Vivianna Torun Bulow-Hube   Born in 1927 Vivianna Torun Bulow-Hube studied at the National College of Craft and Design in Stockholm, before opening her studio  in 1951.During a trip to Paris in 1956, she was interested by the early artifacts on display at the Musee de L'Homme. She then designed jewellery with Egyptian amulets.  Torun decided to remain and&..

The Influence of the Bauhaus   At the  Bauhaus a German design school in existence from 1919 onwards, the application of modernist principles to smaller scale design took place. Under the management of it director Walter Gropius it's stong influence on the art and design world continued even after the school was shut by the Nazi's in 1933. The Bauhaus ethos of "f..

Marcel Boucher Marcel Boucher was born in 1898. He was a French jewellery designer who produced some of the most flamboyant work in the 1940's. He trained at Cartier in Paris before moving to New York int he 1920's. In 1937 he set up his own business, Marcel Boucher et Cie. His business partner Arthur Halberstadt worked as the front of house  person in the shop, while Boucher de..

  Cartier The idea for the clip pin apparently came to Louis Cartier, the french jeweller while watching a peasant women hanging up her washing with wooden clothes pegs. This then evolved into a variet of clip types inlcuding the double  clip - this was two fur clips that could be worn seperately or worn together attached to a frame. Coro and the Duette clip Cartier ..

Sweden and Traditionalist Design Conservative tastes prevailed in Sweden in the first two decades of the 20th century. Innovation was not welcomed. Georg Jensen was admired but from a distance. The Art Nouveau and Art Deco influences from Europe were not explored until Wiwen Nilsson came onto the scene. The traditionalist design ethos in Sweden was evident at the Paris Expo in 1900..

Elis Kauppi One of the most important figures in Finish jewellery design Elis Kauppi’s vision of a new jewellery style inspired a generation of designers and launched Finland onto the international jewellery design scene. In 1945, in Turku, Finland at the age of 24 , Kauppi started his renowned jewellery workshop named Kupittaan Kulta. He was part of a young group of makers wh..

WHAT IS  PERIDOT? Peridot only comes in greens, from pale yellow green, through intense bottle green to vibrant apple green. The best material  comes from Pakistan near to the Afghan border. The large fine deposit of peridot found there have a beautiful deep colour and sell for high prices. Peridot is termed an idiochromatic gemstone. This means that the colour comes f..

WHAT IS TOURMALINE? Tourmaline was first introduced to the Western world when the Dutch beganto import tourmalines from Sri Lanka.It appeals to jewellery designers due to it's versatility and different colours which include pastels, intense neons,and unique bi - and tri-colours.The demand for the most sought after coloursmeans that the price for these colours has almost ..

TYPES OF TOURMALINE INDICOLITE - Indicolite covers all shades of blue tourmaline from blue- green turquoise colours to the strong blue of a sapphire. A lot of blue tourmaline is dark and inky. This is not popular with buyers so as a result much of blue tourmaine is heated to lighten it. RUBELITE - Rubelite is one of the most valuable and desired in the toumaline family. Th..

TYPES OF CHALCEDONY BLUE CHALCEDONY - This is a very attractive  stone with different hues ranging from lilac to periwinkle blue to lavender. The great increase in the popularity of blue chalcedony over  recent years has pushed its price up and good quality strong blue material can be  moderately expensive. CARNELIAN - Carnelian has been a popular stone for man..