26.11.08

Thoughts on jewelry I: sleepless


So last night I couldn't sleep , as usual my mind was keeping me awake, running and rolling like a train, revising appointments, ideas, thoughts and opinions, until, at some point, I had a sort of revelation. I will not describe what sort of revelation, but that is anyhow irrelevant, for you will be seeing its results on a chain of posts tagged with thoughts on jewelry... and I hope it gets interesting.
Lately I get the feeling everyone´s into jewelry, it has become a
kind of trend...
beads, glass beads, stones, gems. Etsy gives good evidence of this. Think of how many times you have probably read something like: I always dreamed of making jewelry, and then I started trying here and there, or learning from this and that book, and now.....
Look at the quantity of books about jewelry-making which are oriented towards a wider more popular audience in terms of their visual, and textual language, price, size and project suggestions, it is amazing who much the industry of DIY jewelry has boomed.
Suddenly it seems that making jewelry is a sort of panacea against the turmoils of the modern 9-5 world. An ancient profession, carried out mainly by elderly men in dusty workshops is now sorta cool.

But, do we reflect upon that which we are doing? and why? and how?
Well, that has a bit to do with last night.
I wish to do a series of posts about my reflections on jewelry...

What is jewelry and what isn´t?
How is the world of jewelry subdivided?
Who is the goldsmith?
Who is the jewelry designer?
Who is the gemmologist?
Who is the stone cutter?
Why make jewelry?
Why wear jewelry?

Next time I am going to start with a question I hear often:
Do goldsmiths only work with gold?

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