Featured wire jewelry designer: Anna Cordner from Noria Jewelry

Welcome to a unique and fantastic world of intricate and at the same time very detailed and delicate statement wire wrapped jewelry. The world of Anna Cordner, the owner of Noria Jewelry. She runs her shop from her home studio in northern Virginia. Anna opened her shop in April of 2009.

“My mother’s father is a geologist and lapidary, my dad made jewelry when I was young and my mother involved me in her many arts and crafts projects. 

I always had a keen interest in rocks as a child and my grandfather’s knowledge and enthusiasm fueled this interest. 

The crafting and creative atmosphere my parents provided for me led to a talent in drawing. As a youth I made jewelry from beads I made from polymer clay, strung glass beads on necklaces and learned to use needle nose pliers to open and close jump rings.

Making jewelry was a very natural, easy and fun activity but it wasn’t until after the birth of my first son that I considered selling jewelry. I found I needed to seriously undertake a creative outlet to help me adjust to motherhood but to justify the cost of buying supplies, selling my creations had to be a part of the equation."

"I started out making beaded bracelets. 

Then one day I was on the internet and stumbled upon another artist’s wire wrapped jewelry. I had never seen advanced wire wrapping techniques and was highly intrigued. 

I researched wire wrapping online and decided to venture beyond beading. 

Through much trial, error and experimentation I began to understand and eventually gain a command of wire wrapping. 

My long-forgotten drawing skills have been put to use drafting sketches and designing new pieces."

“It is the continuous experimentation and learning that I find so enjoyable, besides pouring my mind’s fanciful wishes and artistic fantasies into something tangible.”

Can you describe the steps you take in designing and creating a piece?

“I start with a sketch. I know some designers prefer to create more organically but I rely on having a precise roadmap for my pieces. 

I can recreate them almost exactly if I have my sketch. 

Generally, I begin with a base shape of wire then embellish with ‘supporting’ detail flourishes. Other times the stones primarily determine the design.” 

What inspires you?

“I find inspiration from Indian mehndi and henna and their use of bold colors. 

I also find much inspiration in the vast elements of Victorian and Edwardian styles, particularly the floral motifs and filigree lines. 

Stones are inspiration to me, from the rough and uncut specimens to sparkling gemstones. 

Lastly, nature is a great source of inspiration. Sometimes when I find myself at a creative roadblock, I look at various types of flowers, finding patterns or color and delicate lines to help me along in generating my own designs.”

What inspires you?

“I find inspiration from Indian mehndi and henna and their use of bold colors. 

I also find much inspiration in the vast elements of Victorian and Edwardian styles, particularly the floral motifs and filigree lines. 

Stones are inspiration to me, from the rough and uncut specimens to sparkling gemstones. 

Lastly, nature is a great source of inspiration. Sometimes when I find myself at a creative roadblock, I look at various types of flowers, finding patterns or color and delicate lines to help me along in generating my own designs.”

Accessories Special: Milivoj Varga from V and H Bags

I am Milivoj Varga, I was born in Croatia, in Cakovec where I still live today, and I’m a husband and father. I finished  the school of art in Varaždin – clothing and textile designer. After I finished college I was hired in a fashion factory where I worked for many years in insdustrial designs – casual style for women. I also met my wife there. Besides working in an industry, I have equipped myself  with a small workshop at home where I could work on some other designs, because I couldn’t achieve it on my official workplace. 

With my designs I have participated on many national and international fairs and shows where I achieved very high and noticed results.

I met Ivan Halec  in his studio few years ago, in Slovenia, in Murska Sobota where he was born and where he lives. He is also a husband and a father but he also has the title of a grandfather. Ivan finished high school for chefs, later he enrolled the road traffic, but today he works as an economist. Since he was a kid he loved manual work, precisely knitting and crocheting, and his skills really surprised me. He has exhibited his artwork all over Slovenia and outside of borders of Slovenia.

Since we are from two defferent states, we can’t work together every day, so Ivan comes to my workshop in Croatia once a week. When every detail of the model is arranged we put everything together.

Currently we don't have any trading, exept on Etsy and all our works are exhibited in Ivan's studio in Slovenia. If you decide to come to Slovenia we will be glad if you could visit the studio in which you won't see just jewerly and accessories but real crocheted art works.

When the artist has that ‘wire for art’, he sees the world differently than other people, so even the most regular and uninteresting thing has some detail which inspires me and from which I can create some copletely new and different story. 

There are endless ideas in my head which are keeping me to go on and when one piece isn’t done yet, the other, completely new piece is pushed. As a result of that, sometimes I know how to do several things at once. I want every piece of jewerly or accessories to be different that the piece before it.

