These works are made for the annual commission Jewellery with a Story, posed by the CODA Museum Apeldoorn in The Netherlands. Every year, CODA asks a young jewellery maker to design a necklace for their collection. The inspiration for this piece starts from a character chosen by the designer. The conditions are that the work is wearable, suitable for both man and woman and has a special meaning. Besides the necklace for the collection, the designer also creates 26 derivative and marketable pieces of jewellery. The invitation for this commission and the accompanying presentation is primarily intended as encouragement.

For Jewellery with a story, I let myself be inspired by Gerardus Mercator (1512 – 1594). Born under the name Gerard de Cremer, Mercator is known as the man who mapped the world by making travels from behind his table. Mercator was engraver, cartographer and instrument maker. He is particularly renowned as the creator of the Mercator Projection in which he translated the spherical earth into a flat surface without angle deformation. Mercator is also the first person who successfully drew the relative positions of countries on a world map by using old maps, reports of explorers and simply gambling.

Even today you can travel and dream away from behind a table. I visited cities like Copperopolis, Ringtown and Diamond Springs with the use of Google Maps. With Mercator in mind, I have created my own world of jewellery: a fictional country, made out of existing jewel-cities. The necklace for Jewellery with a story is based on a ‘chain of office’. As a derived jewellery piece, I have made twenty-six pendants that serve as a souvenir and function as a reminder for each city.

Everything needed to create a piece of jewellery, can be found in my realm. Every visitor will sparkle in my kingdom.

Necklace
Material: Expoxy, copper
Size: 55 x 47 x 1 cm
Technique: Photo-etching

Pendants
Material: Epoxy, copper, cotton string
Size: 14 x 10 x 0,15 cm
Technique: Photo-etching