Van Cleef Archivist to Speak at Jewelry Conference

Seattle--Attendees of this year’s Northwest Jewelry Conference (NWJC) will be treated to a history lesson on renowned jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels.

Each year the conference, which is in its fourth year, showcases a major jewelry house selected by conference participants. This year they picked Van Cleef & Arpels and will have Cynthia Prasnal, the brand’s archivist and heritage director, present a history of the company and her work there.

Six other instructors will join Prasnal to speak about period jewelry at the NWJC, which is scheduled to take place Aug. 12 to 14 in Seattle.

It will start Friday evening with a meet-and-greet reception followed by the first session--Bats, Bad Dreams and Damsels in Distress: The Darker Side of René Lalique’s Jewelry by jewelry historian Stefanie Walker.

Other sessions include Gemworld International’s Cigdem Lule sharing her ongoing archaeogemological research on Garnets--Treasured Gem of the Ancients and Walker’s Castellani and Italian Archaeological Jewelry.

Diana Singer of D&E Singer will look at Another Place and Time: The Roaring Twenties, blending politics, society, architecture and fashion with the Art Deco jewelry style.

Meanwhile, Peter Shemonsky, owner of Peter Jon Shemonsky, will appear at the NWJC for the fourth time, giving two presentations this year--Wiener Werkstätte and Secessionist Jewelry will look at the Vienna movement that transformed all art forms at the turn of the 20th century, while Maker’s Marks, Truths and Deceptions will expose fraudulent marks in period jewelry.

Stone of Heaven--Defining Jade with Jeff Mason of Mason-Kay will be an extensive workshop designed to study the unique characteristics of jade and their application in valuation.

Lastly, master diamond cutter Brian McHardy will lead a hands-on workshop to explore the process of diamond cutting from antiquity to present day in At the Wheel--How to Really Cut a Diamond, including an actual cutting workshop to take students from the examination of the rough crystal to executing the craft with the right equipment.
 
A new venue has been selected for the event; this year, it will be held at Cedarbrook Lodge, which is close to Sea-Tac airport and sits on 18 acres of restored wetlands.

Tuition costs $695 and includes all sessions, the Friday night reception, a full day Saturday with breakfast and lunch and a short day on Sunday, with breakfast and lunch followed by the after-party.

For more information or to register, call 425-455-0985 or visit the Northwest Jewelry Conference website.