When there’s an idea in my head I put it on a piece of paper, I draw the model and touch up every detail. After that I make patterns on a paper which I will cut out later. The following thing is a phone call or an e-mail to a friend in which we make a deal. He will make every necessary crocheted pieces or pieces made of thread, plastic, shoulderstraps, buckles etc. and I will make my part – sewing for the bag, or the hard part for jewerly – hooks and straps. When all the parts are ready, we are going to sew the bag and finish the piece.  

What inspires you?

It would be easier to answer the question “What doesn’t inspires me?”.. I think that there isn’t a thing on this world that can’t give me some idea in my head, or can’t be my inspiration. I like nature, flowers, natural materials, and I also like antiques so I don’t throw anything because there is always something that can be done from that piece – sometnig new, modern and fresh. For example, you have an old bag or jewerly, but there is always something that you can take of, renew, reconstruct..but in most of the cases hey are just an inspiration for a new piece of jewerly or accessory.

What I would like, as the all artists do, is that every one of our creations finds its master, or find some studio or gallery in the world to call home. 

I would also like to say to women and girls to be free to contact us, express some of your wishes and we will be glad to help you, to make a piece of a jewerly or accessory that you wish. 

Each of our designs can be made in different colours and combinations and our years of working experience  guarantees you a high quality product.

The thing I always do is making a complete story, connection from jewerly to accessories, and if you look in our shop everything is made in sets –  earrings, necklace, belt and the bag. I plan to open one more shop with my wife, but there are some doubts about clothes, and I hope that, after about a month or two, the shop will be open.

Milivoj Varga.

Art Special: Emil Hadjiiski - Wood Art Jewelry from Bulgaria

If you like the warm autumn tones and wood colors and if you are looking for something really special, either for yourself or for a girl friend, make sure you look at Emil Hadjiiski’s wood work. His pieces are delicate, elegant and they will add a very feminine touch to your hair accessories.

Emil’s pieces are made of wood, polished into beautiful lines and curves, mixed with unique gemstones.

“I am Emil Hadjiiski and I am from Sofia, Bulgaria. This is a small, but very beautiful country in Europe. I work at home, I’ve turned the biggest room in the house into a workshop and I spend most if my time there, listening to some great music like Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull. I have to admit that I am addicted to music, I can’t work without it, I can’t sleep without it, well, I can’t breathe without it!”

I have studied here in Bulgaria to become a shoe designer, but apparently this was not my thing, I discovered that later when, one night, instead of drawing shoe designs, I drew a shoe-looking barrette. 

I wanted to see what will come out of it, so I made it from brass and I liked it, I liked it a lot! Back then I  worked with all kinds of metals. And from 1990 to 1993 that was all I’ve been doing - making bracelets, barrettes, earrings, and then I sold them to different shops (here in our capital Sofia and on our sea shore (The Black sea).

I remember thinking I was pretty good at this, until one jewelry maker saw my work and shamed me good. He saw the potential, but it was rough. He also saw my flaws and didn’t spare me of anything. When I think back at that time I think of it as a turning moment in my life, he challenged me, and I excepted the challenge. That was the first moment when I was introduced to woodworking, he taught me everything he knew, to look at every little detail, to follow the grain of the wood. 

“Every piece of wood is unique, it would guide you through its grain, through its weakness or strength, follow it and you won’t make a mistake!”  Those were his words (translated in English, but I think you got the meaning).

Anyway, I thank him for that, because working with wood is the best thing in my life, after my beautiful, smart and loving daughter, who is very supportive of me!

I spend a lot of time drawing, sometimes I see a piece of wood and draw right on it, because I use it’s patterns and I let it guide me to the shape it’s meant to be. But most if the time I spend drawing in my notebook. Sometimes I even wake up in the middle of the night with a design in my head and grab a pencil. Now when I think of it, that happens very often and in my opinion that way were born the true beauties of my work.

So when I draw something that I like, I imprint it on wood of my choosing, I cut of the wood, and then the hard work begins. I spent many hours varnishing that same piece to make it  flawless, and everything is done by hand. I use 3 different sandpapers to make it smooth. The next part is for embellishing and protecting the wood surface  –  wood finishing. sanding, polishing with many different high quality oils.  I want my work to be shine but in a natural way, not in artificial way, so I use only natural products.

My source of inspiration is everything around me! The world is my inspiration! I find it in my family, my friends, in  music, books, the beauty of our nature… Life is beautiful, and the thing that inspires and motivates me is that I can contribute to that beauty! But most importantly my 23 year old daughter Petya is my biggest contribution to the world, and my greatest inspiration!

