Baltic Jewellery News (August 2017) No. 33

E XC LUSI V E M AG A Z I N E F O R T H E J E W EL L ERY B USI N E SS I N T H E BA LT I C SE A R E G I O N

August 2017 (33)

FASTEST WAY TO THE BALTIC SEA REGION!

Meet the international Gemworld in Munich.

Europe‘s top show for gems & jewellery in autumn.

on Visit us k Faceboo

www.gemworldmunich.com

This is what amber jewellery is gradually becoming – thanks to the need to meet demands of various clients on many outlets. Its mass image is influenced first of all by the aesthetic requirements of the buyers. Two decades ago it was shaped by souvenir desires of millions of American after watching Jurassic Park, and a few years ago it was adjusted to the Chinese clients’ idea of jewellery that emphasises the prestige of its owner, and at the same time is a good investment.

What will the new face of amber be like? The producers will decide about its features, wishing to fill the gap left by the clients from the Middle Kingdom and looking for opportunities on different markets: strengthening trade relationships with clients in the Arabic countries, who are famous for their love to the Baltic amber; taking a risk of making the millions of jewellery lovers in India interested in the stone, but also keeping an eye on Europe and the USA. We hope that the new image of amber jewellery isn’t solely adjusted to the demand of clients from one market. As the more variety, the better – both for the clients and producers.

Anna SADO

www.balticjewellerynews.com

p. 3 33–2017

a few years of a great boom, the Chinese customers’ interest in the European products with amber has been declining steadily for over a year now. However, this new trend has also some positive aspects: dropping prices of the raw material make the hopes for the return of the former clients as well as an opportunity to gain new ones from Europe and the USA more and more realistic.

Even if these are the traditional outlets for Polish and Lithuanian producers, they have been in a way suspended for the time of the Chinese boom and very high prices that it caused, hence winning them back will take quite a lot of effort. The local clients over there expect not merely an amber souvenir, but jewellery with amber: modern, following current trends, well-designed and distinguished by high quality.

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

After

August 2017 (33)

II international economic forum for amber industry Amber Forum was held in Svetlogorsk, a little seaside town in the Kaliningrad region of Russia, from 28th to 30th of July. More than 1000 people took part in the business events, including the key figures of local authorities.

14

18

According to Euromonitor International data, value sales of jewellery in Eastern Europe are set to record double-digit growth of 10 %, to reach total sales of USD8.2 billion in 2017.

Amber Trip art jewellery competition “Nothing to declare” invites artists to announce their freedom in the language of jewellery, to say loudly that we have nothing to declare or hide.

Check out page 64 for more details.

64

86

Interview with Monika SZPATOWICZ, curator of Legnica Festival SILVER about her passion for jewellery. She also was very open about what goes on behind the main Festival stage – how the choices for the programme and exhibitions are made.

Article about the discovery of the forgoten loan — and the return of 383 specimens to the University of Göttingen, which oversees the remnants of the Königsberg Amber Collection.

90

6

British royals received amber jewellery during their visit in Gdansk. Duke William has been passed the elegant cufflinks and Dutchess Kate received a necklace.

PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF JEWELLERY IN 2017, US $ com/con Middle East and Africa 6,1 Australasia 112.8

Western Europe 55,2 Eastern Europe 25,0

Asia Pacific 46.8 Latin America 11.7

North America 169.8

Baltic Jewellery News / August 2017 (33) Manufakturu st. 16–7, LT-11342, LT-11342, Vilnius, Lithuania, Tel. +37061607506; E-mail: office@balticjewellerynews.com Editor / Anna Sado / E-mail: info@balticjewellerynews.com Designer / SAVITAI, Translators / VERTIMU GURU, CIRCULATION 4 000 Distribution in the whole Baltic Sea Region.

Copyright: Contents of “Baltic Jewellery News” are copyright. ISSN 2335-2132 Reproduction of material in part or in whole is not permitted in any form without the written authorization of the publisher. The editorial office is not responsible for the content of advertisements and for the accuracy of the facts presented by the authors.

We invite all those whose interests are related to our goals to join our project. With the help of various perspectives and opening of new discussions the jewellery business in the region can become clear and more beneficiary for everyone.

Thank you for your cooperation!

www.balticjewellerynews.com

CONTENT /

TOPICALITIES 6

British royals were warmly greeted in Gdansk

AMBER MINING 8

Amber news from Ukraine

BUSINESS INSIGHTS 10 12 14 16 18 22 24 26 30 32 34

“Amber trip” can become a framework for international development of the Ukrainian amber market Amber triangle China – Kaliningrad – Saint-Petersburg: profit and losses Amber Forum 2017 Poland shining among world’s top jewellers Jewellery trends in Eastern Europe Jewellery market in Sweden Lithuanian companies engaged in amber business joined a cluster Quarter 1 gold demand: down 18 % Interview with Ewa Rachon Jubinale – crazy plan has been working for 10 years already First international jewellery fair in Estonia

AMBER COLLECTIONS 89 90

Let us introduce you to an expert on inclusions Lost part of Königsberg amber collection to be returned to University of Göttingen

INTERNATIONAL AMBER ASSOCIATION 93 94 96

Polish amber in Switzerland The exhibition “How much per gram?”

“Coloured amber” – colouring book not only for kids

MARKET REVIEW 100 101 104 105 106

List of open selling prices of amber production of JSC Kaliningrad Amber Factory The worldwide price for raw amber The worldwide price for amber silver 925 jewellery The worldwide gold price Prices of wholesale amber production worldwide

PERSONALITY 110

I am expecting something more from myself

OUR FRIENDS 114

Baltic Jewellery News Tennis Open

MAJOR JEWELLERY TRADE FAIRS 116

Major jewellery trade fairs

www.balticjewellerynews.com

33–2017

Munich jewellery week 2017 4 questions with Astonish Jewellery: one of the passions - interview with Noovo jewellery editor Tone vigeland. Jewelry – Object – Sculpture “Creativity firework” (exhibition of young artist work in kaliningrad) Alatyr 2017 Visiting and talking to antti nieminen “Nature morte”: an eternally living story. Amber Trip art jewellery contest 2017 “Maybe jewellery got into our blood” interview with Lauryna Kiškytė Jewellery art contest “Nothing to declare” Transformation – 6 Swedish artists Eastbound modern amber jewellery from Denmark Synergy: contemporary trends in metal art and design Amber Look trends & styles 2017 Rock n roll with amber Jewellery is my passion interview with Monika Szpatowicz

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

38 42 44 46 50 52 54 56 60 64 68 72 76 82 84 86

p. 3

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

www.aimdisplay.com.pl

AIM DISPLAY POLISH MANUFACTURER OF DISPLAYS, ETUI, BUSTS AND TRAYS FOR EXPOSITION, SALES AND STORAGE OF JEWELLERY PL

ul. Taborowa 24, 02-699 Warszawa, Poland, T/F: +48 226449815

v

www.aimdisplay.com.pl

v

aimdisplay@aimdisplay.com.pl

TOPICALITIES / POLISH JEWELLERY REPORT

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 6

CATHERINE, Duchess of Cambridge; Prince WILLIAM, Duke of Cambridge and Gdańsk Mayor Paweł ADAMOWICZ

BRITISH ROYALS WERE WARMLY GREETED IN GDANSK During their royal tour the Duke and Duchess of Cambrige visited Gdansk. They visited Eurepean Solidarity Centre, Shakespeare theatre, the market square, the Artus Court building. The people of Gdansk greeted them warmly, cheered and applauded. The Mayor of Gdansk Pawel Adamowicz gave the royal couple unique amber jewellery set as a personal gift from the Gdańsk citizens.

Duke Willam ⊳ Necklace “Qule” ▼ Cufflinks “Elipse”

has been passed the elegant cufflinks – Elipse – made of rhodium plated silver with cherry Baltic amber that were designed by professor Sławomir Fijałkowski, an S&A designer.

The necklace for Dutchess Kate – “Qule” is a handmade piece of jewellery prepared by S&A Studio Design. The Qule gift is composed of natural milky Baltic amber in the shape of a ball set in 14K gold with a black plated chain.

Marzena Leś, Export Director In S&A: The jewellery we have prepared is not an accidental choice. We have been trying to match it to the Dutchess style and her preferences so she could also wear the necklace as an elegant piece of jewellery while she is officially travelling. It was also important for us to show the natural beauty of amber, its uniqueness and charm.

The Royal Collection has met with the positive reception from not only the special commission appointed by Gdańsk City Hall to choose the official gift but jewellery industry and stylists as well. It is planned to be launched in August 2017. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

1.

Trial extraction of amber

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 8

AMBER NEWS from UKRAINE

By Olena BELICHENKO

In March 2017 within the XIV International Baltic Jewellery Show “Amber Trip 2017” representatives of Public Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine and Ukrainian amber mining companies, with support of “Amber Trip 2017” organisers, held the enterprises’ presentation for the first time. They invited interested investors to cooperate, discussed the prospects for amber industry development in Ukraine and creation of the permanent exchange of the Ukrainian amber.

According

O. BELICHENKO, Ph.D, Amber Expert of I AA, State Gemmological Centre of Ukraine

to the legislation of Ukraine geological studying and amber mining should be carried out only with special permission for the use of natural resources. The database of special permissions to use natural resources is available free of charge on the website of the State scientific and manufacturing enterprise “State Information Geological Fund of Ukraine” (SIGF “Geoinform of Ukraine”). SIGF “Geoinform of Ukraine” is a research and manufacturing organization, which collects, stores, analyses and provides information that was obtained in the course of geological studying and use of natural resources for public use.

It should be noted that Ukraine took significant steps towards disclosure of information in mining sector of economy. So, in 2015 on the website of SIGF “Geoinform of Ukraine” a

number of online services were created, in particular: the electronic database of special permissions to use natural resources, the interactive map of mineral deposits of Ukraine and the interactive map of subsoil plots with granted special permissions to use natural resources.

The electronic database of special permissions to use natural resources allows filtering results by various criteria: license type and number, minerals type, territory, the EGRPOU code of the owner company, license issue and expiry year; it also allows filtering results by valid, expired or suspended special permissions. Besides, there is an opportunity to study the full text of a special permission, where granting conditions and other details are specified.

Information on granting conditions of special permissions to use natural resources can be accessed on the website “Geoinform of Ukraine”, available at http://geoinf.kiev.

www.balticjewellerynews.com

www.balticjewellerynews.com

These two enterprises are granted the right to select the plots for re-cultivation. According to the resolution, land plots are provided without an auction. Further, the state enterprises have the right to make contracts with private companies that will carry out amber mining and re-cultivation. It is clearly stated in the resolution that in the course of exploratory development of amber on the plots that were damaged as a result of illegal amber mining the project implementers should ensure compliance with the requirements for geological studying of subsoils and 100 percent mining of found amber determined by the legal acts.

The State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine approved the list of 2046 land plots that should be re-cultivated by the order No. 17 of 21.01.2017.

Currently, implementers of the pilot project started selection of plots and preparation of project documentation.

The company «Sun-Craft Centre» LLC, which is the first and the only private company engaged in industrial amber mining at the “VolodymyretsSkhidnyi” deposit, developed and tested the methodology for re-cultivation of lands destroyed by open cut amber mining. The first batch of waste amber was re-cultivated in spring of 2017. ■

2. Catastrophic ecological consequences of illegal mining

33–2017

of amber mining and trade remains opened so far.

Despite the ban, illegal amber miners continue to extract amber, and, in a meanwhile, authorities in the Rivne, Zhytomyr, Volyn regions and in Kiev try to solve the problem of catastrophic ecological consequences of illegal mining (photo 2).

An important step towards the legislative solution of environmental problems has been adoption of the resolution No. 1063 of 11/30/2016 “Some questions of implementation of the pilot project on re-cultivation of the lands of forest fund damaged as a result of illegal amber mining” by the government. Implementation of this project will promote re-cultivation of the lands of forest fund damaged because of illegal amber mining in the Volynsk, Rivne and Zhytomyr regions.

Besides recovery of lands, the project will promote the termination of repeated illegal amber mining on re-cultivated forest sites as it regulates 100 % mining of the remains of amber on the damaged lands.

3200 hectares of the damaged lands of forest fund of Ukraine are under regulation of this project Duration of the project is 5 years.

Implementation of the pilot project was assigned to two state enterprises with experience of developing amber deposits, namely SE “Burshtyn of Ukraine” and SE “Ukrburshtyn”.

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

ua/nadannya-spetsdozvoliv. The database of special permissions to use natural resources, including amber mining, can be accessed at http://geoinf.kiev.ua/specdozvoli.

The “Interactive map of subsoil plots with granted special permissions to use natural resources” is available at http://geoinf.kiev.ua/wp/ interaktyvnikarty-spetsdozvoliv.htm.

According to data of SIGF “Geoinform Ukraine”, special permissions to use natural resources for geological studying and amber mining have been granted to 9 companies: In the Rivne region – state enterprise “Burshtyn of Ukraine”, LLC «Sun-Craft Centre», LLC “RED.MET”, state enterprise “Ukrburshtyn”, LLC “Inklyuz-8”, In the Zhwwytomyr region these are LLC “Nadra Galichiny Company”, LLC “Amber Holding”, LLC “Right Solution”, In the Volyn region these are the municipal enterprise “Volinprirodresurs” of the Volyn Regional Council.

In 2016 industrial amber mining was carried out in “Klesivske” (state enterprise “Burshtyn of Ukraine”) and “Volodymyrets-Skhidnyi” deposits (LLC «Sun-Craft Centre»). In 2016 companies engaged in legal mining extracted about 4500 kg of amber.

In 2017 an exploratory development within geological studying on the site “Oleksiivka” of Klesivsky district began, it has been carried out by the state enterprise “Ukrburshtyn” (photo 1). Information on geological works on other new sites is currently not at the author’s disposal.

The problem of illegal amber mining in Ukraine is still extremely urgent. The last attempt to adopt laws on legalisation of amber mining was made in February of 2017 when bills No. 1351-1 “On mining and legalisation of amber” and No. 3035 “On prospecting activities” were put on the agenda of a plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Rada rejected the bill No. 1351-1 “On mining and legalisation of amber” and didn't even consider the bill No. 3035; thereby the question of legalisation

p. 9

AMBER MINING / UKRAINIAN JEWELLERY REPORT

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / UKRAINE JEWELLERY REPORT

“AMBER TRIP” CAN BECOME A FRAMEWORK FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE UKRAINIAN AMBER MARKET, –

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 10

Giedrius Guntorius, CEO of “Amber Trip”

By Natalia MELEN

““Amber Trip” can become a framework for international development of the Ukrainian amber market”, – founder of the international Baltic jewellery exhibition, Giedrius Guntorius has opened the meeting. “High quality of the Ukrainian sun stone is wellknown at the international market; however, regretfully, it does not exist on the official level. Now we can speak only about its illegal import to world and European countries”, – Giedrius Guntorius tells. “Due to establishment of a powerful profile Association Ukraine will enter a practical phase of solving the amber market legalization problem”.

Major perspectives that can be achieved under conditions of successfully operating Association have been mainly discussed at the meeting. The event participants are

Ukrainian companies that received special permissions for developing amber resources unite into the profile Association. It was announced at the meeting of Ukrainian businessmen with Giedrius Guntorius, founder of the International Baltic Jewellery exhibition “Amber Trip”.

The parties discussed perspectives for development of the Ukrainian amber market in collaboration with international profile community.

Participants of the event told that the Association aims to facilitate entry of the Ukrainian sun stone to the legal international market.

convinced that a profile union can facilitate achieving the maximum publicity and transparency of work and, consequently, safety in unstable Ukrainian politicum. Successful collaborative activities will also become a foundation for developing expert community for professional evaluation of market operation and forthcoming events.

“We understand that establishing a union is a right solution under conditions of unstable political situation and high level of corruption in governmental institutions.

Therefore, we consider established Association an important protection instrument and a powerful foundation for the development of amber market”, – Vladimir Shcherbin, director of “Incluse-8” company, says.

The experience of other world countries that have already passed the same way is necessary to

solve the problem of amber market legalization.

In conditions of high level of mistrust in the Ukrainian society, involving international experts as partners will positively influence “treatment of amber fever”.

“The principle “amber bag in exchange for a bag money” does not work at the market”, – representatives of the Ukrainian business say.

With the help of international community local residents should understand how the market works.

So the Association will also fulfil an educational function.

Representatives of the Ukrainian business community, including

www.balticjewellerynews.com

announced about the opening of amber market to the international level. It happened in Vilnius during the international exhibition “International Baltic Jewellery Show “Amber Trip 2017””, – Giedrius Guntorius says. Representatives of Ukrainian business can bring this idea to life. It is important not to stop”, – the founder of the International Baltic Jewellery exhibition, Giedrius Guntorius has summarised the meeting. ■

33–2017

p. 11 www.balticjewellerynews.com

there is no deficit of amber in the world. The demand for it decreased.

According to the founder of „Amber Trip“ it made speculators leaving the market; while those, who are faithful to the idea – stayed. But in opinion of Guntorius, such situation is temporary. The new demand wave is still ahead. For this reason, as director of the international exhibition of Baltic jewellery says, Ukraine should be ready to present itself. Finally, it should present itself and seek for a high competitive advantage.

“In March 2017 Public Service for Geology and Mineral Resources

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

Jewellery house “Kimberly”, LLC “Incluse-8“, LLC “Right Solution”, LLC “Amber Holding”, RC “"Volinprirodresurs", LLC “Ekotekhstroy” and others also had a detailed discussion of perspectives for development of the Ukrainian amber industry. In particular, the establishment of a permanent exchange of Ukrainian amber was discussed. Besides, issues of testing and marking of jewellery goods arising between states were discussed at the event.

In turn, the guest from Lithuania, Giedrius Guntorius has noted that

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / RUSSIAN JEWELLERY REPORT

AMBER TRIANGLE CHINA – KALININGRAD – SAINT-PETERSBURG: PROFIT and LOSSES

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 12

By Yulia VARYGA

Chinese tourists have discovered Russia only recently, due to many reasons, including economic growth in CNR. But the main flows from the country of the rising sun are profitable only to China: the tours are organized by national operators, these groups stay at those hotels and eat in those restaurants, belonging to Chinese and even initially Baltic amber is sold to Chinese by Chinese, with serious added value.

Chinese

topic stays on the top of Russian newslines: in 2014 China became the leader of incoming tourism in Russia. According to statistical data, 1,3 mln Chinese tourists visited Russia in 2016, also thanks to the agreement among China and the RF about visa-free entrance for touristic groups. The state program of national development in China plans 5 mln tourists to visit Russia annually in 2016–2020. Mainly, these millions go to Moscow and SaintPetersburg, and both cities are visited during one group tour for 7–9 days.

For the North-West region of Russia China is closely connected with amber: there are many shops located on the main streets of Kaliningrad and the seaside towns, with Chinese advertising and “amber” signs in Chinese, and the only official enterprise in Russia mining amber, Kaliningrad Amber Combine, reports about multi-million contracts with

Yulia VARYGA

Chinese enterprises. Tour groups do not reach Kaliningrad and make amber shopping mainly in SPb. People say that a Chinese tourist considers his travel as successful after visiting Kremlin, the Hermitage and buying amber.

THE BALTIC WAVE OF DISSATISFACTION In May 2017, there was a wave of various publications concerning the amber scheme popular nowadays in Saint Petersburg. The market seems to be monopolized by the Chinese: they make amber goods from amber bought also in Kaliningrad, then sell it to Chinese tourists in the closed shops working only for Chinese groups. SPb journalists discovered at least three closed shops – Korona Boutique on Obvodnoy kanal naberezhnaya, 108, souvenir shop in one of the business centres on Blagodatnaya str., 8, and a large shop on Aptekarskaya naberezhnaya, 6.

There are also a few closed souvenir shops active in Moscow.

All specialized shops working only for Chinese touristic groups are equipped with Unionpay systems and QR-codes system in We Chat.

According to Russian news project lenta.ru, profit made by the shops is

How many Chinese tourists visited Russia?

2015 / 670 000 2016 / 1,3 million

How much money does an average Chinese tourist spend in Russia?

$3700 ($530 per day)

www.balticjewellerynews.com

AMBER LEGENDS Guides already tell anecdotes about magic stories told by illegal Chinese guides working with Chinese touristic groups. According to them, the main part of Chinese tourists are sure that amber is mined and produced exclusively in SPb. The other stories are:

www.balticjewellerynews.com

IN SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS There are no official statistics about Chinese tourists in the Kaliningrad region, but, according to the general data about incoming tourists flow, 87 % of them are Russians and 13 % – foreigners.

Representatives of tour operating companies working in Kaliningrad mention that they made advertising tours for Chinese tour operators in 2016, but no groups followed. Some of the main restraining factors are: absence of direct air connection with China, no infrastructure to be able to work with Chinese groups (guides, interpreters, transport, food and etc.), incompatibility of paying systems.

In May 2017, there was a round table discussion organized by the editorial team of a Russian news project for business, RBC, called “In fight for Chinese tourists: problems and advantages for Kaliningrad”. Many concerned parties participated in the talk, including representatives of the local authorities, Denis Mironyuk (Tourism Ministry) and Aleksey Ignatjev (Regional Administration), head of SPb committee for development of RU-CH cooperation and tourism, Juriy Zuckan, representatives of Russian tour operators and amber goods producers.

The operators mentioned that Chinese tourists have an interest in the Cathedral, amber and amber Combine, historic fortification system and the national park zone, the Curonian spit. Local ministry suggests to develop not separate tour destinations but complex programs, combining Kaliningrad with other touristic regions. “We think – why not work together with the leading Russian and European colleagues and create new destinations, including Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg, Poland and Lithuania. All of our locations are very good to be able to organize and offer it”, – said Denis Mironyuk during the discussion, as mentioned in the report about the meeting published on RBC. Kaliningrad ministry reports about a new touristic program called “The Baltic Amber rings”, offering travel to several cities closely connected with the amber industry.

To reduce influence of “grey” amber schemes, Kaliningrad entrepreneurs organized a public organization, naming

certification of amber as one of its main tasks. Obviously, to prevent economic speculation on amber, serious legislation activity is greatly demanded. ■

p. 13

North War only to conquer amber deposits in the Baltic sea; • that the main goal of Germany in the II Great World War was the amber room; • that there are special pink ants living only in Siberia that bring precious pink amber on their back – this is what brings luck and can be bought only in Russia; • that amber is the 7th stone of Buddha; • that once in an air crash one Chinese tourist had an amber stone and he survived.

33–2017

• that Peter the Great started the

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

the chief interest for tour agencies organizing travels in China. They take 30 % of the sum, spent by the tourists in the shops. Other 30 % go to the Chinese guide who brought the group to the shop. And the remaining sum is taken by the Chinese entrepreneur controlling the business.

