Glittering Stones News

Jovella 2008, the international jewelry exhibition in Tel Aviv which will be held on July 1 - 3, 2008, will feature a seminar on forecasting trends in the jewelry industry, by renowned experts Paola De Luca and Paolo Novembri of the TJF Group. The seminar, which will be open to international jewelry manufacturers, designers and wholesalers, will be held on July 2 at 5:00 pm at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds.

Paola De Luca, Creative Director and Co-Founder of TJF, and Paolo Novembri, CEO, have entitled their presentation: "Jewelry Directions - Seasons 2009."

The TJF Group (Trends Jewellery Forecasting) is a full-service organization serving the international jewelry and watch industry. TJF is well known as the publisher of the TJF Trendbook, which forecasts consumer trends for the jewelry industry 15 months in advance of the season. The company publishes TJF magazine, and organizes educational seminars, conferences and events. This is in addition to providing consulting, design, product development and branding services to the jewelry industry worldwide. Based in Arezzo, Italy, the company maintains offices in Milan and agents in Antwerp, Mumbai, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

Paola De Luca started her designing career at Fendi jewelry and watches, moving to Uno a Erre, where she served as design director and trend forecaster for ten years. During that time, Paola was invited to teach Trends Forecasting in Jewelry at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). She founded MPD Observatory Corp., attracting clients such as Ferragamo, Swarovski, Fossil-Giorgio Armani and others. Paola co-founded TJF together with CRU Publishing in 2003. In addition to being Creative Director of TJF, she is Chief Forecaster as well as Editorial Director of TJF Magazine.

Paolo Novembri has over twenty years of experience in the jewelry industry, working with US, European and Asian markets. From 2000 to 2004 he was President and CEO of Damiani USA and Director of International Development for Damiani Group worldwide. From 1993 to 2000, Paolo served as President and CEO of Gori & Zucchi Inc., a wholly owned US subsidiary of Uno a Erre, and before that held various management positions at the company.

This is the first time that the IDI Group of Companies is a sponsor of Jovella Tel Aviv , which is also being sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor's Administration of Diamonds, Precious Stones & Jewelry, the Israel Jewelry Manufacturers Association and the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute. IDI is sponsoring this exhibition as part of its strategy of enhancing cooperation between the diamonds and jewelry industries in Israel. The exhibition is being organized by the Stier Group.

Jovella is expected to feature 200 exhibitors in the categories of gold, silver, diamonds, precious stones, fashion jewelry, Judaica, watches and pens. About 12,000 visitors are expected to attend the three day event, including hundreds of buyers from abroad.

For jewelry designer Hadass Shaham, the rock on her finger isn't a diamond but a tiny building block. Shaham takes classic fleur-de-lis patterns inspired by the Moorish-style floor tiles seen in old Arab houses and recreates them in modern form, from gold or silver and concrete.

Shaham is part of a group of Israeli jewelry designers who shy away from traditional jewels, gold and silver, and look to new materials instead. Working out of a store-studio in Jaffa that she shares with her furniture restorer father, Shaham has raised concrete mixing to an art. Her trade secret combines concrete and other materials to achieve jewel-like strength and polish.

She was initially attracted to her material of choice because of its monochromatic nature. "It's matte, calming, and not showy. It goes well with silver and gold. I find it convenient to work with and integrate with other materials. It has associations of architecture, innovation, urbanism, but it also has warmth," she tells ISRAEL21c. "I'm always seeking that contrast - hot and cold, geometric and soft, old and new."

The old city of Jaffa informs her work. "I have a piece made of four small blocks tied together in a square that is directly inspired by the floor tiles from the old Arab houses," she says.

Shaham isn't averse to using jewels - so long as she can set them in concrete. Her newest collection plays with the tension between low and high class, placing a single small diamond in a minimalist dark bed framed by gold. She's also looking into making non-conventional use of fiber for her next collection.

Plastics Man

Moshe "Moshiko" Botzer got his initial training 20 years ago as a jeweler at the diamond bourse in Ramat Gan, working for one of Israel's leading luxury jewelers, but over a decade ago decided to eschew the precious stone in favor of polymers.