We opened our Etsy shop (me and my daughter) December last year and it was the best decision ever, since then I’ve been full of inspiration. I’ve been creating new designs and evolving, and if I have to be honest I have so many new ideas, the only bad thing is that I don’t have the time to make all of them, because God gave me only two hands! And I want to do so much more…

I want my work to be unique 

The feeling of making people happy and be appreciated is irreplaceable!

Emil Hadjiiski.

Featured designer: Taylor Twigg Taylor’s Eclectic - Washington DC Area, U.S.A.

 Lightweight, romantic, pastel colors, the perfect combination for any romantic style loving woman or girl! Taylor’s Eclectic’s designs are one of a kind, innovative, wearable art. Read about her and her designs in the following article.

How It All Began

Taylor: “I started my artistic adventure after transferring from a US college to an American university in London as a history major. I was required to take an art class, and I chose photography. Photography has always been a passion of mine. After that one class, I realized that I preferred to have my hands doing something instead of dusting off old books in the library for research. 

I was very, very lucky in that my university professors chose to present art in a less traditional, less formal manner. We were given concepts or ideas and told to go do. We chose our mediums, chose our method of presentation, and chose how to perceive those concepts and ideas. I have always preferred to go my own way, and for me, this environment was perfect. 

By my senior year, I really began to view myself as an artist for the first time in my life. My professors really gave me the confidence to view myself in a different way. Without them, I truly do not know where my life would have led me, and I will always be so very grateful to them for helping me to truly see myself. 

The Jewelry Side of my Art

After graduating from Richmond, the American University in London in 2007, I returned home to the wilds of West Virginia to pursue my art and got a bit overwhelmed by the absolute freedom. I spent nine months sculpting an incredible clay sculpture. I tend to work in minute details, and this piece was perhaps the most detailed and complex piece I have ever done. But when I completed it, I ended up burning myself out and losing my passion for it. 

I have long had a love affair with jewelry, and I decided to pursue that passion. Jewelry to me has always been more than a pretty thing to wear around your neck. I like it to mean something, to evoke something. I have always used jewelry to change my mood or to change how I view myself. At times, jewelry has been like a shield for me, and at other times my beacon of confidence. 

I can pull any piece out of my jewelry box and tell you what it meant to me at that time in my life, and why.

I wanted to create this same sort of emotion within my own jewelry line. Paper to me was always a natural choice. It has so many facets to it and is such an underestimated medium. I wanted my paper to be as strong as the metals it was incorporated with, and as beautiful as any gemstone. I wanted my jewelry to be as complex as my clay sculptures, but so much more delicate. And above all, I wanted my pieces to have meaning to people. 

My Paper Technique

I spent many months developing my paper sculpting process. It is not paper mache. It is not paper stretching. It is not decoupage. What is it? It’s my own specialized process. It’s my own specialized sealants. It’s a piece of jewelry with an obsessive attention to detail and hours of hand sculpting. Working in intricate detail has a strangely calming effect on me. The backs of my work are just as neat and clean as the fronts. I never send out a piece that I am not proud of. I never cut corners. 

I will also at this point not do tutorials or share my technique. The art world is exceptionally competitive, and I was told in university by a brilliant artist to never give away whatever you can make unique about your work. I hope that you will understand that, and hopefully you will appreciate that. 

I am an entirely self taught jeweler, which is incredibly difficult at times, and has an incredibly steep learning curve. I spend a lot of time failing at things before I succeed. But I am so grateful to spend my days and nights sculpting jewelry that I feel has a purpose and a meaning. I hope that these pieces will mean something to you as well, and that they will be as relevant to you in twenty years as they are to you today. 

Inspirations and Other Things

I am inspired by everything around me, as broad as that might sound. Nature is a constant font of ever changing beauty and inspiration. Movies inspire me. The atmosphere described in a book. Textiles, particularly lace work and embroidery. Sunlight behind leaves on a windy day is my personal kryptonite. As are the stars, which I can never quite capture in my art and it endlessly frustrates me. I like to look at the jewelry people wear and wonder how I can get them into my jewelry. My cat Lucy and I also have long discussions about potential concepts...he’s part Siamese, so he can be rather mouthy. 

My favorite piece is always my next piece. My newest pieces always represent some sort of growth to me. I never sketch primarily because I sketch very badly...although I do well with circles and lines. 

