Pollack About Template

I want to revive pride in workmanship and integrity of design in jewelry. I maintain that the art of jewelry making needs a revolution. Close inspection of the treasures of King Tutankhamun, the works of Benvenuto Cellini, Peter Carl Faberge, Rene Lalique and others bears testimony to that fact. What was once a highly respected art is now considered a pedestrian trade, or even worse, a craft. The quality of workmanship, materials and design in jewelry has suffered a sharp decline in the past 50 years.

My immediate goal is to re-instill pride of workmanship and design so that jewelry making is once again thought of as a fine and noble art, rather than a vehicle for the garish display of material wealth. Jewelry should be made by people to adorn people. There are many classical pieces that deserve to be reproduced as well as totally new pieces that await execution.
Integrity of design should be stressed to the point that all parts of a design reinforce and complement each other and enhance the human form. Each piece should express an emotion and elicit a response that transcends language and cultural barriers. It should be a timeless, universal essay on aesthetics that will stand by itself and communicate without assistance.

The finished piece should look as well by itself as it does when worn and should utilize both positive and negative mass. The positive mass merely defines a small part of the piece--the nucleus which is space that is displaced by material.

Negative mass is expressed by borderless, infinite space. This increases the size and scope of the piece in the eyes of the viewer and leaves the definite total shape open to individual interpretation--it envelops and involves the wearer and changes and grows with time relative to the individual's imagination.

Each piece should be made from the best materials available so it will endure and be handed down and perhaps dug up some thousands of years from now. If the design is honest, it will be a timeless statement from one human being to the rest of humanity. The piece should be made with as few tools as possible and all unnecessary or redundant steps deleted so that through conscientious, rhythmic workmanship the idea flows from concept through the ultimate tool (MAN) to the finished piece and takes form as if by magic.

From what I have seen, very few people care about bringing integrity back to jewelry. Most of the jewelry I have seen is either trite and made by a machine, or clever and badly made by a person, with little or no thought to workmanship, durability or function. The finished piece should be worth more than a multiple of materials cost. The design, which is basically intangible, should have a value of its own.

I want my jewelry to become your personal treasure that you'll be proud to imbue with tradition and pass down to future generations.

~ Neal

Neal Pollack, Goldsmith | About