Last August I had the pleasure of writing in my Hebrew blog about a unique project for jewelry designers in honor of the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon.
This month is the 5th anniversary of the Colombia space shuttle crash and Ilan’s death. In this project, Israeli jewelry designers designed pieces inspired by John Lennon’s song “Imagine” which Ilan chose to take to space with him and even read his own translation. Ilan spoke of this song, his personal favorite, in the context of a world with no boundaries. In the opening session the participants met with Rona, Ilan’s widow, and watched a movie about Ilan’s work. “In this unique project the artist is manifested as a world of its own, and the imagination is limitless and endless…” said Rona.
I’m happy to present here a few of the models that were designed in the project. My favorite is this necklace, designed by Orna Galila named “Brotherhood of man” or “28”. This necklace is made of different images of people made in brass coated with silver, oxidized silver, gold and rose gold. The piece was inspired by the number 28 which stands for mathematic perfection. The piece sets out to represent humanity by creating a harmony of the four races.

Another piece you can see here is “Become the master of your own destiny” by Keren Peleg-Kvody.  This necklace is made to “make wishes come true” and it was inspired by the known Chinese fortune cookies.

I find Hadas Reisberg’s creation, named “on a personal note”, very interesting. These are name tags made of silver , slides, magnets and a drawing board. Hadas says: “The name tags were inspired by the hope of everyone’s right to maintain its ‘self’ and nurture individualism”.

The exhibition showcasing all the pieces created in the “Imagine” project will open on January 28th. The opening is ‘invitations only’ but you are all welcome to come to the lobby of the David Intercontinental hotel in Tel Aviv, enjoy the works and maybe even become inspired to a better world. Entrance is free.

2007 was a jewelry filled year – according to a survey held by the ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, published today at The Marker, 49% of the adult women in Israel have purchased jewelry in the passing year.
The necklace, as I’ve written before, maintains its place s the most popular and most purchased item and was bought by 72% of the women who bought jewelry.
It seems the women in Israel mainly buy non-expensive jewelry – 60% of purchased pieces cost less than 200 NIS and only about 5% cost over 2,000 NIS. The piece we spend the most over is a ring, with a yearly average of 500 NIS.
There is an alleged contradiction between most women’s declarations that they do not compare prices before buying a jewel and the fact that most stated it is not an “impulse buy”. I think though that since we are talking about jewelry, each piece different and unique, there is really no room for comparison (certainly not of the prices).

I would like to take this chance to wish our talented Israeli jewelry designers a fruitful, creative and inspiring year and a lot of pleasure from their creations to all of us!

Rotem

Gold is a relatively rare metal which does not react with most chemicals. This is why gold appears in nature in an almost pure form and it is very shiny. This combination of qualities, along with the easiness of processing it, had turned gold from a rock to a status symbol – we wear gold, we decorate with gold, we use it as a basis of the monetary system and, recently some have begun to eat gold (but I will not go into that).
Gold has a variety of uses but we are interested, of course, in the use of gold to create jewelry. I’m writing this post to clarify some basic terms in relevance to gold jewelry.
First – Karats. We are all familiar with the indication of karats (14 karats, 18k, 22k) next to jewelry but many are not sure of the true meaning. Karat indicates purity in precious metals - the percentage of pure gold in an alloy (Carat, with a “c” indicates weight of precious stones). The basis is that 24 karats indicates total purity so if a piece of jewelry is made of a metal that is 50% gold it will be designated as 12k and so on. Since gold is a very soft metal, it is mixed with other metals to create jewelry and we can find jewelry containing gold up to 22k but not pieces made of pure gold.
And now, the colors.  As mentioned, gold is mixed with different metals to create alloys. Different alloys have different colors and the most common ones are yellow gold, white gold and rose (red) gold.
Yellow gold is, so to speak, the “regular” and familiar gold. White gold is an alloy with Palladium, nickel and sometimes with zinc and its color is similar to silver or platinum. Rose gold is an alloy of gold and copper, giving the reddish color. The higher the percentage of copper in the alloy – the redder the color will be.
Which gold do you prefer? Write and tell me about it.