Daily turnout of such a shop can be more than 20 mln roubles. Journalists counted that, on average, 4–6 buses with 20–40 tourists in each come to every shop daily. These tourists come to Russia buying cheap or zero prices tours, and, according to the contract, the tourists are not obliged to purchase something but only to visit the shop with the group. And here comes aggressive marketing, including threats and psychological pressure.

Legally, nothing wrong is with the shops. To register any facts of illegal trade, if any happen, a control purchase must be carried out, which becomes quite complicated with the closed system of sales. This organization form can be a breach of the RF law only if these shops are registered as retail, so they break the public offer terms, and it should be controlled by Rospotrebnadzor during planned or unplanned reviews.

Experts also mention national discrimination as only Chinese tourists are allowed to enter the shops, but it can hardly be a valuable disturbing reason. The Korona Boutique was under official control procedure at least once because of an anonymous call about illegal amber kept in stock, but it didn’t influence further work of the shop.

In real life, there are the following problems: Kaliningrad producers of amber souvenirs, bijou and jewellery are not satisfied that the main profit in the scheme is received by Chinese entrepreneurs, and they also mention that these closed shops sell false amber, making a serious negative influence on the whole reputation of the stone and the industry.

p. 14

On the left – Mikhail ZATSEPIN, Director General of JSC “Kaliningrad Amber Combine”, on the right – Anton A. ALIHAANOV – The Governor of the Kaliningrad region

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

AMBER FORUM 2017

By Yulia VARYGA

II international economic forum for amber industry Amber Forum was held in Svetlogorsk, a little seaside town in the Kaliningrad region of Russia, since 28th till 30th of July, in local Yantar Hall concert and business center. The Forum is announced to be aimed at creation of an international platform to promote cooperation and interaction for business, professional and expert communities in Russia, Europe and world.

This year Amber Forum was devoted to the special date for the Amber combine, its 70th anniversary, o the cultural program was really intense.

II

international economic forum for amber industry Amber Forum was held in Svetlogorsk, a little seaside town in the Kaliningrad region of Russia, since 28th till 30 th of July, in local Yantar Hall concert and business center. The Forum is announced to be aimed at creation of an international platform to promote cooperation and interaction for business, professional and expert communities in Russia, Europe and world. This year Amber Forum was devoted to the special date for the Amber combine, its 70 th anniversary, so the cultural program was really intense.

Business program was divided into sessions and exhibition parts. The leading companies and organizations

dealing with amber in the region took part in the exposition: Kaliningrad amber combine, Amber Juvelirprom, Kaliningrad Amber Museum, Union of artists of Russia, with 11 artists participating, Kaliningrad guild of amber masters, Art and industry college, 40 amber producers and sellers from Kaliningrad and the region. The Lithuania was represented

by Amber Trip cluster, with a special presentation of Baltic Jewelry News magazine.

More than 1000 people took part in the business events, including the key figures of local authorities, with Mr Alikhanov, probable future governor of the Kaliningrad region, playing amber guitar, represented on

the Amber Trip stand; representatives of the local federal university, top managers of companies and amber business elite, museum managers and workers, mass media. This forum was international, with guests from Poland, China, Lithuania, Belorussia, France, Denmark, Latvia and Estonia.

Among the business program sessions the top priority was “Drivers of the economic growth. Clusters.

Small and average scale business”.

All participants were invited to take part in 7 topic sessions: “Amber.

National brand”, “Amber Road.

Touristic attraction”, “Scientific research and innovations in the amber industry”, “Amber in the culture of South-Eastern Baltic and Ancient

www.balticjewellerynews.com

www.balticjewellerynews.com

European level, including “amber region” sightseeings and world amber towns in Russia, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark.

Auction of large amber stones weighing more than 1 kilo was the highlight for mass media attention.

Amber combine sold 18 stones from the total number of 30, mined since 2011 till 2017, and received 12,5 million roubles in the deal, with the highest rate for one stone equal to 2,25 mln roubles.

Professional contest, organized alongside with the system used for World skills contest, for amber processing competence, included 5 competitors aged up to 30 y.o., their work was estimated by 9 experts. ■

33–2017

and state support to receive patents for inventions. There was also a discussion about co branding and joint projects with other Russian and foreign brands.

For Kaliningrad, there is also a vivid need to change retail format, from little street shopping points to boutiques with high quality offer.

Touristic topic was a very important point of discussion, and there is an obvious need to raise touristic attractiveness of the region, to make it more friendly for Chinese tourists, with a special program highlighting amber as the brand. There is a plan to apply to UNESCO to give historic buildings belonging to the amber combine the status of architectural heritage, and to certify a touristic road on the

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

Russia”, “Investment attractiveness and innovations”, “Life giving stone”.

In the result of sessions, a number of decisions and strategy actions were announced, including private business and state programs, and also interaction with international amber community as major goals.

A lot of attention was drawn to the necessity of developing the amber brand of Russia, and its promotion – there was a decision to form a united program of world promotion of the Russian Amber label with a special accent on the South Eastern Asia, the major consuming market. Experts announced necessity of innovations in the sphere of jewelry production, amber mining, using partial subsidies

p. 15

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / RUSSIAN JEWELLERY REPORT

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 16

POLAND SHINING AMONG WORLD’S TOP JEWELLERS Poland gets jewellery worth over 1 billion PLN annually.

Polish markets are an attractive destination for western producers, and Italy is promoting them.

In

Warsaw, the presentation of several dozen Italian jewellery brands will begin on Wednesday, with the aim of reaching customers in our country. According to data introduced by the Trade Promotion Section of the Italian Embassy, in 2016 the import of jewellery to Poland exceeded 264 million euros and increased by 18.7 per cent per year.

The largest share is for Chinese products but it is already on a declining trend. China’s share is now 24 per cent, yet in 2012 it was 32 per cent. The second position is held by Italy, and import from Italy accounts for about 16–17 per cent.

In 2016 its value increased by 14.7 per cent to 43.7 million euros.

GROWING MARKET “Despite growing competition in the world, our manufacturers still maintain one of the leading positions among jewellers. Italians are the fifth jewellery producer in the world,” says Antonino Maffodda, Director of the Italian Agency for the Promotion and Internationalisation of Italian Enterprises, the Trade Promotion Section of the Italian Embassy, which

organises the Italian Jewellery in Warsaw. It is attended by 45 Italian jewellery companies.

“Original style and high quality are hallmark of the products. These are values appreciated by Polish customers, so we can see an increasing interest of our companies in the Polish market,” adds Maffodda.

Italy is one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of jewellery in the world. In 2016, Italy sold jewellery worth 6.4 billion euros.

This result was reached owing to nearly 25 thousand jewellery makers, who engage 80 thousand employees.

Almost 75 per cent of production is exported.

Italians see an attractive market in Poland. The value of jewellery sales on our market will reach nearly 3 billion PLN this year. Although the statistical consumer spends several times less on similar products than Germany, France or the UK per year, the market is steadily growing. What manufacturers are most happy about is that growth is spotted not just at the cheap economy segment, but also at the category of premium, and especially luxury products.

OWN PRODUCTION “The Italians have enjoyed the reputation of jewellery experts and most talented craftsmen for years. This is a market from which many well-known jewellery brands originate. There are several highlyesteemed Italian brands in our offer,” says Radoslaw Jakociuk, President of W. Kruk. The company claims to be the official representative of Damiani brand, one of the top ten global jewellery brands. There are also other brands: Nanis, Recarlo and Alfieri & St. John, which are offered in W.Kruk Rolex boutiques.

“Italy is not only the home of some of the most impressive jewellery brands, but also the production base of the global jewellery market. Llocal factories produce jewellery and accessories for the most prominent fashion houses, and implement jewellers’ orders from numerous countries,” says Radoslaw Jakociuk.

“Local jewellers specialise in small jewellery. They prefer large forms and no stones. The Italians are definitely leading in the production of chains, which are not only an independent jewellery product, but

www.balticjewellerynews.com

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / POLISH JEWELLERY REPORT Jewellery sales, mln eur

Jewellery market value, bn Zloty

300 225 150

85,5

75 0

185,4

179,7

103,6

99,8

30

264,0

222,4

192,9

2,8

28

103,8

131,9

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

26 24

2,5

22

2014 2017*

* Forecast — Import to Poland

— Export from Poland Where do polish people buy jewellery? (Percentially)

www.balticjewellerynews.com

OPINION PAWEL JAWORSKI, PRESIDENT OF MICHELSON DIAMONDS The Polish jewellery market still prevails owing to low prices, which significantly limits its development to certain segments. As regards the domestic production, silverware is dominating, especially chains which are actually fairly cheap, but are lower quality and poorer design if compared, e.g. to Italian products.

In turn, Poles buy golden jewellery

Italy

China

16,6

24,0

Thailand

12,6

Other

Germany

18,1

12,3

UK

Turkey

10,6

3,9 thousands Number of jewellery manufacturers working in Poland Number of jewellery manufacturers in Poland

4336 4200 4036 3926

2013 2014 2015 2016

0 1190 2380 3570 4760

Number of jewellery shops in Poland

4069 3906 3829 3745

2013 2014 2015 2016

0 1115 2330 3345 4450

rather for special occasions, but in its production Polish companies have reached a very high level. In the case of engagement rings the average price usually amounts up to a maximum of 2,500 PLN, although much larger transactions occur as well. In Poland, jewellery production is growing, but in our country, manufacturers are only learning many techniques. The market of silver products combined with amber is noteworthy too. This is our main export sector at the moment. ■

Data source: ITA, BISNODE POLSKA, EUROMONITOR INTERNATIONAL

p. 17

5,8

33–2017

RETURN OF AMBER “Until a couple of years ago, Italy was a crucial import centre. And today, we still import some of the jewellery from this country. However, this is a small percentage. An increasing number of jewellery products available in our showrooms is our own projects and works,” says Joanna Pustkowska, Director of Retail Sales Department at the network of Yes shops. “Rapid development of the Design Office, and thus our own collections, has led to a significant decline in the import of jewellery from other countries.

The production of jewellery in the country is growing, as well as its export. It is still lower than import, but in 2016 the products worth 131.9 million euros were shipped overseas, i.e. by 27.1 per cent more than the previous year.

The main trade direction of this category (out of 31.6 per cent) is Germany, while the second place belongs to the Italian market.

Organisers of the presentation of Italian companies in Poland also note that local companies often obtain products in Poland, especially silver and amber. This gem is our world specialty, and now it is on top again.

Amber, which several years ago was mainly purchased in the US and Western Europe, now conquers the Middle East and Asia. The Chinese, however, prefer it in golden, not silver setting.

Does brand or production place matter in the case of such products as jewellery?

Discuss it with us on: facebook. com/dziennikrzeczpospolita

JEWELLERY FROM A LARGE CHAIN JEWELLERS IN A RATHER POOR CONDITION Although jewellery sales are growing, the market is centred upon three largest chains: Apart, W.Kruk and Yes. These companies control over 50 per cent of the market and systematically strengthen their position. The overall condition of the market is not as good as one might have expected. According to data reported by Bisnode information agency, the condition of over 90 per cent of manufacturers and retailers of jewellery can be described as poor.

This is directly leading to shrinking of the market. Every year the number of companies decreases by 2–3 per cent. It is estimated that at the end of 2016 less than 3.9 thousand of jewellery makers were operating on the Polish market. Consequently, jewellery trade segment is decreasing as well. During the last four years, nearly 300 jewellery shops have left the Polish market. According to BIG InfoMonitor, the proportion of companies with arrears in current accounts, dues to contractors or creditors, both among manufacturers and jewellers, is approximate – 3.7 % and 3.6 % respectively. The company explains that it is slightly less than the average at the entire commercial sector, which equals to 4 per cent.

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

also a component favoured among companies from all over the world,” he adds.

Similarly to other large jewellery chains, W.Kruk owns a factory producing jewellery as well.

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / EASTERN EUROPE JEWELLERY REPORT

JEWELLERY TRENDS IN EASTERN EUROPE

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 18

By Nadejda GOLOGANOV, Research Analyst at Euromonitor

JEWELLERY MARKET POSTS INCREASING GROWTH IN 2017 According to Euromonitor International data, value sales of jewellery in Eastern Europe are set to record double-digit growth of 10%, to reach total sales of USD8.2 billion in 2017. This represents only 3 % of global jewellery sales and ranks Eastern Europe fifth of seven regions worldwide in total value terms. Custom jewellery, by far the largest product area in volume terms, accounts for 21 % of total jewellery sales in Eastern Europe, while fine jewellery accounts for 72 % of total value sales.

In 2017, per capita spending on jewellery in Eastern Europe is USD25, which is almost twice lower than the world’s average and almost seven times lower than the average spending in North America – the region with the highest per capita spend on jewellery.

PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF JEWELLERY IN 2017, US $ com/con Middle East and Africa

6,1

Western Europe

55,2

Australasia

112.8

Eastern Europe

25,0

Asia Pacific

46.8

Latin America

11.7

North America

169.8

SOURCE: EUROMONITOR INTERNATIONAL Such differences in spending on jewellery between these regions is determined by a few factors, not least economic and cultural preferences. The importance of media and advertising, as well as personal adornment accordant with different nations’ religious practices, cultural beliefs, and social habits, directly influences demand for jewellery. Economic considerations include a country’s level of per capita disposable income, the cost of basic necessities, and the price and availability of the items.

Historically, jewellery has been a symbol of wealth, social status, and power; however, it is now affordable to a wider range of people than ever before.

GO GREEN – LAB-GROWN DIAMONDS Fine jewellery, particularly diamonds, is enjoying rising popularity among Eastern European countries.

They are particularly valued by female consumers, especially for important occasions such as engagements, birthdays or wedding anniversaries.

These products are most often purchased by affluent people, but also by consumers with medium purchasing power. Diamonds will always be a popular setting in rings, necklaces, bracelets and charms; the luster, sparkle and beauty of a diamond will always be admired.

Lab-grown diamonds have been getting considerable attention lately because they are visually identical to mined diamonds but are sustainable and eco-friendly. There is a growing movement of people who are trying to live a more sustainable, greener lifestyle. Consumers are watching what they buy and where products are sourced. Having jewellery that is beautiful yet does not strip the planet of natural resources is an attractive alternative. Though labgrown diamonds are a new trend, more people seem to be interested in wearing them because of the reduced costs and their identical properties.

However, this is not an indicator that traditional diamonds are going away anytime soon; the jewellery industry does not seem to be fully embracing lab grown diamonds quite yet. The response of the industry to the threat of synthetics has been through branding, certification

www.balticjewellerynews.com

www.balticjewellerynews.com

OMNI-CHANNEL SELLING The more technology advances, the more it is integrated into people’s daily lives. The same thing applies to jewellery: Consumers have multiple channels in which to shop, whether ⊲

p. 19

from round or flattened to square, rectangular or oval shapes. These accessorise necklaces, earrings and bracelets, as well as rings.

In the majority of Eastern European countries, neckwear and earrings were the most popular product types in 2016 and 2017. In Poland, for example, earrings held the largest value share of 34%. Neckwear, rings and wristwear hold similar value shares and the reason for the comparable popularity of the three types is low pricing, which makes it possible for the consumer to collect items from different categories, yet comprising a full set of decorative pieces. For instance, the wristbands of the Reserved brand can be purchased for less than USD2.50, which is affordable for most local consumers.

A variety of materials are used for custom jewellery in Eastern Europe in 2017. They typically comprise nonprecious metals as well as being plated with silver, pearls, wood, leather, minerals, epoxide resin or beads. Such products attract consumers as they allow them to create different styles. Also, the range of handmade jewellery available is increasing, with extensive offers on numerous websites. One of the big success stories for this return to handmade is the website Etsy – a marketplace for all things handmade.

33–2017

TREND TOWARDS FAST FASHION SEEN IN APPAREL INDUSTRY INCREASINGLY EVIDENT IN JEWELLERY By way of contrast to fine jewellery, costume jewellery is characterised by more frequent purchasing. It is generally inexpensive and strongly influenced by the latest style trends, motivated by consumer tastes and designer fashions. Costume jewellery does not compete directly with fine jewellery. It is a marginally complementary product group due to significant differences in price, materials used and target customers.

This type of jewellery is usually purchased throughout the year by younger consumers. Due to low pricing, in many cases these items are worn only once or twice, and many more items are purchased, which explains the higher volume sales per year.

Jewellery has traditionally been seen as a more durable purchase compared to clothing but a number of changes in the market now indicate that the fast fashion trend is coming to

the jewellery industry too. It is partly a response to customers’ expectations but also reflects technological changes such as 3D printing, laser welding, cutting and engraving, and computer-aided design that can help speed the manufacturing process.

Moreover, established fast fashion clothing retailers are adding more jewellery into the mix of products they offer. Companies like Zara, H&M and Bershka are growing fast; they get the product offering right and make good use of social media to share their ideas.

Moreover, the emergence of crafts marketplaces such as Etsy and widespread social media sharing of ideas, particularly through Instagram and Facebook, also mean that emerging trends can be spotted and can spread quickly to new audiences.

Style bloggers and celebrity culture also quickly spreads ideas around the world, stimulating customer expectations and consumption urges.

This is rapidly escalating the role of jewellery as a fast fashion commodity.

In 2017, the most popular types of custom jewellery in Eastern Europe remain neckwear and earrings, followed by rings and wristwear.

Multi-layered necklaces, statement pendants, choker necklaces, as well as single earrings and ear cuffs are among the most popular new products to enjoy growing popularity among consumers in Eastern Europe.

Likewise, statement pendants accessorised with large stones and rough designs are increasingly popular. Stones represent one of the biggest trends, and come in many colours and a multitude of shapes,

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

and documentation of mined and synthetic diamonds. The industry in Eastern Europe has not embarked on public education campaigns, as this carries the risk of making the public more aware of the options available.

Therefore, lab-grown diamonds may represent a threat in the future, but probably a slow growing threat. They may appeal to certain consumers but natural diamonds will continue to have their place. This looks like a problem for the industry in ten or fifteen years’ time, not an immediate threat.

⊳ they are shopping in a store, from a computer, over the telephone, or via their smartphones. Tech-savvy consumers are increasingly turning to online jewellery shopping because of the benefits, such as a wide range of product assortments, easy return policies and cash on delivery option. Retailers need to be adept at all these different shopping opportunities. At present, this is something at which the industry, as a whole, seems to be failing, as it continues to treat its offline and online sales differently.

While some leading companies, such as Tiffany & Co and Swarovski, are highly successful in combining high online visibility with plenty of offline presence in shops, outlets and department stores, at airports, malls and fairs, the majority of jewelers are not.

Ganyklų str. 18, LT-00138 Palanga, Lithuania Tel./fax: +370 460 51230; Mob. +370 698 79791 E-mail: info@ambermanus.com www.ambermanus.com

More companies need to offer their customers the ability to shop how and when they want. To achieve this, they should focus on integrating their point-ofsale and inventory control systems with their websites so consumers have up-to-the-minute information regarding inventory levels, whether they are shopping online or in the store. In addition, jewelers need to stay on top of the preferences of online consumers, such as offering customers the option of having the item shipped directly to them or being able to pick it up at the store. In addition, social media presence and mobile compatibility are a must. For example, Bulgari’s Instagram campaigns as well as Tiffany & Co’s Instagram activities are vital in maintaining high visibility.

EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THE JEWELLERY INDUSTRY IN EASTERN EUROPE According to Euromonitor International data, Eastern Europe is expected to be ranked second among seven regions over the next five years, with the highest growth (4 % CAGR, at constant 2017 prices). Gradual economic recovery in the largest Eastern European countries will drive regional sales.

Moreover, the development of the jewellery market will benefit from growing consumer confidence and levels of disposable income. The rise of the internet as a research tool, particularly for price comparability, and also as a purchase channel, is expected to drive sales; consumers will become increasingly comfortable with making online purchases, as cyber security and delivery and return policies are set to improve.

In addition, more retailers who are present with physical stores are expected to develop an omni-channel distribution strategy, generating a greater convergence between sales offered through their stores and through web-shops. This is set to increase the importance of the store image and generating higher levels of impulse shopping, whilst providing more convenience for consumers such as offering them the possibility to collect products ordered online at the nearest shop on the same day or by customising, designing and creating their own products. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Tradition and Innovation Over 30 years of Experience

Amber-Art-Gutowski P.P.H.U. Marek Gutowski Gdańsk, ul. Wegi 16 gutowski@amber.art.pl, www.amber.art.pl, tel. +48 795 610 121

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / SWEDISH JEWELLERY REPORT

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 22

JEWELLERY MARKET IN SWEDEN

The Precious Stockholm Nordic Watch & Jewellery Fair 2016

www.balticjewellerynews.com

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / SWEDISH JEWELLERY REPORT

TRENDS Swedish designers are receiving more attention and support from the industry. The Precious Stockholm Nordic Watch & Jewellery Fair is growing in terms of number of both local and international exhibitors on an annual basis. Furthermore, Swedish Fashion Talents, a project run by the Swedish Fashion Council, aims to help new designers become established in the industry. In 2016, Swedish Fashion Talents created a new category, specifically focusing on accessories, with all the winners

that year being jewellery designers.

The designer Efva Attling has inspired new emerging brands with her international success, paving the way for an increased focus on local brands.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE Iduna continued to lead jewellery in 2016 with a value share of 19%. The company benefits from operating the large retail chains Albrekts Guld, Hallbergs Guld and Guldfynd, which have a nationwide and longstanding presence in the Swedish market.

PROSPECTS Fashion houses are projected to increase their focus on jewellery over the forecast period. Gucci paved the way for this development by focusing on social media to make consumers aware of its products. Simultaneously, the company has also focused on design, offering larger and more stylish jewellery in line with its apparel and bags. Other fashion houses such as Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier and Givenchy are looking into expanding their jewellery collections. However, as these brands do not offer minimalistic designs in jewellery and are positioned in the luxury segment, their success in Sweden is likely to be relatively limited. ■

Other fashion houses such as Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier and Givenchy are looking into expanding their jewellery collections.

SILVAMEX Andrzej Szczypior ul. Kielnieńska 60 80-299 Gdańsk, Poland Tel. (48) 58 5209700 Fax (48) 58 5209701 Mobile. (48) 501 236895

LITHUANIAN COMPANIES ENGAGED IN AMBER BUSINESS JOINED A CLUSTER Aiming for Expansion Abroad

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 24

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / LITHUANIAN JEWELLERY REPORT

A GROUP OF COMPANIES ENGAGED IN THE LITHUANIAN AMBER BUSINESS RECEIVED THE EU SUPPORT FOR A NEW CLUSTER “AMBER TRIP”. THE COMPANIES OPERATING IN IT WILL WORK TOGETHER IN ORDER TO INCREASE EXPORT OF THE LITHUANIAN AMBER AS WELL AS AWARENESS OF THE TRADEMARK “AMBER MADE IN LITHUANIA” AND WILL PENETRATE NEW MARKETS.

