Schmuck Museum Pforzheim

Today we travelled to Pforzheim by train, which took about  3 hours, to visit the Schmuck Museum. I was really looking forward to see antique and traditional jewellery because I was little bit overwhelmed by observing contemporary jewellery over the past 2 weeks. Once I got into the museum, I was surprised and extremely excited to see all different jewellery tools in one place which was displayed on a wall. In front of it, different collection of contemporary jewellery and then Art deco, Art Nourvo, Jugendstil movement, renaissance, baroque of jewellery and ornamental watches were collected with a huge display and each explanation of its collection. It was a shame that we couldn’t get the photos of it which it was painful to remember each one of historical collections. The pieces were amazing. I was fascinated by their finest element of details and exquisite handwork with figurative ornamentation, especially on precious stone setting, enamelling on precious metals, and also their designs by each different periods of time. It was interesting to see the development and transformation of design and techniques of jewellery, which somehow became more complex and feminist idea in some way. I compared myself between historic and contemporary jewellery which are that firstly historical and antique jewelleries were made in different purpose and idea, to expressed cultural, religious, feminism, mourning, self-beauty and wealth of their family etc, whereas, as the technology development have changed the whole idea of purpose of making, it became more broad and gave spaces to express certain concepts of our own characteristics and ideas. Where precious metals such as silver and gold, and precious stones were easy to obtain at that time, these days the high price in precious metals affected in some way to buy them, therefore part of jeweller artists began to create and seek for their own kinds to make jewellery. It is hardly to find jewellery with finest ornamentation and details engraved on pieces these days and see less technical expression on ornaments than previous jewellery. Even if there was, mostly are done by the machine or use the power of technology to create pieces. It may some point that we are becoming inactive of making of jewellery that requires finest detail or whatever that is in techniques and finding easy way of making i.e. for example mass-production. However, using technology in contemporary or non-contemporary field doesn’t mean it is bad thing and I think of this as one part of the development in jewellery field, where we are in 21^st century. I hope this won’t get excessive on applying technology into jewellery and sometimes it is easy and better to think in mind of craftsmanship of the past because contemporary jewellery movement wouldn’t be exist without development from historic jewellery, which has a beginning and an end.  

It was pleasant to see huge collections of them which reminded me to think back of the origin of jewellery, and look back of its history.