The decision was not merely artistic; Botzer feels the diamond market is as artificial as zircon. "Look at what's happening right now on the world commodities markets. Rice is going up, gold is going up. Only the price of diamonds is going down because they have no true value. A lot of people who make art jewelry are really protesting against conventional materials. The minute you start looking at materials for what they are, you see the beauty within them and your creativity is limitless."

Botzer's designs encase graphic or ready-made elements - ranging from the image of a Buddhist monk at prayer or African-inspired primitivist motifs, to printed motherboards and computer chips - in polymer resin to create wearable sculpture.

"The minute I found this material I was intrigued, I'd find pieces in the garbage, take it home and try to melt it, dye it, saw it, polish it - it provided an artistic breadth that I didn't have before. I realized that it was a fantastic material to work as a jeweler."

As he became expert in working with acrylic, pouring, casting and setting it in silver and gold, Botzer began to find an audience for his work. He has participated in several solo and group exhibitions, including at the Tel Aviv Museum of Modern Art and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. One of his works will appear in an upcoming Larkbooks publication, The Art of Jewelry - Plastic and Resin.

Over the past two years, Botzer expanded his range of polymers from acrylic to plastic to polyurethane - which can be made hard or rubbery, clear or opaque - and created a series, entitled "Bracelet Is Just An Excuse", of wearable art pieces. The purpose of his sort of jewelry, Botzer says, is not to proclaim the wearer's material worth, but rather, their cultural values. "People want to say something about being current, contemporary, different and creative."

Nuts About Bolts

For Gal Barash, the local hardware store has just about the same cachet as Tiffany's. Barash uses the familiar shape of nuts and bolts, screws (flat and Philips head) and springs, in creating jewelry with an industrial flair.

While studying industrial design at the Center for Technological Education - Holon (CTEH), Barash was given the assignment of creating a wearable object out of common items. "I loved to work with machinery and I always saw the beauty in these things. Nuts and bolts are among the most brilliant things ever invented." His first pieces, made of springs, bolts and plumbing parts, got great feedback from students and teachers. But it was a semester in Chile that truly opened his mind. "I saw people living in poverty who were creating beautiful things out of nothing, things that no one pays attention to and no one values."

Barash's jewelry combines actual hardware, such as bolts and chains, with parts fabricated to look like hardware together with silver chains, gold and silver beads. He's very fond of stainless steel, "which not many people in Israel use. They haven't understood its worth yet here. I use the same advanced materials used in machinery - they're perfect in their precision, symmetry and finish."

Barash's work has been exhibited at Tel Aviv's Periscope Gallery and is for sale in the US and Spain. He still mans a booth twice a week at Tel Aviv's Nachlat Binyamin Arts & Crafts Fair. "It's nice and sunny. I have friends there. Plus, it gives me direct contact with customers. It's a chance to meet them, and keep a finger on the pulse of what they like."

As for his preferences, Barash says, "I like junk. I'm not afraid to touch junk. No one fights over it. There's no jealousy about junk. And it's better for the earth to use these materials."

The Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders Association (TGJTA)is working with Dubai Multi Commodity Centre, on the possibilities of Thai operators setting up offices in Dubai and establishing sales outlets in DMCC's Gems Club later this year.

The Thai gem and jewellery industry is keen to increase the Middle East's Profile in its rising list of new export frontiers.

"We are moving systematically into the Middle East, initially through Dubai in the United Arab Emirates," said president of TGJTA Vichai Assarasakorn.

Thailand participated in the MidEast Watch and Jewellery Show, which took place in Dubai in April. While at the fair the Thai jewellery industry also tightened the trade relation.

Thai officials say the area, with its high jewel expenditure, strong purchasing power and flourishing economies, is offering huge and potentially profitable market for Thai products.

Meanwhile, DMCC has agreed to send off experts to distribute information and data about the jewel market in the Middle East to Thai industry members at the 42 Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair which will be held between 11 to 15 September.

The Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair is expected to attract 1,500 showing booths and no fewer than 30,000 attendees from some 80 countries.