In Israel designers are not bound by convention like the europeans, and design is open, imaginative and as free wheeling as an open air market in Jerusalem.
You can see a touch of Middle Eastern style in the design and there is an earthiness and elegance to it. But, overall design in Israel is world class in style and in finish with each piece as polished and perfect as a fresh cut stone from Ramat gan.
Tel Aviv is a dynamic back-drop for this hot-house of creativity with it’s Bauhaus past, views of the Mediterranean and burgeoning hip neighbourhoods like Neve Tzedek. Here is where designers from prestigious art schools such as Shenkar College and Bezalel Academy gather to plot new projects. And each of them knows that they live in a metropolis with improved security, growing affluence and tremendous sophistication.
Designers in Israel have at their fingertips cutting edge technologies and the excitement of working in a city that is being reshaped by giants such as Philippe Starck and Richard Meir. Success abounds as Israel’s jewelry export last year amounted to a massive $410 million in jewelery exports. One could put this success down to the irrepressible chutzpah of the Israeli’s themselves but the real magic lies in the range of design.
The variety stems from the mélange of different immigrants that have come to find freedom in the promised land. This multicultural mosaic is evident in Ran gov’s and other simple and elegant designs that are at once ancient and modern and result in eye catching shimmering gold pieces. One must not forget that Israel is also the source of polished diamonds and at the forefront of the sector with technology, so Israeli designers can obtain diamonds directly from the source which frees them up creatively. However, the key to Israeli design and the reason it has perhaps not been vaunted in a way that it should have been is that it is deceptively simple in the way that only truly sophisticated design can be.
If you wish to see more of the talent flair and spirit of Israel’s jewelry industry please contact:
Ms. Reli stav, Business Development Manager – Jewelry, Judaica & giftware Israel Export & International Cooperation institute
+972-3-5142862/850
