Spot the Gallery - The Sense of Beauty/ Diana Iordache - founder
How did your passion for jewelry come about?
I used to be an executive working for twenty years for the biggest cosmetic company in the world in different countries. My last mission was in Greece. Two years ago, before living the corporate life, I had a moment of introspection when I was trying to find out what I would like to do in the next twenty years of my career. And I discovered an elephant in the room: jewelry. I realized that, if there was anything that I was passionate about and motivated all my life, it was jewelry. When I walk into a store, I first go to see the jewelry section. When I walk into a museum, I start by seeing what kind of jewelry is being sold at the museum store and in this way I've come to know who's making it; the names of the artists. Although I was not working in this field, I started to be so familiar with the artists’ work to the point I was even recognizing their creations worn by people. I wear and buy jewelry made by artists from all the cities or countries I visited. They were my souvenirs. During my corporate years, I sponsored jewelry fairs and helped artists by commissioning them works for the brands I was working with. My passion was extremely obvious, exactly as I described it: like an elephant in the room that I haven’t noticed for years.
After so many years of corporate life, you took the path of entrepreneurship and moved from Greece to the Netherlands. When did you start the jewelry gallery? And what prompted you to make the gallery in your adopted country?
I moved to the Netherlands for personal reasons two years ago. It was an important and hard-to-take decision because it totally changed my life. The idea of entrepreneurship gradually settled into me even before I left Greece. More than 10 years ago, I imagined a platform that would address independent designers, but then I had neither the courage nor the resources to take the step. In fact, The Sense of Beauty is an old dream of mine that came true a year ago and materialized through an independent designer’s jewelry gallery, offering a curatorial collection of timeless designs. It works similarly to an art gallery with artists from all over the world, honoring the bond between the woman and her jewelry wardrobe through their vision and creativity. The gallery started its activity last year in March.
How was the pandemic period for you as a gallery?
I started the gallery in the middle of the pandemic and in full lockdown. This is the reason it started online only. It was not difficult at all, though at the time it didn’t look like this as I was entering into a new world in which I had no experience but only with love for jewelry. I had done my research before the Covid started and I already had a clear idea of the desired outcome, so the lockdown just helped me to stay focused on work. For my artists, it was different. I remember there was a lot of panic, uncertainty. I was happy I was able to help them during this period when everybody else was freezing their activity.
What are the most significant projects of the gallery so far?
Even though the gallery is very young, we have successfully participated in different international fairs like the Sieraad Art Fair in Amsterdam this year, Autor in Bucharest last year and now Romanian Jewelry Week and we are planning a richer program for next year. It was a pleasure to receive positive feedback from such a qualitative audience that visits jewelry fairs; not only jewelry lovers, but also collectors. Beyond being an international platform that promotes jewelry, the gallery also offers personalized services for brand consultancy to help the independent designers build an identity, a coherent image in all mediums, including social media, a digital presence through e-Commerce or expansion plans across borders. I'm already working in this direction with some of the gallery's artists and I am happy to see how brands are growing.
It is your first participation at the Romanian Jewelry Week. Tell us about the selection of the artists you are bringing.
I am coming with a rich portfolio of artists from different countries and with a selection that is complementary, so I want to believe that the audience will be pleased. It is an honor and a great pleasure to bring Raluca Buzura, who has had an experience in ceramic jewelry for over 12 years, the only Romanian designer I will represent during the fair. The selection of porcelain jewelry is inspired by marine life, born as a reflection on the human role in all the recent environmental changes. Raluca’s work has been shown by publications such as New Necklaces by Nicolas Estrada (cover), Metalsmith Magazine or Vogue Japan, and rewarded with multiple prizes.
From Greece — Dolly Boucoyannis — who won the De Beers Diamonds International Award for the use of moving diamonds, a very experienced and appreciated jewelry designer who studied Jewelry Design in Great Britain, Gemology in the United States of America and Goldsmithing Techniques in Florence with a curated selection of jewelry that combines unexpected materials such as pebbles, pearls and diamonds.
A new entry in the portfolio is the collection of fine jewelry designed by Elsa Mouzaki, launched this year during the “A Jewel Made in Greece” exhibition in Athens, which is inspired by the architecture of Mytilene Island as well as a selection of jewelry with gemstones from different collections.
I also believe the public will love the concept of modular jewelry of the Lithuanian-born New York-based jewelry artist Ausra Bankauskaite. She creates contemporary pieces that bridge the worlds of art objects and jewelry based on two concepts: structure and functionality which she combines to create minimal aesthetic forms in harmony with the body to enhance and extend its aesthetic lines.
Another novelty of the gallery that will be presented at this Romanian Jewelry Week edition is the Greek jewelry designer Theodora D who embraces the originality and unique expression of the individual style. The selection curated by The Sense of Beauty includes both unique pieces with fluid, uneven shapes like those from the Flamenco collection, but also simple lines that orbit around different concepts such as Milky Way or Full Moon.
For the minimal jewelry lovers, I bring the Greek designer Aliki Stroumpouli with a selection from two different collection: Drops and the recently launched Screwdriver. Aliki Stroumpouli, MA Royal College of Art London, is a contemporary Greek jewelry designer with a background in sculpture. She has studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts and her work aims to question the boundaries of jewelry design through art.
Finally, there will also be the Heritage collection signed The Sense of Beauty.
Tell us more about The Heritage Collection.
The Heritage Collection started from an old piece that I “inherited” from a friend's aunt many years ago. It was a box full of old jewelry that she was getting rid of, many pieces were outdated, broken, unpaired and so on. Over the years, I've made pieces of jewelry out of that box that I've worn and even sold some. That's how the Heritage collection was born; out of my desire to glorify the past. We are part of it and I think it is our duty to take care of our heritage, regardless of its form.
On what criteria do you choose the jewelry we see on thesenseofbeauty.com gallery?
I used to say that jewelry is good for the soul. To me, jewelry is art. It touches my senses and therefore sometimes the decision is emotional. Moreover, behind a jewelry piece, I love to see an idea, a concept, a message that was well thought out. I love it when jewelry brings something new and different that surprises us or makes us stop and think. There is also an aspect related to time regarding the jewelry design. I believe the design should be relevant today as well as tomorrow.