The Metalists

The 2012 Olympics are kicking off in our hometown, London, and while we aren’t the sportiest crowd, we’re still getting into the Olympic spirit. Olympians receive gold, silver and bronze medals, but you don’t have to be an athlete to get your hands on some of your own – metal, that is. Our designers work with a variety of metals to create exquisite, original pieces, so we spoke to them to find out why they favor these magic metals.

Dense and malleable, gold has long been cherished. Designer Arosha
Luigi Taglia uses gold to create much of his elegant collection. “Gold is
connected in our imagination with prosperity, meaningful life events
and jewelry,” Arosha explains. ”When I create unique, one-of-a-kind
pieces, I like to create jewels which exploit the characteristic of
elasticity that gold sheets and wires posses before being heated
with fire.” Each gold piece is meant to be treasured.

A lighter color, yet no less beautiful, silver is a soft, strong
metal that can be used to create a variety of different effects.
”For me it is the most comfortable metal to work with,“
designer Momoko says. “I like the fact that silver gets
oxidized and turns to black. Some people don’t like that, but
I like the modest color.” The color may not be ostentatious,
but Momoko’s designs are bold and beautiful.

Bronze is a perfect metal for Justine Brooks’ nature-inspired creations.
“It captures the golden bronze tone which is closer to nature than a
bright gold,” Justine says. She experiments with colors, using different
alloys to create varied shades. “When I do a bronze casting a mixture of
metals is used, so each cast always gives me a surprise.” Her rich bronze
pieces have some variation in color, so no two are exactly alike, much
like the plants and animals that inspire her.