The 20th birthday of the German Jewelry brand By Kim created by the Jewelry and watch House Wempe calls for Haute Joaillerie with the 20 Candles By Kim Collection. The collection consists of 20 rings with unique natural precious gemstones, all in different colors and sizes, each of them surrounded by 20 navette cut diamonds and rings in all different colors and sizes BY KIM.
For the occasion we gathered these four creative women who love the detail of design and value for their own very special style, all work in creative fields and share a passion for jewelry.
Jasmin Khezri visited them in their homes wearing their favorite ring of the collection 20 candles By Kim.
Brigitte Herzog, Interior Designer
Brigitte Herzog is an interior designer living between Munich and Venice. She is known for her flamboyant style, a mixture of the arts, objets trouvés, colours and antiques.
IRMA: You are wearing an Octagon, does this gemstone means something special to you?
Brigitte Herzog: Yes, the Octagon is my most favourite cut and, in this case, pared with my most favourite gemstone, a kunzite. I love this very mysterious pink colour .
IRMA: What are you currently working on?
Brigitte Herzog: My place in Venice, an ongoing project and also to discover Venice, this unique city.
IRMA: Jewellery is part of your everyday life. How would you describe your relationship with the jewels you wear?
Brigitte Herzog: Jewellery makes you happy, lifts the spirit and adorns every woman.
IRMA: Is there a piece of jewellery that means the world to you?
Brigitte Herzog: Yes, an arc-shaped emerald brooch with diamonds from the Baroque period.
IRMA: Do you have a concept behind your choice of jewellery or do you collect and wear what you simply like?
Brigitte Herzog: Actually, yes, what strikes me, which I like, get a place in my jewellery box.
IRMA: Your garden, your home is a jewel itself. How does everything come together?
Brigitte Herzog: I would say one could call it la dolce Vita, granzedzza, opulence….. etc.
Juliane Spaete, Visual Artist
Juliane Spaete was born in 1985 in Engelskirchen. She is a Visual Artist with a background in Photography at the School of Visual Arts NY and the Ostkreuz School of Photography Berlin. In 2015 she started to shift her work towards her great passion for nature in its infinite dis(order) and founded FORMA LABORATORY, an experimental design platform and flower shop.
IRMA: You are wearing an Aquamarin of the 20 Candles By Kim Collection from Wempe. Which flower do you associate with that germ stone?
JULIANE SPAETE: I would say Delphinium, which happens to be one of my favourite flowers, can definitely be associated with this stone.
It grows in an incredible range of blues and its long majestic spires of blooms have this sculptural character I am most fascinated by.
IRMA: You are a photographer and decided to work with flowers, what does it mean to work with nature and how does it influence your personal style?
JULIANE SPAETE: All design essentially stems from nature, so I feel a lot of gratitude, being able to work with and in nature every day. Working with flowers keeps me constantly in awe of the incredible beauty and variety of shapes, colours and forms that nature is capable of creating. The meditative & physical aspect of the work I do has influenced my style a lot. For instance, I lately very much enjoy wearing overalls. for their mixture of practicality & simple elegance.
IRMA: How would you describe your relationship to jewellery?
JULIANE SPAETE: I admire the craft of jewellery making very much. How a single piece can emphasis one’s individual personality. Unfortunately, I don’t get to wear much jewellery these days anymore, because I spend so much time with my hands in the dirt, but
I consider it such a gift to be a woman, the choice we have in expressing ourselves and tools to make us feel beautiful, especially when it comes to jewellery.
IRMA: Your most personal precious piece of jewellery?
JULIANE SPAETE: My mother’s engagement ring
IRMA: If your dream jewellery box would be a flower bouquet, what would be the mix?
JULIANE SPAETE: I love giving my bouquets a somewhat wild, expressionist touch. So I guess a great range of textures, colours and shapes to play around with would be the dream.
IRMA: Which piece of jewellery would you add to the ring with the natural Aquamarin Cushion-cut gemstone?
JULIANE SPAETE: It is such a unique and powerful piece one would not steal too much attention from. So I would probably just add a pair of discreet matching earrings in the same colour range.
Marie Aigner, Architect and Product Designer
Marie Aigner is an architect and product designer living in the historical Diesel Villa at the Englischer Garten in Munich. She stands for her very own style that goes through the way she lives and dresses herself. Lately she created a new Product design line called KNOCK OUT by Pinta Acoustic, a series of sound absorbing objects that adds harmony and silence to every space, the latest one Spazio by Rossana Orlandi in Milan.
