Gem Visions, the design arm of Swarovski Gemstones, creates and recreates pieces from its very own “cabinet of curiosities” using an array of colourful gemstones. Adopting the term ‘Wunderkammer’, the old English word was derived from 16th century Europe where cabinets were seen more as rooms rather than furniture. Storing intricate heirlooms, gemstones and relics, these “wonder rooms” were deemed more valuable in knowledge the more items they contained. Already ahead of the year, Gem Visions’s 2018 edition balances precariously between organic and whimsical, as asymmetry and “still life” take precedence in its quirky collections.
Collectively translating to “nature”, “wonders” and “artefacts” from Latin, the Naturalia, Mirabilia and Artificialia collections each comprise thematic designs that paint a modern take on art and science. Each collection houses two design trends that are consulted by Gem Vision’s in-house creatives that include jewellery designers such as Sarah Ho and Isabelle Lopes, who expertly apply suitable techniques to each relevant theme.
Coral Ring by Isabelle Lopes
Jellyfish Earrings by Csaba Hegeduês
Out of Sea Rings by Karolina Bik Jewelry
The contrasting yet complementing divisions of the Daughter Earth and H2Obsession series in Naturalia carefully curate ideal colour palettes to represent earth and water, respectively. Multi-faceted blue topazes and sapphires champion the oceanic-themed jewellery, colouring in hues from white to ice blue. Peridots, smoky quartzes, marcasites, yellow sapphires and citrines adorn branch-like brooches and wood-decorated rings framed in yellow gold.
Bracelet Cuff by Vladislav Abramov-Varyukhin
Ring by Nemanja Ilic
Openjart Cornucopia Ring by Stas Zhitsky
Mirabilia takes on a more structural approach. Darker colours take place in the Perfect Flaw series using rhodolites, blue sapphires, poppy topazes and smoky quartzes; while citrines, pink sapphires, amethysts and “misty rose” topazes conquer the pastel end of the spectrum in Spolia. Brighter coloured jewellery helm the Artificialia collection, conceptualised by modern-day connoisseurship using a mixture of “age-old” or cutting-edge skills of craftsmanship. Apple green peridots, yellow sapphires and Paraiba and baby pink topazes light up white gold accessories in Hyper-Natural, or crown brilliance to three-layer rings in Shedding Layers.