The

Cluster unites 10 Lithuanian companies engaged in production and distribution of amber jewellery: “RMD Linija”, “Sidabrinė kamėja”, “Napoleonas”, “Amber Tree”, “Max Solaris”, “Pajūrio Krantas”, E. Dunauskas’ Company, Dainius Milius’ ŪKĮ [Economic Commercial Company], “Amberlita” and “Amber Trip”.

Companies engaged in amber production (there were 40 of them) joined a cluster for the first time in

www.balticjewellerynews.com

OBJECTIVES OF THE CLUSTER The head of “Amber Trip” named the main objectives the companies operating in the Cluster: to increase awareness of the Lithuanian amber and its export, to find new buyers on foreign markets.

“We will seek our goals by increasing the popularity of Lithuanian amber products with trademark “Amber made in Lithuania”, we will actively participate in international events. Some of the prerequisites of successful operation and development of the Cluster include the need to join international networks, to increase awareness of the Cluster on foreign markets, to analyse potential new markets, and, finally, to attract new members, which

www.balticjewellerynews.com

THE WORK HAS ALREADY GAINED MOMENTUM The companies operating in the Cluster would visit eleven countries within the period of two years, where they would present both the company and amber products. The companies would visit Poland, China, Turkey, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, the USA, and Russia. Currently the demand for amber products has reached its peak on these markets.

“The drop in purchase scopes in China enabled recovery of other markets were amber used to be popular. These are the countries, which were not among the top markets due to booming amber purchases in Asia”, G. Guntorius explained.

In July the representatives of the companies operating in the Cluster have already attended “Amber Forum”, which was organized by the Kaliningrad Amber Factory.

p. 25

Cluster “Amber Trip” has taken this opportunity for presentation of both the products and the new trademark.

Last month the members of the Cluster met with the representatives of 12 Ukrainian companies holding licences entitling them to mine and export amber. The Ukrainian companies were recommended joining an association and cooperating with Cluster “Amber Trip”, which would be beneficial to the companies in terms of sales of the Ukrainian amber all over the world.

“Russia, which has 95 percent of all raw amber mines on a global a scale, is already predictable to the companies operating in the Cluster, thus now we mostly focus on Ukraine. Currently amber artists in Lithuania work with amber from Poland, Russia, but we tell that we work with the Baltic amber. We want to work with the Ukrainian amber as well”, G. Guntorius said.

According to him, Cluster “Amber Trip” supports the standpoint that we should not exploit the Lithuanian amber mines on the Baltic seaside.

The Lithuanian authorities decided to allow mining amber for commercial purposes, however, the call for tendering for amber prospect and mining in the Curonian Lagoon near Juodkrantė in 2016 did not attract any investors.

It is estimated that there are approximately 112 tons of Baltic amber in the Curonian Lagoon. The representatives of amber business are more inclined to implement the idea of amber mining near the shores in Juodkrantė for educational purposes rather than mining amber for commercial purposes and to use this as means for spreading the word about the exclusive Lithuanian amber as a symbol of the country’s history and traditions. ■

33–2017

would result in the scopes of cluster competences”, G. Guntorius said.

Plans associated with the Project include conducting detailed market studies and development of marketing tools for the Cluster designed for increasing of product awareness. Products made by the companies operating in the Cluster would be marked with trademark “Amber made in Lithuania”, the companies would also represent this trademark at various events and exhibitions.

“The companies operating in the Cluster would invest their own funds in analysis of the raw amber market.

We still have some problems with purchasing raw amber from Ukraine: this is why it is so important to make sure that the Cluster worked together in order to resolve these problems”, G. Guntorius said.

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

2013, a quarter of these companies have also become the members of the new Cluster “Amber Trip”, which was established in August in 2016 and started project activities in the beginning of December. Currently 260 employees work for the companies operating in the Cluster.

Giedrius Guntorius, the head of the company, which organizes “Amber Trip”, the only exhibition of jewellery and amber articles in the Baltic States, and one of the initiators of the Cluster, said that establishment of the Cluster was prompted by the retracting Chinese market, problems with raw amber, and the desire to increase awareness of the Lithuanian amber industry. The Cluster gives an excellent opportunity for amber jewellery makers to take advantage of their potential on the markets.

“The market is highly competitive, but we can achieve much more, if we work together. Not all companies, which joined the Cluster, are very big, but they have customers both in Lithuania and all over the world” G. Guntorius said.

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT

QUARTER 1 GOLD DEMAND: DOWN 18 % FROM LAST YEAR’S EXCEPTIONAL HIGH

By WORLD GOLD COUNCIL

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 26

Global gold demand in Q1 2017 was 1,034.5 t.

The 18 % year-on-year decline suffers from the comparison with Q1 2016, which was the strongest ever first quarter. Inflows into ETFs of 109.1 t, although solid, were nonetheless a fraction of last year’s near-record inflows.

HIGHER GOLD PRICES STIFLED JEWELLERY DEMAND Index level

120 115 110

Slower central bank demand also contributed to the weakness. Bar and coin investment, however, was healthy at 289.8 t (+9 % yoy), while demand firmed slightly in both the jewellery and technology sectors.

105 100 95

Jan 2017

Mar 2017

— US dollar

— Euro

— Indian rupee

— Chinese renminbi

Jewellery

— Turkish lira

Source: ICE Benchmark Administration; Datastream; World Gold Council

Indian recovery offset broad global weakness to support Q1 gold jewellery demand at 480.9t.

Tonnes

Q1'16

Q1'17

World total

474.4

480.9

▲

1%

India

79.8

92.3

▲

16%

China

179.2

176.5

▼

-2%

●

Feb 2017

YoY

Although marginally firmer year-on-year, jewellery demand remains soft: Q1 2016’s 474.4 t was a seven-year low ● The rising gold price was negative for demand, although one or two sharp pullbacks in gold were used as buying opportunities in some markets ● The steady state of global demand concealed a more varied countrylevel picture. Gains were concentrated in India, Iran and the US, just outweighing modest losses elsewhere

Gold jewellery demand was broadly steady, but remains weak in the longer-term context. Demand was 18 % below the 587.7 t five-year quarterly average. The 9 % rise in the US $ price between end-December and end-March restrained demand, although US dollar weakness meant that consumers in many markets were protected to some degree. Gold denominated in local currencies in most key consumer markets gained between 3 % and 7 %, although Turkey was a notable exception.

The sector remains heavily influenced by India and China, which together account for over half of the market (56 % in Q1).

India Indian jewellery demand jumped 16 % from last year’s exceptionally low level as market conditions improved after a very tough 2016. Pent-up demand from the closing weeks of 2016 was gradually released as liquidity improved. But Q1 was still weak at 92.3 t only the third quarter this decade

www.balticjewellerynews.com

INDIA’S ECONOMY IS SLOWLY RECOVERING FROM 2016’S SHOCK DEMONETIZATION Trillion rupees

20

1,200,000

18

1,100,000

16

1,000,000 900,000

14

800,000

12

700,000

10

600,000

8

500,000

6

400,000

2016 Dec 2016 Mar 2017 Jan 2017 Feb 2017 Mar 2017 Nov

— Currency in circulation

— Motorcycle sales (rhs)

Source: Reserve Bank of India; Society of Indian Automobiles; World Gold Council

in which demand has fallen below 100 t. And the industry remains uneasy, awaiting clarity on whether the forthcoming Goods & Service Tax (GST) will result in a higher tax burden for the end-user.

The gold price held mixed fortunes for Indian jewellery consumers during Q1: rupee strength meant the domestic price rose by 3 %, compared with a 9 % rise in the LBMA price. The local price rose steeply in the opening weeks of 2017 before a sharp appreciation of the rupee in February and March. The pullback in the price during March was well-timed

Customers at Mumbai gold market

to coincide with planned purchases of gold ahead of the Q2 wedding season and the Akshaya Tritiya festival at the end of April.

The RBI continued to remonetise India’s economy, thereby easing pressure on cash-strapped consumers. By the end of March, 85 % of the value of currency removed from circulation under demonetisation had been returned. The RBI also gradually eased temporary restrictions on the amount of money that could be withdrawn from bank accounts, aiding cashdependent rural demand in particular. Although the effects of the policy lingered, rural spending partially recovered as cash was injected back into the system. This is evidenced by motorcycle sales, which recuperated from the December lows. ⊲

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 28

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT

⊳ Field research shows cashless transactions gathered momentum, reflecting relative outperformance of organized retailers. The government’s push for transparency in India’s economy began to take effect in the gold market, with a gradual shift towards electronic transactions. Although cash remains vital within the rural economy, consumers are gradually adopting cashless payment methods. This has helped bolster the performance of organised retailers, such as national chain Tanishq, which reported a ‘quite significant’ recovery in Q1 demand.

and modern than ‘traditional’ 24k jewellery. A new 22k segment has been introduced to cater for demand for new, innovative and trendsetting pieces. Some retailers increasingly specialise in bridal jewellery, targeting demand from that allimportant sector.

The outlook for India’s gold demand is robust, but GST remains a cause of concern. The combination of the wedding season, Akshaya Tritiya festival (falling on 28/29 April) and continued remonetisation of India’s economy should support gold jewellery demand. However, the market is wary of the forthcoming decision on GST and this will likely weigh on demand until the government’s final decision, due for implementation in early July.

So, although demand in China faces headwinds from the economy and the changing tastes of its consumers, the industry is keen and determined to adapt – an attitude that should help stem any weakness.

China In China, demand for gold jewellery softened slightly, down 2 % year on year as the seasonal uplift broadly cancelled out the impact of higher gold prices. Demand in the first quarter was 176.5 t, compared with 179.2 t in Q1 2016 and 5 % below the five-year quarterly average of 186.4 t.

Demand was strong at the start of the year. The Lunar New Year fell relatively early (late January, compared with February in recent years), meaning traditional Chinese New Year purchases were concentrated in January. This seasonal demand was boosted by 2017 having a double spring and a leap month, making it an auspicious year for weddings. Once the festivities were over, demand dropped off as usual – an effect that was more pronounced due to the backdrop of rising gold prices.

China’s gold jewellery industry is resourceful in combating subdued consumer demand. Gold jewellery demand has been negatively affected by the slowing economic environment as well as by changing consumer tastes. Our consumer research has shown that younger Chinese consumers want to spend their money on experiences rather than material goods. This is backed up by research from Agility Research & Strategy which shows that the top three priorities for affluent Asian millennials are ‘health, travel and spending time with the family'. But they are also keenly aware of new trends and enjoy expressing themselves in ways that differ from tradition. Gold jewellery manufacturers and retailers are willing and able to tap into these trends, responding with innovation.

The 18k sector continues to grow. Manufacturers have responded by offering a wider array of designs, more intricate

And some have chosen to innovate in terms of services: Decent group, for example, has recently introduced a new aftersales service, offering customers a nocost exchange option on jewellery from its bridal range (Xinxiyuan’s Wujiu Houde Gold).

Other Asia Jewellery demand within the smaller Asian markets was hit by the rising gold price, as well as rising political tensions in the region. In the face of rising gold prices, Japanese jewellery demand fell 9 % year-on-year to 3.2 t. A drop in Chinese tourist numbers was also a reported factor. In Thailand, sluggish economic growth contributed to a 5 % decline in Q1 jewellery demand, falling to 3.1 t from 3.2 t in Q1 2016. The government responded with several measures designed to boost the domestic industry. These included waiving tariffs on raw material imports used in jewellery production, and making low-interest loans available for small- and mediumsized businesses to upgrade machinery.

Middle East & Turkey After the usual Q4 uplift, demand in Turkey sank to a fouryear low of 7.7 t. Continued currency weakness in Turkey meant that the price of gold in lira rose more than in any other currency during Q1 (+12 %), undermining jewellery demand. The fragile economic and political conditions that have beset Turkey over recent years were again a key factor behind the weak Q1 number. The mid-April referendum on changing Turkey’s constitution from a parliamentary to a presidential republic weighed on demand for the sector. And the outlook for the market is weak as the local price remains prohibitively high for many at a time of deteriorating economic indicators.

Demand in the Middle East – virtually unchanged at 54.6 t – followed a familiar pattern: growth in Iran contrasted with weakness elsewhere. Jewellery demand in Iran jumped 27 % year-on-year to a four-year high of 12.9 t, helped by an improving economy. The sector was also boosted by investment-driven purchases, due to a lack of supply of gold coins from the central bank.

Jewellery demand within the smaller Asian markets

was hit by the rising gold price, as well as rising political tensions in the region. www.balticjewellerynews.com

Demand across the rest of the region remained weak in the face of low oil prices and subdued tourist numbers, the impact of which was exaggerated by rising gold prices.

Although the UAE has imposed a 5 % import duty, demand in that market was relatively robust as consumers rushed to buy before the full effect of the tax fed through to enduser prices.

The West Growth in US jewellery demand resumed, leading to the strongest Q1 since 2010. A postelection lift in US consumer sentiment buoyed jewellery demand in the first quarter: it rose 3 % to 22.9 t. Plain yellow gold was more popular in the US than in European markets. High-end and online retailers performed strongly. The online segment is also gaining strength, particularly with continued growth in ‘clicks and mortar’ retailing – the overlap between the virtual and physical retail environments.

European jewellery demand was again dragged down by weakness in France and the UK; the rest of the region was stable. Demand fell 6 % year-on-year in France on preelection uncertainty and the rise in terrorist activity which has impacted tourism. Structural factors are also at work in this market, with branded silver making continued inroads into market share.

Q1 JEWELLERY DEMAND WAS WEAK COMPARED WITH ITS LONG TERM AVERAGE Tonnes

US$/oz

900

2,000

800

1,800

700

1,600 1,400

600

1,200

500

1,000

400

800

300

600

200

400

100

200

0

Q1'12 Q1'13 Q1'14 Q1'15 Q1'16 Q1'17

0

Sept. 30 - Oct. 03

— Jewellery demand — 5-year average* — Gold price (US$/oz, Qtr.Avg, rhs) *5 year average covers Q1'12 to Q 4'16.

Source: Metals Focus; GFMS, Thomson Reuters; World Gold Council

■

2017 www.intergem.de

www.balticjewellerynews.com

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / POLISH JEWELLERY REPORT

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 30

INTERVIEW WITH EWA RACHON How many years have you been organizing jewellery exhibitions?

I came to jewellery through a fashion fair – the idea of an amber exhibition came from the awareness that we are actually walking on amber on our Baltic shore.

The day when Malgorzata Portych and Giedymin Jablonski came to our office with the suggestion for an amber fair, changed my life and the lives of many people around us.

The next morning, I woke up with “Amberif” as the title for the event, then we put together a group of passionate advisers – and things start to happen.

When you work for what’s closest to you in your everyday life, with creative people around you and with a bit of luck – which is what we did and had with all the changes that had taken place in Poland’s old political and economic system in the mid-1990s – success will come knocking to your door.

And you can hardly notice when 25 years have passed for all of us.

What is it that you love in your job the most?

Probably working with passionate and creative people that the jewellery and amber industry is made up of.

They have unlimited imagination, talent and the skill to turn ideas into reality.

Right now, and during Ambermart as well, you can visit a very interesting exhibition on “Baltic

Germany, the UK, Hungary, Nordic and Arab countries and the USA.

Amber. Tradition and Innovation,” curated by Prof. Sławomir Fijalkowski and Robert Pytlos at the European Solidarity Centre, where you can see over 300 pieces by the most interesting designers. This is a kind of summary of many years of creativity, international artistic friendships and perhaps an opening for new opportunities to introduce amber to the world.

How big is AMBERMART? It is the world’s second largest amber show, AMBERMART is a jewellery and amber industry event that is not to be missed.

This time, we will host more than 220 exhibitors from 8 countries (Poland, Austria, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, UK and Estonia).

Who are your visitors?

Last year, the event was attended by visitors from 38 countries, with the greatest number from China,

What can we expect to find in AMBERMART? Amber will play the leading role in various incarnations: as part of jewellery in combination with gold and silver, and as functional and decorative items. There will also be traditional jewellery products made of gold, silver and gemstones.

Original and avant-garde jewellery, dedicated to the most sophisticated customers, can be found at the Designers’ Gallery, organised in collaboration with the STFZ Goldsmithing Artists’ Association.

Exhibition is accompanied by exhibitions, workshops and amber education courses. You can also have a go at a jeweller's work under the watchful eye of masters of the craft and, importantly, test amber for its authenticity at the Amber Laboratory.

Any surprises this year?

AMBERMART will culminate its celebration in one of the prettiest streets of Gdańsk: Mariacka Street.

The Mariacka Street Festival is organised for the 8th time by the International Amber Association and the MTG SA Gdańsk International Fair Co. The event’s programme is jointly developed by jewellers, gallery owners, artists, restaurateurs and the street’s residents. The legendary amber lane will come alive with exhibition previews, concerts, workshops, meetings with authors and a fashion and jewellery show.

This year’s motto is “Mariacka Sets Sail,” with seafarers and travellers as central figures of the evening. In such a wonderfully swinging atmosphere, we will celebrate well into the night. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 32

Greetings from JUBINALE team!

JUBINALE – CRAZY PLAN HAS BEEN WORKING FOR 10 YEARS ALREADY What were the challenges faced

by Jubinale 10 years ago? How do you see them today with 10 years of experience? How are the challenges different today?

The idea of developing a trade fair event had been growing for several years. It was back in 2004/2005, when our publishing house was experiencing the most expansive growth, we admired similar events in Europe and we thought about establishing a new, ambitious trade fair in Poland. At that time we decided not to start the new initiative as the dynamic development of fairs in Warsaw and Gdańsk was clearly visible and we feared that we would not be able to meet the challenge.

However, in 2006 and 2007 the

Andrzej SADOWSKI organizer of JUBINALE

market retracted. The turnout of visitors clearly decreased, exhibitors were not satisfied in 100 % – then we thought that this time it was a perfect moment for a breath of fresh air. We believed that a new formula and new ideas would encourage exhibitors and buyers to meet on a new business platform. There were some important questions to answer: where and when the new exhibition should be organized in order to prevent direct competition with the existing organizers. There was one answer: South Poland, and more precisely – Krakow.

In retrospect, we know that we have not seen the upcoming global crisis and that the problems of the existing events appeared mainly due to the weakening market. Many times we were told that we have started at the worst time possible. However,

www.balticjewellerynews.com

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / POLISH JEWELLERY REPORT

we managed to prove that the saying “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger“ was true this time as well.

Indeed, these difficult times have made us stronger and motivated us to assume even greater commitment and motivation.

What was the most interesting exhibitor you had that was wothwile most stories?

Actually, each and every exhibitor is interesting in its own way.

Nevertheless, I would like to take this opportunity to mention those exhibitors, who believed in our “crazy” plan to organize a new event in a new, not-so-familiar venue for a new group of Central European buyers. We are thankful to them for attending the first JUBINALE at the Exhibitors' Ball, which was held on the first day of that year's event of the fair in Wieliczka Salt Mine, we had the pleasure of thanking the 16 companies that had exhibitions at all 10 events.

What are the plans for future? How do you see Jubinale in 10 years?

Plans for future are simple: we want to beat records again. We want to reach out to a wider group of visitors and thus encourage more companies

to bring their exhibitions to the next event of JUBINALE. What is your team’s motto?

The most important thing for us is the feeling that we have done everything we had planned before each event of the fair and individual approach to each and every exhibitor. With great satisfaction I admit that we are very happy hearing in business talks that our team is referred to as a role model within the context of both organizing trade fairs and completing related activities.

We will do our best to maintain that positive opinion.

At the same time we know that there are still many opportunities and many more buyers, who still have not reached JUBINALE, but we will do to change that! ■

• Plates from continuous casting • Wires • Flats • Overall casting service (silver, brass, bronze) • Melting • Refining • Galvanic service • Joints Metal Rolling Mill Office 2 Wojnicka Street 03-774 Warsaw Mon-Thu: 09:00–15:00 Fri: 09:00–14:00

Metal Rolling Mill Shop 115 Marszałkowska Street, flat number 231 00-102 Warsaw Mon-Fri: 08:00–13:00 Phone: 574 080 007

www.walcowniametali.pl biuro@walcowniametali.pl sklep@walcowniametali.pl Phone/Fax: 22 631 88 87 Phone: 602 254 587 Phone: 604 596 199

BUSINESS INSIGHTS / ESTONIAN JEWELLERY REPORT

FIRST INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY FAIR

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 34

IN ESTONIA Press release by JAFAIR

International Jewellery Fair JAFAIR brought together jewels from all over the Europe.

Estonian

first International Jewellery and Accessories Fair took place on the 30 th of June until 1st of July Tallinn.

Designers from Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Great Britain, Estonia and other countries from all over the Europe were participating at the fair.

We proudly highlight our exhibitor Karen Lester who is a member of Society of Design Craftsmen. The society is the largest and oldest

multi-disciplinary Society in the UK. Her design embraces both process and material, and consists of a multilayered approach.

The fair also introduced Saara Ruskolas' design. Saara is a Finnish jewellery designer with an interesting choice of material, different kinds of forms and moments of epiphanies, which coalesce in to elegant complexities.

Amber Leather represented Lithuanian beautiful amber creations,

visitors also had a chance to take a closer look at metal and blacksmith jewellery design by Hans Kristian Mänd from Estonia and Latvian brand Verba showed its' transparency, ascetics and simplicity.

These are just few of the amazing designers that organisers were proud to introduce to its visitors at the fair.

Fashion shows, interactive artthemed cornes and workshops took place during the fair. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS

AMBER BLACKSMITH

-

GINTARINĖ KALVĖ

Gint ar u dekor uoti rankų dar bo odiniai papuošalai Originalūs, vienetiniai Baltijos gintaro ir natūralios odos papuošalai. Mūsų darbai išskirtiniai, nes kiekvienas dirbinys nuo pradžios iki pabaigos — tai kruopštaus rankų darbo, reikalaujančio daug kantrybės, kruopštumo bei kūrybiškumo, rezultatas. Priklausomai nuo gintaro spalvos, parenkame ir natūralios odos atspalvius. Taip gimsta įspūdingo grožio Baltijos jūros gintaro, „aprengto“ natūralia oda, papuošalai kurie jus džiugins tikrai ilgai.

