CAE Reading and Use of English Part 8
You are going to read about four independent jewellery designers. For questions 47-56, choose from the sections of the article (A-D). The sections may be chosen more than once.
Which designer …
47 is concerned about the sourcing of her materials?
48 is claimed to have the wrong attitude to business?
49 uses the same combination of metals and precious stones in each piece of jewellery?
50 creates designs that feature different versions of the same symbol?
51 intends her jewellery to stand the test of time?
52 designs pieces to reflect her beliefs that everything is linked by patterns?
53 uses inspirations from experiences when she was young?
54 makes jewellery that is easily attributable to her?
55 does not work exclusively on making jewellery?
56 was originally inspired by a social connection?
Shining lights
A Emma Franklin
‘It has always been about animals,’ Emma Franklin says. ‘My friend’s grandmother had an amazing stag brooch with huge antlers and that’s where it started. Everyone has a relationship with an animal in my collection.’ Franklin has focused on jewellery design since her teens and graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2005, setting up her own business immediately. Based in east London, Franklin, twenty-nine, hand-makes each necklace, bangle, ring, cuff link and pin, featuring any of fourteen animal heads, from a pig to a triceratops, as well as a shotgun. All her pieces are made in solid silver, plated in twenty-two-carat yellow gold or black rhodium, with black diamonds and freshwater pearls. Bespoke commissions, predominantly engagement rings, not all animal-related, are becoming more frequent. Franklin’s robust designs are instantly recognisable, as she has discovered. ‘Recently in a pub this girl was wearing one of my rings at the bar, so I introduced myself. She was completely star-struck and fetched over her dad, who had bought it for her. I had to explain that it was really me who was excited.’
В Alexandra Jefford
‘My design style constantly evolves,’ Alexandra Jefford says. ‘But even though I try new things, I can’t kick my art background. I’m really inspired by art, architecture, design, furniture design.’ Jefford, forty-two, graduated in 1992 with a degree in fine art, began designing jewellery in 2003 and sold her first piece, a gold ring, on its first outing, at dinner with a friend. Her designs, produced on a project-by-project basis rather than as collections, include her signature Alphabet series for which she designed a slim font. Her recent О project interprets that letter in various typefaces. She combines jewellery design with other artistic pursuits such as sculptural welding and life drawing. Fans range from her daughter’s friends to her mother’s friends, although she doesn’t always want to sell. ‘I become emotionally involved with all my pieces, so I find it really hard to let go. There are still some pieces that I hide “for the family museum”. My husband says that I work as a shopper rather than a seller.’
C Hattie Rickards
Hattie Rickards’ first collection of twelve rings, entitled Revealed, was launched last November and was an instant success. Her second, Geo, came out last month to even greater acclaim. ‘The ethos behind Geo is connection and relationships, bringing tessellating or geometrical shapes together making one, for example, the Kindredring, where two puzzle pieces fit neatly together.’ Hampshire-born Rickards, set up on her own last year. ‘I wanted to create a high-end, luxury jewellery brand with an ethical backbone, which coincided with a gap in the market.’ All Hattie Rickards’ jewellery is made using Fairtrade precious stones from Thailand and India and eighteen-carat, Fairtrade, fair-mined gold from Colombia. HRJ is one of the first twenty companies to become a certified user of this type of gold, many of its pieces having the premium ‘ecological’ label. There are no plans for e-commerce, as Rickards believes this detracts from the meaning behind the piece. ‘I am passionate that people understand the symbolism behind my work. I don’t want it to just be a ring on a website. The story is so important.’
D Mawi Keivom
Mawi Keivom, thirty-nine, is known for her architectural statement jewellery: chunky box chains with coloured pearls, spiked gold rings and brightly-coloured gems. Born in the north-east of India, forty miles from the Burmese border, into the Mahr tribe, Keivom draws her influences from a peripatetic childhood with her diplomat parents that took them to Africa, the Middle East, south-east Asia and Europe. Keivom studied fashion design in New Zealand, then, after a stint in New York, moved to London in 1993, where she met her husband, Tim Awan, and together they set up Mawi in 2001 – she as the jewellery designer, he as the business brain. ‘My style of jewellery is very individual and not for the faint-hearted. I have a very strong vision that translates into an industrial, graphic aesthetic offset with crystals and pearls that are a little bit feminine. I don’t try to do something that is for the moment. My pieces are classics in their own right, not trend-specific.’
For this task: Answers with explanations :: Vocabulary