A Question of Faith

Ted Noten, Super- Bitch-Bag Lady K, 2008, edition 6/7, Walther PPK, engraved with flowers and gold plated, cast in acrylic, found handbag

Recently we published a talk by Dutch writer and curator Liesbeth Den Besten called ‘The Power of Jewelry’ on the AJF website. It was first presented in January 2009 at Out of the Box, a symposium organised by the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation (of which Den Besten is the chairperson) at the Stedelijk Museum ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands. Den Besten reflects on the fact that despite acceleration in the contemporary jewelry field (more graduates, more galleries, more schools, more fairs presenting jewelry), ‘jewellery still doesn’t count as a serious market where money is made and earned. Author jewellery is not a hot topic – the way design has gained a sexy status.’ Contemporary jewelry, she concludes, has ‘an uncomfortable feeling of isolation, and preaching to the converted.’ Her paper is essentially an analysis of jewelry’s current position and potentiality, how it got to be where it is and what we might do about it. (To read the full text of Den Besten’s talk ‘The Power of Jewelry’, click here.)

Here’s some of what Den Besten concludes:
In the past twenty years I have learned some things about jewelers, one is that in general jewelers are not designers, they are not designing the way designers do. Apart from some exceptions to the rule, jewelers are do-ers but slow do-ers, makers but slow makers, finders, people trying out, doing things over and over again, people who want to know everything about the materials they use. Jewelers are material-boys-and-girls. But it doesn’t need to stay like this forever – perhaps now is the time to focus on the market as well, to capitalize your talents – your excellent knowledge of materials, forms and techniques, your capability to work with precious materials. If some succeed in this, others can do it as well.
Another thing I have learned about jewelry is that jewelers are not very communicative. Their work is not created to tempt their buyers. And also in that sense jewelry cannot be compared with design which is overtly designed to seduce the buyer, by its use of colour, form and market strategies. That is why everybody wants the newest i-pod and i-phone – they are designed to overrule all rational decision making, they are bought on an impulse. Jewelry on the other hand tries to convince. Jewelry is a matter of faith, you have to believe in it before you purchase it. But you can stir this faith by clever communication strategies.

Den Besten is talking about the fact that contemporary jewelry allied itself with the gallery, and with fine art, rather than design and fashion. In doing so, it made a few gains, particularly in the heady days of the 1960s and 1970s when everything seemed possible, but it also suffered significant losses, most notably its ability to communicate with people, with a wide audience. Her description of contemporary jewelry as a matter of faith is perfect: that is exactly what attracts most of us involved in contemporary jewelry, but it is also what keeps us isolated and unwilling to actually pursue an audience. Like religion, contemporary jewelry is getting smaller every year as the pool of believers shrinks. Sure, every now and then a new church gets built, a new gallery opens, but it just moves the audience around, shifts it from one place to another. It does nothing about growing the audience, reaching new people, evangelising to the unconverted. We’ve been preaching to the art crowd for years now, and they just aren’t convinced. Like any missionary movement, perhaps we need to recognise that and shift our focus to new mission fields.

Den Besten talks about Damien Hirst’s diamond skull, For the Love of God, as a work that can provide some possible directions out of jewelry’s dead end. As she concludes, ‘What can we learn from this? Well, that there are certain things that attract people, things like uniqueness, craftsmanship, shine, and preciousness – things you can easily handle as a jeweler, things you can all deal with as jewelers, when you like.’ And she talks about the strategies of design and fashion, identifying these as possible worlds the contemporary jeweler can infiltrate, along with the world of conventional jewelry. Why not, she provocatively asks, start working with diamonds, precious stones, all the things that sparkle and glitter and which already have an audience?

Den Besten would no doubt agree that there are no simple solutions to the problem of jewelry’s future, and whether or not you are convinced by her proposals, she appears to be right when she says that the boxed-in contemporary jewelry scene will have to change – and sooner rather than later. ‘I think it is time to step out of the comfort zone and make yourself seen’, she concludes, and that’s a challenge that everyone who cares about contemporary jewelry should take seriously.

Sapphire

The ancient Persians believed that the earth rested on a giant sapphire whose reflection gave the sky its color. A historian of old Damigeron wrote that sapphire was worn by kings to protect them from harm. It was also believed that sapphire would protect the wearer from envy and attract divine favor. Legend has it that if a poisonous snake were put into a vessel along with a sapphire, the rays from the gem would kill it. Our ancestors interpreted this to mean that sapphire was an antidote against poison.

At one time any blue gem material was called sapphire. The finest sapphire color is rich, velvety cornflower blue. This is called `kashmir` out of deference to the traditional source of the finest quality. Today, however, the Kashmir area of India is not generally mined because of its physical inaccessibility. Most current production comes from Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Montana, Australia and Africa.

