BeldaFactory: Pearl Elderberries

(jiří macek) One can make delicious squash from elder. But have you ever seen pearls blossoming on this bush? Jiří Belda has designed a jewelry collection in which this has actually happened. It is a fragile and tender collection - a gorgeous one.

“I came upon the shape of these earrings when I saw a chandelier by Droog design in the form of a cluster of cables with bulbs. I told myself that it was a very beautiful shape. Later, when I was designing pearl necklaces and all the earrings were too small, I remembered that shape again. In fact, it is a bloom, a cherry bloom, or any bloom - a cluster,” describes Jiří Belda on the Disegno program about how he designed earrings that we find simply breathtaking. We call them “Elderberries” even though we know they do not have a name in the BeldaFactory catalogue. However, we cannot help it. People tend to give names to things they really like. These earrings deserve a name. By the way, the whole collection is beautiful.

Jiří Belda presented the first samples in Milan in spring at the Křehký by Czech Republic exhibition at Zona Tortona. However, it shall have its grand finale at Designblok when the BeldaFactory boutique (Mikulandská 10) will be celebrating its 10th anniversary. “I had never wanted to be a business person. But I was forced by circumstances to do so because I wanted to make my living as a jewelry designer. I have so little time now that I do not draw any more. I just keep looking around and trying to store everything I see in my memory. It later pops up when I need it - like those blooms, for instance.”

BeldaFactory sells the earrings for CZK 10,250. The Manta necklace costs CZK 40,000. The boutique also sells older collections and jewelry from the BeldaFactory production from a whole range of Czech designers. “I am happy when people design something for us who are interested more in architecture than jewelry. They are not used to designing jewelry. Therefore, completely new things can be created. Of course, we sometimes have to correct their designs because it is not possible to manufacture everything. But I mostly appreciate their approach and ideas.”

One can listen to the interview with Jiří Belda from the Disegno program on Radio 1 about the jewelry tradition in the Belda family, Elderberries, and the Crafstmanshipforever project in which AAAD students designed jewelry for BeldaFactory in the Radio 1 archive, from the Disegno program of May 5, 2008.

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