- +37065637395 (LTU) - +37060792960 (EN) - www.amberblacksmith.eu - ambermanufactures@gmail.com -

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 38

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / GER M A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

Off the Shelf

MUNICH

JEWELLERY WEEK 2017: A WEEK DEDICATED TO THE MOST EXQUISITE CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY From

March 8th till March 14th Munich Jewellery Week showcased avantgarde contemporary jewellery by established and up-and-coming designers from all over the world.

The title Munich Jewellery Week was coined in 2015 by Current Obsession, a cross-disciplinary platform and magazine discussing contemporary jewellery in the context of today’s visual culture (www.currentobsession.com) to give a name to this extraordinary collective effort, and associate it to other professional fashion and design weeks around the world. This yearly gathering is by far the most significant event on contemporary jewellery’s calendar; it’s a unique phenomenon which plays a pacemaking role in the contemporary jewellery field. Hundreds of makers, students, educators and collectors

come from all over the world to be inspired by this diverse programme that ranges from artist-run exhibitions, book launches and lectures to performances, mobile presentations and parties.

Over the past decade, the gradual and organic expansion of the independent city exhibitions has boomed to a remarkable 90+ initiatives, establishing a self-ruled dynamic community of local and international artists. One of this year’s highlights was the exhibition of the iconic Central Saint Martins, Off the Shelf, at Vitsœ. Both professors and students exhibited as equals, presenting a range of materials and objects. They demonstrated their understanding of the social life of jewellery by approaching jewellery as a conversation between object and body, and wearer and viewer.

Another fascinating show, The Cat Did It, at Micheko Galerie, where Akiko Kurihara showcased her wearable and quite playful jewellery pieces full with hidden meanings and humor. And of course, Die Neue Sammlung (The Design Museum) has devoted a huge retrospective to the grande dame of Scandinavian studio jewellery, Tone Vigeland. It was her first solo show on the European continent outside Scandinavia, 50 years after her first solo presentation took place 1967 in Kunstnerneshus in Oslo. And these were only three of 90+ exciting exhibtions.

HIGHLIGHTS OF MJW 2017:

Off the Shelf – an exhibition of work by staff and students of Central Saint Martins, BA Jewellery Design course. For a second year running, the

www.balticjewellerynews.com

▼ Lin CHEUNG, Brooch: Carved Lapis lazuli, gold

▼ Akiko KURIHARA, Ring wants to be a ring too, 18k gold, diamond, ruby, sapphire

⊳ Akiko KURIHARA, Single daily dose foro ne month, 18k gold, 925 silver

▲ Akiko KURIHARA, Take care of yourself!, 18K gold, electro color-plated

www.balticjewellerynews.com

p. 39

jewelry artist Anton Cepka, one of the fathers of studio jewelry in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, it has since 1995 been headed by jewelry artist and architect Karol Weisslechner.

The exhibition in Munich has showed examples of student works from the past 15 years for the first time. ■

33–2017

energy. Artists: Jorge Castanon, Bettina Dittlmann, Michael Jank, Rebecca Hannon, Selen Ozus, Flora Vagi, Sayumi Yokouchi.

“The cat did it.” Akiko Kurihara – “I basically believe that jewelry must be worn, but I am very interested in additional value of jewelry. You do not only to wear a jewelry, but you can also play with it. You may realize a hidden meaning of my piece in a casual way at the first glance.”

KONSTELLATIONEN – KONSTELACIE – CONSTELLATION – With Atelier S+M+L_XL Metalwork and Jewelry, Die Neue Sammlung has invited the class from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in the Slovakian capital Bratislava to present their jewelry works at the Pinakothek der Moderne in 2017. That not being enough, the class is also celebrating its 25th anniversary next year. Founded in 1992 by renowned

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

designers returned to show at Vitsœ in Munich. The exhibition followed on from a series of projects where staff and students have displayed their work together in a celebration of the diverse and lively approach to contemporary jewellery and objects.

BA Jewellery Design approaches the subject of jewellery as a conversation between body and object, with originality and innovation at its heart. Based in the centre of London, we enjoy superb links with industry and encourage our students to engage with the wider social contexts of their work while developing their own creative practices and a diverse set of technical skills.

Mixed Greens – Jewelers'Werk Galerie presented a group exhibition of seven international artist jewelersmixed media and mixed viewpointscreating a dynamic and diverse

XV INTERNATIONAL BALTIC JEWELLERY SHOW

AMBER TRIP 14-17 MARCH, 2018 LITEXPO

LAISVES av. 5, VILNIUS, LITHUANIA

P i

€

+370 618 53538 • info@ambertrip.com • www.ambertrip.com

Warsaw Jewellery Fair

Polskie Targi Złotniczo - Jubilerskie

BĄDŹ TAM GDZIE BRANŻA BĄDŹ TAM GDZIE TRADYCJA BĄDŹ Z NAMI

1. Helen HABTAY, from Eritrea 2. Pia GROH, from Austria 3. Julia OBERMEIER, from Germany 4. Eva BURTON, from Argentina 5. Sharareh AGHAEI, from Iran 6. Gabriela COHN, from Argentina 7. Stephie MORAWETZ, from Austria

33–2017

p. 42

4

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

QUESTIONS WITH ASTONISH

By Gabrielė PRANEVIČIŪTĖ

1.

What and who is Astonish?

ASTONISH is a collective of seven female artists. We are seven explorers fascinated by making and designing contemporary jewellery and objects.

This exploration lead us to different results: could be a necklace, could be tableware, could be a performance.

A remarkable aspect is our internationality. We are from five different countries: Gabriela Cohn and Eva Burton are from Argentina, Sharareh Aghei is Iranian, Helen Habtay's origin is in Eritrea, Pia Groh and Stephie Morawetz are from Austria and Julia Obermaier is German. We are organizing and networking the ASTONISH project internationally: from Germany, Israel and Spain.

We are a colorful and lively group, building up this collective with the common goal: to make, present and share contemporary jewelry.

2.

How did you find each other and form into a collective?

All Astonish members are alumni from the Trier University of Applied Sciences, Department Gemstones and Jewellery in Idar-Oberstein. We all met during our studies and are a group since 2015. The starting point of this collective was the fact that we all have been exploring different perspectives of the topic (gem)stones.

We all were driven by different ways of dealing, playing and struggling with this unique material. This brought us all together.

Our collective is open for change, so we are not always the same members, new people are coming and

other ones are going, so we are always in motion, which refreshes our ideas and leads to new projects. Also in the future we are hoping to collaborate with other collectives or artists.

3.

Why is jewellery special (and special to you personally)?

Jewellery exists since the beginning of humankind; this medium shows how humans started to get to know their creativity and their passion to adorn themselves. Jewelry is an expression of human needs. Naturally, it had more function than just to adorn our bodies. It was an expression of culture, religion, status and political identity.

Nowadays it is not very different, jewelry is still an important part of our society. We still need to adorn and express ourselves, we have an urge to create pieces and also share it as a gift.

www.balticjewellerynews.com

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / GER M A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

▲ Title: Untitled Classification: Pendant Material: Aventurine, Metal Nets, Silver, Malachite powder, Cement Measurements: 10 x 6 x 6 cm Year: 2017 Foto-rights: Nima ASHRAFI

▲ Title: The Hug Classification: Necklace Material: Agate, Silver, Resin, Pigment Measurements: 29 x 26 x 4,20 cm Year: 2016 Foto-rights: Julia OBERMAIER

▲ Title: Stone Candies Classification: Necklace Material: Various carved stones (agate, onyx, quartz, chrysoprase, reconstructed material), acrylic paint, silver, gold plate Measurements: 40 cm length Year: 2017 Foto-rights: Qi WANG

▲ Title: Same Shit Classification: Price-Tag Pearl Necklace, performance, video Material: Price-Tags Measurements: video 1 : 16 min, https://vimeo.com/227403884 Year: 2017 Foto-rights: Stephie MORAWETZ

⊳ Title: Hi,SciFi no4 Classification: Necklace Material: Rosegold plated copper, Leather Measurements: 18,5 x 18 x 4 cm Year: 2016 Foto-rights: Qi WANG Title: N`7 ⊲ Classification: Necklace Material: Agate, oxidized Silver Measurements: 23 x 6 x 5 cm Year: 2017 Foto-rights: Pia GROH

4.

What are Astonish plans for the future?

In the following year 2018, Astonish is going to have a booth at the Internationalle Handwerkmesse (IHM) in Munich, it is the third year in a row that we are presenting our project there and we are very excited to be able to do this again. For us this fair is a very important location to exhibit

www.balticjewellerynews.com

our work because it is the worldwide biggest jewellery event and it is a perfect platform for us to increase our network and being able to develop our future plans.

Of course we would like to show our works in other places and spaces too, therefore we are already scheduling future exhibitions that will be announced soon. ■

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 43

▲ Title: Bornn Classification: Necklace Material: Porcelain, Alpaca, Pigments Measurements: 22 x 35 x 14 cm Year: 2016 Foto-rights: Qi WANG

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 44

“Noovo team: Charo G. SANTEIRO and Jorge MARGOLLES”

JEWELLERY: ONE OF THE PASSIONS Interview with Noovo Jewellery editor Charo GONZÁLEZ Y SANTEIRO

By Gabrielė PRANEVIČIŪTĖ

How did the idea of Noovo emerged?

What does “Noovo” mean?

We thought it was really interesting to create a digital platform to support three of our passions: Contemporary Fashion, Photography and Art Jewellery giving the chance to promote established and upcoming international artists. We also try to publish special paper editions in order to spread the word about those authors and those areas from time to time.

When we started with our project in 2005 we were based in Santiago de Compostela (Galicia) so we thought in a galician term “Novo” – which means “new”. We played adding another “o” to create a new name but with the same feeling.

Fashion, Photography and Art Jewellery giving exposure to the many of most relevant and innovative names from different perspectives, collaborating with some of the most renowned galleries, museums, institutions and events showing that kind of passion. Noovo is attempting to attract and support a vision of innovation and the future of young and established talent.

What is the main aim of what you do?

Since the beginning our main aim has been to promote Contemporary

Being the Jewellery editor of Noovo, what is your background associated with jewellery?

How big is "Noovo" team?

We are just three people: Charo González y Santeiro which is in charge of the Fashion and Art Jewellery department; Jorge Margolles in charge of Photography department and Paloma Margolles in charge of the Press department.

I am a graduate of Fine Arts at the Facultat de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi, Barcelona. My first contact with the Art Jewellery was in 1996 through Beatriz Würsch, the owner of Forvm Ferlandina Gallery, and with Pilar Garrigosa, the owner of Magari gallery; both situated in Barcelona.

They gave me the first impressions of what Art Jewellery means. Our relationship was really nice and unforgettable; then I investigated this extraordinary creative world by myself and introduced it as contemporary artistic discipline to my students at the private High School where I was Art teacher because I have always believed that children and young people must be able to learn about art jewellery at school and have access to excellent teaching throughout their artistic education.

Since Noovo foundation, I have never stopped studying and learning

www.balticjewellerynews.com

A R T I S T IC I N S P I R AT ION S / S PA N I S H J E W E L L E R Y R E P OR T

Is there any designer, jeweller, artist, you appreciate a lot?

Every artist we had a pleasure to work with is special for me but I can name a few just to answer your question so I can say Ruudt Peters, Peter Skubic, Volker Atrops, Ramón Puig Cuyàs, Katja Prins, Castello Hansen, George Dobler, Benjamin Lignel, Peter Chang, Otto Künzli, Maria Rosa Franzin, Alexander Blank, Attai Chen, Karin Roy Andersson, Anton Cepka, Bernhard Schobinger, Karin Seufert, Seulgi Kwon, Karl Fritsch, Eun Mi Chun, Mirjam Hiller, Sophie Hanagarth, Barbara Uderzo, Artemis Valsamaki, Akiko Kurihara, Jaydan Moore, Junwon JUNG, Kiko Gianocca, Karen Pontoppidan, Suska Mackert, among many others.

Socond issue of Noovo

www.balticjewellerynews.com

evolution which represents a sphere of advanced research and experimentation . Incident projects and ideas develop into an international exchange of highimpact in an era where social media and networking are building global communities and awareness around alternative beauty. There are different fairs and events presenting art jewellery; besides, the number of galleries for art jewellery is growing tremendously to join the international circuit in which diversity and unification remain tangible.

What is the most fascinating thing about jewellery for you?

To be honest, its spectacular impact as a global art form.

Transcending its interdisciplinary artistic vision and perspective, Art Jewellery discovers new values and comunicative stimulus in direct connnection with the people. Most dreams die of starvation. Some of them come truth. As it is the case with the Art Jewellery. What started back in the 60´s of the 20th century by some artists- mostly in England, the Netherlands and the USA- who wished to envolve jewellery into something more experimental and artistic, going against the mass production and low cost reproduction of this kind of creations, it has become an artistic field with a specific own weight worldwide.

After a few decades of struggle to be considered as an authentic expression of art, Art Jewellery has achieved its dream: an international network in spectacular

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear “Jewellery Future”?

The option to appreciate art jewellery as a unique work of art that is not in the conventional circuit of Contemporary Art, I see it as small weareable sculptures full of innovative meanings, messages, concepts through unexpexted materials, techniques and forms in intimate and intriguing relation with the body – and don´t forget the exciting relationship between the artist, the wearer and the spectator.

I can imagine Art Jewellery as expression of Contemporary Art which all museums and galleries will be interested to feature on show, and collectors and people will want to have as each piece is a work of art that influences our lives.

This impressive world will become stronger and stronger discovering treasures with the power of astonishing us incessantly. ■

p. 45

What’s a typical day like for you?

I wake up early in the morning, get my big breakfast and then go for a walk or running, depends of the energy of that day. Then, I start with my emails and try to arrange all of them to put in our online edition. I get a lot of news and events that I think are worth to check at our website. I normally write in the afternoon for a regional newspaper which belongs to Spanish Group of Comunication Vocento, check again more emails, work on them and read news and articles relating to the field.

33–2017

through out the stimulating works of all of these artists who we have worked with. I also curated all our Art Jewellery Special Paper Editions and Online Monographs.

Georg DOBLER, Brooch 2009, twig cast from nature, silver, settings, oxidised, coral, 110 x 55 x 10, colection pahlman

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

Fritz MAIERHOFER, Ring, silver, corian, paper, paint

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / NORW EGI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

TONE VIGELAND. JEWELRY – OBJECT – SCULPTURE B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 46

By Die Neue SAMMLUNG

During March 11 – June 11, Pinakothek de Moderne held an exhibition of Tone Vigeland to mark her 80th birthday and devoted its first solo exhibition in Europe outside Scandinavia to the grand dame of Scandinavian studio jewelry – 50 years after Vigeland’s first solo exhibition 1967 in Kunstnerneshus in Oslo. The exhibition has been produced in close collaboration with the artist, featuring some 130 works it provided an overview of Tone Vigeland’s studio jewelry from the years 1958 to 1995, an overview accompanied by a selection of objects and sculptures from 1998 until today.

Scandinavian

studio jewelry is inconceivable without Tone Vigeland and her works. As early as the beginning of the 1960s Tone Vigeland’s jewelry objects were routinely included in what are today legendary publications and exhibitions, such as the “International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery” held 1961 in the Goldsmiths Hall London, which first familiarized the public with the emerging art style of studio jewelry.

With their flowing shapes Tone Vigeland’s pieces generally fit snugly despite being made of metal – steel, silver and gold. Through contact with the skin the metal regains its play with the light, and lent and dreamt of metallic color variations. Every piece becomes individualized through virtue of being worn. Though they stand out for their size and volume, the objects consist of an incredibly large number of tiny hand worked parts – minute pipes twisted from silver wire, precisely cut rectangular and round discs or tiny pellets and rings – so cleverly joined together as to be invisible to the naked eye. Tone Vigeland’s art on the body appears simultaneously modern and archaic.

Born 1938 into one of the most famous artist families of Norway Vigeland’s artistic training began 1955 at the Statens Håndverk-og Kunstindustriskole Oslo (today Kunsthøgskolen in Oslo, National Academy of the Arts). To learn goldsmith work she moved 1957 to the Oslo Vocational School. In 1958 she joined the avant-garde artist cooperative Plus in Frederikstad, where several of the works she designed as a student were produced in series. Earrings worked from a single silver loop, whose restrained simplicity and linearity was typical for the style in Scandinavia after World War II, were successfully produced until 1985. In 1961, Tone Vigeland opened her own workshop, and began producing one-offs. Since then she has produced many world-famous items of jewelry which have been honored with numerous distinctions, such as the Prince Eugen Medal from Sweden in 1988, appointment as Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1996, the Anders Jahre Art Prize and in 2008 she received the Golden Ring of Honor from the Association for Goldsmiths’ Art in Hanau.

In January 2018 the exhibition will be on show at Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum in Trondheim. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

▲ Tone VIGELAND. Object “Just fun” (steel netting mesh), 2000.

Photo: Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum (A.LAURENZO)

▲ Tone VIGELAND. Necklace (silver), 2001. Photo: Guri DAHL

www.balticjewellerynews.com

▲ Tone VIGELAND. Rings (silver, enamel), 1974.

Photo: Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum (A.LAURENZO)

▲ Tone VIGELAND. Bracelet (silver), 1997.

Photo: Guri DAHL

▲ Tone VIGELAND, Necklace (silver, blackened) , 1985/2000. Permanent loan of Danner-Stiftung, Munich.

Photo: Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum (A. LAURENZO)

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / RUSSI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

“CREATIVITY FIREWORK” (Exhibition of young artist work in Kaliningrad)

By Zoya KOSTYASHOVA

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 50

Annual exhibition of works by students and pedagogues of the Technical School of Art and Industry (a college) has become a good tradition of the Kaliningrad Amber Museum. This year the exhibition opened on the 24th of March. It presented over two hundred and fifty works of the beginner artists in two branches – jewellery and crafts.

The

educational institution was established in 1961 (then it was a professional school at the “Kvartz” plant); during the PostSoviet period it was transformed into Art Lyceum, and since 2010 it is a college that trains professionals in arts and crafts, amber and jewellery.

The only educational workshop for amber processing in Russia has been equipped here; it allows students to gain practical skills and improve their amber processing mastery. During the last 15 years one of the main tasks of the college has been to prepare professionals for amber industry of the region. In 2006 students and graduates of the college participated in the Kaliningrad exhibition “Baltic Amber” for the first time and were granted diplomas for achievements in training professionals in artistic processing of amber.

Collaboration with the Kaliningrad Amber Museum is very important for improving professional skills of students. Annually college students take part in international and regional competitions for the best sun stone artwork, such as the International Biennial of Amber Artworks “Alatyrj”, the regional competition “Yantarnaya osenj”, and etc. The students participate in projects for experience exchange with the leading Russian and European jewellers; invited professionals deliver lectures on

amber and well-known masters in amber artwork hold master classes.

At the exhibition, which was opened in the Museum, visitors can see artworks created by young professionals and made for decoration of modern house interiors. The instances of exhibits include painted wooden clocks, caskets, chests, kitchen utensils, powder boxes, hairbrushes as well as objects of religious cult, i.e. icons.

The exhibition organisers offered an original concept of exhibits’ arrangement in accordance with traditional zones of a modern dwelling (living room, working room, bedroom, boudoir, children room, kitchen and even home chapel).

Significant part of the exposition consists of jewellery, carved works and compositions of different metals combined with amber. It is pleasant to note that the best creative works were made by students during master classes. So the famous Kaliningrad amber master Yury Velikotsky suggested students to embody the theme “Birds” in metal and stone (works by Konstantin Logunov, Liudmila Nesterova, Artem Zyuskin, Olga Tsoi, Anastasia Pokrova, etc.).

Birds made of brass combined with amber and plastic are very lively and expressive. The lack of professional skills can be noticed in the students’ works, but the works created by the

beginner jewellers are vivid and memorable, made with a sense of humour and ardour common for the youth.

Together with jewellery sets that combine elements of traditional Russian jewellery with the Baltic amber processing (Konstantin Domichkovsky), brooches, pendants, bracelets that were created under the influence of artwork by the leading Russian and European jewellers are presented at the exhibition. These goods are featured for light design; they use amber of natural forms.

Many of them combine brass with coloured plastic. This solution is due to expensiveness of amber; in order to demonstrate their creative idea students replace it by artificial materials. Objects painted by using distemper technique are presented at the exhibition. Sometimes such painted stones are used for jewellery inserts (Nadezhda Zhirikova).

Brooches and suspensions by Zhanna Lopatkina are distinguished for their modern form and a good combination of amber and wood.

The exhibition of the Technical School of Art and Industry demonstrates that a new generation of amber artists comes into being; they try to watch the European trends in the development of jewellery art and search for new approaches to amber artwork. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

p. 51 B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

Olga KRIVONOS. Caskets and organizers. 2016. Wood, distemper, varnish, gilding, hardboard

Yulia PAFNUTOVA. “Rooster”. 2016. Brass, plastic

Evgeny SALIKHOV. “Humming-bird”. 2016.

Brass of plasticity, tree

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Sofya KURMAYEVA. “Halcyon”. 2016. Brass, plastic

The suspensions made by students of the Technical School of Art and Industry at the exhibition in the Amber Museum. March – April, 2017

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / RUSSI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

ALATYR 2017: “AN ARCHITECTONIC CRONICLE OF THE WORLD” B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 52

By Anna SADO

Over 100 artists from Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia submitted their works for the 7th International Amber Art Biennial “Alatyr”, whose theme was “An Architectonic Cronicle of the World”.

This year’s theme is the organiser’s answer to the invitation from UNESCO, who announced the year 2017 the International Year of SustainableTourism for Development, to take actions that are going to make tourism a trigger for the positive change and contribute to poverty limitation, as well as stimulating an inclusive development. The organisers expected the works that would reflect author’s individual thoughts about the topic, as well as innovative approach to amber and other artistic materials.

Over 180

works from different countries were submitted for the competition. They were collected and delivered by the curators cooperating with the organiser: Konrad Laimer – artist, the president of Claudia Augusta Project (Austria, Germany, Italy); Trine Trier – owner of galery “Bærbart” (Denmark); Iveta Laure – artist, member of Union of artist of Latvia (Latvia); Maryte Dominaite – artist of galery Meno Nisha (Lithuania); Galina Sharonova – artist, member of the International Association “Union of Designers” (Russia); Diana Tabachkova – member of the International Association “Union of Designers”; Jean Claude Guillemont – President of Assiciation “Once, one artisan…” (France).

The works of art are evaluated in several categories: Skills, Creation of Artistic Image, Innovation. Additional contest positions are also elaborated. One of them is about the 50th anniversary of the worldwide famous tourist route “Golden Ring of Russia”. Unique architectural monuments of Kostroma, Ivanovo, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Suzdal, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Sergiyev Posad reflect the history of Russian culture and embody the highest achivements of art. The second special nomination “Objects of Pilgrimage” is dedicated not only to artifacts, but also to the oldest reason for making a journey to get closer to holy territories and buildings with the aim of spiritual renewal and worship to the sacred places.