IRMA: You are wearing a natural green PERIDOT of the 20 Candles By Kim Collection from Wempe, what is your relationship to colours, especially green?
MARIE AIGNER: I love to experiment with all kinds of colours.
But GREEN is very special: it has so many positive and wonderful meanings like Life, Renewal, Growth, Harmony, Safety, Fertility-
Green is the most common colour in the natural world.
IRMA: You have recently finished an installation at Rossana Orlandi`s Showroom in Milano- tell us a bit more about this collaboration.
MARIE AIGNER: I met Rossana by accident 1 year ago and she did ask me about my work.
Pretty soon after, she called me. She was pretty clear on the phone. „Marie, I need a ceiling installation for the main room in my Spazio in Milano. It is too high and with more than 10 People you can’t speak to each other without screaming.“ Besides, she won’t move any of the lighting tracks. …And: „it will be very tough to meet my artistic expectations.“ That time, I didn’t know whether to be more impressed or depressed . Anyway, I concentrated on creating a good solution. The prototype was already installed last year in November but with COVID-19 the Salone in Milano was cancelled, and we realized the work recently in July. It is now a permanent installation, called PRATONE – which is Italian for Meadow. Actually, it really looks like a huge field of white feathers. -and Rossana liked it a lot 😊.
IRMA: You’re an architect, product designer and used to create interiors for your architectural projects, how would you define your general idea about your personal aesthetics?
MARIE AIGNER: I am trying to cultivate a visually rich and modern aesthetic that is truly my own.
IRMA: Tell us about your personal style and design preferences when wearing your jewellery and watches?
MARIE AIGNER: I love to experiment, albeit within a tight framework of self-knowledge –means staying true to my essence.
I am definitely not IRIS APFEL when it comes to my jewellery selection- I love old collectors pieces and a little bit smaller 😉
IRMA: Is there a piece of jewellery that is equivalent to your design concept in architecture.
MARIE AIGNER: As I constantly recalibrate my stylistic affiliations, it can’t be a special piece of jewellery.
II have always liked Peretti’s Mesh Collection for Tiffany alongside with a lot of Cartier’s Exceptional Creations. I adore Solange Azagury-Patridge’s work and pieces from the 30s to 60s. And it all reflects parts of my own design work.
IRMA: Which piece of jewellery would you add to the ring with its PERIDOT Cushion-cut of the 20 Candles By Kim Collection from Wempe?
MARIE AIGNER: Only my wedding ring
Jasmin Khezri, Journalist, Illustrator and founder of IRMASWORLD
Jasmin Khezri is the founder of Irmasworld.com, a digital magazine. She has worked as creative director for many international magazines and has established an alter ego, the illustrated character IRMA in her work as an internationally awarded illustrator.
IRMA: You are wearing a TURMALIN in 18k white gold of the 20 Candles By Kim Collection from Wempe. What is your relationship to this stone?
JASMIN KHEZRI: This tourmaline reflects green or blue depending on the light it catches. It is a powerful grounding stone working to release negative energy while drawing in positive grounding energy into the body from the Earth. Wearing this stone is like a walk through the woods. You inhale -exhale and enjoy nature.
IRMA: You work in many different fields. From your latest sustainable fashion collection, to your illustration and editorial work. Currently you are collaborating with the Swedish ceramic artist Beatrice Pederson for a series of porcelain plates and ceramic objects. How do you integrate aspects of your visual language into an actual object?
JASMIN KHEZRI: Every medium connects with each other and I think it is all built on each other to create a Gesamtkunstwerk that I call irmasworld. The name looks old-fashioned today, but it has a lot of meaning to me. It was my grandmother’s name and it should reflect her extravagance and style as an art collector and muse for her husband Carl Vilz, a sculptor and architect.
IRMA: How would you define your personal aesthetic??
JASMIN KHEZRI: As an artist I get my inspiration, ideas and drive from all sorts of classical art forms -of course- but the transformation within me, echo’s my very own view and creative message.
IRMA: Do you enjoy to wear your jewellery and watches?
JASMIN KHEZRI: I prefer to mix things up. Different periods, modern and antique, different gemstones and forms. But somehow, I manage to always find a thread that holds everything together harmoniously.
IRMA: Is there a piece of jewellery that is very special to you?
JASMIN KHEZRI: All of my antique Persian turquoise coloured jewellery that I inherited from my grandmother in Tehran.
IRMA: Which piece of jewellery would you add to would you add to the cushion cut turmaline ring from Namibia ??
JASMIN KHEZRI: My beloved vintage Baignoire Cartier watch, lady size.