On the runway to success - MCH Group

PAGE 41
SATURDAY. MARCH 10. 2012
Carve out your own niche …
… but leave the actual gem carving to the experts!
Some gem artists look at a piece
of rough and see an image of
what could be created, while others
have something in mind and
find the rough to create it. Two
of BASELWORLD’s most prolific
and incredibly talented gem
artists, Manfred Wild, of Emil
Becker (3.0, K30) and Stefan
Klein, of Herbert Klein (3.1, L11)
are some of the finest examples
of those who use these methods
to create their art. And wow,
what gemstone art they create!
Wild focuses on large objets d’art,
with possible removable jewellery
pieces, while Klein focuses on
the jewellery pieces with separate
objets d’art. Both have an incredible
talent for creating detailed
works of art, with an eye for colour
and design. And the materials
that they use could have been
used for standard cut gemstone
set jewellery, but choose not to
use it in that fashion.
A fabulous suite of amethyst flowers with
mandarin garnet leaves, by Herbert Klein.
Here is our Blue Emperor fish, a 274.97 carat
tanzanite, with the bass, 285.66 carats of yellow
beryl, by Emil Becker.
“I see something in the crystal,”
notes Wild as we stare at one
of the many magnificent objets
d’art at his stand in the rear of
Wild & Petsch, gem cutters from
Idar-Oberstein. “You could put
myself and my cousin in front of
the same piece of rough crystal,
and he will be thinking ‘How
many 8 by 10 ovals can we make
from this?’ and I will be seeing
the breast of a pheasant, or
something like that.” He laughs.
“Each piece we create has its own
story,” says Wild. “This one, the
Ice Princess, made of aquamarine
and rock crystal quartz, has a story.”
And he proceeds to show us
the icy crystal-like inclusions in
the quartz and how the 18 karat
gold and diamonds ice crystals
mimic the inclusions. The sculpture
on the reverse has retained
the original rough skin, while the
top, a gold accented carving of
the princess’s head, is removable
and can be worn as a beautiful
aquamarine pendant.
Wild directs our
attention next
to a pair of gem
carved fish, swimming
amongst
red coral on a sea
of included quartz.
“Look at that fish,” as
he points to the 274.97 carat
carved tanzanite. “We
actually had a beautiful
long slender tanzanite
crystal, and I saw a fish
inside the crystal. So we
were looking to find a real fish
that was of that colour. And we
found one. It is called the Blue
Emperor from the Malawi Sea.
And it looks just like that!” If you
think that this is amazing that he
The aquamarine Ice Princess castle, complete
with 18 karat and diamond ice crystals and prin-
cess pendant, by Emil Becker.
would take a larger than 275 carat
tanzanite crystal and carve it into
a fish, then realize that this is
only one fish in the sea of gemcarved
fish at his stand. Below
the tanzanite Blue Emperor fish
is a Coloured Bass, created in
285.66 carats of yellow beryl.
Looking for rough
Speaking with Gabi Klein of Herbert
Klein, who, together with
her brother Stefan is co-president
of the company, tells us that they
typically will have an order for
something and then go looking
for a specific piece of rough. It’s
important not only to look for
the best quality gem material
but for the right size and shape.
“In any carving, we can have as
much as 70 to 80% loss,” says
Klein. “Of course, with obsidian,
we do not worry so much about
that,” motioning to an obsidian
gorilla, and noting that they can
pretty much slice up a larger, and
relatively less expensive piece of
obsidian into the right size.
But a nice piece of rock crystal,
for example, can turn out to be a
pricey sculpture, because it’s no
longer cheap, and you can’t just
go chopping up a larger crystal
into two smaller ones. “If you
carve an elephant, you lose a lot
of material for the four legs as
well as carving the elephant with
its trunk up.” You carve the trunk
up for good luck.
In the showcases at Klein were
flowers created from faceting
quality tanzanite, peridot, rubelite
tourmaline, amethyst, mandarin
garnet, aquamarine, and
yellow beryl. “The hedgehog is
made from cabochon quality
amethyst,” noted Klein.
How much is that doggy in the
window? Made from rock crystal
quartz, with aquamarine nose, sit-
ting on a citrine pillow accented by
18 karat gold., by Herbert Klein.
Our little hamster is made
from agate, with 18 karat gold
whiskers – very cute!
By Herbert Klein.
Aquamarine flowers with green
tourmaline leaves, by Herbert Klein.
What it takes to be
creative
“We are a small workshop,”
says Wild. “Basically, we have
a cutter, a carver, a goldsmith,
and someone to do enameling.
We have a specialist to hollow
out a crystal, as well as a cameo
expert, a maximum of ten people,”
noted Wild. “When we create
a piece, we always think about
everything, from the rough all
the way up to packaging and
shipping.” “It’s Stefan and just
one other in the shop,” notes
Klein. Klein and Wild are great
ambassadors for their craft and
for the industry. The gem materi-
GEMSTONES
als are of fine quality, and their
creations are superb. They are
more than willing to spend the
time to show you what they have
done, what they can do, and why
they created it the way they did.
They love to share. After all, as
Wild puts it, “each one has a
story.” (gr) n
This magnificent chimpanzee is made from black obsidian, rhodonite tongue, chalcedony teeth,
and reverse painted citrine eyes, by Herbert Klein.
A ruby orchid, by Herbert Klein.