An international jury panel, composed of: Mette Saabye – designer (Denmark); Bianca Capello – art historian specialising in the theme of costume jewellery (Italy); Juris Gagainis – artist, professor at the Art of Latvia (Latvia); Regina Makauskienie – international project curator at the Amber Museum in Kaliningrad (Russia); Professor, Ph.D., Andrzej Szadkowski – artist; Aleksander Krylow – artist, creator of the amber chamber copy, and Andrey Gilodo – dean of the Faculty of Steel and Stones at All-Russia Museum of Decorative, Applied, and Folk Art, qualified the works for the exhibition and awarded prizes stipulated in the rules and regulations.

These were given to:

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Creation of Artistic Image category: Victoria YARITSKAYA (Kaliningrad, Russia) for the necklace “Time Fusion” (compressed amber, brass, leather lace)

www.balticjewellerynews.com

The “Alatyr” biennial, which apart from the contest includes also lectures by various authorities from the area of art, craft and journalism, as well as an educational programme for students and young artists, is one of the most important projects realised by the regional amber museum in Kaliningrad: it is a signifincant link with the international amber scene, and an opportunity to get to know the modern trends in the amber art and exchange experience. It is hard not to get an impression that the worlds of the West and East are still very distant from each other and there is more that divides them than just geographical boundaries. It does not mean, however that it is impossible to overcome them. “The new generation of talented creators is on the right track. It is the generation that isn’t merely concerned about amber and new technological solutions of its treatment, but most of all the way of defining themselves and their future” – says Konrad Laimer, who has been involved in student exchange in the Kaliningrad Region and Italy since 2009, as a part of international, artistic and education project. He is preparing an exhibition of young Russian artists as a part of the prestigious show SCHMUCK at the Craft Trade Fair in Munich. This is exactly how the boundries are crossed! ■

33–2017

It is very difficult to clearly summarise the exhibition. The jurors were very divided in their opinions: there were many voices of approval, also from the jurors from the Western Europe, who were able to notice the value of the submitted works, their artistic and technical level and author’s interpretation of the topic, even though their sense of aesthetics was shaped in a completely different way than that dominating in the Russian art. Mette Sabye emphasised the use of various techniques, both traditional and innovative as well as the abundance of expression in the works of the artists from Russia and abroad – in her opinion, the visible differences made the exhibition even more interesting. According to Bianca Capello, the level of execution and creativity was very good.

Professor Andrzej Szadkowski disagrees with those opinions, and thinks that jurors place too much emphasis on contestants’ craft skills at the expense of the conceptual side. The Polish juror has decided to grant a special diploma for “concept philosophy” and to convince the organisers to create a new contest category: conceptual art. The most critical opinion was that of the Russian juror, Andrey Gilodo, who appealed to the contestants at the press conference to carefully consideer their participation in future competitions and to prepare with more care: “Some works really look as if they had been created within 3 days, or even 3 hours. Of course, it is possible to create a good work in 3 hours, on condition that it was thought through very carefully”.

p. 53

Grand Prix: Susanne ELSTNER (Germany) for the necklace “Stonehenge – early time” (amber, hand-made coal, gold) and Innovation CATEGORY: Susanne ELSTNER (Germany) for the jewellery set comprising a necklace, “Stonehenge – Early Time”, brooch “Cube – the architecture of the Present Day” and “The Dome – Antic” (amber, gold, hand-made coal).

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

Mastery Category: Stefania LUCHETTA (Italy) for the necklace “The City if Growing” (titanium, gold, amber)

Antti NIEMINEN.

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 54

Photo – Arttu MUUKKONEN

VISITING AND TALKING TO ANTTI NIEMINEN

By Antonio ALTARRIBA

Antti

Peltipoliisi (Policeman) forged copper, patina 2015 Lappeenranta. Photo – Arttu MUUKKONEN

Nieminen was born in 1975 in Tuusniemi, grew up in Kuhmo, city known for its chamber music festival founded in 1970 by Seppo Kimanen. Nieminen graduated in metalsmithing and after in goldsmithing at Lahti Design College. His field of work is blacksmithing, making jewellery and public sculptures, his website is (www. vaskitsa.com). After some years of living in the Helsinki area, Nieminen bought an old school building from Taipalsaari located about 20 km from Lappeenranta. He moved there, built his new studio with clay plaster and small logs and little by little he repairs his home. It is a place in the middle of the nature next to lake Saimaa, an ideal site for creative working. Around the place, there is

a scattered community of about 300 houses. Nowdays people working in the city of Lappeenranta, there are very few farmers anymore. I met Antti Nieminen at the end of June on a Monday late afternoon at his studio.

When I entered the forge was hot and he was beating metal on the anvil, the room was full of big and heavy tools; gas bottles, hammers, pliers, artworks in process standing by. Our conversation is spontaneous, I did not send him my questions beforehand, so we talk freely. Nieminen has a very peaceful character and he should, because at home has four small children to grow up.

Nieminen’s metalworks fascinate us with beautiful primitive forms in which we can discover the traces of the hammer that has bended the metal

www.balticjewellerynews.com

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / FINNISH JEW ELLERY R EPORT

”Bird” Wrought iron 2016 Lappeenranta.

Photo – Tiiu ANTTINEN

www.balticjewellerynews.com

What is your day like?

Days are different, sometimes I start working in the morning with a wedding ring made of silver or gold, and in the afternoon I dedicate myself to make free metal work.

One has to realize that working with metal is a slow process, a sculpture has many parts and also I can use many different techniques that only professionals will notice. When creating new works I rather work Quartet, forged copper and bronze.

Photo – Antti NIEMINEN

Ring, forged titanium. Photo – Antti NIEMINEN

making small three dimensional models than working with computer design programmes. It is my way of doing things, a way of life.

What direction your work is going to?

I would rather work with commission works, but I also enjoy making objects. I have been earning my living with my own work for the last 17 years, sometimes I have commissions like the two sculptures in Lappeenranta, one was placed at a roundabout and the other at the main library’s park and sometimes I do works for exhibitions. ■

p. 55

Could you define your work?

Ii is rather difficult to define my own work, I think it is for other people to define one’s work. If I could I would dedicate all my time creating works for public spaces, since these works are meant for everybody. I enjoy sharing my experience with many viewers. Jewellery works are much more personal. In my work I always like to add some humour, artworks should have a pinch of it. But the important thing is to get metal’s own spirit out, to make metal talk its own language with the help of skill and vision.

33–2017

As you started your metal studies, was it making craft or art that interested most?

At that time when I was studying in Lahti, the school had two departments, the design and the art college. I was studying at the design college, but I was much involve to the art college through friends and students, so many design students thought I was an art student. Art has always been my passion. It is sometimes a dilemma, am I an artist or a craftman. I enjoy all my work, others can decide to call it art or craft.

During my studies I learned to deal with metalwork, it was the old school

time, students had to learn the skill of taming materials. Today the have a different approach, much more conceptual.

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

and we can imagine the heat of the blacksmith’s forge, the heartbeats of the maker, to realize that something exists with textures, the tactile quality of the surface, that the creator wanted us to be aware of.

Are you happy here in the countryside?

Yes, it is a wonderful place to live and work. I would never change for Helsinki city life.

Also living here is much cheaper than in the capital area. I have been in this place since 2011. My family roots are from this area, the next village is called Nieminen, so I could say that I came back to my roots!

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / LITHUA NI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

“NATURE MORTE”:

AN ETERNALLY LIVING STORY. AMBER TRIP ART JEWELLERY CONTEST 2017

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 56

By Dr. Jurgita LUDAVIČIENĖ

In

most cases, when we think about still life, we think about painting. Art Jewellery Contest “Nature Morte”, which took place during International Baltic Amber and Jewellery fair “Amber Trip”, gave artists a chance to think about nature morte in jewellery in broadest meaning possible. Michael Petry – an artist, curator, critic, director of The Museum of Contemporary Art wrote a book “Nature Morte”, where he overviews the origins and development of still life. As an extension, addition and illustration of the book became an exhibition with the same title, curated by M.Petry himself, where historical nature morte is presented next to contemporary artists works from 21st century.

The exhibition has already been showcased in Ha Gamle Prestergard (Norway), during 2017 it is open at Bohusland Museet (Sweden), National Museum Wrocław (Poland), and from Semtember until January 2018 – in Guildhall gallery in London (UK.) During every “stop” the exhibition is replenished with artworks from local collections, and in MOCA museum in London an accompanying exhibition of jewellery will be arranged with works showcased from exhibition in Wroclaw and “Amber Trip” Art Jewellery contest which took place in Vilnius.

The Art Jewellery contest is an evidence that the topic of “nature morte” is by no means dead. The International jury consisted of

Giedymin Jablonski (Poland), Kristi Paap (Estonia), Zane Žukovska (Latvia), Laima Kėrienė (Lithuania) and the head of the jury – curator and author of “Nature Morte” book and exhibition Michael Petry (UK). 66 artists from 19 countries participated in the competition – Israel, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Portugal, Turkey, Estonia, etc. The geography of the participants is indeed various and impressive, as well as the materials and techniques used by the artists. Wood, metal, amber, enamel, plastic, epoxy resin, ready made, plexiglass – the participants did not have any boundaries. That is exactly why the topic of nature morte was revealed in many ways possible.

The distribution of categories in the contest is functional, by the purpose of the objects: neckpieces, rings, brooches. The Grand Prix was won by a piece, which was unanimously agreed by the jury: “The Crown of Shame”, created by young Lithuanian artist Lauryna Kiškytė. Black cown, rising above the model‘s head, emotionally touching; emotional charge is exactly what draws attention to it. One of the most conceptual and contexual works, winner in brooches category – “Fig leaves” by Ieva Sadauskaitė (Lithuania). Flower blossoms, painted with oils, indicate the history of still life and inevitable and fast death of the flower. Daniella Sarayae (Israel) “Re-cover” rings, reminding of organic nature objects won in the rings category. The “eyes”

of epoxy resin, porous like a sponge or sea foam; these rings look like creations of nature, not a man. Subtle and aristocratic necklace by Dovilė Kondrašovaitė (Lithuania) “Beauty in ful bloom” – a laureate in its category.

Unfolded flower blosssoms of black wood remind skillfuly created mini sculptures gracefully twining around the neck.

These are the winners: however, there were more pieces liked by the jury – efective, black as the storm clouds neck adornment by Marta Costa Reis (Portugal), photographic images harmonized with metal by Herman Hemsen (the Netherlands), “archeological” amulets created

by Anna Szymanska and Zuzanna Litwinskac (Poland), and also the public choice – Eugenija Valašinaitė-Mikšienė (Lithuania). All artists schowcased the knowledge of the craft, conceptual thinking and professionalism.

Colourful ficcus leaf from plexiglass by S.Malaškevičiūtė, root-like brooch by H.Helsner, fossils, stringed together into jewellery by M.Balod, snowflake by F.Pattoni – there are many ways to talk about nature morte in metal. Not only talk, but reaffirm that it is alive.

The Art Jewellery contest “Nature Morte” artworks have already been showcased and could be seen in Poland, Legnica Jewellery festival “Silver”, later on they will travel to “Ramybė” gallery in Palanga (Lithuania) and Kaliningrad (Russia) where they will be presented during “Amber Forum”.

And this is only the beggining. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

WINNERS OF AMBER TRIP ART JEWELLERY CONTEST

1st place necklace category: Dovilė KONDRAŠOVAITĖ “Beauty in full bloom” (Lithuania)

Grand Prize: Lauryna KIŠKYTĖ “The crown of shame” (Lithuania)

www.balticjewellerynews.com

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 57

1st place ring category: Daniella SARAYAE “RE-COVER” (Israel)

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 58

1st place brooch category: Ieva SADAUSKAITĖ “Fig leaves” (Lithuania)

Public choice award: Eugenija VALAŠINAITĖ-MIKŠIENĖ “Sweet time” (Lithuania)

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Work of Herman Hermsen (Netherlands) “Woman with mink” received a Honorrary mention Work of Anna SZYMANSKA & Zuzanna LITWINSKAC (Poland) received a Honorrary mention

THE CHOSEN WORKS WERE ALREADY DISPLAYED: • “Amberif” International Fair from 22nd to 25th of March (Gdansk, Poland) • Legnica Jewellery Festival from 27th of April to 11th of June, 2017 (Leginca, Poland) • Gallery “Ramybė” from 1st of July to 14th of July (Palanga, Lithuania) • Amber Forum from 28th of July to 30 th of July (Kaliningrad, Russia) • “Jubinale” International Fair from 8th to 10th of June (Krakow, Poland)

www.balticjewellerynews.com

33–2017

Work of Marta COSTA REIS (Portugal) received a Honorrary mention

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

Work of Herman HERMSEN (Netherlands) “Eyes and ornaments” received a Honorrary mention

p. 59

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / LITHUA NI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 60

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / LITHUA NI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

“MAYBE JEWELLERY GOT INTO OUR BLOOD” Interview with Lauryna KIŠKYTĖ

By Gabrielė PRANEVIČIŪTĖ

Tell us about yourself, how did you get interested in jewellery?

I got interested in art in childhood, I remember that I used to select papers for drawings from old Father‘s documents put aside for burning. From early years I was very meticulous, I could draw the smallest details or construct something for hours; I liked to work alone and enjoyed concentration and silence.

I think these personal features were decisive for my choice of jewellery studies. To say the truth, I knew very little about jewellery world at that time; I thought that jewellery are decorations made of precious metals and gem stones, but the studies, various placements and jewellery festivals opened my eyes and I saw completely different jewellery. I understood that similarly to a painting, a sculpture or a photograph a piece of jewellery can tell a story, send a message, show the values and

a particular view of creator and at the same time it can be a functional object that decorates human body.

What did attract you in the “Amber Trip” contest theme “Nature Morte” this year?

The competition topic for this year made me stop and put aside generally liked sensitive and romantic nature motives that sometimes are used in an idyllic manner in artwork and take another approach, to understand the fragility of nature and discover the meaning... in the end. For the first time, I have understood that jewellery can make me speak about the issues relevant for our society.

Your work “Crown of Shame” is a winner of the exhibition art contest.

Have your expected this success?

After quite a long period of time, the creative process still causes a strange excitement and a smile. I told

my Father that I needed his help to burn pieces of coal because I was going to make a crown. Imagine, a 23 years old girl asks her Father for help to burn pieces of coal because she is going to make a crown. And I joked that I would make a career with this crown. I laid out compositions, connected charred pieces of wood; Father gradually got enthusiastic about his assistant‘s role as if he felt that something important took place; every evening when he was back from work he asked if I needed any more pieces of coal. I continued my work with a thought in my mind that either everything would turn out very good or it would be a true crown of shame for me. When the last day came and I should send the work I thought that if I should do it. Moreover, I was an artist, a model, a photographer and a layout designer – all in one. However, I‘ve sent it and left to Munich to a jewellery week where I got the ⊲

www.balticjewellerynews.com

www.balticjewellerynews.com B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 61

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / LITHUA NI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 62

⊳ delightful news. My head was full of impressions, positive emotions, so perhaps, I did not get what happened.

“Crown of Shame” is a dramatic and theatrical work of art. How the idea to create it emerged?

Recently, I returned from internship in Tallinn where I had an opportunity not only to improve my technological skills but also to visit many contempo­ rary jewellery exhibitions, to feel the atmosphere of the city. I brought home Tallinn feeling: calm colours, coldness, mysticism; I think it had a great influence on my choice of materials and expression. The idea of this artwork emerged after watching the movie by L. Di Caprio “Before the Flood”; it is an astonishing movie that shows the greatness and fragility of our nature, which nowadays depends on soulless people who are greedy for material assets. I understood that I must share the accumulated thoughts and express my position. I wanted my manifest to be heard and seen by as much people as possible. My wish was heard.

What shapes your creative process – materials you work with or the idea influences the choice of material?

What materials are most pleasant to work with?

Currently I design jewellery for individual customers, so most often materials shape the process; most people tend to choose traditional materials for jewellery: precious metals, gem stones. If I make an art project, then I select material that fits the idea. I mostly work with silver; I gradually grasped most subtleties of work with this material. Nevertheless, I also try to tame non-traditional materials – bones, wood and porcelain.

What are your sources of inspiration?

I am a book person, so mostly inspiration comes from very different books: art history albums, research literature, biographies or my favourite novels by H. Hesse and H. Murakami.

Other sources are nature that every time amazes by the combination of colours, forms and compositions and also music that accompanies me always and everywhere.

You play violin. Does music complement your creative jewellery work? How? Music truly has an important place in my life. A year spent in music school shaped my personality. I learned diligence, responsibility, discipline, patience, listening and hearing. So maybe the influence of music is not obvious, but I do not imagine creative work without it. It is worth mentioning that my love to music inspired the idea of final bachelor thesis: I designed jewellery for New Ideas Chamber Orchestra (NICO).

What experiences, in your opinion, mostly shaped you as a jewellery artist?

Without any doubt, these are studies at Vilnius Academy of Art – basic knowledge of craft and professional art was gained here, Legnica jewellery festivals that unite a lot of contemporary jewellery artists and internship at Tanel Veenre to whom I am especially grateful for meaningful conversations and evoking the passion for creative work.

Besides your real name – Lauryna Kiškytė, you also have a pseudonym Ver Sacrum. What does it mean?

It was the first attempt to show my creative work and I had no courage to

present my real name, so I searched for a suitable pseudonym. I confess that I did not invent this pseudonym.

Ver Sacrum (Latin – Sacred Spring) is the title of art journal that was published in times of Secession.

Anyway, this phrase become very homey and intimate – it combines the art history period I love and the awakening of nature (it is a coincidence that I was born when the first spring birds – larks, arrive) and also makes a clue about sacrality, which is very important to me.

One can live without jewellery, but it is still wanted. Why is it so?

Jewellery has a long 25000 years history. Can you imagine that human beings have been decorating themselves for 25000 years?!

Probably, it got into our blood.

What jewellery artists are authorities to you?

Laima Kėrienė is an authority both in life and creative work; Eimantas Ludavičius who is known for plastic miniatures but who is equal to a high level jeweller in his preciseness; aforementioned Tanel Veenre, mystical Kadri Malk: I was able to study the biography and creative work of this fantastic artist more closely in Tallinn; Ruudt Peters who is amazing for his playfulness and use of sacral objects in art.

Is a saying “the shoemaker's wife is the worst shod” relevant to jewellers?

It is true for me personally!

Nevertheless, I start to feel a jewellery famine, so I gradually let jewellery in my daily life, but do it in more conscious and responsible manner.

What‘s next?

My dream placement in Italy at Barbara Paganin, continuing studies and deepening knowledge and, hopefully, my first solo exhibition.

What advice would you give to young artists who are at the beginning of their creative path?

Do not fear and do everything with lots of love. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 64

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / LITHUA NI A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

JEWELLERY ART CONTEST “NOTHING TO DECLARE” 2018

is a special year for Lithuania as this year the country celebrates its 100th anniversary of the restoration of independence. A hundred years ago we became independent. We have enjoyed human rights and freedoms for a hundred years. We have been choosing what we consider to be right and feel responsible for our own choice. In other words, we live like free people. We can travel in any direction and return to Lithuania, although Lithuania belonged to another state not so long ago. The iron curtain was an almost impossible obstacle for us. All our dreams to see another, free world rebounded from it. To survive today‘s day, we had to overcome a number of ideological and bureaucratic barriers. To return home, we had to shake out our suitcases during customs checks. But now, at the airport, we are quietly passing through the gate named “Nothing to declare”. We have nothing to hide, we have nothing to declare. We can only declare our freedom, and we are grateful for this opportunity to the signatories who signed the Declaration of Independence a hundred years ago.

The jewellery art competition “Nothing to declare” invites artists to announce their freedom in the language of jewellery, to say loudly that we have nothing to declare or hide. On the other hand, we can declare our freedom, freedom to travel and stay in our homeland, freedom of thought and freedom to disagree with others, freedom of being ourselves, freedom of being an artist and freedom from the idea of Independence.

Because we have gained such a right. “Nothing to declare” means justice and the possibility of passing through any inspectors with no fear (it is not by accident that we can also see the representative of the Customs of RL among the members of jury), but above all, the whole set of possibilities. We offer the opportunity to present this by using the metal art. Amber in the contest is a welcome but not obligatory material.

Competition awards: Grand Prix Award in the category of amber works Award in the category of objects Award in the category of jewellery Award of the RL Customs representative Award of the audience The contest works will be travelling in various exhibitions in Europe after the XV Amber Trip Internationational Baltic Amber and Jewellery Fair.

Deadline for applications is 1st of March.

Please find an application form in www.ambertrip.com or to receive further instructions contact: art@ambertrip.com

www.balticjewellerynews.com

★Amber Auctions★

Phone number: +370 (614) 64 606

Address: Gedimino ave. 64, Vilnius, Lithuania

Email: info@amberauctions.com

Work hours: Monday – Friday 9:00AM–6:00PM

Website: www.amberauctions.com

琥珀证书

www.ambercertificate.com info@ambercertificate.com +370 614 64606 Gedimino ave. 64, 01111 Vilnius, Lithuania

6

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / SW EDISH JEW ELLERY R EPORT

TRANSFORMATION – SWEDISH ARTISTS

By Claudia CAPODIFERRO

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 68

Until October 1st Palazzo Mocenigo in Venice, home of the Museum of Costume and Perfume, hosts the exhibition Transformation – Six Swedish Artists dedicated to contemporary art jewelry.

The

curator Inger Wästberg – art historian, author of Contemporary Swedish Art Jewellery (2013) and one of Sweden’s leading experts in art jewelry – has selected pieces of Tobias ALM, Sara BORGEGÅRD ÅLGÅ, Hanna HEDMAN, Catarina HÄLLZON, Agnes LARSSON, Märta MATTSSON. The exhibited artists are part of permanent collection at the National Museum of Swedish in Stockholm.

The museum monitors what takes place on the Swedish jewelry scene and reflects this in both exhibitions and acquisitions by the museum.

The exhibition reports on current trends in contemporary Swedish jewelry and contributes to the ongoing discussion around its categorization as fine art over craft.

Topics such as environmental, gender, class and ethnicity are just as important to art jewelry as they are to the discussion on art in general.

Catarina HÄLLZON’S work acts as a comment on consumer society using fish scales to illustrate how everything

should be conserved and recycled.

The nature has an important role in her work because she considers it like storage of materials from which she can glean. In this way she creates necklaces and brooches from fish leather that she has fished previously herself. She works that kind of leather with old techniques that she has recovered.