Debbii Menashe has been creating and designing jewelry since she was 16. Her start was at the WIZO high school, majoring in jewelry design, continuing to college and to working in some of the biggest jewelry companies in Israel such as “G.R.A.S” and others. She is independent for a few years now, working out of her studio in Haifa.
“Jewelry making is the love of my life”, says Debbii, “I can’t imagine myself doing anything else (and I’ve tried several professions)”. With over 15 years of experience in creating jewelry, Debbyii derives pleasure in each and every step of the creation process – from the concept, through the sketch and finally hand crafting the piece itself. Indeed, a high quality and great thought for details is evident in her creations. Starting to work for herself has allowed Debbii a great freedom of thought and creation to follow her sources of inspiration. She finds inspiration in the nature and all that surrounds her while noticing the small things that seem trivial to most of us. The clasp of a bra, for example, is behind the interesting connection of the links in this charming bracelet.

The pieces are created in combinations of silver, gold and gemstones and Debbii also created custom jewels for her clients.
Debbii Menashe

Varda Lev is first and foremost an artist. Having been fascinated by art, crafts were her favorite subject in school and she used to saw and knit when she was only a child. Over the years, Varda had made many attempts in various fields of plastic arts, from ceramics to stained glass, and also has a degree in Art history.
A couple of years ago Varda accidentally found herself in a jewelry making course and from there – in the jewelry world – “by chance or rather not” as she defines it. The course gave her the basic skills with which she creates her own designs. “My enthusiasm from the course was so great that I no longer had any doubt that this will be my profession and my business”, says Varda.
In the jewelry Varda designs we can see many sources of inspiration but what really stands out is the use of crochet knitting which, according to her, gives us the long passed ‘homey’ feeling of a grandmother knitting. Indian art is as well one of her sources of inspiration and she even creates ‘Dream catchers’. Most of the jewelry Varda creates are knitted from gold and silver lace threads, colored brass strings and gold and silver colored Alpaca threads with different combinations of gems and crystals.
It is very interesting, in my opinion, to see Varda’s interpretation of the circles necklaces that we can see with many designers these days. Varda succeeds in giving the necklace her own special touch as you can see here below.
In the near future, Varda plans to deepen and advance her knowledge and skills as a goldsmith and there is also an exhibition of her works planned – Here is a designer worth keeping an eye for!
Varda Lev

In anticipation for the upcoming winter, Aliza Hershkovitz gives us a few suggestions on how to maintain a stylish look:

- Though we usually wear long and closed pieces of clothing during the winter, there is no need to give up on one the most important elements in our look – jewelry.
- Long necklaces will highly compliment and upgrade blouses.
- Broaches are vital during winter time and they make a perfect example of pieces of jewelry that can stand out, even while wearing a scarf that hides the neck area.
- Leather jewelry, close to the neck can be warming and give a prestigious royal look at the same time. A leather collar, for example, is highly recommended.
- Jewelry combining silver, gold and gemstones will assist in achieving a unique look while wearing turtle-neck shirts and can make any outfit interesting and appealing.

Enjoy the winter time,
Aliza Hershkovitz
Personal and business image consultant
Email: alizabet@smile.net.il

According to yesterday’s issue of The Marker, Michal Negrin is opening 5 new shops in Israel and 2 more in Mexico.
200 thousand dollars were invested in each of the new shops in Mexico, joining the chains shops in the US, the Far East, South Africa, Brazil and many European countries.
The new shops in Israel will be located at the Dizengoff center and Ramat Aviv mall in Tel aviv, The 7 stars mall of Hertzeliya and the Kiryat Ono mall.
Michal Negrin is, without a doubt, one of the most successful and known Israeli jewelry designers and her creations were even featured in the last Harry Potter movie. Michal will now have 27 shops in Israel and 29 (!!) additional shops all over the world.
Michal Negrin

