When I attend TEFAF Maastricht I’m often asked what is the best jewels I’ve seen. What really grabbed my attention. These are difficult questions to answer when speaking of contemporary high jewelry artists who exhibit at this fair because I’ve known most of these people and businesses well enough over the years that I have a good overall expectation of what I will see.
Brand is a word I don’t normally like to use when discussing the work of artists but there is a consistency in style what they produce and it’s the reason there are people willing to make a commitment to invest in their jewels. This by default is branding.
So, what I look for when attending this magnificent art and antiques fair in this lovely corner of the world is progress and consistency. Whether it’s with vision, technique or whatever makes their jewelry creations unique.
In this regard, it’s difficult not to notice the progression of Anna Hu. The Asian-American high jewelry artist presented 20 new creations of artistry, techniques and materials that are her best yet. Her influences are many, ranging from traditional Asian symbols to flora and fauna and iconic western artists. Her new group of jewels (each different) demonstrate all of these influences.
A pair of conch pearls of different colors but similar shapes have been fashioned into a pair of earrings that dangle from their settings. They are asymmetrical in color and symmetrical in shape. Conch pearls are rare and it’s extremely difficult to find two with the same shape.
“I really think it’s a masterpiece between sourcing the natural material and combining the oriental and spiritual historical Chinese art element,” Hu said about the jewel.
Then there’s the “Butterfly Rose Necklace.” This piece is centered with a 17.53-carat purplish-pink natural rubellite flanked by butterflies topped with purple and pink sapphires, yellow diamonds and round white diamonds. The necklace is made with strands of pearls further adorned with two large mabe pearls weighing a total of 26 carats. The entire piece is set in 18k yellow gold. The combination of materials combined with the design demanded a number of techniques to complete this piece.
Conch pearls are certainly a material being used by Hu this year. The “Spring Magpie Brooch” is a playful piece featuring two birds with their bluish heads (one light, one dark) carved of opal with their beaks touching as if in a kiss. Behind one of the birds is a 6.67-carat conch pearl in the shape of an egg resting in a golden nest. The birds feathers and flowers that are part of this colorful bejeweled scene are made of Paraiba tourmalines, yellow diamonds, mandarin garnets, orange sapphires, pink sapphires, purple sapphires, green garnets and white diamonds set in titanium, white gold and rose gold.
Hu doesn’t talk about maturity as a designer or the progress she has made over the years. What she speaks of is confidence in her vision and the ability of the craftsmen she works with in Paris to complete her vision.
“I’m fully satisfied as a jewelry artist,” she says. “The level of satisfaction is getting higher.”
One admirer in her work is Kazumi Arikawa, the well-regarded Japanese collector of historic jewels. They embraced like old friends before showing him some of her creations. Arikawa does not buy contemporary jewels but he appreciates Hu’s creations.
For Hemmerle, the Munich-based high jewelry house, craftsmanship is the focus, with its techniques and uses of materials that are both unique and often groundbreaking. One of things this company can create is jewels that are true recreations of nature themes.
With this in mind a pair of earrings mimicking pine needles, all slightly curved is a masterpiece of fine craftsmanship. Another pair of earrings feature a cutting technique that is unique to the brand in which a slate of aluminum is cut into fine lined spaces. These earrings are completed with two exceptional pink gems. Then there’s a diamond ring with a long cut faceted shape and wrapped in metal strands.
Otto Jakob, a self-taught German goldsmith, does things with gold and enamel that few could ever dream of much less complete. Combining true old-world craftsmanship with modern technology he produces nature scenes, medieval objects and anything else he imagines.
The best way to view his work, I think, is through an examination of a pair of earrings replicating the wings of a large South American grasshopper with his own descriptions in how they were created. Each piece is a white gold nature cast of the grasshopper. The wax cast is completed through 3D printing in exacting detail. Then the old-world craftsmanship takes over. The narrow forewings are blackened and covered with calligraphic painted gold ornaments. The hind wings are enameled in blue on the inside to purple and red on the outside. It is then accented with black sections and brushed with gold paint, which he creates. The lentil-shaped suspension element is micro-pavé-set with blue sapphires.
All of this works goes into a pair of earrings that are as delicate and thin as … a grasshopper’s wings.
There was at least one surprise at the fair, a high jewelry brand from Hong Kong that seemingly appeared out of thin air to share a stage with some of the best in historic and contemporary objects and art in the world. The company seems ready for the challenge. There is still plenty to learn about this brand but for now the pieces they produce combine high-tech engineering techniques with traditional craftsmanship. They say they produce fewer than 100 pieces each year, which puts them in the same league as the other jewelers at the fair.
Jewelry brands Boghossian and Bhagat also exhibited.