Tobias ALM leads to a question of typical gender representation and structures in society creating a series of tool belts as jewelry. Pieces presented in this exhibition are hybrids between the tool belt of today and a historical piece of jewelry called the Châtelaine.

Artworks of Sara BORGEGÅRD ÅLGÅ are based on the study of the relationship between jewelry as constructed and applied object and the contrast with the natural body. The artist works on the big dimensions of the objects because she aspires to change the traditional relationship between body and jewels. Soft textile lines often sustain heavy, hard forms of iron and wood covered with paint as a protective and at the same time fragile skin.

The dialogue between past, present and parallel worlds distinguished the artistic research of Hanna HEDMAN. Her objects walk a fine line between imagination and reality, art and function.

They look more pieces of armor than accessories and they offer to the wearer an entrance into an alternative universe.

Agnes LARSSON is fascinated by the material that completely takes over her working process. Her hands are the researching tool of this material and they give expression to objects.

She uses different kind of materials, from aluminum to carbon, from horse hair to wire.

For Märta MATTSSON, jewel is a social communicator being fascinated by things, which others do not want to see. She likes to feel disgusted at something without turning your eyes from it. In her jewels she aims to represent topics like death or fears presenting them in a more lighthearted and attractive way. Her pieces can act as communication starters into people inner worlds.

More than half of the six artists included in the exhibition have consciously chosen to work with simple, inexpensive materials such as Agnes LARSSON’S horse hair necklaces, Catarina HÄLLZON’S imaginative use of fish skin and the cotton rope used in Sara BORGEGÅRD ÅLGÅ’S necklaces, emphasizing how artistic meaning can add more value to a piece than precious stones.

The use of non-precious materials, redefines the values traditionally associated with the goldsmith’s art. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

2

4

3

5

33–2017

p. 69

MUSEO DI PALAZZO MOCENIGO TRANSFORMATION – SIX SWEDISH ARTISTS MAY 13th – OCTOBER 1st 2017

6

7

8

9

1. Long grey Necklace. Hanna HEDMAN

4. Necklace. Agnes LARSSON

7. Necklace. Sara BORGEGÅRD ÄLGÅ

2. Creation with green tonality. Hanna HEDMAN

5. Necklace. Agnes LARSSON

8. The Châtelaine. Tobias ALM

3. Necklace. Hanna HEDMAN

6. Beetlejuice. Märtha MATTSSON

9. Creation. Tobias ALM

A/DORNMENT – CURATING CONTEMPORARY ART JEWELRY A/dornment is a curatorial integrated project dedicated to contemporary art jewelry.

It relies on the professionalism of a composite team coming from contemporary art and design. It aims to develop the knowledge and consciousness of contemporary

jewelry as artistic discipline, ground search for technique, aesthetics and philosophy.

It curates, organizes and produces exhibitions, meetings, presentations and workshops, develops research, curatorial and thematic projects and routes, aimed in particular to the

development, dissemination and growth of this new area of the art.

Adornment connects and acts as a bridge between two dimensions, the creative and productive side with the distribution and public fruition, in a field whose rationales are still poorly defined.

www.adornment-jewerly.com, adornmentexhibition@gmail.com, Fb: https://www.facebook.com/adornmentartjewelry

www.balticjewellerynews.com

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

1

p. 72 33–2017 B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

EASTBOUND MODERN AMBER JEWELLERY FROM DENMARK Trine TRIER: Ocean Flower, ring

www.balticjewellerynews.com

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / DA NISH JEW ELLERY R EPORT

By Maria TSOSKUNOGLU

Tina RICHTER: Good Old Amber, brooches

www.balticjewellerynews.com

beautiful, simple design to work that makes contemporary political observations, and little fairytale-like jewellery with Jesus on the cross.

Despite the common focus on amber, there is a huge aesthetic difference between the Danish and for example, Russian jewellery. But all the more, it has been incredibly interesting to bring them into play at Alatyr 2017, where the selection of amber jewellery is so immense”.

A MIXED HERITAGE Amber is famous for being the ‘gold’ of the North, the ‘jewel’ of the ⊲

Kasia GASPARSKI: Pippi’s Choice, necklace

33–2017

AMBER IS THE NEW BLACK It is not only Chinese tourists who are drawn to the beautiful gemstone – many Danish jewellery customers are increasingly interested in the Nordic ‘gold’. Amber is therefore also on the agenda for more and more Guild members – with jewellery that supports, provokes and comments on this development, with interesting, innovative design. Jewellery design with amber in focus is most definitely on the rise, and this is also illustrated by the fact that a total of 9 Danish jewellery makers were selected to participate in the amber biennale Alatyr 2017 in Kaliningrad. Guild members and goldsmiths Trine Trier and Mette Saabye (who is also a former Master of the Guild), played prominent roles behind the scenes, respectively as Danish curator and member of the international jury.

Trine Trier has this to says about the amber biennale and the unique expression embodied in current Danish jewellery: “Danish amber jewellery possesses a clear narrative and ranges from

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

GUILD MEMBERS TURN TO AMBER Copenhagen Goldsmiths’ Guild members are at the forefront when it comes to modern, Danish amber jewellery. The recent jewellery exhibition New Amber showcased a number of Guild members and their take on traditional Danish amber jewellery with a contemporary twist – first in Copenhagen and subsequently with sponsorship from the Guild, in the cultural mecca of Saint Petersburg, and most recently in the core of the amber industry, Kaliningrad.

“It has been very exciting to follow the New Amber exhibition, and I am pleased that it has been received so well in Saint Petersburg and Kaliningrad. It provided the Guild members that participated with exposure right where amber is most appreciated”, says Master of the Guild and jewellery designer, Diana Holstein.

p. 73

A number of Copenhagen Goldsmiths’ Guild members have taken the international amber scene by storm with the exhibition New Amber in Saint Petersburg and Kaliningrad, and with the strong Danish presence at the amber biennale Alatyr 2017.

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / DA NISH JEW ELLERY R EPORT

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 74

Ditte STEPNICKA: Butterfly, pin

⊳ sea, and a symbol of the history of the world from the beginning of time up to the present day. On the other hand, amber is also loaded with among other things a heritage created by all the amber wearing schoolteachers, hippies and tourists’ endless quest for amber jewellery.

But, the exhibition New Amber emphasizes, according to Trine Trier, a break with the usual tarnished silver unimaginative necklaces, raw clumps of amber on pieces of worn leather and really heavy amber rings. In fact, a few years ago, one of the leading amber jewellery companies and Guild member, House of Amber challenged

FACTS: Danish exhibitors at Alatyr 2017: 30 June – 3 September 2017 at Regional Amber Museum Kaliningrad: Ditte Stepnicka, Dorte Lausten, Josefine Rønsholt Smith, Jytte Kornbech Løppenthin, Lene Wolthers, Maria Tsoskunoglu, Marie Rimmen Mikkelsen, Tina Richter and Trine Trier.

New Amber: 14 interpretations of amber jewellery in Copenhagen in 2016, curated by Trine Trier. It has since been presented at The Danish House in Saint Petersburg and thereafter at the Regional Amber Museum Kaliningrad, in Spring 2017.

Lene WOLTHERS: Chrystal Landscape, pendant

this ‘loaded’ heritage when they initiated a collaboration with Guild member, goldsmith and most recent recipient of the Goldsmiths’ Guilds’ prestigious Skt. Loye prize, Christine Bukkehave, which with its new and modern design has led amber collections into modern times. ■

New Amber exhibitors: Kim Buck, Jochen Neustädter/ Ruben Svart, Mette Vivelsted, Annette Dam, Maria Tsoskunoglu, Nordenstam, Kasia Gasparski, Katrine Borup, KrebsHyllested, Christine Bukkehave, Tina Richter, Torben Hardenberg and Trine Trier.

Copenhagen Goldsmiths’ Guild: Master of the Guild, Diana Holstein, Lille Kirkestræde 5, 1072 Copenhagen, Tel: 0045 32 12 13 89, info@emqiues-holstein.dk Secretary: Thyges Vænge 3, 1. tv, 2770 Kastrup.

Tel: 0045 61 71 94 40, mail@guldsmedelauget.dk

Torben HARDENBERG: Spicebowl

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Jelizaveta SUSKA. Explosion.

From the series “Frozen Moment”.

2015. Brooch: polymer, marble, gilded silver, 4 x 4 x 5 cm

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 76

SYNERGY:

CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN METAL ART AND DESIGN Interview by Gabrielė PRANEVIČIŪTĖ

The

exhibition “Synergy: Contemporary Trends in Metal Art and Design” will take place at the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Riga from December 2017 to January 2018. It will trace the current trends in the field, the artists' working directions and creative endeavours for experimental, innovatory and classical forms in jewellery art, objects and design. The realisation of the exhibition project was motivated by the fact that there has been a lack of exhibitions that would popularise contemporary trends in metal art and provide a broader overview of the work of a group of active artists.

Therefore, one of the goals of the exhibition is to draw attention to metal art as a field of art, to see similarities and search for differences in the dialogue among the artists.

Metal art is a relevant and active phenomenon in Latvian cultural history with developed traditions – beginning from the historic goldsmiths' guilds in Riga and the smiths in forges all the way to forging and casts in the Soviet ideological climate and contemporary

Andra SILAPĒTERE, the curator of the exhibition

authors, whose expressions vary from individual search for form in the context of art to the fulfilling of standard commercial orders merging into the field of contemporary design and entrepreneurship.

An important 'school' of metal art as a medium of expression in Latvia is connected to the Department of Metal Design established in 1961 at the Art

Academy of Latvia. Most currently active metal artists in Latvia have graduated from it (e.g., Māris Šustiņš, Aldis Lorencs, Armands Vecvanags and others). Nevertheless, there are also notable artists who have acquire education elsewhere, for example, the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn (1944–1989 Tallinn Art Institute) (e.g., Juris Gagainis, Māris Auniņš, Andris Lauders, Guntis Lauders). Today's opportunities to study abroad also have to be taken into account (e.g., Jelizaveta Suska, Toms Lucāns), marking new artistic strategies in the work of the artists. Therefore, the exhibition is an important attempt to see a certain continuity, the similar and divergent currents and to highlight the leading artists in an extensive overview.

The exhibition will be structured by highlighting the plurality of technical and artistic solutions in three dominant lines of expression – jewellery art, objects (miniature to large-scale) and design, aiming to highlight peculiarities and specifics in synergy with the material, which can reveal itself in form, structure,

www.balticjewellerynews.com

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / L AT V I A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

and picturesque thinking – artists incorporate and develop in their work from different images that can source from nature, mythical thinking or fantasy. But this can be expressed also in the way they use color and form that can have symbolic or philosophical meaning.

What qualities do Latvian artists have in general?

I.B.: Latvian artists‘ works embody original artistic ideas in combination with perfect execution.

How would you describe Latvian jewellery in 4 words?

A.S.: Figurative thinking, color, form.

I.B.: Quality, sensitivity, creative individualities. ⊲

INTERVIEW WITH THE CURATOR OF THE EXHIBITION ANDRA SILAPĒTERE AND INESE BARANOVSKA, THE HEAD OF THE MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS AND DESIGN: How Latvian jewellery is different in contemporary jewellery scene today?

I.B.: Contemporary jewellery scene today is extremely rich and diverse, and Latvian jewellery can be regarded as a part of this wide spectre. We can consider that Latvian jewellery artists like to choose traditional materials as silver, gold, semi-precious stones, bone, etc. Apart from this, we can

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Valdis BROŽE. XXX. 2015. Gilded silver, mammoth tusk

p. 77

admit that experimentation with different alternative materials is not favoured so much.

A.S.: It is a complex question. On one hand, it is almost impossible to describe it the way you ask, as the global understanding drives art and design nowadays. The difference might be seen in the school – Latvian artists have developed their means of expression which in this case is represented by Art Academy of Latvia as dominating education institution.

It is also historical context what influences artistic expression, recent past that still has some imprints in today. Nevertheless, over the past decade young artists more and more go to study abroad. There also can be remarked some features which I mostly would attribute to figurative

33–2017

rhythm, colour, light, visual, spatial and psychological perception of the object as well as the synthesis of various senses and fields.

Artists in the exhibition: Valdis Brože, Andris Lauders, Guntis Lauders, Aldis Lorencs, Māris Auniņš, Māris Šustiņš, Arvīds Endziņš, Andris Silapēteres, Juris Gagainis, Jānis Brants, Anna Fanagina, Jelizaveta Suska, Rasma Pušpure, Una Mikuda, Monta Apsēna, Vladislavs Čistjakovs, Armands Vecvanags, Sergejs Blinovs, Māris Gailis, Uģis Traumanis, Uģis Gailis, Jēkabs Voļatovskis, Māris Skanis, Mārtiņš Mālnieks, Modris Svilāns and others.

Creative team of the exhibition: Andra Silapētere, Iliāna Veinberga, Kristiāns Brekte, Jānis Dzirnieks.

Modris SVILĀNS. P_9. 2013. 220 x 500 x 250 cm, mixed media

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

Inese BARANOVSKA, the Head of the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / L AT V I A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT

33–2017

p. 78

Rasma PUŠPURE. to*Please. Wanderlust.

2016. Silver, sapphire

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

artists who have graduated from the school and who are active in the field in one show. But this doesn’t exclude artists who might come from different education field – the idea is to place emphasis on tendencies and novelties in the field as it has developed now.

Exhibition is important because in last decades there haven’t been made any exhibitions of this kind here in Latvia.

⊳ What materials are most common in the showcased pieces?

A.S.: Artists use different materials and like to experiment to find new ways of expression. One of the tendencies is to use different stones – bigger and smaller, that can almost become a center of composition for any piece of jewellery. Artists have developed different techniques in polishing, cutting stones and shaping them in most complex forms, “raw” stones are used as well.

How do you think Latvian jewellery (and not only Latvian) will evolve in the future?

A.S.: That’s not an easy question, but I think it mostly depends on

technology, science and everyday life evolution. As these things change and evolve, the tendencies, practice and needs for jewelry change.

I.B.: I think that contemporary jewellery will evolve in different ways: there might be plenty of experimentation with new technologies and artificial materials, but I feel their high evaluation and deep respect for our past traditional values.

Who is the initiator of the exhibition (the gallery, or maybe artists themselves)?

A.S.: Exhibition is initiated by the Art Academy of Latvia Metal Design department with the idea to gather

Andra, what is your own experience with the jewellery world and exhibitions, as a curator?

A.S.: This will be my first exhibition curated for metal design as form of expression. I work at the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art as a curator and researcher, but in this case dealing more with visual arts.

I have been involved in different bigger and smaller projects, but these exhibition is a new challenge.

As my father is a metal designer and a professor at the Art Academy of Latvia, I have spent all my childhood in this metal design world, I have seen backstage of different processes. For this reason it is interesting for me to make this exhibition happen and also to meet new people and see what are their interests. With this exhibition, my aim is to involve as many young talents as possible and also to involve them in creation of the exhibition. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 82

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / POLISH JEW ELLERY R EPORT

AMBER LOOK TRENDS & STYLES

2017

The Amber and Fashion Gala Fashion by Beata JARMOŁOWSKA jewellery by Danuta KRUCZKOWSKA

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Fashion by Pudu Joanna WEYNA, jewellery

by Adrianna LISOWSKA, hat by Beata MIŁOGRODZKA

Fashion by Maciej PILAT, jewellery

by Mariusz GLIWINSKI

Fashion

by Dorota PODGÓRSKA, jewellery by Dorota CENECKA

Fashion

by Dorota PODGÓRSKA, jewellery by Dorota CENECKA

On 24 March, fashion was the star of the night at the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre. The audience saw 13 shows, each in a different style and with a different leitmotif. But all of them were accompanied by amber.

Two gigantic hands in an open, inviting gesture were an eye-catching feature of the minimalist stage set.

Fashion by Yan NOVAC, jewellery by Danka CZAPNIK

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Fashion by Atelier Słoma & Trymbulak, jewellery by Jan Pomianowski, Serafin Andryszkiewicz

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 83

Fashion by Emwudesign Małgorzata WASIK, jewellery by Tomasz KARGUL

p. 84 33–2017 B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

ROCK N ROLL WITH AMBER “The Black Amber Drop #1”

is created by a Lithuanian industrial designer and musician Rapolas GRAŽYS. Rapolas is a professional product designer focusing on an interdisciplinary approach to sound and design. After born and raised in a family of well-known modern and conceptual artists R. Gražys started to create in a field of design. After creating high-end audio designs, worldwide conceptual and interactive art installations, futuristic technology concepts he started to specialize in one of a kind product creation – boutique section. The LAVA trademark was founded by him on the principle of cross pollination between the fields of acoustics and modern instruments design concepts crafted using very authentic materials.

R. Gražys

wanted to build a guitar that connects the past and the future while also giving a nod to his home of Lithuania, where black amber from the Baltic Sea is harvested. The construction of the guitar is a single seamless piece of

Sapele for the body and neck with an ebony fretboard and 24–3/4” scale length. The neck has a truss rod that is reinforced by two rods of carbon fiber. The Sapele has been routed out in the body to house the 4.4 pounds of Baltic black amber, with a 5mm rim around the inlaid amber rocks. Baltic

amber is over 45 million years old, produced by the Pine trees which grew in Northern Europe and around the Baltic Sea. It is also considered by many to have therapeutic properties due to its high level of succinic acid, a compound said to have analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. The fact

www.balticjewellerynews.com

A MBER COLLECTIONS / LITHUANIAN JEWELLERY REPORT

p. 85 33–2017

my native region located on the Baltic seaside and present it to the international music industry. I have searched for material that would both reflect that wish and would have a clear and intense sound. For this project I chose unique black amber that was turned into a solid 2 kg structure and could be seen through both sides of the guitar body.

Amber is considered a curing and calming material. I wanted this instrument to have not only a distinctive sound, but also a deeper meaning.

“The Black Amber Drop #1” guitar body is When/how did you start made of a rare Sapele making guitars and how wood solid case reinforced many have you created? by carbon fiber. The In my early youth edge of the guitar case when I was 12 years old is covered by 5 mm thick I started to learn playing binding made of the same guitar. Since that time it wood. The instrument has been an integral part neck is made of very old of my daily life. While Ebony wood that is used playing guitar I was always for producing classic interested in producing instruments. this instrument and I A combination of a accumulated sufficient soft wooden and harsh knowledge about it. I sound of black amber made the first guitar as a creates sound balance final design project when and coherence of tones.

I was a student of Vilnius The sound and note Academy of Arts. It was sustain became very long a fretless neck guitar and intense. The highest inspired by instruments quality pickups that allow of Eastern countries. Its getting 3 different timbres properties allowed getting were used for the guitar.

“Rapolas GRAZYS holding The Black Amber Drop #1 with Don Lace” microtonal sound; it was Locking tuners were also the first LAVA guitar. Later used. And the top feature I designed the whole is a gold plated Lava logo series of innovative electric guitars to selecting materials and details, and on the guitar headstock. called “Lava Drops”. These are the the most important is the fact that This guitar is the first instrument series of handmade electric string instruments are handmade. in “Lava Platinum collection”. Each instruments that were made of rare instrument in this line will be made materials that give specific sound, Black Amber Drop #1 is a unique of very rare materials with a unique tone, distinctive and convenient guitar made of amber. How using history and sound. design. amber for guitar design is different Lava Drops line basically consists from other projects? What challenges Have you worked with amber before of 3 different models that could be did you overcome? in other projects? adjusted by request. Models are “The Black Amber Drop #1” is my I have worked with amber in several made of solid wood body that is greatest challenge for the whole design and conceptual jewellery reinforced by carbon fiber that gives time I’ve been engaged in designing projects. a sustained note sound. The first MIDI guitars. Because of my Lithuanian The Black Amber Drop #1 is the first laser controlled guitar in the world origin I wanted to make an instrument case when I used amber for producing “Lava Drop X” is among these models. that would be directly related to musical instruments. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

It is made of especially durable wood used for construction of ships, aircraft aluminium contours and lava stone incrustations.

Now it is difficult to tell an exact number of guitars I have created; anyway, only few are produced per year because it takes from 4–5 months to one year to make an instrument. Much attention is drawn

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

that the Baltic amber is millions of years old is humbling to say the least when you pick this instrument up to play. The guitar as an instrument is a joy to play, with a very fast and striking response to notes and chords, likely from the rigidity of the amber. The neck has a rounded neck profile, with large frets that give way to fast riffing. The pickups are Lace Alumitone humbuckers, and rounding out the looks of this one of a kind guitar are gold hardware, and a 24 karat golden plated Lava Guitars headstock logo.

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 86

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / POLISH JEW ELLERY R EPORT

JEWELLERY IS MY PASSION Sebastian PIGULSKI talks to Monika SZPATOWICZ, an employee of the Gallery of Art in Legnica, curator of Legnica Festival SILVER.

SP: Another edition of Legnica Festival SILVER is over. During its culmination in May Legnica became the destination for crowds of artists and jewellery lovers from all over the world. The event was both artistic and dynamic in character: 26 exhibitions, a film show, a concert, an academic seminar.

Interesting arrangements, great graphics, excellent catalogues and folders accompanying almost every exhibition. And, above all, a wonderful, friendly atmosphere. How do you manage to achieve it?

MSZ: It’s mainly a matter of experience, commitment, but above all a huge passion. We already have a lot of experience. I have been the curator of the Festival since 2006, so this is my 12th edition as a curator, but I have been working at the Festival since 2003. The director of the Gallery, who is the author of the current Festival formula, has been controlling its shape since 1996 and he has “infected” the whole team with his love for artistic jewellery. And

especially when we work under the pressure of time.

Monika SZPATOWICZ, curator of Legnica Festival SILVER

I think this affection is reciprocated (laughs). We have a very good team, though not big as there are only eight people including our graphic designer and editors, but they’re experienced, understanding and persistent. In such a team one works comfortably, although conflicts do happen,

SP: So, how long does it take to prepare for the Festival?

MSZ: We start working on the programme in October but ideas and concepts are discussed even earlier. We try to make the programme ready for November, December at the latest. Sometimes, however, amendments must be made as late as in February of the Festival year.

Unfortunately, we have to work simultaneously on the Festival and on everyday tasks connected with the normal functioning of the Gallery. As a municipal institution we organise throughout the year exhibitions of painting, graphics, installations, photography, glass etc. We also offer a wide range of educational activities – various workshops for children, teenagers and adults, talks, lectures, gallery lessons and shows.

Artistic jewellery is exhibited only during the two Festival months. This year our showrooms held painting

www.balticjewellerynews.com

www.balticjewellerynews.com

p. 87

SP: All right, you’ve told us a little bit about what goes on behind the main Festival stage but I‘d like to ask you about the other side of the Festival coin: how do you build up the programme, what is your guiding idea? And what do you find to be the most important?

