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Wellendorff

JEWELLER PROFILES: WELLENDORFF

The German company, Wellendorff, famed for its distinctive silk-like gold rope jewels, was founded in 1893, in Pforzheim, and is today still owned and run by fourth generation family members. Christophe Wellendorff talks to GI about tradition, craftsmanship and art.
"The secret of our company can be summed up in two key words: focus and values. Taking a narrow and deep approach, we focus totally on what we do better than anyone else, on our specialities of the Wellendorff gold rope, as soft and fluid as silk, and our joyful, colourful spinning rings, with their unique cold enamel.

"We take our time and adopt a long term point of view; this year we are proud to say we launched only four new rings. Our specialisation gives us what we feel we need to be a brand. We also focus on genuine values: an authentic family business, genuine manufacture, with everything made, by hand, in house, and genuine partnerships with the finest jewellers in the world, like Boodles in the UK and Mikimoto in Japan. Thirty years ago, my mother wanted a necklace that was as soft as silk, and it took us years to be able to turn gold into a fabric with the feel and look of silk.

"We make our own unique 18 carat gold alloy, and each wire, the length of two football fields, is highly polished yet looks matt when woven closely together. We have 60 master goldsmiths, most having started here at a young age, and we founded our own academy to train the most talented goldsmiths, for two years, giving them the best education possible. We aim at absolute perfection. For me, gold is the only magic metal: warm and cold, stylish and traditional, its image is eternal and I don't see any rival or alternative. Gold will always remain unique, with a special magic that continues to sparkle."

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