Hemmerle are delighted to launch their new Egyptian inspired jewellery at Masterpiece London, 28
June – 4 July 2012. Hemmerle’s story is one of treasure hunting and innovation. They audaciously
push the boundaries of design and each piece is truly original. Each stone has its own story to be
told.
Stefan and Sylveli Hemmerle were introduced to the country by their
Egyptian daughter-in-law Yasmin, married to their eldest son Christian.
When the Hemmerle family began to explore Egypt they were
mesmerized by the country’s unrivalled firmament of historic sites
jewelled with pyramids, temples and dazzling colour. Stefan Hemmerle
explains;
‘We visited the Egyptian Museum in Cairo which can only be described as a
trove of infinite amounts of treasure. We admired ancient artefacts of
Tutankhamen and decorative jewellery made from ivory and gold. The amuletic
power of Egyptian jewels with their fascinating symbols and stories and
stylised simplicity captured our minds and inspired us.’
The rich cultural heritage of Egypt has always been an inspiration to jewellery houses with styles
such as Egyptian Revival popular in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. The influences of the
pharoanic world on Hemmerle’s new designs are explored through colour and shape. The
inimitable vibrancy of turquoise, blues and more subtle greens and browns are portrayed in
Pharaohs, ancient gods, flowers and animals. The simplicity and purity found within the shapes
and lines are parallel with Hemmerle’s vision and traditions.
A pair of green and purple earrings made from patinated copper, garnet, and sapphires are
inspired by fish the Hemmerle family ate during Sham El Nessim, an ancient holiday that still lives
on. The holiday celebrates the start of spring and the colours and renewal that come with the
season; the fish being symbolic of rebirth.
The signature techniques synonymous with Hemmerle are reinvented. Horus, the ancient falconheaded
god, is rendered in an elegant pair of earrings with cascading strands of blue sapphire
beads, invisibly stitched together by knitting precious cut stones. The sun god Re and the goddess
of truth and harmony, Ma’at, with her single ostrich feather, face each in a pair of earrings crafted
into gem adorned copper cameos.
An exquisitely curvaceous Harmony Bangle is crafted in exotic pock wood, with tsavorite garnets
and smouldering dark blue sapphires capping the ends – its intricately engineered seamless closure
almost completely undetectable. Antique mosaics from the late 19th Century composed of tiny
tesserae cemented together to form pictures of Pharaohs are reused in a pair of earrings. Striking in
its magnificent modernity, this dramatic assemblage of jewellery weaves a thread of continuity
from ancient to contemporary.
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