Michal Kassov-Levy has been an artist for many years now – she had been painting, done different sculpture work and graduated for the “Meimad” school of visual art. A few years ago Michal that a goldsmith is what she is really meant to be: the required technical abilities, side by side with her talent and experience in painting and designing form, for Michal, an inspiring combination, bearing endless possibilities.
And indeed one can clearly see the dynamic between Michal’s rich experience in painting and her skill as a goldsmith in the jewelry she designs. Almost all the pieces she designs are decorated using engraving or etching and they include many ‘Israeli’ motives: pomegranates, grains, grape clusters, hamsa and many Jewish motives. “When I create a piece of jewelry I imagine that it is a part of a lost treasure”, says Michal and indeed many of her jewelry have an ethnic, yet unique, look. There are only a few pieces of many of the designs.
The ‘treasure’ concept takes on another meaning in some of Michal’s designs which enfold more than the eye can se at a first glance. A perfect example can be seen in the two following rings, made of two layers: the decoration on the bottom layer being partially hidden by the top layer.
I admit it was quite difficult to decide which pieces from Michal’s collection to present to you and I highly recommend diving into her website and enjoying the magnificent pieces presented there.

Michal Kassov-Levy

Neta Harpaz studied to be a goldsmith and jewelry designer over 15 years ago at the WIZO College in Haifa. Her final project received good reviews and was chosen to represent Israel in a design exhibit in Munich, Germany. Neta was motivated to continue crating and designing jewelry but then her daughter was born and Neta became a full-time mom – and stopped working. She had later started teaching, which she continues doing. A “slipped disc” a few years ago brought Neta to take a long leave of absence with a lot of free time on her hands: “Time for thoughts, time for ideas and my hands really started to yearn for all the tools I used to work with” says Neta.
Neta started designing her unique Mezuzahs and continued to create the medallions. Neta’s presentation at the 2006 Jovella exhibition received lots of interest which motivated Neta to design jewelry as well, in different styles.
A self-proclaimed lover of advanced design technology, Neta uses laser and computers in her design process but it is very important for her to conserve the ancient gold crafting “the work with the burner, placing, flattening, the hammers, in short – the manual work”.
Neta’s unique mezuzahs, a few of which you can see here, are all hand-made and so there are no two alike. They are all made of silver, gold plated silver and semi-precious stones and they definitely provide a personal touch at the very entrance to the house.
The inspiration for the jewelry Neta’s designs comes from a rather surprising source- while many jewelry designers spoke here about the nature and the people around them as source of inspiration, Neta, being highly technical, gets hers from the tools themselves. Watching the tools, different machines and machine parts are those inspire her creativity. She is also inspired by Judaism and one can see phrases from the bible incorporated in some of pendants.
Nets’a creations can be purchased in many shops in Israel and in her Kfar Vardim studio, where she works and creates.
Neta Harpaz

I’m happy to present to you today Lital Mendel, also a sophomore at the Shenkar College of engineering and design. Getting involved in jewelry design was not random to her but not obvious too and it happened following her re-acquaintance with an old friend who was studying at the Betzalel academy of arts at the time. Lital, who was studying for her BA at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, was then exposed to ‘professional’ designing and understood that she could seriously and professionally do something she used to consider a hobby. The road to jewelry design from there was obvious according to her: “Jewelry to me are something very personal with a deep emotional connection to the wearer, weather they were given as a gift, inherited or purchased.” The connection between the jewelry and the body and the way they affect each other, combine and change also intrigues her.
Lital’s designs which drew my attention at the Jovella exhibition (some of which you can see here) were part of a project with the Aviram Toledo company. The concept Lital dealt with was childhood memories and secrets and she set out to design “jewelry that have a secret only the wearer knows.” The idea was to give a twist to known objects that will demand a second look. Lital chose to use the clover that usually symbolizes luck and for her is related with childhood, innocence and wishes. She created the dog tag, a well known object, but with an unusual setting. She further created a ring with a revolving top showing clovers in different colors and a Bombay ring that appears simple on the outside, but made of embossments and engravings on the inside. You can also see here Lital’s creations from a bridal jewelry project with the Swarovsky company and here unusual perspective of heart jewelry in these too charming necklaces.