OZLEM TUNA

Nearly 1,500 years ago the ominous cathedral Hagia Sophia, located in Istanbul, Turkey, was built by the order of Roman Emperor Justinian.

Renowned for its spectacular dome, the magnificent structure was considered "the epitome of Byzantine architecture." Turkey is also home to featured jewelry designer Özlem Tuna.

AMIR HOSSEIN DELBARI

Rocky terrain and humid air are distinguishing characteristics of Chabahar Beach located in southeastern Iran. With its proximity near the Oman Sea, the area is a great place for waterskiing, canoeing, and swimming. Iran is also home to featured jewelry designer Amir Hossein Delbari.

In ancient Iran (formerly known as Persia), the 6th or 7th century saw the cultivation of the handwritten script called Khat-e-Mikhi, a series of vertical, diagonal and horizontal nail-shaped letters.

In the centuries to follow, more curvaceous, fluid alphabet scripts like Avestaaee, and Pahlavi were developed.

However, over 700 years ago two scripts, Taliq and Naskh, were combined creating the beautifully lithe and popular--yet technically difficult--script Nas'taliq.

Calligraphy is a time-honored art in many Asian countries including Japan, China, Indonesia, and India. This precision oriented form of writing is one of Delbari's many aptitudes.

"When I was 9 years old, I took my first step towards the art world by attending a calligraphy course. I am left-handed and was very fortunate to have a left-handed teacher, Ali Toussi," he recalls.

"By the time I turned 13, I started learning pottery and creating ceramic art at the same time. By 18, I had reached the advanced level of the art form."

The 28-year-old artist would later add jewelry making to his forte studying jewelry design and associated techniques at the Parsian International Institute of Jewelry, and the Tala Fonoon Institute of Art.

Delbari would implement striking calligraphic symbols, such as the Siah Mashgh style, into jewelry pieces upon establishing his company Alef Dall.

In some instances, the complexity of the symbols' form is Delbari's interest rather than its meaning. In other instances, Delbari's Talisman Pendant explores characters associated with sorcery, as well as the lovely Eslimi motifs of Islamic architecture.

Most all of Delbari's work featured online is fashioned from sterling silver without gemstones. When viewing this commanding jewelry, I sense the ominous scope of history, culture, tradition, and heritage living within them.

Although the overall physical proportion of the items is simple, the characters are so dynamic they transcend the proportions.

I still find it amazing how jewelry can encompass the history of many lives, or one life, rendering pieces that become a jeweled microcosm of a country's history, glory, and mysteries.
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Photo 1 (top right): 18-Karat Gold Eslimi Ring
Photo 2 (bottom left): Sterling Silver Siah Mashgh Pendant

KEZHA HATIER

Standing amidst Paris' 4th arrondissement is the Pompidou Centre an ominous structure of steel columns built over three decades ago by Italian and British architects. A wildly popular attraction, the building houses a public library and Europe's largest museum of modern art, Musée National d' Art Moderne. France is also the ancestral home of featured jewelry designer Kézha Hatier-Reiss.

Acute attention to one's surroundings seems to be a universal characteristic of the creatively inclined from authors who draw upon several personality types to create a single character to actors who capture nuances of voice and movement to embody a role.

I have often referenced jewelry designers' unique capacity for sensory absorption, finding design potential, and beauty in an array of materials.

Nel Linssen's (Netherlands) colorful paper jewelry and the floral-inspired, bicycle inner tube renderings of Thea Tolsma (Netherlands) are two examples of jewelers' subliminal connection to his or her environment.

A variety of Reiss' collective memories informs an aesthetic that is uniquely understated. "I spent most of my childhood on a stool in my father's workshop watching him work with leather and silver or in the museums and galleries of San Francisco and the Bay Area," says Reiss.

"I traveled extensively with my parents to Indian reservations in the United States and Canada. We went camping for weeks in remote places of the American Southwest. I spent summers combing the beaches near my grandparents' house in Tomales Bay in California.

The style of ceremonial jewelry, the colors of seashells, and the shape of gnarled wood and rocks each serve as inspiration. Many of my design ideas are also influenced by the old dress and art of my French and Native American ancestors."

In her Sun Series collection, Reiss incorporates repetition of a simple circle form to build complex yet elegant patterns. Her materials of choice include 24-karat gold vermeil, sterling silver, 18- and 22-karat gold and such stones as turquoise with swirled, black veins, gold citrine and black onyx druzy so intense in color it resembles nutrient-rich soil.

Reiss' use of small elements like the sinewy, intertwined prong settings of her flower rings evoke outstretched branches. These unusual prongs' twisting grasp of a large gemstone is poetic and lyrical.

The airy, arabesque outlines of her Coral Web items evoke the sights Reiss undoubtedly encountered during her beach combing excursions along the California coastline.


"My collections are hand carved and cast blending traditional lines and colors with modern ones. The completed piece promotes a feeling of beauty, connection, and confidence."
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Photo 1 (top right): 24-Karat Gold Vermeil Anemone Ring with Black Onyx and Druzy
Photo 2 (bottom left): 24-Karat Gold Vermeil Sun Series Choker Necklace

QUOTABLE GEMS - PAMELA ANDERSON

It's great being blonde - with such low expectations it's easy to impress.

KATE HODGSON

Eleven years ago, the London Eye Ferris wheel, located near England's River Thames, officially opened on New Year's Eve, and is still a top tourist attraction. Its circumference carries 32 egg-shaped passenger capsules each representing the London Boroughs. England is also home to featured jewelry designer Kate Hodgson.

Timeless and classic form in jewelry design is central to the creations of such designers as Melissa Joy Manning (USA), and Shona Macaulay Fidgett (Scotland).

Designs often implemented are geometric structures and cultural iconography; however, longstanding Finnish brand Lapponia Jewelry (Lapponia) redefines the concept of classic design with organic, abstract form.

Lapponia's approach to `timeless' jewelry styles, in my opinion, exemplifies that classic form can be subtle yet imperfect and that mere form, however non-descript, is beautiful.

To a certain degree, Hodgson's understated jewelry is also based within subtle, natural composition.

As the collection's name suggests, her Petal Collection highlights the unique qualities of a recognizable form, however the category or species of the petal is unknown making it non-descript in that sense.

Implementing 18-karat yellow and rose gold, sterling silver and platinum, Hodgson works with patinated, oblong petal forms arranging them in circular layouts to create a flower bloom ring and brooch, or placing two, sculpted petals beside each other providing an illusory type form not connected to a flower.

Hodgson's Fold Collection works along the same lines where slivers of folded, patinated metal are arranged into a sleek and highly idiosyncratic setting for a ring. These folded slivers take on an edgy rocker vibe when combined with sterling silver chain links.

In addition to patina, the 11-year-veteran enjoys incorporating different techniques to add subtle color to her "imprint" commitment rings and bangles.

Publications including The Telegraph, Marie Claire, Vogue, and InStyle have featured Hodgson's modestly detailed jewelry in their pages.
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Photo 1 (top right): Patinated Sterling Silver Petal Ring
Photo 2 (bottom left): Sterling Silver Imprint-Commitment Rings