gold or platinum and a rough diamond crystal are encased in a beautifully carved wooden box. Couples come back and work together with Jess on the perfect vision for an engagement ring. “Make the wrong decision for your future spouse's engagement ring,” says Jess, “and one day mid-argument you may hear those fateful words: “I never liked this bloody ring anyway!”
Rarely does one discover a range of jewellery that is so unique it makes your mouth water.
Isabelle Langlois is the inspiration behind Emasur, the company that she created, indeed her family have been involved in cutting stones for centuries (originally high up in the Jura Mountains of France).
Isabelle was surrounded by glittering treasures from the time she was born. She started to realise the dream that she had held since she was 12 years old with her first creation when she combined emeralds and aquamarines into a beautiful brooch depicting a nightingale with a Chinese emperor.
With the help of her brothers, Emmanuel Piat and Eric Piat (both of whom are gem dealers in Paris and Bangkok respectively) Isabelle gained her gemmological degree and worked with VASSORT, a superb workshop in Paris dealing with high quality jewellery. She has also worked in a factory with 3000 employee
in Bangkok.
Isabelle is an elegant, sophisticated woman with a quiet modesty and self assurance who has a passion for working with a fantastic array of colours and styles that are supremely feminine.
Her collection is trendy, very French, easy to wear, decorative but unpretentious. The mix of colours and the richness of tones are stunning. It is a fairytale dream come true for princesses everywhere.
Isabelle proudly admits that she designs primarily for ladies – ladies who buy for themselves or their best friends and of course for the men who treasure their ladies.
The collection of Isabelle Langlois is being distributed in the UK solely by John M Start & Co and can be seen later in the year at IJL.
John Start Tel: 01730 814 445
Opening times:
Daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Last day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
BASELWORLD is the leading event for the watch and jewellery industry. 2,100 exhibitors - specialists in watches, jewellery, precious gems and related brands - showcase their latest products to those in the industry. Visitors can browse through a select assortment of products in luxurious surroundings covering over 160,000 m2 of exhibition area on several floors. Many world-famous names in the watch and jewellery industry choose to show their products exclusively at BASELWORLD.
Good Vibrations by Gellner 2007:
Long necklaces with brown diamonds, coloured stones and Tahiti cultured pearls, necklaces and bracelets with luxurious southsea- and Tahitian cultured pearls, as well as new floral design and flourishing colours.
On the 12th of April from 6-8 pm, Eveline Müller will present “Pearl. Life” at the Gellner booth G45 in the Hall 2.2 at the Baselworld – an exciting story about cultured pearls, pearl cultivation, jewellery and power, pearl mystery and love.
FABERGÉ presents: PARAPLUIE
Parapluie – the name means umbrella and is also a reference to a prodigious design created by Peter Carl Fabergé before 1899: coloured discs rotating on the white enamel background of a cigarette case. With this spectacular creation, influenced by Japanese styles, Peter Carl Fabergé achieved an incredible dynamic effect: the discs appear to defy the laws of gravity, lifting off into another dimension.
The Parapluie egg object from FABERGÉ is now carrying this to the extreme:
A multitude of discs of 750 yellow gold, coated with layers of black and transparent fire enamel rotate around the object. At the centre of each disc is a diamond or rose-coloured sapphire. The opener takes the form - as could only be expected - of a diamond inlaid disc. Operating this leads to a surprise: inside floats a rabbit made from chalcedony. The solution to the riddle: a rock crystal ball beneath the plate reflects the radiance of the gold discs outwards. The interior of the dome is consequently reflected completely, with the rock crystal ball appearing invisible as a result.
This reflective effect generates the impression of a wonderful weightlessness. The rabbit sits - firmly fixed - on a hand guilloched sheet of 750 yellow gold -over the rock crystal ball. The rabbit figure itself is crafted in the style of traditional Japanese Netsuke.
The egg object is crowned by a cabochon-cut star diopside. The gold setting of the cabochon is decorated with a fine black enamel line.
The foot of the object consists of polished, hand-engraved chalcedony, augmented by two hand-guilloched gold plates, a black obsidian plate and an agate plate.
Gravity and weightlessness – the tension between the two opposites is what defines the incredible attraction of Parapluie. The heavy foot appears to hold the creation firmly to the floor, preventing it from flying away - much in the manner of an umbrella.
J-dex magazine 
