PK: How long does this learning process take?
In fact, such learning is a lifelong process. It never ends. I feel like I'm still developing and learning new things. When I make one ring, ideas for several more ones already appear in my head. Then I sit down and think about how I can implement these new ideas - I look for solutions and learn new processes and techniques.
I remember that after a year spent under the supervision of the master in that first workshop, I thought of myself as a jeweler. After two years there, I felt I was a good jeweler. However, later I moved to another workshop where the process was different and everything was made completely from scratch - then I realized that I had never been a jeweler before. [laughter].
PK: And when was the moment to start your own studio?
From the beginning, when I started my first internship, I already had my "own place" where I worked and had my own small workshop.
PK: This “corner” probably grew more and more each year. When did it turn into the studio we are in now?
When it comes to space open to clients, the first such place is the current studio, which has been operating for five years.
PK: Can you tell us a little more about how your career developed?
As I said at the beginning, it was very intense, I studied a lot and worked both in studios and at home. At some point, this creative process slowed down a bit because I decided to start a family. At that time, I was working as a jeweler, but I wasn't focusing that much on my own projects or learning new techniques. I had a more ordinary "full-time" job. I worked with a large jewelry chain, repairing jewelry for them together with other local goldsmiths and jewelers. At that time, I wasn't developing my own brand and wasn't accepting clients. It is true that from time to time I did some smaller personal projects, but it was not my main activity. It took several years. I finally said "enough" because I felt that this was not the path I wanted to take. I decided to return to my original fascination with this craft, working on my own projects and discovering and perfecting new techniques.
PK: Was there any breakthrough moment in your career?
For me, observing what was happening around me was groundbreaking. The moment I realized what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be. I observed the people around me and what their career path looked like. I realized that I didn't want to go down this path, that I wanted something more. That's why I left that studio to be able to develop further.
PK: What do you mean when you say that you didn't want to do what people around you did?
I didn't just want to sell jewelry, I wanted to create it. I wanted to sell my own products and not, like many jewelers and goldsmiths, primarily selling other people's products.
Currently, everything I sell are my own projects that I implement myself. I am responsible for the entire process, both designing and creating the final product. This is simply mine - each project is the work of my hands.
PK: Since people around you had a different approach to it, was there a moment when you doubted that jewelry was what you wanted to do?
NO. There was no such moment. From the very beginning I knew this was it. Of course, sometimes it's better and sometimes it's worse, that's normal.
Sometimes there are clients who can be quite problematic, who don't like anything and look for problems where there are none. Such situations can be very troublesome and cooperation with such a client is definitely not the most pleasant. But then everything returns to normal and I still do my thing and that makes me happy.
PK: Since we are talking about the fact that you have found your path and are doing what gives you joy, can you tell us more about the process and products you create?
First of all, quality is important to me, I create products mainly from high-quality gold and natural stones. The design of my products is also very important to me - they are made to be durable and can please the eye for many years.
When it comes to gold, I use 14-carat and 18-carat gold - these are gold fineness 585 (also called fineness 3), which is the most popular and most common fineness in Poland, and fineness 750 (also called fineness 32), respectively. They determine the percentage of pure gold in a metal alloy - fineness can be found on gold jewelry in the form of tiny numbers stamped on it.
I do not use lower gold grades, because at lower grades the pure gold content is only about 30%. I also do not create silver jewelry, although the exception is when I repair such jewelry.
PK: Is jewelry made of pure gold?
Gold itself is quite a soft metal, which is why metal alloys are used to produce jewelry. These additional metals added to gold are intended to harden the structure of such an alloy.
When I start working on a given product, the first step is to create a gold alloy. I have pure gold of 1000 fineness (also called 999.9 fineness) in my workshop. I mix such gold with silver and copper, thanks to which I can obtain various shades, including yellow, pink or slightly green. It is also possible to obtain the so-called white gold by adding ligure to pure gold, an alloy specially designed for this purpose, which, when combined with pure gold, gives us a silver color.
PK: So it's not like you are purchasing gold of a specific gold grade?
No, I make these alloys myself by properly mixing and melting specific metals together.
PK: What stones do you use to produce jewelry?
I use natural stones because I think that the world of natural stones is beautiful and for me personally they are simply more unique and add uniqueness to the jewelry.
PK: Do any clients come to you asking you to create something using synthetic stones?
