In 1982 Kent traveled to Europe, where hesp? two years; this included two semesters of guest study Germany, where he worked on his granulation techniq, After twelve years of metalsmithing, Kent had found' niche. Working exclusively in granulation, 18K gold 3' colored gemstones, he started to pursue a serious cafe in jewelry. He then went on to teach granulation workshop in schools across the country, and won third place in r first international competition in Germany.

    Kent met his wife, Lynn, a jewelry buyer, in 19c Two years later, she became his business partner. T her great personality, business experience and nat feel for marketing, Lynn has been a perfect complimeri my artistic sensibilities," says Kent. In 1996, the Rerov; Gallery of the Smithsonian acquired one of Kent's piece Floating City, for its permanent collection.

    To Kent, the making is an end in itself. Hes still for hours arranging tiny granules of gold into beau" patterns. "I try to find harmony in even the minutest step" the process, whether it's the positioning of a single gre ule, or shaving off a tenth of a millimeter of gold to ge: perfect line. This is the foundation and integrity of mya r he said.

Kent says he has an almost religious fervor for goldsmithing. He is most drawn to the regal and spiritual themes and the craftsmanship of goldsmiths past. While paying homage to their artistry, Kent says he likes to "tweak" history a bit, by adding his own unique contemporary syn­ thesis to old archetypes.

    "I am blessed to be able to work with the rarest and most beautiful of our earth's treasures, and create art in the intimate form of jewelry. Whether I am executing a commission, designing a piece for the Studio Collection, Of making a pvac/a to safety my own crea.tj.ve u.rg,es., I know someone out there is waiting to join me in the artistic journey of that piece," Kent said.

    Basically a self-taught artist, Kent has studied at a number of institutions in the USA and Germany. From 1978to 1982 he took classes in rendering, gold refining, diamond setting at the renowned Revere Academy in San Francisco. In 1998, Kent studied for a short time with famed gem carver, Glen Lehren

    Kent buys his fine gold and precious metals from refiners. "I have favorite suppliers for different gems, one for opal, one for pearls, for example. I also buy special stones from award-winning cutters/carvers like Glen Lehrer and Phil Youngman," he said.

Kent is inspired by beauty wherever he finds - in nature, a gemstone, another person, a work of art in museum. "I tend to observe rather than study things, the absorb some quality that reemerges later in my work. It largely an unconscious process of assimilation, combine with intuition and years of experience in making and desigi ing. I never try to emulate exactly any particular historic period or style, although there are traces of these throug out my work," he said.

    Pieces from Kent's Studio Collection take from to 5 hours to make, larger pieces with hand woven chaii can take up to 50 hours. Masterworks take at least 12 hou for a small ring and up to 600 hours for a more ambitio piece. "And, of course," says Kent, "don't forget the 30 pi years of experience." Kent has five part-time contractc working for him, all of whom he has trained in his style work. Some have been working with him for 8-10 years

    "My life's path is that of the goldsmith, a path over 30 years now. To say I love my job would be an und' statement. When my creative juices are really flowing, work is closer to a meditation than anything else," said Kent.

    The lives of three South African designers were changed forever when the winners of the country's premier gold jewellery design competition, Anglo Gold Ashanti Au- DITIONS Riches of Africa, were announced recently at a spectacular function at the Gold of Africa Museum in Cape Town , South Africa .

    Anglo Gold Ashanti creator of the re-branded and now bi-annual competition, rewarded the designers who had transformed South African gold into manufactured pieces of 18K gold jewellery that expressed the competi­ tion's theme, "living textures."

    Early in 2005 the call for participation went out to South Africa 's jewellery industry and designers. Workshops were held in country's main centre and over a thousand designers’ submitted design and technical drawings for preliminary judging.

    Twenty-three designs were selected for manu facture - two designers creating more than one winning design - with Anglo Gold Ashanti supplying the gold an; alloys. Manufacturers were appointed to bring the design; to fruition while the designers stayed involved along I way. All finished pieces were submitted for final judging in September 2005 and the 20 designers waited for the final announcement.

    IIze Oberholzer of Cape Peninsula University: Technology was awarded the first prize of R40.000. her winning piece is a bangle of gold veins sweeping up art around to form the HIV/AIDS ribbon that symbolises tin fight against the disease.

    Second prize of R15,000 went to Christy-Anne Bestwick of the Durban Institute of Technology for a lone neckpiece of ferns. The third prize of R10,000 went to Agang Dikgole, a student at the University of Johannesburg, for earrings that mirror the movement of seaweed on the ocean floor.

    One of the competition's judges, Mary Jane Darroll, said, "I was amazed at the quality of the competition from She point of view of the entrant and entry standards. It was particularly insptrtng for me to observe the translation of renderings into manufactured pieces which in themselves have created a superior collection of jewellery." Another of lie competition's judges, jewellery designer Louise Serafini-Swanepoel, said, "I feel that the collection embodies not only the spirit of South African jewellery design, but the realisation that we are no longer followers, but on a par with the leaders in our field."

    Competition sponsor AngloGold Ashanti said its sponsorship of gold jewellery design competitions is based on the company's belief that the market for its product needs developing and modernising. To achieve this in South Africa AngioUofef Ashanti encourages etesfgn excellence, develops skills, and benefits the South African gold jewellery industry through the publicity this competition attracts and by awarding merit prizes to the institutions that produce the most winners in a competition.

    Since AngloGold merged with Ashanti Goldfields in 2004, the Riches of Africa competition has been brought under the new banner of AuDITIONS, which will be used to brand all jewellery design competitions in which AngloGold Ashanti is involved worldwide. In addition to South Africa , AuDITIONS competitions will take place this year in India and Brazil . The 23-piece South African ensemble will be exhibited worldwide throughout 2006.

    Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz and is popular gemstone among those living in purple madness Although it occurs in massive quantities, a good quail amethyst can still be pretty costly, especially when the, are set with diamonds and lots of gold. When choosing?' amethyst, make sure that it is clear with no apparent crack: lines, and other types of inclusions within the crystal. Asfc color, go for whichever shade of purple that sparks yoi fancy.

    The name "Amethyst" comes from the Greek ar means "not drunken." This was maybe due to a beliefte amethyst would ward off the effects of alcohol, but me likely the Greeks were referring to the almost wine-like cor. of some stones that they may have encountered. Its cc is unparalleled, and even other, more expensive pur: gemstones are often compared to its color and bea/. Although it must always be purple to be amethyst, it can and does have a wide range of purple shades.

    However, amethyst is not the same everywhere. Different localities can produce a unique amethyst to that particular region or even to that particular mine. Experts can often identify the source mine that a particular amethyst came from. The key to this is the specimen's color, shape of crystal, inclusions, associations and character of formation.

    Often cut gems of amethyst are graded using the terms: Siberian, Uruguayan or Bahain; to represent high medium and low grade respectively, regardless of the actual source. Because of the patchyness of the color distribution in the crystals, amethyst is often cut as brilliant round cuts to maximize the color. Other cuts can be used when the color is better distributed.

    The color purple is traditionally the color of Royalty and amethyst has been used since the dawn of history to adorn the rich and powerful Monarchs and rulers. Today, amethyst is a lovely and affordable gemstone that is fortunately available in a wide variety of cut and uncut stones that we can all possess and admire. Whether those magi cal properties are true or not, amethyst is still a beautiful gemstone that can add a touch of enchantment to anyone's jewelry collection.

Top ^