This time I would like to talk about the flower carvings used in the Full Bloom Collection .
As the name suggests, a "flower carving" is carving stone into the shape of a flower. In order to carve the stone, a material that is not too hard is selected.
At Jewellery Wanderlust, we currently have flower carvings of rock crystal, amethyst, and rose quartz. These are the same species of stone called "quartz," and are divided by their colour. Therefore, in Japanese, "amethyst" is called "purple crystal" and rose quartz is called "red crystal." This is easier to understand than English.
Quartz has a Mohs hardness of 7 out of 10, making it neither too soft nor too hard and suitable for engraving.
The flower carvings used in Jewellery Wanderlust's Full Bloom Collection were made 20 to 40 years ago in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, the center of jewelry production in Japan. At the time, many different flower carvings were made, but today demand is declining, and coupled with the aging of artisans, floral sculptures are rarely made anymore.
By the way, these floral sculptures have been lying unused for a long time, but what kind of jewelry were they intended to become when they were first created?
The answer is... cameo brooches!
The flowers were created as a decoration to the main cameo.
I would like to show you actual photos of the brooches that were made at that time.
Gorgeous!!
They are truly luxurious pieces that combine multiple flower carvings. These brooches were made to match dance costumes. It is no wonder that it has such a large and gorgeous design. As you can see from these brooches, it is common to place a pearl in the center.
At Jewellery Wanderlust, we want our jewelry to be more casual and suitable for everyday wear, so we use simple K18 balls instead of pearls.
Designs change as times change, but we would like to continue to make good use of these high-quality flower carvings that have been painstakingly created.