Yes, there are such people, but I usually try to tell them a little more about the differences and suggest that they avoid synthetic stones. I am aware that there are various reasons why customers may consider choosing synthetics, such as price or ethical issues, which is why I also try to propose alternative options. For example, sometimes I suggest choosing white topaz or sapphire instead of a diamond.
PK: Why do you think that choosing natural stones is a better decision?
I think the main problem is that it's a new market and it's growing very fast. In India, for example, there are huge halls in many places producing such laboratory diamonds on a huge scale. This is a very big problem both for the environment and directly for the customer who buys jewelry with such a laboratory diamond.
Natural diamonds are created in the process of carbon transformation, which lasts for millions or even billions of years, and reproducing this process in a short time requires the use of a huge amount of energy*. Of course, this is a business, so the manufacturer of such diamonds wants to create as many of them as possible. However, the increase in this production is very problematic for the customer, because the more such laboratory diamonds appear on the market, the lower their price. Due to the fact that theoretically they do not differ from natural diamonds - i.e. their chemical composition and properties are the same, their prices, although lower, are still quite high. As their production costs decrease year by year and there are more and more of them on the market, such synthetic stones may lose their value very quickly.
PK: Is the purchase price of such synthetic stones high at the moment?
The purchase prices of such alternatives to natural diamonds are incomparably lower. However, the prices of jewelry with stones such as laboratory-created diamonds or moissanite are highly inflated.
PK: How big are the differences we're talking about?
I had a client who was considering buying a moissanite ring and when he learned from me that the cost of purchasing such a stone from the manufacturer was about PLN 100, he was very shocked. In the famous jewelry stores he visited, the price of rings with this stone ranged from PLN 10,000 to PLN 12,000.
In my opinion, it is just such an expensive cubic zirconia.
PK: Are there any differences between natural stones and those created in the laboratory?
The process of creating synthetic stone is short. It corresponds to what this process looks like in nature, so their hardness and durability do not differ.
For me, the difference is that these stones are not the result of processes occurring in nature, but are grown in a laboratory. In my opinion, the value of natural stones is that it is natural that they come from our Earth.
PK: Choosing natural stones such as diamonds, however, comes with a high price. How do we know that the stone we are paying for is real and worth the price?
Such stones have certificates issued by gemologists and it is possible to transfer such a certificate when the stone is sold. This means that when I order stones from suppliers, I receive such a certificate and can then pass it on to the customer. Such certificates are usually issued for larger, more expensive stones. You can also send a smaller, uncertified product to a gemologist who will confirm its authenticity and issue a certificate.
PK: Do you often hear the term "blood diamonds" referring to the often unethical way in which they are obtained? Do you pay attention to where the stones you use come from?
Yes, I pay attention to this and buy diamonds only from trusted suppliers who purchase these stones from specific sellers in Antwerp, Belgium.
PK: These stones come to you already polished. Can you tell us how such a raw diamond gains the polished form we all know?
Natural diamonds are extracted from rocks and earth and are irregularly shaped nuggets. To insert such a stone into a setting, it is ground to give it the appropriate shape. Grinding can be performed both manually and automatically, using machines. This is the stage in which facets are added to diamonds and their shine is brought out.
In the past, the process was such that the cuts depended on the natural shape of the stone - it was cut in such a way as to use as much of it as possible. Now there are standard cuts, such as the popular brilliant cut. Sometimes you hear people use the words "diamond" and "brilliant" interchangeably. A brilliant is not just any diamond, specifically one that has been finished with a brilliant cut. Nothing else can be called a diamond, because that is the proper name for diamonds of this particular cut.
Personally, I prefer the more traditional cuts to the new, standard cuts at the time, which, as I said, were adapted to the natural shape of the stone. The new cuts are too perfect in my opinion, they all have perfect proportions and look the same. Traditional cuts, because they are created individually for a specific diamond, produce an effect that is less systematic. For me, they are more special because they are not perfect and each one tells a different story.
PK: So far, we talk a lot about diamonds, a very luxurious and therefore very expensive product. Can we talk about the price range of products that can be ordered from you?
It all depends on how complex the product is. If we are talking about a product such as minimalist, traditional wedding rings, the price of creating such rings is based on the price of the amount of gold that was used and the cost of making them, which for such a simple design is currently about PLN 1,000.
In the case of wedding rings, assuming that there is a design that does not have patterns, setting or a large number of stones, I decided that it is a nice system that is friendly both to me and the client.
