Baselworld 2017: Stenzhorn to Bring Fairytale Jewellery to Exhibition
At last year’s Baselworld exhibitions there were not many jewellers whose pieces made a lasting impression. But among those who presented something striking to the public was the German company Stenzhorn with The Noble Ones collection.
The Noble Ones consisted of three High Jewellery necklaces with a central motif in the form of a flower, each dedicated to the time of year in Chinese culture. The success of the four jewels can be attributed to the combination of different factors: the exquisite design, the virtuosity of the invisible setting technique and the impeccable quality of each piece. I’m sure that many are already keen to know what Stenzhorn will surprise us with this year – so I’m going to give you an exclusive preview of two new lines.
The Noble Ones collection by Stenzhorn
The jewelled creations of Stenzhorn are characterised by pure aesthetics – and you simply cannot rebut this. However, another strength of the jewellery company is its technological achievements, well beyond the reach of some. Klaus Stenzhorn, founder of the jewellery brand, has always experimented with jewellery making techniques and has tried to bend the boundaries of design with an unusual method of setting gemstones. For example, in some items where the mystery setting is used, sapphires, rubies or emeralds create the illusion of a sparkling blanket. They are so tightly fixed side by side with hidden claws that the metal between them just vanishes. Klaus felt that it was time to present a new method of embellishing a jewel with gems, and created this collection called Muse.
Have you ever caught yourself thinking, when admiring large diamonds, that you’d like to own something of the like? If so, with the advent of new technologies this has become possible – all without the heft price tag. In the new Stenzhorn collection, modestly sized diamonds in various shapes are positioned in a way that makes them look like one large asscher or emerald-cut stone. The jewelled mosaic is built around a central diamond, the largest in the composition although its size can vary. As a result, the effect of a single diamond weighing between one and five carats is created, meaning Stenzhorn customers can pamper themselves both with more everyday jewels and also with more dazzling pieces. In fact, this technique is not used just for jewellery with diamonds, some coloured stones can also be stacked to create this kind of spectacular effect.
And now let’s move on from high technologies and dream a little, because the jewels from the new High Jewellery collections Snow White and Red Rose are the jewelled embodiments of a fairy tale with happy ending. The two necklaces, as the name implies, were inspired by the eponymous tale by the Brothers Grimm, a story which tells the tale of two sisters, a brunette called Snow White and a blonde called Red Rose. The first is cheerful and lively, she enjoys spending time in the open air, and the necklace with a lush rose blossom is dedicated to her. The second is modest and meek, so Klaus Stenzhorn embodies her character in a closed white bud. The flower itself and every millimeter of the base of the necklace is in the form of rose stem covered in diamonds of varying shapes. They are pavé set on white gold or invisibly set on rose petals.
“Rose Red was lively and cheerful, so we used the invisible setting to create her luscious rose. For us this jewellery technique is always the best way to exalt the beauty and the natural movement of flowers,” says Klaus Stenzhorn. The pieces described above and a few other new collections can be seen at the exhibition in Basel in the Stenzhorn salon – Hall 2.1 Salon D01.
WORDS
Katerina Perez With more than 12 years’ experience in the jewellery sector, Katerina Perez’s expert knowledge spans everything from retail sales and management to content creation, including brand building, jewellery writing and styling. Born and raised in St Petersburg, Katerina’s favourite hobby as a child was playing with the treasures in her grandmother's jewellery box, inspiring a lifelong love of jewellery from a very early age. She spent five years in St Petersburg University of Culture and Arts studying not journalism but business studies and languages, and her writing skills have developed as her passion for her favourite subject – jewellery – has grown. This is why her writing comes straight from the heart rather than the pages of a book. Daughter of an entrepreneur mother, Katerina exchanged her retail management job for jewellery writing in 2013 and hasn’t looked back since.
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