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creative
alternatives
Designing stand-out jewelry
with non-traditional materials
by Gerry Davies
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oncrete, wood, aluminum. They sound a lot more like materials you’d use in a construction project than in a pendant or
ring. Some jewelry designers, though, pair such elements with
precious metals and gemstones to produce works that are cre-
ative, distinctive, and saleable.
Non-traditional materials are nothing new in jewelry. But the right stuff in
the right hands can produce more than a curiosity or a marginally wearable
artistic statement. Some designers, guided by their aesthetic sense, marketing savvy, or both, have combined them with traditional jewelry materials to
make pieces that stand out in the marketplace. The work may serve a particular niche or, in the case of noted designers, capture attention because it
departs so conspicuously from their previous work. The jewelry may succeed, too, because it offers both an appealing design and a material—water
buffalo horn or meteorite, for example—that captures buyers’ attention.
We talked with five such designers to get the stories behind their choice
of materials.
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michael bondanza
wood
ichael Bondanza built his reputation on platinum.
Over the last three decades the New York City–based
designer has won numerous awards for his platinum
work, which enjoys prominent display at high-end retail shops.
But a few years ago he wanted to branch out from platinum.
“I wanted to do something different,” he says. “I wanted to completely reinvent myself.”
Then one day, “I literally was walking around the shop and
saw leftover blocks of rosewood,” a material he used extensively
when he first switched from carpentry to jewelry design 30
years ago.
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bondanza
Today, Bondanza speaks with authority about his woods—
how to read the grain, which woods are prone to chipping, what
finishes to use, which designs require hand carving. He’s also
developed a store of more general wisdom.
For instance, there’s a learning curve with any new alternative
material, he says, and to succeed, “You have to learn how to use
it. It may be cheaper than precious metal, but you still have to
know how to make wonderful things with it.”
Quality wood jewelry, he found, often requires as much skill
and more labor than metal, especially for more intricate designs.
“Because it’s wood doesn’t mean the process is cheaper,” he says.
“It’s just different.”
rosario merola
aluminum
talian-born Rosario Merola, who now lives in New York
City, learned the jewelry arts by doing more than studying.
He spent less than a year in art school learning goldsmithing, but four years in an intense apprenticeship. Years of
work for manufacturers in Europe and the United States followed
before he struck out on his own.
His jewelry is distinguished by its use of non-traditional materials, often mixed with gold, semiprecious stones, and pearls, in
modern, sometimes geometric designs. Aluminum, which he likes
for its rarity in the jewelry world as well as its characteristics, was
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Numerous tool purchases and learning experiences later,
Bondanza has figured out how to combine exotics such as
blackwood and rosewood, each with its own quirks, faults, and
limitations, with gold, silver, palladium, diamonds, tanzanite, and other precious materials to create high-quality,
high-end jewelry.
With his reputation and business already well-established,
Bondanza didn’t need wood to set himself apart or get attention.
“That wasn’t the purpose,” he says. Still, “I knew if I made big,
expensive wooden bracelets, people would come and look. I made
six to eight to start, and the people and vendors came to see them.
I didn’t sell many, but I got lots of publicity.”
OPENING PAGE AND LEFT: PHOTOS BY DANIEL VAN ROSSEN.
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merola
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a logical addition. “After [working with] stainless steel, titanium,
wood, and Plexiglass, I didn’t want to miss aluminum because I
didn’t see too many artists working with this material,” he says. “But
I chose it also for the color. I like its contrast with other brighter,
stronger colors.”
Aluminum limits his design options somewhat—“I have to
think and design differently…because I can’t weld it,” he says—
but he finds it advantageous in other ways. Aluminum’s light
weight makes it a good choice for large pieces, and he can change
its color by anodizing it.
Most important, aluminum has found acceptance among his
buyers.
“I was a little bit scared when I started working with it because
I thought the customers’ reaction could be to consider it a poor
material, since it is rarely used in jewelry,” he says. “But since I integrate it with stone or beads in the jewelry pieces, the customers
look at the piece as a whole. [They see it as] innovative, and a different aesthetic.”
karen konzuk
concrete
nusual though it may be for jewelry, concrete fits neatly
into Karen Konzuk’s design world.
Working out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Konzuk has
established herself as a creator of clean, minimalist designs, including a new line drawing on architectural inspirations. But she still
always tries to differentiate herself in the jewelry world.
