Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Made in Finland
Sixty years old is the new young This year, Tammi Jewellery celebrates 60 years of history with new owners and new ideas. CEO and one of two owners, Miia Saarikko, is enthusiastic: “It is great to work with a brand with history. Some experienced buyers at international fairs know more about our brand than I do!” By Taina Värri | Photos: © Gabri Photography
The other partner, goldsmith Marjut Kemppi, has worked for the company for over twenty years and masters the entire process of handmade jewellery. Tammi Jewellery prefers unique crafting to computer-aided design. “The difference is in the structures,” Saarikko explains. “One of our most popular products is the Archipelago collection. Like the new Puro
Siipi pendant
Kaari pendant
collection, it is based on abstract, natural shapes. The more realistic Orchid pendant is designed for the jubilee year of 2014 especially.” Tammi Jewellery uses 100 per cent recycled gold and aims to reduce the waste that inevitably comes with packaging the precious pieces. The plastic cases had to go and give way
The Orchid celebrates 60 years of Tammi Jewellery.
to the new ones, made of cardboard. The mailing packages are recycled whenever possible. “Nature is our inspiration, so it goes without saying that we want to make environmentallyconscious choices.” Saarikko is aware that, at present, the older generation in Finland knows the Tammi brand better than the younger. “That will soon change,” she says. “We have already attracted new young customers with our latest designs. It will be thrilling to see what happens when we launch our golden wedding collection.”
For more information, please visit: www.tammenkoru.fi
Puro bracelets
Everlasting love of glass Glass artist Heikki Viinikainen has 15 stitches on his finger. He was giving the final touches to one of his pieces of art when it suddenly broke in two and cut him. It was a deep cut. By Taina Värri
Viinikainen has forgiven his volatile lover: “Glass is graceful, soft and plastic and at the same time very aggressive and totally merciless. You must be strong, yet you must not mistreat glass. When it is hot you must be very careful not to burn yourself. My misluck was to try to work on it while there was an invisible tension inside.”
The risk of the glass breaking is always present, whether it is the piece that you are working on or a unique work of art from the ’50s or ’60s. Viinikainen is painfully aware of the fact that in one brief moment, everything can be lost. Yet he is totally smitten: “There is the transparency, the light and the openness in glass. When you look at, say, a metal object, your gaze stops on the surface. With glass you can see deeper, and it is a totally different world in there. And then there are the colours! I can’t think of ever really letting go of glass. There is nothing else in the world quite like it.”
Unique Sato vase. Photo: Heikki Viinikainen
Kuohu champagne glass. Photo: Heikki Viinikainen
Babushka glassware. Photo: Anne Croquet
For more information, please visit: www.studioviinikainen.com Heikki Viinikainen is a passionate glass artist. Photo: Janne Rahunen
Sulava art piece. Photo: Heikki Viinikainen
Issue 67 | August 2014 | 41