ABOUT THE CHALLENGE
” As a jeweler, we are proud to carry Fairmined gold. We have fused ancient craftsmanship with a new way of thinking about jewelry for the 21st century. Our skilled goldsmith turns wonderful materials, sourced from people committed to sustainable production into jewelry. There is no special equipment, everything is done by hand in the workshop. Of course, fairmined gold and traceable gemstones are valuable in their own right, but the delicate work of our goldsmith makes them even more valuable as jewelry. Each piece is unique and one-of-a-kind. We hope that this new mining method will become more common and that many jewelers will adopt it, then as goldsmiths, that the old techniques will be carried on.”
Keiko Oshima
OLD MEETS NEW
Mori Bijoux
The theme of this collection is Japanese vintage style.It is based on a style that was popular decades ago, when Japanese jewellery culture was flourishing.
About the Ring
The center stone of the ring came from the MOYO project, a team of women miners in Tanzania. It is a soft coloured green beryl. The small pearls placed around it come from Ago Bay in Japan. Small pearls are becoming rarer as they are more labour-intensive to cultivate and there are fewer successors.The decoration made of gold is openworked with an arabesque pattern and gold grains are placed in places.
These images can be fresh greenery and white flower buds, plant vines and leaves, as well as calm water surfaces, water bubbles and waves. The viewer or wearer is free to imagine which it is.
The openwork composed of straight lines, which forms the basis of the rings, is a key feature. The lines are placed one by one with a fine thread saw. This technique, which is now becoming obsolete, has been adopted into the design. Even if it is invisible from the front, it is a detailed and time-consuming craftsmanship.
About the pendant charm
As every MOYO Gemstone is unique, one and only so that it is not possible to have another one for the pendant. Instead, the frame is made in the same shape as the gemstone. The surrounding decoration, which had been complementing the main stone, was then given a leading role. By making the straight line openwork, which had only served as the foundation of the ring, the center of the design, the focus is once again on a technique that had been almost forgotten.