Concrete suits her niche as well as her desire to make distinctive jewelry.
When Konzuk started 10 years ago she focused on an industrial aesthetic using materials such as steel ball bearings, silver, and
concrete. Though her aesthetic has changed somewhat, her materials largely remain those of the building world, especially steel
and concrete.
That suits her customer base: typically people in architecture,
design, and related fields, and people interested in minimalist art
jewelry. They appreciate her angular and geometric work and her
materials. “The unusualness of concrete and the two-tone grays” it
forms with steel and silver appeal to them, she says. “They also like
the idea of using materials from their industries.”
She benefits as well from her work’s durability and unisex look.
“Some men want to wear concrete bangles,” she says. “Rings are popular with men, too—especially wedding bands in concrete and steel.”
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konzuk
Concrete has its drawbacks, however. Curing takes a week,
which means she always has to work ahead. “I have to stay on top
of inventory to make sure we don’t run out,” she says. In addition,
concrete is a nasty material to fashion into jewelry, requiring grinding that generates huge amounts of dust.
Nasty or not, it’s filling a market niche that just happens to
appreciate Konzuk’s work.
“I come out with an idea and throw it out there without testing,” she says. “I don’t do any research. I just do what I like and put
it out there for people. I was confident from the start.”
catherine zadeh
water buffalo
horn
hen Catherine Zadeh was growing up in France, a
company there was making beautiful jewelry with
polished elephant hair. That ended when elephants became endangered, but Zadeh didn’t forget the jewelry. Years later, after she became a jewelry designer, she heard
of a man in the Democratic Republic of Congo making a similar material by separating out and polishing the strands of
hair that make up water buffalo horn.
Zadeh, now based in New York City, began using that hair in
her jewelry six years ago, combining it with yellow or white gold
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clasps and other parts to make distinctive bracelets, cufflinks, and
studs. The hair, which comes from an unendangered source, is
flexible enough for bracelets, but also durable.
But the masculine aspect of the material is most important to
Zadeh: She saw it as a way to create for men. “When I started
designing, men wore little jewelry other than cufflinks,” she says.
zadeh
“Meteorites are perfect for what we do because we were able to
build a good marketing story behind them,” Ploof says. Their key
selling points: They’re 4.5 million years old, and they’re from outer
space. That makes them, in Ploof ’s words, “a really cool material.”
“I like the fact that they come from the heavens,” he says, “but
they’re also really natural, and we can harvest them and combine
them with things from the earth.”
Iron meteorite can be worked like other metals, but Ploof
tries to present it in a relatively pure form, showcasing it in simple but effective designs. In rings, his main use for meteorite,
the material is often framed by precious metal rails or accented
with diamonds.
The biggest difficulty with meteorite may be finding usable
quantities. He estimates that 70 percent of what he buys, always
from reputable dealers, has to be rejected because of fissures,
cracks, or other flaws that aren’t visible until he cuts a meteorite
open or runs tests.
ploof
“They thought jewelry was too feminine.”
But as time passed, men began wearing jewelry “as long as it
wasn’t feminine-looking. It had to be understated, tailored, and
discreet.” Horn fits well, she says, because it “conveys strength
and confidence.”
It appealed to women, too. “Some women nowadays love anything in jewelry that is masculine,” Zadeh says. “They buy huge
watches and big, chunky pieces of jewelry, not dainty [pieces].” To
serve that market, she added horn bracelets with pavé diamonds.
chris ploof
meteorite
hris Ploof focuses on three very different materials in his
design work, but behind them lies one uniting principle:
They lend themselves to a good marketing story.
Two-thirds of the work coming out of his Rutland,
Massachusetts, shop is made with Damascus steel or mokumé
gane. The rest incorporates iron meteorite, a relatively rare form
of meteorite consisting mostly of nickel-iron alloys.
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Ploof has found a market for the good stuff, however. With little advertising—most people find them through his website—
meteorite rings are gaining popularity with men in general, military personnel, and New Age adherents, among others, he says.
Wedding bands are a particularly popular use, and he does a lot
of custom work.
“The material really resonates with buyers,” Ploof says. “We
tell them, ‘We make rings from some of the best materials on or
off the planet.’
“Good quality work and a good marketing story will get you
a long way. But you need both. You can be the best jeweler in the
world, but if don’t know how to sell, good luck.” N