All of my designs are always floating around in my head, and I will work through a design in my head for months until I finally pick up my pliers and wire and make it happen...if the wire lets me. As Alexander Calder said, wire has a mind of its own. Wire is never quite as accommodating as you might think, and it generally likes to have the lead.

My favorite color is blue. Particularly royal blue. 

I often get asked by bloggers in interviews where I hope to be in ten years. I hope to be better than I am today. I hope to have grown within my medium. I hope to have pursued my passion for writing. I hope to be sculpting in clay again. I hope that I can pursue photography again. I hope to still have passion. 

But, as with anything in life, I know that hard work is the only thing that makes hoping worthwhile. 

So I hope that I am still working hard, and I hope that the hard work pays off. As Robert Frost said, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep.” 

Tiffany & Co.

We have all heard of them, we have all been enchanted by their diamonds. Here is the story behind Tiffany & Co.

For centuries they have been around, a trademark for luxury and diamonds, a brand for royalty and superstars. But when and how did it all start?

The 1830s in New York City were a time of dynamic growth and golden opportunity for anyone with a little capital and an abundance of imagination. In 1837 New York became the proving ground for 25-year-old Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young, who opened a “stationery and fancy goods” store with a $1,000 advance from Tiffany’s father.

The young entrepreneurs were inspired by the natural world, which they interpreted in patterns of simplicity, harmony and clarity. 

Tiffany first achieved international recognition at the 1867 Paris World’s fair. The company was awarded the grand prize for silver craftsmanship. Tiffany was the first American company to employ the British silver standard (92% pure). Largely through the efforts of Charles Lewis Tiffany, this standard was adopted by the U.S. Government.

The Tiffany & Co. silver studio was the first American school of design. Apprentices were encouraged to observe and sketch nature, and to explore the vast collections of sketches and artwork assembled by Edward C. Moore, the celebrated silversmith and head of the studio. 

By 1870 Tiffany & Co. had become the America’s premier silversmith and purveyor of jewels and timepieces. At the turn of the 20th century the company had more than one thousand employees and branches in London, Paris, and Geneva.

Having introduced major gemstones to the United Stated through purchases of the crown jewels of France and Spain, Mr. Tiffany’s enterprise was now the world’s diamond authority. 

At the same time, the world had embarked on the Age of Expositions that took place in Europe and America. At every venue, Tiffany won the highest honors. The company’s exhibit at the 1889 Paris fair was heralded as “the most extraordinary collection of jewels ever produced by an American jewelry house.” 

Tiffany produced an equally praiseworthy collection for the 1900 Paris fair, along with magnificent silver pieces based on Native American designs. 

This unprecedented number of awards led to Tiffany’s appointment as Royal Jeweler to the crowned heads of Europe, as well as the Ottoman Emperor and the Czar of Russia.

In 1878 Tiffany acquired one of the world’s largest and finest fancy yellow diamonds from the Kimberley diamond mines in South Africa. Under the guidance of Tiffany’s eminent gemologist, Dr. George Frederick Kunz, the diamond was cut from 287.42 carats to 128.54 carats with 82 facets, which gave the stone its legendary fire and brilliance. Named the Tiffany Diamond, the stone became an exemplar of Tiffany craftsmanship.

In 1886 Tiffany introduced the engagement ring as we know it today. Previously, diamond rings were set in bezels. But Mr. Tiffany’s ring was designed to highlight brilliant-cut diamonds by lifting the stone off the band into the light. This famous ring was named the Tiffany® Setting. To this day, it is the most sought-after symbol of true love.

With the death of Charles Lewis Tiffany in 1902, Louis Comfort Tiffany, the founder’s son, became Tiffany’s first art director. His position as America’s leading designer was well established by 1882, when President Chester Arthur invited him to redecorate the White House. 

By 1900 the younger Tiffany was a world leader in the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts movements. The famed artist created a remarkable range of designs, from technically brilliant leaded glass to colorful enameled and painterly jewels based on American plants and flowers.

Throughout the jeweler’s history, the most prominent members of American society were Tiffany customers. Vanderbilts, Astors, Whitneys and Havemeyers adorned their evening dress in Tiffany diamonds and commissioned the company to produce gold and silver services. 

President Lincoln purchased a seed pearl suite for his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, in 1861; and a young Franklin Roosevelt purchased a Tiffany engagement ring in 1904.

As the 20th century progressed, Tiffany designs captured the spirit of the times, from the extravagance of the 1920s to the modernism of the 1930s and the aerodynamic age of the 1940s and 1950s. 

Tiffany china set the stage for White House dinners and Tiffany jewels accented the elegant clothes of the world’s most glamorous women, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Vreeland. 