MSZ: Exhibition arrangements are of course important but the most important thing is the general concept around which the programme of the entire Festival is developed.

The program is built together with my boss, director of the Gallery, Zbigniew Kraska. Sometimes we consult some issues with artists and curators who have been cooperating with us for years, like prof. Sławomir Fijałkowski, especially the selection of the theme of the International Jewellery Competition. It is the theme of the contest – central event of the Festival – that is the starting point for the construction of the Festival programme.

Choosing it, we always focus on important, current problems in the social, civilizational or art sphere.

It’s no wonder then that this year's theme of the contest was IDENTITY. Around this theme other exhibitions and events were planned, so that the identity motif could recur in various forms throughout the Festival.

The exhibition by Arek Wolski “Only what you've rejected will be left for you” brilliantly explored the identity topic. The artist presented his works bordering on art and design, jewellery as well as objects referring to important, current moral, social and political issues, presented in the language of critical and conceptual art, often with irony. Similarly, Akiko Kurihara’s works at her exhibition “All

that glitters is not silver” described human nature with great sensitivity and wit.

Among collective exhibitions we presented two national groups: the Taiwanese group BENCH 886 with the exhibition “Bubble Land” and the Chilean Joya Brava with the exhibition “Ordinary Stories”. These exhibitions clearly showed how much jewellery, its character, its appearance and message is influenced by the country, the space in which we live and the traditions in which we are raised.

One of the highlights of this year’s Festival programme was the international collective exhibition of

33–2017

We divided the space into a blackand-white section and a colourful one. The entire wall as well as showcases in the colourful section were covered in paintings by Sława, while the other wall was painted black and the showcases were white. Monochromatic works were presented in the black-and-white section and the colourful ones – in the colourful part.

Our arrangements are often minimalist, ascetic even, employing a white background etc., sometimes, however, we like to go a little crazy as in the case of Sława’s exhibition.

the most eminent jewellers from all over the world called “Nature Morte”, which explored the subject of still life.

It was created in cooperation with the Museum of Contemporary Art in London (MOCA) and the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. It was accompanied by an international postcompetition exhibition prepared by Baltic Jewelery and Amber Trip and the exhibition of stylized photographs taken within the framework of the project “Nature Morte” at Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts. These exhibitions were excellent as separate shows and mutually complemented each other at the same time.

“SILVER SCHOOLS” series is a recurring point in the Festival programme. This year we presented three institutions: Institut Jeanne Toussaint – Parure Bijouterie from Brussels (Belgium), Jewellery Studio at the Metal Department of the National Academy of Art in Sofia (Bulgaria) and Jewelry and Fashion Department of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem ). Other recurring points are “DEBUTS” – a series presenting works of young artists (in the previous edition: Adam Kaczmarek) and “ABOUT THE ARTISTS” – presenting ⊲

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

and sculpture exhibitions until midApril and from April 28th exhibitions of jewellery took over.

This proves that our assembly pace can be dizzying, especially that assembly works take place at the same time in various, also rented, venues. It is always difficult as the Gallery has only two showrooms and during the Festival over 20 exhibitions are organised. That’s why we have to use rented rooms and adjust to the terms of rent. In some venues we aren’t allowed even to put a nail into the wall, let alone make any more serious arrangement changes. For these reasons we have to be really resourceful (laughs) and put a great deal of effort into the assembly to create arrangements according to our concepts: they must fit the character of the works presented, be compatible with them and Festival guests cannot get bored seeing the same arrangement all over again.

For example in 2015 we presented the exhibition “We from Jedwabne” prepared by La Basilica Gallery in complete darkness. Visitors were given a candle and entered individually the heated room filled with the smell of burning wood. All visitors were very impressed by how the arrangement corresponded to the difficult and painful topic of the exhibition. Last year's exhibition of Jorge Manilla’s works was also presented in a darkened room.

His works, made of black leather and black wood, were placed in black cases and that arrangement fully corresponded to the spirit of that extraordinary jewellery. We deliberately chose to present in the adjacent room an exhibition of luminous and transparent objects made of plexiglass and silver

by Sergiusz Kuchczyński. White and black, night and day. These exhibitions complement each other really well. So, we no only arrange each individual exhibition, but we also think of a wider context in terms of space and neighborhood.

Unfortunately, some arrangements have to be repetitive as we have a very limited budget and therefore cannot arrange everything the way we want to or at least buy new showcases, for example.

This year one of the most interesting arrangements belonged to Sława Tchórzewska’s exhibition.

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 88

A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / POLISH JEW ELLERY R EPORT

1st Prize (Grand Prix of the Minister of Culture & National Heritage) Susanne MATSCHE (Germany)

⊳ recognized, well-established artists (this year: Marcin Tymiński – with a great exhibition of polymer jewellery. prepared for the 20th anniversary of his artistic activity, Harold O'Connor, Akiko Kurihara, Arek Wolski, Patricia Domingues, DOT, Małgorzata Kalińska, Sara Gackowska & Federica Sala, Michalina Owczarek, Sławek Tchórzewska).

A few years ago we introduced another series called “J-LAB.” In its framework we want to present experimental exhibitions presenting new, original approaches to jewellery.

This year we presented the exhibition "Light Matters" showing the interplay of jewellery objects with illumination and opening new possibilities for interpretation of visual reception.

Exhibitions of jewellery with Baltic amber – typical Polish jewellers’ material – are another Festival tradition. This year we showed the post-competition exhibition "Amberif

Design Award PERIPHERY" and the international collective exhibition "Gdansk Baltic Amber Biennale". The Polish group AU+ also presented their exhibition “Paradigm Space” as a matter of 6-year-long tradition.

Obviously, every year jewellery exhibitions are accompanied by a number of fringe exhibitions and events: post-competition exhibitions of posters and photographs exploring the Festival's theme, film screenings, workshops, an academic session and a concert.

SP: At the culmination I heard a lot of positive comments about the high level of exhibitions, especially the main exhibition. Many people also emphasized the unique, wonderful, even magical atmosphere. How do you create this magic?

MSZ: As far as the main exhibition is concerned we’ve been trying from the very beginning to assure the

highest level of our post-competition exhibitions. This is guaranteed by the jurors. We always invite people with outstanding competence and true expertise to participate in the jury. Another factor is a wide-ranging promotion of the contest whose participants come from over 40 countries around the world. Every year we get a few hundred works, out of which the jury choose about 50 best. All this guarantees the high level of the post-competition exhibition.

As for the magical atmosphere, I think that all the guests who participate in the culmination share our passion and sincere commitment.

In addition, the culmination formula also matters: exhibition venues are located close to one another, most of them in Legnica Old Town Square. All guests: artists, curators, journalists and jewellery lovers together with the organizers and exhibitors participate in all the vernissages getting to know one another and sharing their impressions. Friends are made, new ideas are born. And then discussions about art, life, plans and dreams continue late into the night, accompanied by good music and tasty snacks.

SP: And what are your plans and dreams?

MSZ: My dream is for the Festival to continue and grow and get still better and broader reception. I dream about a stable, permanent subsidy for the Festival, which would make me look into the future with joy and enthusiasm instead of concern and anxiety. As far as my personal plans go, the closest ones are about my holiday and attending to some personal matters like meetings with my family and friends. It’s something that I’m really looking forward to.

SP: So, have a great holiday. And for you and the whole team at Legnica Gallery as well as jewellery makers and its lovers, I wish that Legnica Festival would last forever and grow in strength. Thank you for the interview.

MSZ: Thank you. ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

AMBER COLLECTIONS / DANISH JEWELLERY REPORT

LET US INTRODUCE YOU TO AN EXPERT ON INCLUSIONS Anders LETH DAMGAARD / www.amber-inclusions.dk

Baltic Jewellery News aims to listen to its readers and provide the most relevant information and news.

We are glad to start this new cooperation with Anders Leth Damgaard. If you have any questions regarding inclusions we will try to do our best to find answers and share it with you in our next issue.

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Burmese amber. Due to political unrest in Burma, this type has become available on the market for the first time over the past 10 years. So if you want to study, invest, and work with a very interesting type, then you should be looking at amber from Burma.

Inclusions in amber give science a unique window back to a longforgotten time, a window into the past allowing scientists to study life from that period and from this gain a crucial insight into the marvel of evolution and how the planet has evolved through the millennia. When you first see an inclusion, you can use some simple parameters to assess and identify the inclusion. For example, you can ask mophological questions, such as: “How many legs does it have?”, “Does it have wings?”

and, if so, “How many wings does it have?” And yet precise identification requires many years of experience and, because the inclusions are rarely perfect and visible from all angles, you need to determine the inclusion and whether it is common or rare, based on few details, like wing structure, how the antennae look like, or other small details.

Inclusions, such as whole or parts of birds, mammals, lizards, are extremely rare as they are rarely encapsulated due to their size or strength. Since the resin is very thinflowing, larger animals can most often pull themselves out of the resin. For example, the lizards found in amber usually show signs of being dead even before they were encapsulated in the resin, this could be due to a disease or because they have become prey, for example, for birds.

In addition to this, inclusions such as snails, mushrooms and other forms of insects and plants, which do not naturally live close to the trees where the resin flows, are also classified as rare inclusions. We may emphasize that aquatic organisms belong to the group of rare inclusions as well.

I look forward to exploring and teaching you about the world found in amber in more detail in the following sections of this magazine. ■

Collector and President of the Danish Amber Association */ www.ravklubben.dk <http://www.ravklubben.dk/>* Anders Leth Damgaard / *A window to the past* / *www.amber-inclusions.dk <http://www.amber-inclusions.dk>*

33–2017

name is Anders Leth Damgaard, I am the President of the Danish Amber Association, and I have been specializing in the study of inclusions in different types of amber since 2008. You will read an overall brief introduction to the world found in amber in the following section. As you know, amber has an almost magical property: it is pretty much the only natural material, which can freeze moments in 3D almost for all eternity.

While studding these inclusions you are taken back to the exact moment in the past, you are braking the time barrier and are able to study the planet and how life has evolved on the planet through the millennia.

This material is as close as it gets to allowing a man to travel in time.

There are many different types of amber in the world and each type is characteristic of different parameters.

First of all, it should be emphasized that each type of amber is from different periods in the history of the Earth. Besides age, the types also differ according to the type of resin, hardness, colour scale, etc. All types are valuable to science, but the less studied one type of amber is, the more interesting it is to science.

One type that is particularly interesting at the moment is the

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

My

p. 89

Send your questions to: office@balticjewellerynews.com

p. 90 33–2017 B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

LOST PART OF KÖNIGSBERG AMBER COLLECTION

TO BE RETURNED TO UNIVERSITY OF GÖTTINGEN

MCZ returns insect specimens borrowed in 1934 to Königsberg Amber Collection

By Alvin POWELL, HARVARD STAFF WRITER

Ricardo

Pérez-de la Fuente held up a piece of ancient amber, peering at the 40-million-year-old insect inside.

Preserved whole after being trapped in sap that hardened over millennia, the fierce-looking larva was a favorite: Its image adorned his computer desktop.

Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente held up a piece of ancient amber, peering at the 40-million-year-old insect inside. Preserved whole after being trapped in sap that hardened over millennia, the fierce-looking larva was a favorite: Its image adorned his computer desktop.

“Looks like a monster, almost — full of spikes,” Pérez-de la Fuente said.

Then he added: “It’s going back.”

“Looks like a monster, almost — full of spikes,” Pérez-de la Fuente said.

Then he added: “It’s going back.”

A Harvard postdoctoral fellow and expert in fossilized insects, Pérez-de la Fuente was standing that late May day in the basement of the Northwest Laboratory, near one of the many cabinets that house the

50,000 to 60,000 fossil insects in the Museum of Comparative Zoology’s paleoentomology collection. He had pulled out a drawer holding hundreds of insects about to be returned to Germany in repayment of a longforgotten loan.

In 1934, Harvard instructor on economic entomology Charles

www.balticjewellerynews.com

AMBER COLLECTIONS / GERMAN JEWELLERY REPORT

Ricardo PEREZ DE LA FUENTE examines the snakefly encased in amber. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

When the effort began, the museum went through the painstaking process of shooting images on slide film and then scanning the slides to digitize the images. The rapid development of imaging technology since then has helped, Farrell said, but with so many specimens in

www.balticjewellerynews.com

occupation forces kept the collection in fine arts repositories for more than a decade until it was returned to the University of Göttingen. Today the university holds 18,000 pieces from the original Königsberg Amber Collection.

Forgotten loans from yesterday’s analog world turn up regularly as more institutions digitize, Farrell said.

“Other museums write us a couple of times a year with specimens that they realize they have that belong to us,” Farrell said. “And partly it’s because the world was largely analog until recently. The records are paper records and they get buried in files and people pass away and are gone.

We’re moving everything online and into the MCZ database so we can track things. When there’s a loan that’s due, they get an electronic notice.”

Images of the MCZ’s amber insects began to go online in 2015. Months later, Gehler heard from a French researcher asking about a fossil ant that had been in the Königsberg Amber Collection.

The ant was not among the specimens that had been saved at the end of the war, so Gehler began to search online, as curators of the collection had done for decades in an effort to turn up loaned material. The search led to a specimen in the MCZ’s database, which Gehler crosschecked with scientific publications. He found articles by Brues with photographs that matched the MCZ image, and identified the specimens as belonging to the Königsberg collection. ⊲

p. 91

Ricardo PEREZ-DE LA FUENTE (left) and Professor Brian Farrell discovered the collection while digitizing the University’s collection. Stephanie MITCHELL/Harvard Staff Photographer

33–2017

the collection, progress has been slow.

In 2013, Farrell obtained another NSF grant and brought in Pérez-de la Fuente to oversee the digitization of the fossilized insects, including 10,000 trapped in amber. Three years later, Alexander Gehler, curator for the University of Göttingen’s Geoscience Museum, wrote to inquire about the long overdue loan and ask for the borrowed fossils back.

The specimens are of Baltic amber, formed tens of millions of years ago when northeastern Europe was covered by vast pine forests full of insects, some of which became trapped in resin. The sap hardened into a clear, yellowish solid, preserving the insects to be discovered and examined by collectors and scientists.

The layer of Eocene amber extends out into the Baltic Sea, Pérez-de la Fuente said. Because amber floats, pieces wash ashore regularly. By the mid-1930s, the University of Königsberg had amassed an amber collection of some 100,000 pieces.

The specimens Brues borrowed led to several scientific articles before his death in 1955.

Most German records of the loan were lost during the war, and there are no records in Harvard’s archives that might explain why Brues never returned them. What is known is that World War II nearly obliterated Königsberg.

Following months of Soviet bombing, a British attack in August 1944 heavily damaged the area around the university. Soon after, the museum’s director packed the most valuable amber pieces and shipped them west, to the University of Göttingen, southwest of Berlin.

The roughly 80,000 pieces that remained in Königsberg were lost or destroyed, Gehler said. In the postwar redrawing of borders, Königsberg was incorporated into Russia and renamed Kaliningrad.

The rescued portion of the Königsberg Amber Collection was hidden in a potash mine during the war’s waning months, and retrieved before the mine was destroyed in September 1945. After the war,

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

T. Brues borrowed the specimens from the University of Königsberg in what was then East Prussia. Why Brues never returned the specimens remains a mystery. Less murky is that the fate of the parent amber collection got caught up in the maelstrom of World War II and that some of the loaned fossils were spared destruction while resting an ocean away, in the specimen cabinets at the MCZ. The discovery of the loan — and the return of 383 specimens to the University of Göttingen, which oversees the remnants of the Königsberg Amber Collection — is the fruit of Pérez-de la Fuente’s labor the past four years, and stems from the convictions of Professor Brian Farrell.

The Harvard biologist believes that digitizing museum collections is an important step in opening science and fostering new work by researchers around the world.

Farrell, the entomology collection’s faculty curator and an expert in the world’s dizzying array of beetles, has directed the digitization of the MCZ’s larger insect collection — 7.5 million specimens — since the mid-1990s, when he obtained a National Science Foundation grant to image the collection’s type specimens for some 33,000 species.

AMBER COLLECTIONS / GERMAN JEWELLERY REPORT

Specimen of a smaller snakefly (Raphidioptera) from the family Inocellidae.

Courtesy of Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology

⊳ Gehler delved further and was able to identify 40 to 50 specimens whose original accession numbers, tags, or other identifying characteristics indicated that they had been part of the Königsberg collection. He also found a short memo of the loan with Brues’ name on it. Gehler emailed Farrell in December, asking for help identifying the loaned materials.

Gehler’s note set Pérez-de la Fuente to the task of going through the entire 10,000-specimen MCZ amber insect collection by hand, examining each specimen for tags or the unique combinations of numbers and letters used by Königsberg. He then went through the publications by Brues and eminent paleoentomologist Frank Carpenter, cross-referencing specimens their publications identified as coming from the Königsberg collection.

Of the 383 pieces Pérez-de la Fuente identified as coming from the original Königsberg collection, 40 were precious type specimens, and so are scientifically invaluable. Those 40 would have been saved at the end of the war, but most of the other

specimens likely would have been left behind and lost in the destruction that followed, Gehler said.

“The types would have been transported, but a lot of the specimens surviving in Harvard today … might have been left in Königsberg and destroyed,” Gehler said. “It’s a very lucky occasion that they survived.”

In June, Pérez-de la Fuente flew to Göttingen with the specimens in his carry-on, delivering them by hand to Gehler.

“It was really perfect,” Gehler said.

“They … invested a lot of their own time to research this issue. It is 3 or 4 percent of the surviving collection and we are very glad that this material has survived.” ■

IN TER NATIONA L A MBER A SSOCI ATION /

POLISH AMBER

IN SWITZERLAND

By Michał KOSIOR

Amber is well known in Germany, even in distance China. However, the Swiss know very little about it. “Amber – Bernstein – Burning Stone – Gold of the North”– the exhibition addressed to Swiss presents ancient amber objects and, above all, contemporary amber jewellery.

Polish Museum in Rapperswil: https://www.muzeum-polskie.org/ Photo. Piotr Sadowski (www.pb-studio.pl )

www.balticjewellerynews.com

33–2017

Jewellery by A2

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

exhibition “Gold des Nordens” is avaible from May to November in the Polish Museum, situated in the twelfth century castle in Rapperswil on the Zurich Lake. The curator of the exhibition is Maria Cajochen, a Polish living in Switzerland for almost 20 years. The idea of the exhibition was born few years ago when on occasion of various exhibitions in Switzerland, Austria and Germany the curator met great interest in amber. The most important thing is the way of presenting amber, that is why for years she has been searching for the interesting facts through literature which could move the imagination of the viewers. It was also based on experimental archaeology and with the help of Zenon Śmigel they have created an image of amber unknown.

The exhibition at the Polish Museum in Raspell was organised with help of: Zenon Śmigel, the Amber Museum in Warsaw, the Amber Museum in Gdansk, the Malbork Castle Museum, the Archaeological Museum in Gdansk, the Museum in Aathal (Switzerland) and the IAA, which provided short movies about amber (thanks to First Stone company from Helsinki), photos, publications and contemporary exhibits.

The vernissage was held at 6pm, on 6th of May; guests were greeted by Anna Buchmann the director of the Museum. Opening was accompanied by the lecturer of dr Thomasa Bolliger from Muzeum in Aathal. Lech Antonio Uszyński, playing Stradivarius violin, provided the musical atmosphere. Among the guests visiting the opening of the exhibition was the Polish ambassador in Bern Jakub Kumoch and the first secretary Joanna Kułakowska-Kumoch.

The exhibition, apart from presenting the history of amber – its various forms and healing properties, will present contemporary art and jewellery made of amber. This section will show artists associated with the IAA and our members. Exhibits were specially selected as the best Polish design. Most of them are objects awarded in recent years and presented at various exhibitions. The exhibition of the contemporary jewellery is showcasing 39 objects of the 19 designers, along with the photographs from two previous exhibitions organized in the IAA Gallery. The exhibition of jewellery and photographs is beautifully situated on the 4th floor of the 12th century castle tower.

Designers of the jewellery: Dariusz Zarański, Dorota Cenecka, Eva Stone – Ewa Kurzynka Jacek Ostrowski, Jarosław Westermark, Ireneusz Glaza, Marcin Tymiński Maria Fijałkowska Mariusz Gliwiński Norbert Kotwicki, Aleksander Gliwiński, A2 Amber House, Tomasz Kargul, Art7 Kalandyk & Rosenberg, Joanna i Andrzej Kupniewscy, Jarosław Koźmiański, Marcin Gronkowski, Paweł Kaczyński, Andrzej Adamski.

Photo: Sławomir Fijałkowski and S & A, Jacek Ostrowski, Joanna and Andrzej Kupniewscy NAC Amber Dorota Kos, Maria Fijałkowska, Dorota Cenecka Paulina Binek, Marta Włodarska. ■

p. 93

The

Jewellery by Andrzej ADAMSKI

Jewellery by Pawel KACZYNSKI

IN TER NATIONA L A MBER A SSOCI ATION /

FE Necklace by Jaroslaw GLAZA

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 94

THE EXHIBITION

“HOW MUCH PER GRAM?”

By Michał KOSIOR From the ancient times Baltic Amber was a valuable stone used to make amulets, little sculptures, ornaments and was generally associated with wealth. For the Slavs it is considered to be the most important ornamental stone as well as for the Buddhists.

In

the nineteenth and twentieth century, the mass production of inexpensive products gave it the stigma of the “souvenir from the holidays by the Baltic Sea” or “grandma jewellery” making it also not a target for the younger consumers. However, in the last 25 years it had changed and we can see a dynamic development in the amber jewellery industry – young designers are using modern technology along with traditional craftsmanship. Their designs are made with commitment, loads of passion and creativity. Besides new markets have emerged, mainly Asian, where amber received “a new opening” and is very popular.

The exhibition “How Much Per Gram?” was aimed to show that amber – expensive and rare material has enormous potential in the goldsmith industry. The products made of amber are not a shoddy souvenir from the seaside, but are well-designed, well-made, precious and high-fashion jewellery. The value of

amber has been growing for many years, and today it does not give in to the value of gold, or it can even surpass it. The amber jewellery presented at the exhibition is sending the message to the world – that it is fashionable, interesting and original stone, with aim to break that bad stereotype.

The opening of the exhibition took place at the IAA Gallery during the Amberif 2017 fair. Only on that very evening artists and designers invited by the IAA have presented their artistic and more commercial approach to the amber jewellery. Each of the participants was also able to present its work on his own stand on the Amberif 2017 fair, which created a further, individual part of the exhibition. Exhibited objects are to become the showcase of the companies, which shed a light on the new exclusive approach to amber and its potential as a unique, exclusive and precious stone.

