The beauty of craftsmanship often finds echoes across different fields and practices. This is evident when ceramic artist Jeanette Adrienne Wee encounters the fine jewelry icons of Tiffany & Co. While the realms of earthen clay and gleaming gold may appear distinct, they share fundamental qualities. Both practices embrace a tradition of handwork, a delicate sense of line, shape, and proportion, an unwavering attention to detail, and the courage to explore new creative possibilities through artistry and fine craftsmanship.
For Wee, her ceramics practice has entered a new phase of experimentation and daring. However, she maintains that the fundamentals remain unshakable. It’s not about breaking rules but rather continuing and creatively furthering them. A first step like wedging, for instance, is non-negotiable. This process involves kneading soft clay by hand to remove air. Wee employs a spiral technique, learned in Japan, where formless clay is kneaded into an almost nautiloid shape. This delicate process, undertaken before the material even reaches the wheel, gives the clay its strength.
Strength, as it happens, is an emotional core of the HardWear collection by Tiffany & Co. Inspired by an archival chain bracelet, HardWear’s design is a contemporary interpretation that combines U-shaped links with round ball ends. The concept is the transformative strength of love – how the security associated with a chain can be imbued with delicacy. The result is bold and chunky with a hint of an industrial aesthetic, yet HardWear jewelry moves with remarkable suppleness. This is because each link is individual. Every one is finished, polished, and hand-set with diamonds in certain designs, then joined one by one to create an elegant whole. A prime example is the Graduated Link necklace, where the gauge links are largest front and center, gradually scaling down in size towards the clasp end at the back.
Collections like HardWear tap into a long-established tradition of chain designs in fine jewelry. Even Lock, one of the youngest collections at Tiffany & Co., draws inspiration from an archival padlock dating back to 1883. While the original is ornate, the contemporary Tiffany Lock is a sophisticated distillation of pure sculptural form. Shaped as a minimalist oval, the Lock collection’s signature feature is a swivelling clasp. On the key bangle styles, the notch on the turning side is meticulously detailed with a small indent. It simply pulls outward to release and clicks right back into place – an ingenious interpretation of a padlock’s design that is both easy to use and secure. Tiffany & Co. spent over a year designing this clasp, transforming a functional detail into one of movable beauty.
Another uncommon perspective that Wee is exploring these days is gently challenging the notion that ceramics are fragile entities not to be touched. Her latest creations in development are clay sculptures with interactive wood details. A melon-shaped vessel, for instance, features a T-shaped spinning top in wood that she has carved. “Up till now, my works have been look-and-see. But I want to change the perception and encourage people to touch and play with it,” she explains. Not unlike jewelry, which must also be felt to be appreciated.
The time taken to perfect a creation is a fundamental part of the ceramics craft process that Wee is familiar with. One aspect that requires a high level of experimentation and refinement is glazing – the process of coating a piece to give it durability, color, and its visual finish before it’s fired in a kiln. While commercial glazes are readily available, Wee develops and makes her own. The blues of the sea and sky are a constant source of inspiration for her, and it has taken over a year on some pieces to develop a glaze that achieves the desired shades, textures, and effects. While shaping and detailing clay is physical work, she describes working with glazes as chemical. “It’s a part of ceramics that isn’t always shown,” she says.
Whether gold or clay, as in fine jewelry or ceramics, the resulting creations are the fruits of finely-honed craftsmanship – a pursuit that shapes and reveals beauty.
