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Wellendorff
JEWELLER PROFILES: WELLENDORFF
The German company, Wellendorff, famed for its distinctive
silk-like gold rope jewels, was founded in 1893, in Pforzheim, and
is today still owned and run by fourth generation family members.
Christophe Wellendorff talks to GI about tradition, craftsmanship
and art.
"The secret of our company can be summed up in two key words: focus
and values. Taking a narrow and deep approach, we focus totally on
what we do better than anyone else, on our specialities of the
Wellendorff gold rope, as soft and fluid as silk, and our joyful,
colourful spinning rings, with their unique cold enamel.
"We take our time and adopt a long term point of view; this year we
are proud to say we launched only four new rings. Our
specialisation gives us what we feel we need to be a brand. We also
focus on genuine values: an authentic family business, genuine
manufacture, with everything made, by hand, in house, and genuine
partnerships with the finest jewellers in the world, like Boodles
in the UK and Mikimoto in Japan. Thirty years ago, my mother wanted
a necklace that was as soft as silk, and it took us years to be
able to turn gold into a fabric with the feel and look of silk.
"We make our own unique 18 carat gold alloy, and each wire, the
length of two football fields, is highly polished yet looks matt
when woven closely together. We have 60 master goldsmiths, most
having started here at a young age, and we founded our own academy
to train the most talented goldsmiths, for two years, giving them
the best education possible. We aim at absolute perfection. For me,
gold is the only magic metal: warm and cold, stylish and
traditional, its image is eternal and I don't see any rival or
alternative. Gold will always remain unique, with a special magic
that continues to sparkle."
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