Jewelry as art
\nBy Thelma Sioson San Juan
\nInquirer
\nLast updated 08:23pm (Mla time) 08\/02\/2007
\nINQ7.net, Philippines<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
IT IS A PRIVILEGE TO HAVE a relaxing Saturday dinner with foremost jeweler\/artist Hans Brumann and his wife Maria. It becomes a bonus when you can talk tennis with them all you want, like how Wimbledon was a cliffhanger for Federer and Nadal (no need for first names, right?).<\/p>\n
While Mr. Brumann and his charming Maria are active golfers in Alabang\u00e2\u20ac\u201dMaria is with the club\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s super-competitive team\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthey remain passionate about tennis. When there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a Grand Slam, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re glued to the TV. (Of course, he is for Federer.)<\/p>\n
Mr. Brumann has played the game since he was a kid in Switzerland. When he moved here 40 years ago, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d compete at Manila Polo Club, back when the courts were outdoors. Imagine how a guy used to the Swiss clime would suffer the noonday scorching sun of the tropics just to win sets. I relished listening to him describe that drawn-out tiebreak, for I never thought I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d one day be talking ground strokes and volleys with an artist I admire. (These days, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s into badminton.)<\/p>\n
Like sculpture<\/p>\n
Long before minimalism, I was already a fan of Hans Brumann jewelry. His jewelry was\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand still is\u00e2\u20ac\u201dlike sculpture you can wear (if you can afford it, that is), with its highly defined line, evocative shape and subtle interplay of texture. Always innovative. Most jewelry designs are merely flashy, using diamonds and stones to dazzle. What they speak of is sheer money. With a Hans Brumann, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the design. You need a discerning eye, if not some level of intelligence, to appreciate his designs.<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always believed it takes years for a woman to develop her style and sophistication. As she matures and becomes financially independent, she can develop taste and sophistication. She should be able to afford what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been aspiring for. There are artists and brands you aspire for. Hans Brumann is one of them. You must have reached a level of sophistication and spending power to be able to afford his works.<\/p>\n
Decades back, he was partial to metals and pearls, which almost became his signature design. Ten years ago, he started using stones\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwith great flourish and cutting-edge boldness.<\/p>\n
Forty years after he migrated to Manila (reverse migration, incredible!), Brumann is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153introducing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to his clientele a stone said to be a thousand times more rare than diamonds\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtanzanite, a vibrant blue stone. It was discovered in 1967 at the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro in north Tanzania. It is said that it was the Tiffany heir, Louis Comfort Tiffany, who named the stone after its country of origin. It became a hit in the US market, and ranked as the second best-selling stone, next to sapphire.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I love its deep, vibrant color,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Brumann says of his attraction to tanzanite. Whereas all these years he was drawn to the solidity of metal, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s loved working with color more recently. The tanzanite blue is unique\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit radiates blue, violet and burgundy.<\/p>\n
Sacred color<\/p>\n
The stone is part of the folk tradition of the Maasai tribes of Tanzania. To them blue is a sacred and spiritual color, worn by women to denote their fertility. Tribal chiefs gift their wives with tanzanite upon the birth of a child to augur a healthy and prosperous life for the newborn. Tanzanite has thus come to signify motherhood and an auspicious beginning. It is the birth stone of the December-born.<\/p>\n
Brumann combines it with white gold, mother of pearl and even kamagong and white coral. He also uses it with another color stone\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtsavorites, a green stone of the garnet group.<\/p>\n
After years of covering jewelry design, which included an unforgettable trip to the De Beers diamond mine in Kimberly, South Africa, I thought I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be jaded by now. But, no, I was still in awe the afternoon I spent at Brumann\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workshop in Makati over the tanzanite jewelry pieces.<\/p>\n
There was a neckpiece of white gold intricate twig-like patterns with tanzanite stones dotting them like big blue dots; a white coral pendant; a stark, sleek crucifix; drop earrings in geometric mountings.<\/p>\n
Brumann will showcase these in a fashion and jewelry show in November, alongside the clothes of Paris-trained Cambodian designer Romyda Keth.<\/p>\n
He is also opening a big store\/gallery at Greenbelt 5, which should be a haven for Filipino artists in 2008.<\/p>\n
Brumann belongs to the ranks of foremost Filipino artists. He dropped his Swiss citizenship to be a Filipino years ago, when he came here to work for La Estrella del Norte. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost funny that now he has to apply for a Swiss visa each time he visits his native Switzerland.<\/p>\n
More important, he and his wife give Filipino youngsters scholarships.<\/p>\n
Indeed, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to go far to look for a good story and a good Pinoy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jewelry as art By Thelma Sioson San Juan Inquirer Last updated 08:23pm (Mla time) 08\/02\/2007 INQ7.net, Philippines IT IS A PRIVILEGE TO HAVE a relaxing Saturday dinner with foremost jeweler\/artist Hans Brumann and his wife Maria. It becomes a bonus when you can talk tennis with them all you want, like how Wimbledon was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[411],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n