HB Antwerp custom-cuts spectacular diamonds only to order to eliminate waste along the supply chain. Courtesy of HB Antwerp.
Written by Vivienne Becker
At the start of every new year, it’s a pretty sure bet that we’re thinking about weight. Not only our own, but also the question of weight in the world of jewels and gems: the correlation of carats, in both gold and gems, to value, price, desirability and wearability. Perhaps there’s no more dramatic weight loss than the process of diamond-cutting that transforms a diamond from rough to refined. A weight loss that cutters are keen to minimize, because retaining and maximizing caratage has traditionally been the prime concern for diamantaires. Yet, today, I see a subtle but potentially seismic shift in attitude, away from perception of the diamond as commodity and asset, and more towards the diamond as a finite miraculous natural resource, and one that can give back to communities, do good, and change lives for the better.
I’m fortunate to have spent time with Laurence Graff, a man with an uncanny affinity to gemstones, as well as a renowned art collector and connoisseur. Having devoted his life to diamonds, and more recently to art, he firmly believes that diamond-cutting is a true art form, an alchemical mix of art and science, of skill and intuition, and that the perfectly-cut and polished diamond is a rare and wondrous work of art.
At De Beers Diamond Jewelers, while the focus is firmly on diamond expertise and quality, customers are also encouraged to look beyond the usual formal criteria of the 4 ‘C’s, and to look instead for beauty, charm and individuality. For example, exploring ‘lesser’ colors, and hence adding a 5th C – Character, to which I’d like to add Charisma. The conventional so-called qualities, weight, size, or investment potential, shouldn’t be the priority when it comes to choosing a diamond, or any gemstone for that matter. Choose the diamond that chooses you.
HB Antwerp ensures that all diamonds have a destination before being cut and polished. Courtesy of HB Antwerp.
Meanwhile, the fearless diamond experts behind HB Antwerp, the pioneering diamond technology company, use proprietary state-of-the-art scanning and mapping techniques, as well as advanced lasers and robots to custom-cut spectacular diamonds to order and only to order. One of their aims in their ambitious, multi-faceted, forward-thinking mission to modernize the entire diamond industry is to eliminate waste along the diamond supply chain. HB Antwerp works exclusively with the Lukara-owned Karowe mine in Botswana, to fashion diamonds (10 carats and above) of exquisite quality, bespoke cut and shape, commissioned by the world’s great jewelry Maisons. By cutting out the middle-men and ensuring that all diamonds have a destination before being cut and polished, the company is able to share profits and bring huge benefits to the mining communities.These past few strange and unprecedented years have raised other very different, but equally significant aspects of the weight issue that pervades the jewelry world. The first is the quest for more substance in our lives, for real, lasting values and connections, surely an antidote to the lack of human contact during recent years, but also a reaction to the fast-encroaching virtual world. This impetus is reflected in the desire for real gold (not vermeil or gold-plated brass) that feels substantial and weighty, both reassuring and sensual against the skin. The new gold rush is part of the drive for fewer, better possessions, and one statement jewel or gem as a potent and personal style identifier.
Santi, Diamond and Titanium earrings.
Then there’s the move in the opposite direction, towards lightness, an issue of both comfort and craftsmanship. Since the 1990s, jewelers have turned to alternative, high-tech materials to take the weight off. Titanium, the space-age metal, strong as steel and light as aluminum, has revolutionized jewelry design and manufacture, enabling unprecedented volumes, especially for brooches and earrings where weight is most definitely an issue. The metal, identified and isolated in the early 20th century, was used by the aerospace industry in the United States in the 1950s and after experiments in British jewelry-making schools, was adopted by studio jewelers in the 1970s. Its ‘craft’ image meant titanium was shunned by traditional jewelers until the 90s, when advanced techniques for both working and coloring the metal offered a range of fresh, exciting possibilities. Titanium liberated creativity and amplified the jeweler’s palette, creating painterly compositions in which colored gems seem to melt into colored settings, or metal seems to evaporate entirely. Today, this notoriously intransigent metal has been tamed, so that it can be cast, engraved, modeled and colored to spectacular effect, and favored by some of the most innovative and creative artist- and designer-jewelers around the world: JAR, Michelle Ong of Carnet, Wallace Chan, Fawaz Gruosi. Most recently, Santi, the London-based designer-jeweler who contemporizes his rich Indian heritage, has introduced titanium to create a textural monochrome effect on earrings that carry his signature traditional Indian decorative patterns effortlessly into the 21st century.
JAR, Aluminum and Gold ‘Pansy’ earrings.
Aluminum has also lightened the load, another industrial metal that can be treated to produce enticing, thrilling colors. JAR famously created a series of aluminum petal earrings, making works of art that are affordable and accessible, as well as comfortable and wearable. In their (AL) project, German boutique jeweler, Hemmerle, experimented with aluminum for a series of sculptural naturalistic jewels. Most enthrallingly of all, I discovered that the New York based artist, Daniel Brush, has devoted his protean talents and towering intellect to exploring the extraordinary light-emitting qualities of aluminum over the past 20 years. He and his wife Olivia had been inspired by a pair of opera-glasses, made around the mid-19th century when aluminum was considered the most valuable metal in the world. Brush set about hand-crafting, hand-forming and hand-engraving aluminum to create a series of strong, yet light and ethereal jewels.
Fabio Salini, Carbon Fibre Necklace with a Double Row of South Sea Cultured Pearls.
From light into darkness: Carbon-fiber, with its intensely black hue that absorbs rather than reflects light, has brought a different equation of strength and weightlessness to contemporary jewelry. Another space-age material, it is notoriously difficult to master, yet Italian designer-jeweler Fabio Salini has found carbon-fiber to be the perfect medium through which to express his revolutionary vision of 21st century modernism. Now the master of carbon fiber, he loves its unprecedented strength, volume, sculptural and textural possibilities. Salini created a series of dramatic, abstract compositions, contrasting the opacity of carbon fiber with the brilliance and color of gemstones. The soft, rich texture of carbon fiber recalls the black velvet of the magician or illusionist, and explains Salini, also evokes images of Whitby Jet used in Victorian mourning jewels, adding layers of history and emotion to turn his jewels into contemporary artworks.
Van Cleef & Arpels, A Mother-of-Pearl 'Alhambra' Necklace.
Finally, we address the weight-related element of both practicality and physicality. Today, our jewels have to be effortless to suit busy lifestyles, yet contemporary, design-driven and meaningful. Delicate chains, layered around the neck and wrist, possess a lingerie-like intimacy, such as Elsa Peretti’s iconic Diamonds by the Yard, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Alhambra clover leaf, or the sliver-like medallions of Dior’s Rose des Vents. These are jewels for personal pleasure, not for show. They must be light enough for comfort and freedom of movement, but weighty enough to feel sensual on the skin, our close, treasured, precious companions. Jewels that are worth so much more than their weight in gold.
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