Colour: Sapphires are found in a variety of colors. The reddish colors are called ruby. People generally think of sapphires as blue in color, although they are also colorless, pink, orange, green, golden, yellow, purple and black. Sapphire is the birthstone of the month of September. Red sapphires are known as ruby, and pinkish orange sapphire as padparadscha as well. Corundum, which is sapphire`s mineral name, occurs in red, but this is known as ruby. A particularly lovely pinkish-orange is referred to as `padparadscha`, which is taken from the Sinhalese for `lotus-colored.` Although sapphire is found in many colors, these are not all commercially available at any given time. Some are so rare they are collector`s items.

Sapphire is always heat treated to produce, intensify or lighten color and improves color uniformity and appearance. Heat treatment of sapphires is performed at the sapphire mines, and is an industry-wide accepted practice.

Fine, needle-like inclusions are the things that give sapphires their velvety quality. These inclusions are often numerous enough to make the stone translucent or opaque and are oriented properly. At that time they allow light to be reflected in such a way that a star floats across the top of the stone with movement. When a cutter recognizes this potential in a piece of rough sapphire, he will cut it in a dome shape. Stars are not visible in faceted stones. Some persons believed the star sapphire would protect them against witchcraft. The three intersecting rays were thought to represent faith, hope and destiny.

Sapphire in its many colors is fashioned into timeless pieces that compliment many styles. It is either faceted or cabochon i.e. dome-shape for use in rings, pendants, earrings and pins. It may be linked between expanses of chain for wrist or neck wear. Sapphires are set into the simplest of designs as well as the most elegant of pieces.

Since subtle differences in quality can make large differences in beauty and also price, it is important to select the jewelry from a professional who can guide honestly and ethically in purchase.

There are some varieties of sapphires. One of them can be mentioned as Kashmir Sapphire. These are the sapphire with a distinct velvety-blue color. Another one is cornflower Sapphire. This is actually the synonym of Kashmir sapphire. Cornflower Blue Sapphire is another variety. Star Sapphire is the one displaying asterism. Padparadschah is mainly the orange-pink variety of sapphire.

There is some color changing Sapphire. This Sapphire exhibits a different color in natural and artificial light. Bi-colored Sapphire is the Sapphire with more than one color. Cat`s Eye Sapphire is basically the Sapphires exhibiting cat`s eye effect, fancy Sapphire is known as any sapphire with a color other than blue. Verneuil Sapphire is synthetic, and laboratory-grown sapphire.

Nowadays, sapphire is classified by its color in the gem trade i.e. green color sapphire is `Green Sapphire`. Colorless sapphire is usually called `White Sapphire.`

The `oriental` prefixes are not used anymore, but they are still occasionally seen. Below is a list of all the `oriental` sapphires.

Oriental Topaz: Straw yellow, gem quality sapphire,
Oriental Emerald: Light to dark green, gem quality sapphire,
Oriental Amethyst: Violet to pink, gem quality sapphire,
Oriental Peridot: Yellow-green, gem quality sapphire; and
Oriental White sapphire: Colorless, gem quality sapphire.


Some other variety of sapphire which are rarely used can be mentioned as follows:
Australian Sapphire: Dark blue to nearly black sapphire
Bengal Amethyst: Purple sapphire
Blue Alexandrite: Synonym of color changing sapphire
Burma Sapphire: Synthetic, laboratory-grown blue sapphire
Burmese Sapphire: Synonym of Burma sapphire (above)
Ceylon Sapphire: Light blue sapphire
Indian Topaz: Yellow to yellow-brown sapphire
King Topaz: Yellow to yellow-brown sapphire
Rose Kunzite: Synthetic pink sapphire
Star Topaz: Yellow star sapphire
Ultralite: Blue sapphire

Some of the false names of sapphires can be mentioned as follows.
Brazilian Sapphire is the blue tourmaline or blue topaz, Gold Sapphire is the lapis lazuli with shiny pyrite sprinkles, Lynx Sapphire is the iolite, Sapphire Spinel is the blue spinel, Hope Sapphire is the synthetic blue spinel, Lux Sapphire is the iolite, Sapphire Quartz is the massive blue quartz or chalcedony, Water Sapphire is the iolite, Uralian Sapphire is the blue tourmaline.

The Aha Moment

Karen Lorene

What is it that separates the contemporary jewelry and fine art worlds, and what might link them together? AJF member and jewelry gallery owner Karen Lorene thought about this and other issues while reading Sarah Thornton’s book Seven Days in the Art World. Here’s what she concluded.

A question was proffered by Damian Skinner, editor of this blog: How does the book Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton relate to you as a gallerist?

