The real thing

In some people’s mind, design jewelry appears to be hardly able to convey what classical shapes and materials are supposed to suggest. Last time I was trying to make my occupation clear to a total stranger, the inevitable question very quickly arose : « but… do you make real jewellery ? »

Obviously the connection between « design » and « jewelry » was not an easy one for her. The discussion being held in my mother tongue, french, no doubt my neighbour on that flight was mentionning something unequivocal. For her, real jewellery, « un vrai bijou », had to be made out of precious materials and gems. Preferably both for a really « real » piece.

« Vrai », which I translate here by « real », means in fact « true ». A « vrai bijou » is strongly linked with the authenticity of the materials used, something you can trust and rely on, something you can offer to your the ones you love, pass on to the next generations or try and sell if needed. Gold, diamonds, whatelse ?

As she was talking, she was playing with her otherwise not so original-looking rings. She never described any specific material, hardly mentionning the names of the stones. Actually, she was relating each object to important moments in her life. When I draw her attention on that, she admitted that a « vrai bijou » could have more to do with human relationships than the value of the materials. The discussion went further on to « where-to-wear-what ».

It proved hard to agree on how creative people can sometimes be, when they kind of de-contextualize their jewelry, when they distance themselves from first degree. It is not a matter of true or fake materials, classical or design pieces.
It is a question of attitude. After all, isn’t the wearer the final maker ?

Gold, diamonds, why not…. depends how.

Check out also Christophe's earlier writingshere

Photo : © Merlin Bronques / lastnightsparty.com