As for other projects, I have a collection of products that are already ready and their price is known. However, for individual projects, the price is obviously higher because I have to design and create such a product from the very beginning, so the process is also much longer. If the project is very simple, sometimes the lowest realistic amount for everything - its execution and the raw materials used - starts from PLN 1,500.
PK: Since we're talking about individual orders, let's get back to the process of making them.
If a client places an individual order, I first prepare a design for such a product. Once I get to production, I prepare the appropriate metal alloy and start working to get the right shape.
The material is rolled to harden its structure and then rolled. To roll such metal that has been previously hardened, it must be heated - we bring it to redness until it becomes softer and more malleable.
Then we combine the different elements. It is important to clean the metal before soldering, because during heating, oxides are formed on its surface, which may prevent us from connecting the elements. In order to remove them, a special liquid called "solder" is used at this stage - thanks to it we can clean the metal surface of these oxides. The color of the solder is selected according to the color of the metal, so that the connection point is as little visible as possible. An interesting fact is that popular salons promote so-called "seamless wedding rings", the advantage of which is that they do not break. These messages suggest that wedding rings made using the traditional method are inferior and may break, but I have never heard of anyone's wedding ring made using the traditional method breaking.
Once we have selected the solder color and cleaned gold, we start soldering. The solder we use flows where it is warmest, so we need to heat the gap between the elements we connect to obtain a strong connection.
The next stages involve leveling the metal with a special hammer and sawing. After sawing, the metal surface is smoothed with fine-grained sandpaper so that it is flat and smooth. This is the same process used to renew wedding rings.
Customers sometimes ask whether it is worth renewing wedding rings if they are, for example, scratched. Of course, you can refresh it, but remember that it involves grinding out the scratches on the surface. This means that there is less gold in the ring. However, after refreshing such a wedding ring, we remove the harder layer of gold, which makes it more susceptible to scratches.
Finishing with sandpaper is the last stage of my work. Of course, if we are talking about jewelry with stones, this is yet another additional stage in which they need to be set.
PK: You say that wedding rings after renovation become more susceptible to scratches. Why?
Due to the fact that it is constantly on the finger, the wedding ring hits and bumps against various objects. This causes the outer layer of gold to stick out to some extent. Therefore, at the beginning these scratches are more visible and more of them appear, but over time they become less visible and new ones do not appear so often. When we renovate such a ring, we remove the already beaten gold layer, which makes it more susceptible to scratches.
PK: Do you share with people what this process looks like in any way?
I often photograph the process. When I work on custom wedding ring designs, I take, for example, Polaroid photos where you can see the entire process of making them step by step. I later attach such photos to the order as a souvenir for customers - this is the moment when people always say "wow", because it is something special.
I see it also makes people appreciate the items and their uniqueness more when they can see the process. If we don't show it, the customer doesn't know how the process of creating such a wedding ring differs from the process of producing rings bought in a large chain jewelry store. Personally, I believe that handmade items are always different and somehow more pleasant to the touch.
PK: Is there something that is obvious to you as a jeweler and often surprises many customers?
It is often a surprise that diamonds are not equal to diamonds. This is true for all stones, but especially when we are talking about these very expensive gemstones, customers often do not realize how their quality can differ.
Very often, the stones are improved in some way, you could say "retouched" in such a way that they look better visually. This means that we may have a stone that, after extraction, turned out to be of quite poor quality, for example it was contaminated with various substances - such a stone can later be improved in various ways to bring its appearance closer to better quality stones. This is a popular practice in many large salons and the biggest problem is that the customer may not realize it. This information is usually not provided anywhere. I think this is not fair to the customer who is not fully aware of what he is buying.
PK: How are such stones "corrected"?
For example, their color is improved, sometimes even painted or filled with glass to apparently improve their transparency, which is one of the indicators of good quality diamonds. Such a diamond can then be polished and sold for a very high price, similar or the same as uncorrected ones. The same "adjustments" are also made to other gemstones such as ruby or sapphire.
PK: You have extensive experience, almost 20 years of work in your profession. Have you seen any changes over the years?
I see this profession dying. This is very sad. There are very few people who do this and even fewer who are able to teach their potential successors.
When I was apprenticed to my second master, he told me that I was the last person he wanted to take on, and indeed he had no students for a very long time. At some point, a jewelry school was established and I know that then he, my master, started accepting students again to help this school and the entire craft guild. Unfortunately, there are very few studios willing to accept students.
