Llyn L. Strelau details the creative process behind his baroque pearl sculpture, ‘The Owl and the Pussy-cat,’ which received an honourable mention in the Objects of Art category at the 2019 American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) Spectrum Awards.
The results are in for the 2019 American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) Spectrum Awards, and a Jewellery Business contributor is among this year’s celebrated designers.
How do you combine colours to create the best effect? Some prefer subtle, tone-on-tone looks, while others are entranced by bold, strong contrasting shades. Neither is ‘right’ of course, but there is an art to successful blends. At worst, you can always fall back on classic colour theory.
Inspiration for jewellery design comes from many sources, such as client input, gemstones, nature, architecture, narrative, and fantasy. These often work in combination to produce the finished piece.
This article was inspired by a situation I encountered a few years ago of which I was reminded recently by a job a client brought in for insurance restoration. This sort of thing happens relatively often, unfortunately. Let me set the scene.
Nobody likes tension, but when it comes to jewellery, it is sometimes a necessary requirement. When Vancouver designer Andrew Costen decided he would make a claspless bracelet set with gemstones along a platinum wire, he knew creating the right amount of tension would be the biggest challenge. Too much of it and the wire would not be flexible enough to allow the bracelet to be put on. Too little tension and it would not spring back properly and fit tight on the wrist.
Jewellery is all about symbolism and significance. After engagement and wedding rings, one of the most popular kinds of jewellery is that which celebrates family. This can be as old-school as the simulated birthstone rings those of a certain age will remember from the once-popular Consumer’s Distributing to pieces as exalted as Fabergé eggs!
Gold and silver have been used to make jewellery for adornment for more than 5000 years. Early jewellers hammered alluvial nuggets of gold and silver found in stream beds into sheets before cutting them into wires and fabricating.
Today, diamonds are a major part of my repertoire. When I discovered not all diamonds are white, it was the best of all possible worlds—the combination of the positive qualities of diamond with the beauty of colour!
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