Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist – September 2019

She usually begins by fl ipping

through books on the culture,

looking for what she calls the “key

shapes” that crop up in textiles, ar-

chitecture, friezes, and especially the

jewelry. “Egyptians favored long oval

shapes like the ones you fi nd in my

signet rings. Asians preferred this fat

heart shape.”

She also examines how metalsmiths

treated their metal. “Do they texture

it? Do they leave it smooth? What’s

the common theme of the fi nish?”

Greeks and Egyptians were very

diff erent in their approach to this, she

says, just as ancient Indian cultures

were diff erent from Asian cultures.

“I’m looking for what’s really recog-

nizable and basic to the large pieces,

rather than the exact patterns they

created with their granules.”

For all the colorful gems — cabo-

chons, animal carvings, rough lapis

— and the subtle texturing of metal,

when you look close at Loren’s

jewelry, you begin to notice the

jewelry itself is never fussy the way

ancient goldwork often is. “Ancient

stuff tends to be a lot more layered.

There’s a lot going on with it,” she

design

Charm Necklace

22K yellow gold, rock

crystal, morganite, tanzanite,

peridot, dumortierite,

aquamarine, emerald,

tourmaline

Hellenic Carved Bangle
22K yellow gold, rock crystal
Based on ancient Greek bangles, stone
carved in Idar-Oberstein

Roman Signet Ring

22K yellow gold, tanzanite

“I always make it

super clear that

I’m not making

replicas. My goal

is to capture the

spirit of whatever

civilization I’m

representing.”

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 49