Students' attitudes have also changed over the years. Now it is very, very difficult for someone to come, sit down and just want to start working. I often hear that young people come and want to be designers right away, having no basics and not knowing how to work with this material. Personally, at the moment I am not able to accept any student, but I would like to cooperate with the guild and act on this matter.
The market is also changing a lot and jewelers are changing.
PK: What are some examples of changes on the market?
Every year something new actually comes out. In recent years, perhaps the biggest novelty on this market was the appearance of NFTs and to be honest, I was also interested in it and I would like to try to enter this zone with my products. Not cryptocurrencies, but NFTs. Various techniques for producing elements are also emerging, and nowadays 3D printers are very often used. I think it's important to know about such changes and understand these new technologies, otherwise it's hard to stay in business.
Of course, you also need the willingness to develop, look for these things, meet new people, to be part of a community where you can say "this jewelry is alive". In my opinion, if someone closes themselves to new things and development, they will keep doing the same thing over and over again, until at some point what the customer wants will change so much that the person will lose customers and close their workshop.
This is my way of life, my job, but I don't want it to become just repeating the same thing for several dozen years just because we have to pay the bills. I believe that it should be something that makes you happy, makes you want to create and try new things. Otherwise, it simply becomes a burden and obligation.
PK: And how has the client changed?
Today, people want it to look like this so that they click "buy now" and that's it. There are actually a handful of customers who walk around looking for something unique and are also willing to wait longer for that item to be made. The vast majority want to make a purchase quickly and be done with it - they don't think about what will happen to such an item, whether it will break after a short time or not. It is also interesting that when people go to large, well-known stores, they think that they are getting high-quality products, but unfortunately this is not always true.
PK: Do you think that it is possible to somehow prevent the craft from disappearing, for example by trying to build greater awareness of its value among customers?
I see light at the end of the tunnel. I have been working with the guild for some time, I even recently received a badge for my activities in favor of crafts. We will want to work together with the guild to reach those young people who would like to see what such work is like. We want to interest them, encourage them and make it easier for them to try and learn this craft. Unfortunately, as a society, we are very impatient these days and people often see something on the Internet and are interested, want to try it and try it, but they get discouraged very quickly because something doesn't work out for them. We want to support such people, show them that it is not worth giving up, that it is a process and at the beginning you just have to sit and work. We want them to come, try it and we will show them everything.
Such a community is also very important. When I started, goldsmiths and jewelers were often people much older than me. They were very good at what they did, but not entirely open to sharing their knowledge or ideas. At the beginning of my journey, I sometimes asked different people about certain things, but they did not want to talk about it or show their projects. They also often said "why will you do it" or "no one will buy it" - it wasn't very motivating.
I want to change this, I want to inspire young people, I want them to be able to easily obtain information that was difficult for me to find - to make it simply easier for them. My dream is that craftsmen would create such a vibrant community that they would willingly exchange ideas, support each other and show the world what they do.
PK: So you are open to passing on your knowledge to young people?
Absolutely. If I have the opportunity, I'm happy to help - there was one girl who was creating her own project and had no place to finish it, and we agreed that she would work with us on this project in my studio. Later, she sometimes came and showed me some other projects and I was always happy to advise and try to help if she had any questions. I know from my own experience that sometimes you don't know how to solve a problem and knowing that you can ask someone about it is very helpful.
If someone wants to ask something, needs some advice or information, they can just contact me. I'm very open to it and happy to help. At the moment, unfortunately, I cannot accept anyone permanently into my space, but as soon as I have the opportunity, I will also invite you here.
PK: Do you have any advice for young creators?
I have one piece of advice: Do, do, do. You have to act, fulfill yourself, do what you feel and not worry about the opinions of others.
Creating your own products is a constant process, years of acquiring and honing skills. The longer we endure this process, the better and more interesting the results will be, so it is worth not giving up.
PK: What guides you in your work, do you have any motto?
“Always do what you would do for yourself” – this is what my masters taught me and this is what I always follow in my work. I believe that if I am satisfied with the end result, the customer will also like the product and the customer will be satisfied.
PK: Why is it worth choosing craft products?
It is always worth choosing handcrafted products from small local workshops. Thanks to this, we can support these creators and their development, but also contribute to the creation of beautiful and unique products, produced in small quantities, in a small area of a given country.
