Best of NYCJW24 virtual programmes

NYC Jewelry week 2024 might be over but here are the best of NYCJW24 virtual programmes for your viewing pleasure.

NYCJW is a week of looking at, exhibiting, talking, and learning about both old and jewellery. I participated and exhibited in NYCJW 21 with my “Jewelry in Narratives” exhibition and in NYCJW 22 with Handpicked and enjoyed the process. If you have never seen them before, I invite you to take a look. The virtual programmes have steadily decreased over the years. There are either recorded talks or panel discussions with the former being more educative than the latter. However, the content that you can see this year is a big improvement over last year.

NYCJW24 virtual programmes

There are several talks/ panels that have been posted in their Youtube page. However, for this post I have picked three that I truly loved. Check out their Youtube channel to see recordings of previous years’ programmes as well.

The art of remembrance – memorial and sentiment jewellery

Memorial, mourning, and sentiment jewellery from 18th and 19th-century England served as intimate expressions of grief, love, and memory. These pieces often commemorated deceased loved ones or symbolised personal connections. Hairwork— locks of hair intricately woven into designs as a tactile link to the departed were immensely popular. Miniature portraits, inscriptions, and enamelwork often personalised these pieces, embedding stories of loss and devotion. During the Victorian era, mourning jewellery gained prominence following Prince Albert’s death in 1861. Whitby Jet, a black fossilised wood, became popular due to Queen Victoria’s prolonged mourning.

In the video, the speaker Patricia Nelson takes us through memorial and sentiment jewellery starting with memento mori and the Lover’s eye to use of motifs such as weeping willows and urns in the current times by contemporary makers.

 Jewellery of the Grand tour

In the 19th-century, Grand Tour jewellery, were mementos for travellers exploring Europe’s cultural heritage during their “Grand tour.” These pieces, often crafted in Rome, Naples, or Florence, featured materials and motifs that reflected Italy’s rich history. Micro-mosaics, created using tiny tesserae, depicted famous landmarks like the Colosseum which the tourists visted. Cameos, carved in lava or shell, celebrated ancient Roman and Greek art. Coral from the Mediterranean, often fashioned into beads or figurative designs, was another hallmark of Grand Tour jewellery. Elyse Karlin takes us through all these and more in a group discussion in this video.

No Stone Unturned

I started following Richa Goyal Sikri during the pandemic and fell in love with the way that she spoke about gemstones. Several Indian/Indian origin jewellers/designers/researchers who speak and write about Indian gems and jewellery come are insiders to the craft or the trade. They would either belong to a royal family, belong to the caste of heriditary jewellery makers or belong to a family of gems and jewellery merchants. Richa on the other hand, is an outsider who turned an insider like me due to her passion for gemstones and jewellery.

Richa’s book “No Stone Unturned: The Hunt for African Gems” is a collection of 24 true adventure stories from Africa, about gemstones. She has employed Oral history and ethnographic methods to collect these stories. Though I am yet to read the book, from the book talk in the above video it sounds like a set of fun stories.

The other panel discussion that I liked was on Signet rings. It was more of a promotion for the brands and designers in the panel but it was interesting to know about the different kinds of signet rings in the market.

This is not a sponsored post but one where I am sharing some content that I like with you, with the hope that you would enjoy it too.

I hope you find it interesting

Cheers