Very often Jean Schlumberger created their jewels. This great 20th century jewelry designer arrived at Tiffany in 1956. His bejeweled flowers, birds and ocean life remain the pride of Tiffany & Co.

In 2012 Tiffany marked its 175th anniversary. In honor of this milestone, the Tiffany Diamond was reset in a magnificent necklace of dazzling white diamonds. After traveling to gala celebrations in Europe, Asia and the United States, the diamond in its new setting returned to its permanent place of honor on the Main Floor of Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue store. 

This priceless gem is symbolic of a heritage based on the highest standards of quality and design excellence. These standards have made Tiffany & Co. one of America’s great institutions, a world-renowned jeweler with over 200 stores worldwide, and something more: the trusted maker of gifts that will be treasured for a lifetime. 

Photos in this story:

- DONALD CLAFLIN JEWELRY DESIGNS

Photo credit: Carlton Davis

Donald Claflin jewelry designs, from left: sapphire ring with colorless and yellow diamonds; amethyst brooch with diamonds and emeralds; yellow beryl brooch with diamonds; sapphire ring with colorless and yellow diamonds; green tourmaline brooch with emeralds; colorless and yellow diamonds; sapphire ring with emeralds and diamonds

- CHARLES LEWIS TIFFANY AND CHARLES T. COOK

Photo credit: The Jewelers’ Circular

Company founder Charles Lewis Tiffany is seen here in his Union Square store at the age of eighty-seven, with Charles T. Cook, who assumed the reins of leadership after Tiffany died in 1902.

- THE NEW YORK FLAGSHIP

Photo credit: © Andrew Bordwin

In 1940, Tiffany & Co. moved to its current location at 727 Fifth Avenue, at the corner of Fifty-seventh Street. The granite and limestone building, with Art Deco influences and stainless steel doors, is adorned with a nine-foot bronzed figure of Atlas shouldering a clock.

- CHARLES LEWIS TIFFANY

Photo credit: Courtesy Tiffany & Co.

Charles Lewis Tiffany (1812-1902), Founder, Tiffany & Co.

- The Tiffany Diamond:

JEAN SCHLUMBERGER’S RIBBON ROSETTE NECKLACE

Photo credit: © Tiffany & Co.

Schlumberger’s Ribbon Rosette necklace with the Ribbon clip and Diamond

- AZTEC COLLAR (1900) DESIGNED BY PAULDING FARNHAM

Photo credit: © Tiffany & Co.

Aztec collar featuring orange fire opals designed by celebrated 19th-century Tiffany designer Paulding Farnham for the Paris Exposition of 1900

- DIAMOND, EMERALD AND PEARL BROOCH (1887)

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.

Diamond, emerald and pearl brooch, included in Tiffany’s 1887 purchase of the French Crown Jewels

- BROOCHES OF GEMSTONES AND LACQUER INSPIRED BY TIFFANY’S 19TH-CENTURY AUDUBON DESIGN

Photo credit: © Tiffany & Co.

From Top: diamond, amethyst, tsavorite, yellow sapphire and lacquer brooch set in 18k yellow gold; diamond, tsavorite, spessartite and lacquer brooch set in 18k yellow gold

- CARNATION BROOCH

Photo credit: © Tiffany & Co.

Carnation brooch of pink sapphires, diamonds and tsavorites in platinum and 18 karat gold

- JEAN SCHLUMBERGER’S GOLD AND ENAMEL BRACELETS

Photo credit: Carlton Davis

Jean Schlumberger’s classic bracelets of paillonné enamel with 18 karat gold and gemstones.

- THE TIFFANY DIAMOND

Photo Credit: Carlton Davis

The finished necklace with the 128.54-carat Diamond and white diamonds totaling more than 100 carats

- MARY TODD LINCOLN SEED PEARL NECKLACE AND BROOCH (1861)

Photo credit: © Tiffany & Co.

Seed pearl necklace and brooch purchased by President Abraham Lincoln for his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, to wear to the Inaugural Ball in 1861

- TIFFANY ORCHID BROOCHES

Photo credit: Carlton Davis

Brooches created in the style of Paulding Farnham, the celebrated 19th-century Tiffany designer. The meticulous crafting process required a real flower to be dipped in wax. The brooches are then enameled, fired and bejeweled. From left: Slipper orchid with diamonds, Wildcat and Dancing Lady orchids with diamonds, Splash petal orchids with diamonds.

- TIFFANY PEACOCK BROOCH

Photo credit: Carlton Davis 

Peacock brooch with black opals, green tourmalines, sapphires, and diamonds set in 18 karat yellow gold