Wood, glass, or bronze used to be mocked when used in exquisite jewelry, but that has changed, according to one gallerist.
a necklace created by Francesca Villa that combines a German flat toy soldier with valuable stones.
In contrast to the diamonds and emeralds that are typically displayed in the vitrines at Place Vendôme, Claire Choisne, the creative director of the Parisian jewelry brand Boucheron, has been on a mission to elevate ordinary materials like pebbles and flowers.
Cofalit, an industrial byproduct from asbestos waste that was turned inert through vitrification, the process of turning a substance into glass, was the most recent substance to leave her innovation division. Three new Jack de Boucheron Ultime designs feature this material, which is often used for highway embankments and is polished and faceted like shiny obsidian. This is another effort by Ms. Choisne to, as she has stated, “redefine what is priceless.”
Boucheron is not by himself. Rare gemstones are frequently combined with inexpensive materials like iron, shells, and wood by the German design studio Hemmerle, reflecting the earliest types of body jewelry, but with five- or six-figure price tags. By contrasting gold and jewels with miniature carpets created by Uzbek craftspeople, woven bamboo, and wood marquetry created by Amazonian artisans, the Brazilian jeweler Silvia Furmanovich has promoted Indigenous crafts. And Francesca Villa, who is located in Valenza, Italy, gives small items that she purchases from flea markets and internet shopping sites personality.
These designers’ methods are more comparable to those of modern artists in a field where pricing has traditionally been determined by the cost of raw materials. However, industry experts claim that rather than being determined by the monetary value of its constituent parts, the value of such products is determined by their particular creative impact.
The objects I use are not often seen as valuable, but in Ms. Villa’s perspective, their emotive and historical value outweighs that of gold or precious stones. She upcycles vintage stamps, buttons, casino chips, handwritten notes, and toy soldiers into one-of-a-kind exquisite jewelry that sells for between 4,110 and 12,000 euros ($4,110 to $12,330) in her atelier’s drawers.
Each piece comes with a certificate that describes the materials’ provenance and history. Ms. Villa added, “Sometimes it is difficult to persuade collectors to sell their unique items. The more expensive designs incorporate uncommon found objects that needed extensive discussions to acquire. I need to persuade them that I will accurately represent the object’s history.
There are plenty additional modern examples. Artist jewelers like Wendy Ramshaw and Adam Paxon used non-precious materials, and according to jewelry historian Joanna Hardy, “there is a very serious market for their work, which fetches significant prices.” “Houses like Van Cleef & Arpels used a lot of wood in the 1970s and 1980s; those items are highly sought-after on the secondary market. Nowadays, more widely used brands are exploring alternatives to conventional materials.
The Louisa Guinness Gallery in London continues the tradition of art jewelry started by the sculptors Claude Lalanne and Alexander Calder in the middle of the 20th century by working with contemporary artists to make limited-edition jewelry. The works by artists including Cornelia Parker, Yinka Shonibare, and Ron Arad, as well as items made of silver, copper, porcelain, polyamide, glass, and crystal are all available for purchase at Ms. Guinness’ exhibition.
Consumers are now less concerned with the components of a piece as long as it is nicely constructed, according to Ms. Guinness. “Wood, glass, and bronze in exquisite jewelry used to be mocked, but now it’s more accepted.”
She compared the market for contemporary art to that for artists’ jewelry, recalling a silver Calder necklace that went for $2 million at Sotheby’s New York in 2013. The price of the materials is irrelevant, she claimed. “Canvas and paint are cheap, but a Picasso has enormous value.”
Since Ms. Guinness founded the gallery in 2003, cutting-edge production methods like laser sintering and 3-D printing have allowed artists to use everyday materials to create surfaces that were previously impossible. According to Ms. Guinness, “a piece crafted in bronze might sell for a little bit less than the identical design in gold—but not a lot less.”
Even outside the realm of artists’ jewelry, according to Jane Collins, senior editor for accessories, footwear, and jewelry at trend forecasting company WGSN, designers were increasingly turning to unusual materials. According to her, the movement is being pushed in part by the public’s rising need for individuality and in part by worries about sustainability.
The perceived value of jewelry is now mostly determined by the design and craftsmanship, she claimed, and not by the cost of the raw materials. “I don’t believe it makes a difference whether a designer uses wood, sea glass, or even asbestos. When it comes to limited-edition or one-of-a-kind products, its value is determined by what they combine it with and the labor required.
The most persuasive requirement for buying jewelry, according to Ms. Collins, is meaningful design. This is because consumers desire pieces that commemorate important relationships or life experiences to express their own feelings. According to Ms. Collins, “connecting with customers through storytelling adds value and feeds into the concept of an heirloom.”
While fashion houses like Boucheron and Hemmerle have transformed materials that were once regarded as waste into priceless gems via innovative design, other companies have discovered ways to recover actual treasure from trash.
It can be difficult to persuade clients of the emotional and intrinsic value of old SIM cards and laptops, but two British jewelry companies, Lylie and 886 by The Royal Mint, are among the few that use gold salvaged from technological waste.
Sean Millard, chief growth officer at The Royal Mint, the company owned by the British government that has historically produced coins and commemorative goods, stated that “the language needs to be established.” He said the Mint uses the term “reclaimed gold,” and Eliza Walter, the founder of Lylie, uses the term “salvaged,” acknowledging the less-than-luxurious connotations of the word “recycled.” The Mint’s 886 line, its first jewelry collection, which debuted earlier this year, also sells jewelry made from AgAIN Silver, recovered from medical X-ray films by its manufacturer, Betts Metals.
Ms. Walter stated that young customers place a high value on the utilization of recycled gold, much like other industry professionals who claim that jewelry buyers today place a greater emphasis on design than on the price of a piece’s materials.
She claimed that a Generation X potential investor had stated, “If he was buying his wife a gift, he wouldn’t think about sustainability since it’s a treat and should be luxurious, with the implication that luxury equals brand-new. Whereas sustainability is the pinnacle of luxury for Generation Z.
