Contemporary and fine jewellery -what's the difference?

Submitted by meta on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 22:49.

I'm often asked why I call myself a contemporary jeweller-and what do I classify as contemporary?

In all honesty I truly HATE labels on anything or anybody and am a firm believer in "IT IS WHAT IT IS"However  I find myself tagging my work as  contemporary  purely to separate myself from all that mass produced shite out their in places such as Mr "H" we will call it and other chain store outlets/jewellery produces.Upon saying this I'm a fine  jeweller due to the fact I use precious metals(eg:gold,silver)and TRADITIONAL goldsmithing methods.I love gold -it's beautiful to work with and I know there are a few of us contemporary jewellers out there who would MUCH prefer to only work in high carat gold's..Sigh-I guess that's like being a mechanic in New Zealand and being lucky to only work on Ferrari's...It just ain't goin to happen!Nevermind dreams are free!

In a recent jewellery show last year in Wellington I choose to go over to the "DARK SIDE" and  tentatively placed myself in the fine jewellery section -purely because having visited the show previously (buzz,buzz,fly on the wall...) I noticed that not only were the cabinets in the fine section  far better looking  compared to the contemporary section  ,but also I did'nt really see myself perched beside some student making and displaying  necklaces out of recycled polystyrene,strung together with rubberbands and fishing wire..Do'nt get me wrong jewellery comes in many shapes and forms -but for me I just don't get the big deal with this kind of work,crocheted brooches belong at a knitting meeting not in a gallery,and fishing wire on a fish ... all that conceptual stuff does irk me sometimes-art school graduates supposedly  trying to say something like "It symbolizes my journey from the womb or the enormous weight we as living beings have holding up the air."..Rahdee rah rah...Bollocks ...

There are some bloody fine fine jewellers out there if your ever in Dunedin check out the master Tony Wiliams www.tony-williams-goldsmith.com/ ,or Iain Henderson www.hendersonjewellery.com-these are true craftsman in every sense of the word and it was an honour to even be at the same show as them-I AM NOT WORTHY...Anyway I digress jewellery is like beauty and viewed   in the eye of the beholder so   what one person adores often  another detests-it's an emotional connection the jeweller hopes will secure a sale of his or her work.The biggest buzz I get from all of this is seeing customers 10 years on from a purchase come back and still adore what I did .

HANDMADE is another word to describe my work-but yet again it can be confused with jewellery that is say handmade in Bali -or Mexico-by under paid /overworked craftspersons...Yes,it will be  a hell of alot cheaper than a true handcrafted piece made here -but just pick it up and FEEL the difference.

Quality jewellery has a "feel" to it-tactile ,heavy and lush-the solders are finished well-not just "slapped" together with a pair of pliers.Recently a woman asked me why I did'nt just use Italian or Indian chains on my pendants -as they looked EXACTLY the same,and now day's could be found with the large links I loved...She then pulled out one of these chains to show me"Much cheaper!"she exclaimed.

Much cheaper-yes...But all I felt was just that -cheap.nasty,brittle metal-which if looked at in the right light could be compared to a hand linked,handmade chain...

Like comparing Glassons*(or wall mart) to Zambesi*(Gucci)...You get what you pay for in the end...

Nah-it's not where I'm at lady-you can keep your machine made chains...

 

 

***This is a picture of my dog BELLA-she has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with this blog -but she's gorgeous!!!