The Story
Fawaz set up his own workshop, with goldsmiths, setters and artisans who had worked with him since the 1990s, and with his long-term collaborator, Patrick Affolter, his workshop manager, at his side. Patrick knows exactly how to bring Fawaz's visions to life, he understands his creative spirit, his desire for movement, volume, refined details and above all perfection in craftsmanship. Together they set out on a spontaneous exploration of technique, structure and articulation, to find new processes for working unexpected materials, to infuse the new jewels with the signature Fawaz Gruosi mark.
The Ethos
The brazenly powerful jewels that Fawaz Gruosi envisions so clearly in his imagination are, like contemporary art or sculpture, abstract compositions of pure line, form and colour. These are individualistic interpretations of a fleeting image, an object, flower, creature, the sunset, sand, sea or sky, a gesture or a feeling; ideas and emotions distilled to their potent essence.
“Fawaz Gruosi has confidence in his ideas, but also the daring humility of the true creative personality”
The coloured gems Fawaz Gruosi adores are often juxtaposed, mischievously, with far more humble but no less beautiful or intriguing materials. This exploration of unexpected materials is an essential element of Fawaz Gruosi’s continually evolving aesthetic. He challenges preconceptions of value and preciousness, choosing stones and minerals, bio-organic materials, like coral and amber, as well as high-tech ceramics, purely for their artistic contribution to concept and design.
“I let ideas find me. They emerge from the complexity of the world around us. From subtle shadows, or the gleam of a sunlit sea, or the light in our eyes when they see true beauty.”
Fawaz Gruosi believes this attitude stems from his own roots, a blend of ancient Levantine opulence and Florentine Renaissance richness, tempered by his own passion for both antiques and modern art, for contemporary Italian industrial design. All of which have brewed a unique fusion of baroque magnificence with graphic modernism, nurtured by a creative spirit in which the drive towards originality and innovation meets deep respect for the great traditions of jewellery and gems.
Savoir-faire
Meticulous workmanship and technical ingenuity bring Fawaz Gruosi’s flights of imagination to life. Mastery of age-old skills, and exceptional expertise liberate his creativity. Patrick Affolter, Fawaz’s long-time atelier director intuitively understands Fawaz’s ideas; he is able to take on the challenges of devising technical solutions to create a lush fringe of tumbling gems, an enchanting cluster of briolettes, or a curvaceously carved opal, to ensure fluidity and tactility, so that each jewel moves with the body and feels like silk on the skin.
"Fawaz Gruosi is never afraid to set the most precious of gems with a playful irreverence."
It is in the workshop, a magical place of serenity, where time seems suspended, that ancient traditions of hand-skills meet the wizardry of innovation and modernity. From initial sketches, and painted designs, through to the intricate modelling of the jewel in wax and the age-old skill of lost-wax casting; from the goldsmith’s art of sculpting the gold and hand-piercing each opening to the precision of the artisan-setter, through the polishing and the finesse of exquisite details on the reverse of each jewel, the expert craftsmen take immense pride in crafting a jewel that becomes a true and noble work of art.