We have invited to this exhibition a group of the best Polish jewellery designers and goldsmiths, members of the IAA and guest from outside.

The satirical and provocative title of the exhibition refers to the question that is often dropped by the less aware clients buying amber- we all know that the weight is only the weight and it’s not telling anything about the class, uniqueness and most of all about the immeasurable work of the designer.

How much per gram? And how much per gram of the Ferrari? ;-) ■

www.balticjewellerynews.com

p. 95 33–2017

Photo: Piotr SADOWSKI www.pb-studio.pl

▼ Jewellery by Tomasz KARGUL

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

▲ Jewellery by Mariusz GLIWINSKI Jewellery by Jaroslaw WESTERMARK ▼

www.balticjewellerynews.com

IN TER NATIONA L A MBER A SSOCI ATION /

“COLOURED AMBER” – COLOURING BOOK NOT ONLY FOR KIDS

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 96

International Amber Association has prepared a new release.

This time it is devoted especially for children – the colouring book “Coloured Amber”.

www.balticjewellerynews.com

p. 97 33–2017 B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

Most

commonly the promotion of amber is addressed mostly to adults. Especially those who has previously bought the amber jewellery. However, there is a gap in the field of publications addressed to the younger generation, the one showcasing amber as a phenomenon of the culture and people living in Central Europe, a trap of time for delicate insects or a beautiful remembrance from holidays.

That is why the author of the latest IAA publication – Agnieszka Klikowicz-Kosior came up with the idea of the colouring book intended for children and their parents.

The illustrations are presenting the most interesting facts related to amber, which force children to read, contemplate and ask questions like: Where did the amber come from?

What kind of organisms were found in amber in the form of inclusions? How did people have fished amber before and how it is done today?

We can inspire children with knowledge about amber thanks to: the drawings by Agnieszki Dmitruczuk – Dymi.Lab, technical assistance by Dr. Anna Sobecka, Dr. Elżbieta Sontag and Eryk Popkiewicz, tests on children (and parents) and the funding from the publishing competition of the Pomeranian Regional Tourist Organization and from the private collector From Singapore.

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Format: 210 x 210, 12 colouring pages (amber forest, inclusions, amber fishing, amber workshop, amber ornaments, designing the necklace).

Language: Polish / English and English / Chinese. Available for purchase in the IAA. ■

Headquarters: +7 (4015) 33-74-78 Sales office: +7 (4012) 38-45-80

«Yantarny Yuvelirprom» JSC is 100% subsidiary of JSC "Kaliningrad Amber Combine" and is engaged in the production of semi-finished products and articles of amber and precious metals.

Moscow, Sibirsky proezd 2, corp. 2 Zelenogradsk, Kurortny pr-t 26 Svetlogorsk, Tsentralnaya ploschad str. 1 Kaliningrad, airport Khrabrovo Kaliningrad, Teatralnaya str. 23-27 Yantarny, Balebina str. 1

MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT

List of open selling prices of amber production of

JSC Kaliningrad Amber Factory Valid from 01.06.2017

Amber of commission sorting Sort 1

Open selling prices (excluding VAT), EUR/kg

500 g – 1000 g

5547.86

300 g – 500 g

4995.19

200 g – 300 g

4545.62

100 g – 200 g

4089.03

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 100

Amber of weight sorting Sort 1 50 g – 100 g

2847.69

20 g – 50 g

1936.43

10 g – 20 g

968.29

5 g – 10 g

503.41

Amber of weight sorting Unsorted 2g–5g

203.64

Amber of filter sorting 2,5–5 g or fraction +16

145.73

Fraction +14

70.44

Fraction +11,5

41.41

Fraction +4-11,5

9.51

Fraction -11,5+8

10.92

Fraction -8+4

1.41

www.balticjewellerynews.com

MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT

The Worldwide Price for

Raw Amber August 2017

7

+6 faction

11

+8 faction

35

+11 faction

62

+14 faction

97

+16 faction

202

2,5 g – 5 g

250

5 g – 10 g

485

10 g – 20 g

880

20 g – 50 g

1672

50 g – 100 g

2464

100 g – 200 g

3080

200 g – 300 g

3696

300 g – 500 g

4136

FACTIONS 20–50 G RAW AMBER PRICE CHANGE 2006 FERBRUARY – 2017 AUGUST EUR per kg

4300 3900 3500 3100 2700 2300 1900 1500 1100 700 300

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 06 08 03 08 03 08 03 08

If you have any questions concerning these prices, please, contact our office:

info@balticjewellerynews.com www.balticjewellerynews.com

33–2017

Price / 1 kg – EUR

+5 faction

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

Amber of commission sorting

p. 101

AMBER FROM RUSSIA

MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT

The Worldwide Price for

Raw Amber August 2017

Price / 1 g – EUR

5 mm – 7 mm

3,15

7 mm – 10 mm

5

10 mm – 12 mm

7

12 mm – 15 mm

9

15 mm – 20 mm

15

20 mm and larger

18-30

COGNAC ROUND AMBER BALLS Regular Amber Piece Size

Price / 1 g – EUR

5 mm – 10 mm

2,20

10 mm – 15 mm

4

15 mm – 20 mm

9,40

20 mm and larger

12

www.balticjewellerynews.com

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

Regular Amber Piece Size

p. 103

WHITE ROUND AMBER BALLS

MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT

The Worldwide Price for

Amber Silver 925 Jewellery August 2017

AMBER SILVER 925 JEWELLERY PRICE CHANGE AUGUST 2010 – AUGUST 2017 EUR / g

Amber Silver 925 Jewellery

Price EUR/g

Handmade

1,80

Machine made

1,50

Data

EUR/kg

12-Aug-17

468.01

13-Jul-17

456.22

13-Jun-17

493.38

14-May-17

494.95

14-Apr-17

564.81

15-Mar-17

529.33

13-Feb-17

552.5

14-Jan-17

520.83

15-Dec-16

517.89

15-Nov-16

515.81

16-Oct-16

527.85

16-Sep-16

573.9

17-Aug-16

567.27

18-Jul-16

594.01

18-Jun-16

539.76

19-May-16

484.4

19-Apr-16

501.06

20-Mar-16

458.74

19-Feb-16

454.93

20-Jan-16

431.78

11-Dec-15

420.69

11-Nov-15

434.94

12-Oct-15

456.98

12-Sep-15

438.24

13-Aug-15

450.44

3 2

0

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 104

1

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

08 03 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08

Handmade

Machine made

SILVER PRICE CHANGE 2015 AUGUST – AUGUST 2017 EUR / kg

600

500

400

13 12 12 11 11 20 19 20 19 19 18 18 17 16 16 15 15 14 13 15 14 14 13 13 12 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug 15 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17

Source: www.bullionvault.com

If you have any questions concerning these prices, please, contact our office:

info@balticjewellerynews.com www.balticjewellerynews.com

MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT

The Worldwide

Gold Price

1100 1000 900 800 2016 2017 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01 02 03 04 05 06

invest@gold.org

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Eur

29/01/2016

1 011,6

29/02/2016

1 081,9

31/03/2016

1 120,5

29/04/2016

1 095,4

31/05/2016

1 114,0

30/06/2016

1 136,5

29/07/2016

1 209,3

31/08/2016

1 196,4

30/09/2016

1 182,7

31/10/2016

1 149,6

30/11/2016

1 145,8

30/12/2016

1 091,0

31/01/2017

1 121,4

28/02/2017

1 159,6

31/03/2017

1 151,4

28/04/2017

1 180,4

31/05/2017

1 125,8

30/06/2017

1 121,6

33–2017

1200

Data

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

EUR per troy ounce

p. 105

Monthly avarage gold price change 2016–2017

MARKET REVIEW /

PRICES OF WHOLESALE

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 106

AMBER PRODUCTION WORLDWIDE

▲ Necklace – 304 eur (8 eur / g)

▲ Necklace – 828 eur (12 eur / g)

NECKLACE – 75 eur (1.2 eur / g) ⊲

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Bracelet – 141 eur (3 eur / g) ⊲

Pipe – 70 eur ⊲

www.balticjewellerynews.com

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

⊳ Bracelet – 192 eur (4 eur / g)

33–2017

p. 107

A set: necklace and bracelet – 90 eur ▲

The Seventh International Biennial of

Enamel Art VILNIUS 2017 October 17th – November 3rd

Call For Applications This year The Goldsmiths' Guild-Gallery

MENO NISA is celebrating 15 year anniversary and is proud to host The Seventh International Biennial of Enamel Art VILNIUS 2017, dedicated to the development of enamel art and promotion of creativity and new ideas.

We kindly invite you to register and participate at the biennial, which will take place in Vilnius, October.

Creators of the most inspiring and exciting art works will be awarded.

Participant fee 100 euro.

Deadline for application

20 September, 2017

Do not hesitate to ask us for application form, if you have more questions:

enamel.vilnius@gmail.com

p. 110 33–2017 B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

I AM EXPECTING

SOMETHING MORE FROM MYSELF

By Anna SADO

The

collection “For Sale” is a retrospective expedition, however, not in the traditional sense, as it does not summarise his artistic works to date, but is a kind of prelude to what the artist is planning to do in the nearest future. What combines the past and present are the projects created in the last two decades and only now realised in the author’s own

“My most important goal is to make jewellery that belongs to the high-level, world class contemporary art trend” – says Marcin TYMIŃSKI, Polish designer celebrating the 20th anniversary of his professional activity this year. His latest collection “For Sale” amply fulfils this goal, and it will be presented at this year’s trade fair Joya in Barcelona. technique of polymer cutting, which has recently been refined so well that when used on amber it brought the artist Grand Prix in the Prestigious competition Amberif Design Award 2017.

Over a hundred of works presented at the exhibition take the viewer to the world of author’s strongest inspirations, which are

acquaristics and contemporary architecture. The former brings multicolour, some kind of unreality and interpenetration of colours to his works, whereas the latter is playing with the light, operating with transparency and non-transparency.

A trained eye will notice there the references to his earlier collections – transposed form silver to polymer,

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Grand Prix Amberif Design Award 2017 for Marcin TYMIŃSKI: 10 000 PLN. Photo by Marcin KLONOWSKI

www.balticjewellerynews.com

33–2017 B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

The exhibition “For Sale” in Gallery YES in Poznan (Poland)

they gain lightness and become more subtle and interesting again. There is also amber – the stone that has played a significant role in his works to date, and has helped him win many awards.

This time, however, it is “served” in a completely different way than it has been so far: it is cut in such a manner that the whole attention is focused on its interior.

The exhibition “For Sale” was presented for the first time during the crowning event of the SREBRO Festival in Legnica in May this year and was found one of the most interesting and surprising exhibitions. It gained popularity not only because it included high-quality works made of polymer, which were rather unexpected, but also thanks to a particular interpretation of retrospection, which turned out to be a vision of the future.

The title also played a part, as it is meant to attract attention to the problem of undervaluing of artistic thought. The exhibition created such an interest that it was later shown in a few cities in Poland – as promised by the artist, who continues to realise more “old” projects in the “new” material, and changes some of the exhibits so as each exhibition is slightly different than the others.

The international public will get a chance to see at least some of the works from this exhibition in September this year at the JOYA Art Jewellery Fair in Barcelona. As Tymiński assures, for him, the event is one of the most important stops on his way to achieving his goal, which is “being placed among the artists who make the kind of jewellery that I want to make”. “I am convinced that I could learn a lot from them, and develop.

Because I still expect something more from myself” – he declares.

Following Marcin Tymiński’s artistic path, one can get an impression that the last sentence is his life motto. He has said in an interview for the Amber Portal amber.com. pl: “I keep looking for new forms and materials, and I think that I am going to do so for the rest of my life.

I don’t want to stay in one place and do the same all the time, perhaps adding or taking something away…” ⊲

p. 111

PERSONALITY /

p. 112 33–2017 B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

Marcin TYMIŃSKI work which received Grand Prix in Amberif Design Award 2017

Marcin TYMINSKI work chosen by JOYA Art Jewellery Fair in Barcelona.

Brooch: Epoxy resin, plastic, plexi, steel, gold and silver

www.balticjewellerynews.com

PERSONALITY /

www.balticjewellerynews.com

a cook, cyclist, an editor of a trade magazine, and currently he is also the chairman of the Association of Artists and Goldsmiths (elected for the 4th term). “My hobbies give stimulate me: even if the areas seem to be distant, they interpenetrate each other and are a great source of inspiration. They also force me to think about who I actually am: a visual artist? a drawer? an artist?” – he explains. And he answers himself: “You are an artist when somebody calls you that and you have earned it. I am a creator: I create jewellery”. His works to date prove that he fully deserves to be called an artist: he creates his works based on his own concepts and gives them a unique character. ■

33–2017

Parnas – trying to differentiate by all means, through making the form of the object bizarre, breaking the rules of composition, construction, technique or simply by shocking with the content. While he doesn’t forget about the basic, inherent functions of jewellery, he uses the “old”, universal language of geometry and applies the well-known methods so well and effectively that he was able to gain a clearly distinguishable and permanent position among other designers.

If geometry was God, he would probably be the most eager, orthodox and loyal follower”.

Marcin Tymiński doesn’t limit his activity to solely design and artistic jewellery. He also deals with car and motorbike customising, as well as being a tattoo artist. He used to be

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

⊳ Since the beginning of his career he has been standing out thanks to his consistence in breaking away from stereotypes, and his works have been distinguishable due to their innovative design. His projects, both commercial and the unique ones have been surprising with the freshness of his ideas and intransigence of the author. Zbigniew Kraska, the director of the Art Gallery in Legnica, the organiser of the SREBRO Festival, has summarised Marcin Tymiński’s artistic works to date in the following way: “We don’t often come across (…) an artist with such a feeling of pure form and awareness of the materials and tools used. Marcin has always had his own style, which does not rely on – as it often is the case among new artists, aspiring to the artistic

p. 113

The strongest inspiration of Marcin TYMIŃSKI are acquaristics and contemporary architecture

OUR FRIENDS /

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 114

The first Big Tennis tournament for representatives of jewellery branch Tennis Open Baltic Jewellery News in Svetlogorsk came to an end on 30 July with a beautiful final and big plans for the future

Mikhail ZATSEPIN, the Director General of “Kaliningrad Amber Combine”, made the first shot

www.balticjewellerynews.com

www.balticjewellerynews.com

optimism”, – Giedrius Guntorius, the main ideologist and organizer of Tennis Open Baltic Jewellery News 2017, says. “I am glad that they helped me to implement such a beautiful idea – to connect business and sport in the context of communication within the Forum.

This year the tournament was already international – I represented Lithuania; next year I promise to bring the whole international group of tennis lovers from other countries. We work a lot in business and we need a healthy mind and body, and sharing the sport principles – fair competition and victory based on achievements.

All of it is inspired by tennis”.

Table of Tennis Open Baltic Jewellery News 2017 results First place: Andrey MITROFANOV Second place: Aleksey NOMEROVSKY Third place: Jury HARYUTIN The company of Andrey Mitrofanov helped with making special souvenirs for co-organisers of Tennis Open Baltic Jewellery News – Mikhail Zatsepin and Giedrius Guntorius. They were handed in watches with amber

incrustation that begun to count time until the second tournament; it will surely take place next year. This year winner has already submitted an application for participation.

“I am sincerely grateful to organisers of the tournament and personally to Giedrius Guntorius”, – Natalya Batdalova, the captain of tennis club “Victoria” of Svetlogorsk City who also supported the initiative of the Baltic Jewellery News journal, could not hold her emotions. “The level of tournament organization was the best, everything was precise and competent. I was astonished by the number of tennis lovers among the Forum participants, representatives of amber industry. We will surely support this event next year!”

The tournament was held in line with the International Economic Forum of Amber Industry – Amberforum 2017 (28–30 July 2017, Yantar Hall variety theatre, Svetlogorsk City, Kaliningrad Region).

Prize fund: 10000 rubles, the tournament winner also received the amber souvenir provided by the JSC “Kaliningrad Amber Combine” – a key ring in the form of a boxer glove.

The next year winner will get an amber racket – the representatives of Amber Combine promised to make a special prize for Tennis Open Baltic Jewellery News 2018.

Each participant received a gift from JSC “Kaliningrad Amber Combine” – a souvenir to celebrate 70 years anniversary of the company. ■

33–2017

persons who are professionally related to amber industry took part in the tennis tournament. The final opening was symbolic: Mikhail Zatsepin, the Director General of “Kaliningrad Amber Combine” who gave full support in organisation of the tournament and provided the main prize, made the first shot, while the ball was returned by Giedrius Guntorius, the Director of “Amber Trip” cluster (the journal “Baltic Jewellery News” and the “Amber Trip” exhibition) and the main organizer of the first big tennis cup for representatives of jewellery industry Tennis Open Baltic Jewellery News.

Amber and tennis appeared to be a perfect combination. “I would suggest to make the tournament more international next year”, – Andrey Mitrofanov, the winner of Tennis Open Baltic Jewellery News 2017, shared his idea. “I have a lot of business peers who love tennis and I am engaged in amber processing in Germany, Lithuania and Poland. I play for more than 20 years. I am sure that they will enthusiastically accept the suggestion to organize such industry tournament”. Andrey appreciated high level of players and organization of the event. “The participants of the tournament were strong; all my rivals were very motivated to win”.

“This year I am very content that amber diaspora considered my suggestion to organize a tennis tournament for the industry with

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

12

p. 115

Participants and organisers of the tournament

M A JOR J E W E L L E R Y T R A DE FA I R S /

MAJOR JEWELLERY TRADE FAIRS

B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S

33–2017

p. 116

in August 2017 – March 2018

Ambermart – International Amber Fair Date: 31 August – 2 September 2017 Venue: Amber Expo, Gdansk, Poland ambermart.amberexpo.pl amberif@mtgsa.com.pl

Intergem Date: 30 September – 3 October 2017 Venue: Messe Idar-Oberstein, IdarOberstein, Germany www.intergem.de office@intergem.de

Signature Mumbai 2017 Date: 6–9 February 2017 Venue: Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, India www.iijs-signature.org signature@gjepcindia.com

Japan Jewellery Fair Date: 28–30 August 2017 Venue: Tokyo Big Sight Exhibition Center, Tokyo, Japan www.japanjewelleryfair.com info@japanjewelleryfair.com

GoldExpo Date: 5–7 October 2017 Venue: Warszawskie Centrum Expo XXI, Warszawa, Poland www.tjexpo.pl targi@tjexpo.pl

The Jewellery Show Date: 4–8 February 2018 Venue: Birmingham, United Kingdom www.jewelleryandwatchbirmingham. com sales@thejewelleryshow.com

International Jewellery London Date: 3–5 September 2017 Venue: Olympia, London, United Kingdom www.jewellerylondon.com ijl.helpline@reedexpo.co.uk

Istanbul Jewelry Show October 2017 Date: 12–15 October 2017 Venue: Istanbul Fair Center (CNR Expo), Istanbul, Turkey www.ubmrotaforte.com info-rotaforte@ubm.com

Inhorgenta Munich Date: 16–19 February 2018 Venue: Messe Munchen, Munich, Germany www.inhorgenta.com info@inhorgenta.de

Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair Date: 6–10 September 2017 Venue: Impact Exhibition and Convention Center, Bangkok, Thailand bangkokgemsfair.com info@bangkokgemsfair.com

Gemworld Munich 2017 Date: 27–29 October 2017 Venue: Munich Trade Fair Center, Munich, Germany munichshow.com exhibitor@munichshow.com

Asia’s Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair Date: 13–16 September 2017 Venue: AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong SAR www.asiafja.com salesafj-hk@ubm.com

JOGS Tucson Gem & Jewelry Show Date: 7–10 September 2017 Venue: Tucson Expo Center www.jogsshow.com info@jogsshow.com

Jeweller Expo Ukraine Date: 25–28 May 2017 Venue: Kyiv Expo Plaza Exhibition Center, Kiev, Ukraine www.jewellerexpo.kiev.ua jewel@kmkya.kiev.ua

XII International Baltic Jewellery Show “Amber Trip” Date: 14–17 March 2018 Venue: Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, Vilnius, Lithuania www.ambertrip.com ad@ambertrip.com

Madridjoya Date: 20–27 September 2017 Venue: Feria de Madrid, Madrid, Spain www.ifema.es/madridjoya_01 madridjoya@ifema.es JOGS Fall Gem & Jewelry Show Date: 7–10 September 2017 Venue: Tucson Expo Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA jogsshow.com info@jogsshow.com Precious Date: 8–10 September 2017 Venue: Stockholmsmässan's East Entrance, Mässvägen 1, Älvsjö www.preciousfair.se info@preciousfair.se Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair Date: 13–17 September 2017 Venue: AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre www.jewellerynetasia.com salesjgf-hk@ubm.com JUNWEX Moscow Date: 27 September – 1 October 2017 Venue: All Russian Exhibition Center, Moscow, Russia http://eng.rjexpert.ru/ overseas@restec.ru

Mineralien Hamburg Date: 1–3 December 2017 Venue: Hamburg Messe und Congress Centre, Germany mineralien-hamburg.de lara.meske@hamburg-messe.de VICENZAORO 2017 Date: 20–25 January 2017 Venue: Fiera Di Vicenza, Vicenza, Italy www.vicenzaoro.com info@vicenzafiera.it JOGS Tucson 12 Day Gem & Jewelry Show Date: 25 January – 5 February 2017 Venue: Tucson Expo Center www.jogsshow.com info@jogsshow.com JUNWEX Date: 31 January – 4 February 2018 Venue: ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia eng.rjexpert.ru overdeas@restec.ru

Istanbul Jewelry Show March Date: 22–25 March 2018 Venue: Istanbul Fair Center (CNR Expo), Istanbul, Turkey http://march.istanbuljewelryshow.com info-rotaforte@ubm.com AMBERIF International Fair of Amber, Jewellery and Gemstones Date: 21–24 March 2018 Venue: AMBEREXPO Exhibition and Congress, Gdansk, Poland http://amberif.amberexpo.pl/ amberif@mtgsa.com.pl HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show Date: 1–5 March 2018 Venue: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong SAR www.hktdc.com/fair/hkjewellery-en exhibitions@hktdc.org

www.balticjewellerynews.com

Rings by Karolis KURKLIETIS

A m b e r Tr i p i s o p e n i n g a n e w AUTHOR JE WELLERY ZONE

XV INTERNATIONAL BALTIC JEWELLERY SHOW AMBER TRIP 14â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 MARCH, 2018 LITEXPO LAISVES av. 5, VILNIUS LITHUANIA Contact us for more information:

+370 618 53538 info@ambertrip.com www.ambertrip.com