Suzanne Golden, Welcome to Hawaii neckpiece, acrylic beads and seed beads, 16 inches diameter, 2.5 inches (largest ball)

The answer? Let me set the scene. We received seven very large boxes containing a traveling show entitled Transmutations: Material Reborn. In each box was nestled jewelry made of plastic. One very large box contained the work of Suzanne Golden. The necklaces and bracelets are exuberant, large, colorful, demanding.

This box with Suzanne Golden’s work arrived on the very day I read chapter six of Thornton’s book. Called ‘Studio visit’, this chapter is dedicated to an interview by Thornton of artist Takashi Murakami. Wanting to learn more, I Googled Murakami. There on the walls, in his paintings, bouncing out of his sculptures was the very reflection of work by Suzanne Golden. To an e-mail inquiry, Suzanne responded: ‘I probably didn’t know about anime until a few years ago, but I did see a recent exhibition of work by Takashi Murakami whose style really appeals to me’.

Suzanne Golden, Samba bracelet, acrylic beads and seed beads, 7 inches diameter

Yes! The Collective Unconscious slips around the world, grabs hold, and blossoms in entirely different forms of art! The work of one artist helped me understand the other, the shared color pallet and exuberance gave me a ground from which I can appreciate both.

The other six chapters of Thornton’s book opened doors and ideas. Her writing made me ask these questions: Why does the world of flat art not see the value (and wear!) jewelry art? (Google Artforum and look at the photos of an opening and you’ll see almost everyone NOT wearing jewelry art). When might we see jewelry art at the Venice Biennale or Art Basel? What is the largest prize bestowed upon an artist, and when might that artist be a jewelry artist? When will jewelry artists be recognized by the ‘other’ world of art? When will the distinction between the two disappear? Or do we want the distinction to disappear?

The concluding thought after reading this engaging book? We who love jewelry art have a whole art world ripe for conversion.

Tiger Eye

This stone comes in white grey, red or wooden colour. Tiger eye sometimes has rich yellow and golden brown stripes, with a fine golden lustre when polished. It is very popular in Africa and is available in plenty at that place. It looks like the `eye of a tiger`. Tiger eye is also called crocidolite cat`s-eye or African cat`s-eye. Tiger eye with its bands resembles an eye of tiger, so it is received its name due to this similarity. Tiger Eye is the anniversary gemstone for the 9th year of marriage.

It keeps stomach ailments under a reasonable check. It also reduces tensions. It gives extra energies and good stamina. It also bestows the wearer with considerable initiative and drive, without which one cannot easily make a mark in this complex world. It is recommended and lucky stone for those having their birth numbers as 2 or 7. It is good for children suffering from insomnia or those not having proper concentration in studies. It is good for those, who have Saturn in retrogression in their natal charts or have tensions or digestive problems. It is also good for financial gains and also for those who may waiver to take decisions. Roman soldiers wore tiger`s-eye for protection in battle. Tiger Eye was thought to be all seeing due to its appearance. Tiger eye relieves high blood pressure. Tiger eye wear is very helpful in the presence of following diseases: bronchial asthmakidney, rheumatic heart disease, otitis and psoriasis.

People of all Zodiac signs and also either-sex, all ages and all religion can utilize the benefits of Tiger Eye Gemstone. This gemstone is widely used in Feng Shui and Crystal Therapy as well.

Benefits of Tiger Eye
Tiger Eye is a stone of protection that is also very grounding. It enhances integrity, willpower, practicality and correct use of power. It is a stone that enhances good luck, and brings prosperity, often in the form of money. This is also a very protective stone, which especially does it`s work during travel. It can also help one see clearly without illusion. Tiger`s eye brings a special boost to the solar plexus chakra and to one`s personal power. It is also very effective where person have speech problem due to lack of confidence or when any person wake up in afraid due to bad dreams

Tiger`s eye is a powerful stone ideal for increasing the confidence for people who need more confidence to accomplish their goals. It helps the person to judge a situation and determine how best to approach it. It also helps the wearer to find the most advantageous and positive way to reveal their inner energy and light. It eventually draws helpful people and material things to the wearer. It centers energy and mental focus. This gemstone also charm against evil spirits. This stone is believed to enhance confidence, focus the mind, and enable the user to see clearly without illusion.

Tiger eye should be charge it by keeping over night in salted water and should be washed it with fresh water in the morning and kept it in sun light for 2 - 3 hours once in 3 months. As with all gems, tiger eye should be protected from scratches and sharp blows. Large temperature changes should also be avoided.

These stone comes of in very attractive shapes. These are widely used for astrological and fashion purpose made of white metal. These are also popular as an attractive gift item. Tiger Eye is widely used in pendant and beads where its lovely tiger-like that displays out best.