Rarities
Precious stones With its strong light blue hues, the aquamarine has been valued since the age of antiquity. Visitors to the shop on Neugasse are dazzled by rarities from the beryl family, such as the Santa Maria aquamarine, and a wide range of other precious stones in innumerable colours and degrees of luminosity.
The jewel of the sirens – the aquamarine. It draws anyone who looks at it under its spell with its glittering spectrum of beguiling blue and turquoise hues. The most beautiful examples come from the Santa Maria mine in Brazil. A few years after its discovery, this source was exhausted, making the gemstones even rarer. «LOHRI’S RENOWN AS AN AQUAMARINE SPECIALIST IS DUE TO THE UNIQUE COLLECTION OF THESE GEMSTONES FROM THE FAMOUS SANTA MARIA MINE.»
The aquamarine specialist Over the years, the Lohri jewellers have worked with just these aquamarines from their own pool. «Our reputation as aquamarine specialists is based on an exclusive acquisition of gemstones of matchless quality,» Franco Lohri says. He moulds his skill and craftsmanship to the demands of these natural treasures: the design is inspired by the cut and shape of the gemstone, not the other way round. The gold acts as the backdrop for its protagonists, be they diamonds, emeralds, rubies or aquamarine. A romantic cut The jeweller’s shop also houses a large collection of magnificent diamonds. These include numerous old-mine rarities – stones that were found and cut a hundred or more years ago. «Today’s diamond cutting is so technical that they reflect almost all the light – their radiance is extreme, but it has a mechanical feel,» Franco Lohri explains. «The same possibilities weren’t available in earlier times. Cutters needed an excellent eye, and relied more on instinct for their creations.» Such stones have more feeling, are more romantic, more unique. They also have fewer facets. «They’re not so glittery, less nervous or busy.» An expert eye for quality How does a goldsmith come by such treasures? «By building up relations over many years. You don’t just call someone up and place an order.» Franco Lohri looks out for gemstones of the highest quality. Cut, carat, colour, clarity – just about everyone knows the four c’s of diamonds. «There are
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dozens of other criteria,» he says. And this is where the small print of precious stones comes into play: «Cloudiness, lifelessness, fluorescence and graining are properties that are so difficult to describe.» The workshop also prefers to use larger stones, which don’t fall below the carat threshold even after a second cutting. «This enables us to retain the original value of gemstones.» Practising a craft «Only three per cent of jewellery today is handmade.» Franco Lohri describes how many items are mass-produced – pressed, stamped or cast. Gemstones are usually cut to suit the design of the jewellery, which leads to defective pieces. «That’s a no-go in our workshop.» Stones can also be too big or too small for their settings. «The settings are then slightly misshapen. The customer would hardly notice, but it makes the jewellery more susceptible to damage. Of course that should be avoided at all costs when expensive stones are used.» Design and creativity The workshop combines traditional goldsmithing with the latest technology. «We use extremely precise digital CAD programs to produce drawings from a variety of perspectives,» Franco Lohri says. Sometimes three-dimensional demonstration models from wax may even be produced. «This enables us to make sure that our jewellery is exactly as our customers want it.» Lohri produces eight in-house jewellery lines. These are complemented by the Danish Ole Lynggaard, the Italian Pomellato and the German Wellendorff collections. And last but not least, there is the Franco Lohri line. «Our highend product,» he says proudly of the range that bears his name. These items of jewellery are made with loving attention to detail and an eye for perfection. «We put all our highest goldsmithing skills to the test.»