Well, I've been back from the Tucson show and am recovering from not just walking eight hours a day for five days, but also from bending over jewelry cases, staring at stones, and standing and talking with dealers. Such an experience uses a tremendous amount of mental and emotional energy, while at the same time, killing your back, neck and shoulders.
But it was a good experience overall. After a few days of doing such shows, the booths filled with sparkling gemstones and diamond-encrusted jewelry, the motel rooms stacked with mineral flats, the tables laden with piles of pearl strands, the racks of sterling and beaded necklaces, the water-filled pans of opals--all blend into a blur. But here and there, the faces of people stand out and become ingrained in my memory.
Perhaps the highlight moment came when I walked into the Ida-Oberstein room at the Hotel Arizona. Ida-Oberstein is a group of German dealers who traditionally show their wares together. I had just planned to walk through, but my eye was caught by the first booth I saw. It was filled with the work of Bernd and Tom Munsteiner.
For those of you who know fine art jewelry, the Munsteiners reign as perhaps the most famous art-gem cutters in the world. Their work is instantly recognizable: Instead of the usual symmetrical faceting on the top and bottom of a gemstone, the Munsteiners often leave the top of the gem smooth and do most of their carving from the back. The usual star-shaped facets are replaced by an abstract design of lines, angles, even curves that explode across the back of the gem and are magnified by the polished front. Each gem is unique. If you are not familiar with their work, I urge you to stop by this web page which has a great writeup and pictures: http://www.khulsey.com/jewelry/atelier_munsteiner.html
The Munsteiners are a family of cutters, and the man who pioneered this whole type of cutting was the father, Bernd Munsteiner. His sons followed him into the business, and the work I was viewing in the booth was primarily the work of son Tom. Bernd's work is the most famous; he has been named "the Picasso of gemcutters."
So it's easy to see why I was immediately riveted. The cases held magnificent loose stones, as well as gems set into jewelry. The finished jewelry was simple and elegant in design, so as to focus attention on the stone, not compete with it. (I later learned that much of the jewelry is designed by Tom's wife. To go to their website, which has a huge number of photos of their work, click: http://www.munsteiner-cut.de/english.html)
Everything other thought dropped out of my head as I peered into the case, drinking in the stones. I had seen jewelry by Bernd Munsteiner in Carmel, CA, at the Ladyfingers gallery, as well as some huge crystal carvings at the Exposures Gallery in Sedona, AZ, but I had never seen such an extensive collection as the one in this booth. There was someone standing inside the booth, but I didn't even look up at them. I was too entranced by the stones.
Having taken in the jewels in the front of the booth, I went over to the side case to view those pieces. The person behind the case said, "May I help you?" Gaze still riveted on the stones, I answered, "I just had to come look at the Munsteiner's work. It is so beautiful, it's like going to a museum. Like all great art, it feeds the soul, you know?" Finally I looked up at the man staffing the booth, and then at his nametag, and realized I was talking to none other than Bernd Munsteiner himself!
I was floored. Mr. Munsteiner's English was impeccable, and he was very gracious, answering my questions and taking stones out of his booth to show me as we talked. He currently is semi-retired, but keeps a hand in the business, "helping out," as he modestly terms it. He told me that he started out learning gem cutting from his father, as his father had learned from his father before him. He learned the geology of gemstones, as well as the traditional ways of cutting them.
"You were the pioneer in this new type of cutting," I observed. "How did you break away from the traditional way of doing things?" He replied demurely that he had a dream, and followed it. "How did you create your designs?" I asked. He said, "I know the crystal; I follow the crystal; the crystal tells me what I can do." This I took to mean that he understood the crystallography, the internal structure, of each type of gemstone with which he worked, and that determined the types of cuts he could make.
When I told him how much I admired his work for its orginality, he replied, "There are no new designs. All designs originate in Nature. Nature is the great designer."
All told, we spent about ten precious minutes together as he showed off his son Tom's recent work, including a huge round rutilated quartz pendant that included fine lines cut into the back to highlight and complement the bold grouping of red rutiles, as well as sandblasted portions that expanded the design. I walked away from the booth with my spirit refreshed and enriched. That was the highlight of my time at the Tucson show.
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