A Featured Jewelry Designer in Our Shop.
Annette Ehinger’s hand cut gemstones
Every February, Stefan visits Europe’s largest jewelry trade fair in Munich, Germany. This fair houses some of the words largest and innovative jewelry brands, as well as the newest technical equipment in making jewelry. What attracts Stefan the most are the emerging artists that think outside the box while making luxury pieces. These artists he visits each year at the fair, to see what they have been creating over the past year.
One of these artists is Annette Ehinger from Pforzhiem, Germany. She has been making her award winning jewelry since 2004. Annette begins by selecting high quality raw gemstones and slowly hand forms these to find their perfect individual shape. Once she is satisfied with the gemstone, she highlights their beauty by suspending them within a gold setting, in either a pair of earrings, a necklace or ring. The special characteristic of her pieces, is that the stones are not held in a static setting but are free to move and catch the light.
Need Some Gift Inspiration?
We’d like to show you what Stefan has created for this Holiday season.
Visit our website under GIFTS FOR HER for a detailed look at each piece.
Not to be forgotten: Unique gifts for HIM!
What is a Rutilated Quartz Crystal?
And how this gemstone found its home in a design by Stefan.
Many years ago, Stefan was walking through a trade fair held in the German countryside, where every year there is one of Europe’s largest gemstone fairs. Among the thousands of stones, a beautiful pair caught his eye. They were two rutilated quartz crystals, unusually clear, with strong silver-coloured needles of titanium dioxide shooting through them. Though this gemstone is not uncommon, it is rare to find one so clearly displaying the silver shots sometimes referred to as “The Hairs of Venus”. And to discover a pair of them together…? Truly unique.
The stones stayed in the safe for quite some time – Stefan waiting for the right moment and the perfect design to justify their beauty. Finally, only a month ago, eight years after uncovering them at the fair, the first of these treasures have inspired a repeat visit from one of our clients. The first stone has found its home in a gold pendant. The design has a minimal, yet strong architectural aesthetic, gently encasing the stone, allowing ample light to filter through.
Stefan is excited to share the finished piece with you here for the first time. Let us know what you think!
Watch Stefan Create a New Ring From Recycling Gold
Do you have gold jewelry you never wear?
Jewelry often gets passed down from loved one to loved one. Unfortunately, over time, these pieces can become dated, left unworn and sadly forgotten. Stefan has worked with many clients breathing new life into old pieces. We’ve filmed a short series of Stefan re-purposing all the value, sentiment and nostalgia into a beautiful new piece of custom jewelry.
Starting with a private consultation, Stefan works with you to determine what kind of piece can be made from your gold and what best suits your desires.
Watch this first installment to see Stefan melt the gold and form a bar to begin the transformation
From this point, Stefan works the gold into the next stage: In this case, the formation of a special ring. Through careful cycles of hammering, bending, and filing, watch all the clips as Stefan slowly manipulates this beautiful old material into a new treasure.
Here are examples of rings Stefan has made with recycled gold
Do you want to see more of this process?
Watch the 4 Part series of Stefan creating the ring from recycled gold on our NEW YouTube channel!
What Happens When you Combine Steel and Diamonds?
Astonishing strength and beauty.
Surprising. Unique. Elemental.
Steel’s strength and durability, and it’s clean, cool colour are renowned. As a personal ornament, Stefan has been manipulating steel like no other from the very early years of his craft. Like him, you can’t help but be seduced by the powerful weight you feel when you place it on your body. It acts as a reminder of the jewelry’s timelessness.
Choosing to add a special solitaire or even a long row of small brilliant cut diamonds may surprise you: Something truly special happens when the ageless strength of stainless steel is contrasted with the brilliance of a diamond. The tension between their elemental powers ignites an almost mystical reaction.
What customers are saying about Stefan
“Stefan is someone who listens to my desires and has the artistic ability to easily create a personal piece for me with quality craftsmanship and customer care to complete the experience of purchasing art I can wear and pass on to loved ones.
Working with Stefan felt like working with a family friend I had known for years. He listens and tailors his services to surpass expectations..”
– Stacy Frahm, Amsterdam NL
Facebook is where you can follow Stefan behind the scenes in his workshop, running the shop and family life in the center of Amsterdam. We have something special coming this month.
Follow us!
How Does Your Idea for a Custom Ring Come to Life?
The development from idea to reality.
You have a request for a custom made ring but how does your idea become a wearable piece of jewelry?
There was an important day coming, and one of our customers had an idea of a ring for his wife that included the birth stones of his three daughters: Tourmaline, sapphire and a diamond.
Sometimes Stefan starts with drawings and other times he goes straight to his machines to get a sense of how the raw materials interact. Using pen and paper can be an easy way to share ideas, changing shape and color quickly. But sometimes actually seeing the materials together and trying a test model can be a necessary way to rule out what works and what does not.
There have been lots of sketches and test pieces set aside over the years, but they are never thrown away. Each one contributes to the discussion of ideas and the collection of concepts that make up Stefan’s style and design history.
This is how your ideas get translated into realty.
What one of our customers says about working with Stefan –
“It was important to work with a designer not just a jeweller selling other people’s work. Creating a piece with Stefan is a core part of the value of the jewellery and telling the story to others of how we worked with him to design it gives repeated joy.” – Janet Cardinell, California USA
Want to see more jewlery?
We post regularly all the finished pieces that Stefan has been making in his workshop on Instagram.
Follow us to see what’s new!
Curious to Know More About Where Your Jewelry is Made?
We want to give you a look inside.
From time to time we will send you an email letting you know what Stefan is up to in the workshop and in the store. There is always something happening here and we’d love to tell you about it.
NEW!! Jewelry Route Amsterdam
A walking/biking route to 14 gold and silver smiths through the historic centre of Amsterdam, for everyone with a heart for jewelry and an appreciation for originality. Craftsmanship is central to the participating gold and silver smiths. All creations are Dutch Design and Made in Holland. The jewelry on display varies from ultra-modern to semi classic, offering you a broad spectrum of styles to admire.
The grand opening of this route will be Saturday May 20th.
Special for this occasion Stefan will involve you in the creation of his new jewelry line. See and feel raw materials, try some different models on and participate in the process of designing jewelry.
Check out the website for more information! www.sieradenroute.nl
Recent Posts
-
We Are Now Open! May 21,2020
-
A Featured Jewelry Designer in Our Shop. April 21,2020
-
Need Some Gift Inspiration? April 21,2020
-
What is a Rutilated Quartz Crystal? April 21,2020
-
Watch Stefan Create a New Ring From Recycling Gold August 28,2017
-
What Happens When you Combine Steel and Diamonds? July 21,2017