Tag: jewellery design

Designer Desire: Rafael Alfandary

Montage of Rafael Alfandary jewellery designs

If you happen across a piece of brutalist, modernist jewellery by Rafael Alfandary, you’d be forgiven for believing that the designer was Scandinavian. In fact, Rafael Alfandary (d. 2005) was from Canada via Israel and born in Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia.

Alfandary initially trained as a mechanical engineer, finding his way into jewellery-making accidentally after creating a piece for his ESL teacher.

His creations were usually formed of copper, brass and sterling silver set with coloured cabochon Murano glass. They wouldn’t look out of place on Cleopatra or Nefertiti.

Clients included Prince, Margaret Trudeau, Liberace, Muhammad Ali, Paul Anka and Redd Foxx.

Find vintage examples of his work to buy on eBay and Etsy.

Portrait of Rafael Alfandary
Original Toronto Star caption: Rafael Alfandary, mechanical engineer who moved to Toronto from Tel Aviv seven months ago and started designing jewelry, puts one of his copper necklaces on his wife, Esther. She wears bracelet with two rings he designed.

credit

Additional image credits:
LiveAuctioneers | Samantha Howard Vintage

Designer Desire: Kordes & Lichtenfels

Montage of Kordes & Lichtenfels jewellery

I was trawling through either Pinterest or Instagram recently (I can’t remember which) and came across some very beautiful, Scandi-looking, brutalist jewellery. It turns out that it was made by a company called Kordes & Lichtenfels. Despite finding extensive examples of their designs online (not all mid-century modernist in design as the ones we’ve chosen to highlight above), there’s sketchy information available about the company or its jewellery designers.

Founded in Germany in 1884 and based in the famed jewellery-making centre of Pforzheim, Kordes & Lichtenfels were manufacturers of deluxe jewellery fashioned from gold, silver and rolled gold with semi-precious stones. In the 1970s, the company evolved into Merz Export GmbH and, from 2017, another company Andreas Daub took over the production.

There are lots of pieces of Kordes & Lichtenfels jewellery available for sale on eBay and Etsy.

Image credits:
Pinterest | Poshmark

Designer Desire: Dorrie Nossiter

Montage of Dorrie Nossiter Jewellery designs

Born in Aston, Birmingham, jewellery designer Dorrie Nossiter (1893-1977) worked in the Arts & Crafts and latterly Art Deco styles.

Nossiter is another designer I discovered from a recent auction catalogue; it included the rock crystal necklace at the top of our montage above – simple elegance!

She studied at the city’s Municipal School of Art from 1910 to 1914. During the 1930s, she exhibited her work a number of times at Walker’s Gallery in London.

She created rings, earrings, brooches and necklaces in gold and silver using gemstones such as amethyst, aquamarine, citrine, garnet, peridot and tourmaline.

As well as at auction, you’ll find a handful of examples of her work for sale at any given time on eBay and Etsy.

As Dorrie Nossiter never signed her work, it has often been mistaken for her friend and contemporary, Sibyl Dunlop – perhaps we’ll feature her in next week’s Designer Desire slot.

Portrait of Dorrie Nossitercredit

Additional image credits:
The Peartree Collection | Sotherbys | Sworders

Designer Desire: Roland Landerholm

Montage of Roland Landerholm jewellery designs

Here’s a selection of jewellery items designed by Roland Landerholm (1928-1993). He hailed from Sweden and began his career as a ceramic artist before branching out into tin and pewter jewellery.

I especially love his simple human an fishy figures, he returns to them time and again.

I couldn’t find out a great deal about Roland Landerholm online other than he was the creative force in the business he was in with two of his brothers.

You can get hold of one of his vintage pewter pendants for as little as £30.00; try looking on Etsy or eBay in the first instance.

Image credits:
Stockholm Retro