Interview with Stanislav Drokin
Interview conducted by Cynthia Unninayar, Editor-in-Chief, CIJ Trends & Colours magazine
For more than twenty years, award-winning Ukraine-based jewelry designer Stanislav Drokin has created exquisite jewelry designed for the woman who cherishes her individuality. Widely recognized in his own country, this certified gemologist recently received two prestigious awards in the United States and one in Switzerland. CIJ Trends & Colours caught up with the talented designer at the VicenzoOro Spring trade fair in Italy in May where he showcased his latest collection.
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- Stanislav Drokin
CIJ Trends & Colours: Congratulations are in order for your three recent awards: first the Luster Award in the 2014 International Pearl Design Contest sponsored by the Cultured Pearl Association of America, then a winner in the prestigious Centurion 2014 Emerging Designers Award, and thirdly the winner in the gold category of the Solidscape 2014 Baselworld Design Competition.
Stanislav Drokin: Thank you. It was quite an honor for my pieces to be recognized in the United States and in Switzerland. I am grateful to all these organizations.
CIJTC: Your pieces are quite colorful today. Have you always worked with colored gemstones?
S.D.: When I created my atelier in 1994, I worked mostly in gold, in a variety of motifs, many inspired by the forms and textures of Nature, especially flowers and the marine world. About three or four years ago, I added a lot of color to my creations.
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| Winning ring in the Centurion Emerging Designers Competition in 18K yellow and blackened gold with fire opal, diamonds, and sapphires. | Winning ring in the “Gold” category of the Solidscape 3D 2014 BaselWorld Design Competition, made in 18K gold, diamonds, and tourmaline. | “OBI” ring in 18K white gold, cultured black Tahitian pearl, and diamonds, winner of the Luster Award in the 2014 International Pearl Design Contest. |
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CIJTC: Why the move into color?
S.D.: Color has a great impact on all of us. It is important in all aspects of our daily lives, and jewelry is part of this. Color also speaks to a woman’s individuality. In today’s world, with an almost infinite selection of products around us, women want something that reflects their own personality, something that is original and creative.
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| Gold “Flower” ring in 14K gold. | “Phoenix” earrings in 18K white gold, tourmalines, and sapphires. |
CIJTC: What are your favorite gemstones to use in your designs?
S.D.: I appreciate gems of all kinds, and work primarily with sapphire, topaz, ruby, tourmaline, turquoise, opal, amethyst, citrine, tsavorite, and fancy color diamonds. Some of the less commonly used stones that we like are jasper and chyrsoprase, which offer a special look.
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| Ring in 18K yellow gold, Australian opal matrix, colored diamonds, and sapphires. | Ring 18K yellow gold, jasper, sapphires, and spinel. |
CIJTC: Another winning piece is a beautiful 18K gold ring set with a Tahitian pearl and diamonds that won the Luster Award in the International Pearl Design Contest, which was judged the “most marketable” of all the entries and thus would have the most overall appeal for the retail marketplace. Do you often use pearls in this type of jewelry?
S.D.: Yes, pearls are an important element in some of my designs, whether they are the darker rich Tahitian varieties or the lustrous whites and golds from the South Seas.
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| Earrings in 18K yellow gold, zircon, chrysolite, and spessartite. | Ring in 18K white gold, amethyst, and garnet. |
CIJTC: Where is your jewelry made?
S.D.: All of my jewelry is made in my atelier in Kharkov in eastern Ukraine, where I established my workshops more than two decades ago, following graduation from the Kharkov State Academy of Design and Fine Arts. I have seven employees and goldsmiths who combine modern techniques with traditional artisanal methods to handcraft each piece, which is sold as a unique, one-of-a-kind jewel or as part of a limited series collection.
