20 years is not an eternity. In the past, people were not yet of legal age at this age, and those who survived 20 years of marriage were only allowed to celebrate the porcelain wedding. However, when four goldsmiths run a jewelery gallery with a workshop together for as long as Anne Gericke, Sarah Cossham, Pura Ferreiro and Barbara Decker do with “Tragbar”, this is in Munich, which has a reputation for not being the easiest place for creative people be, then you will be allowed to ask: How does it work? And what’s special?
Of course, this cannot be explained in one sentence. The coffee machine first has to run extensively before the listener understands that it is the sustainable use of valuable materials that makes “Portable”. In the shop workshop with the beautiful tiled floor, not only jewelery is made from recycled gold. Old jewelry is also upcycled, i.e. worn-out things are given a new life.
The precious metal is becoming more and more expensive, most recently the pandemic fueled demand for gold as an investment. Stocks are limited and extraction harms the environment. Toxic chemicals are often used, forests have to give way and huge masses of earth have to be moved in order to get to the coveted precious metal.
The material of old jewelry is reused
And that’s why they want to do things differently at Zenettistraße 33. Four individual entrepreneurs not only share the fixed costs there, but also the shop times and tasks. Gericke learned in 2003 that the space would be free. And thought to himself: “A shop like that will never come back. I have to do that now.” Anyone who enters the former grocery store will notice the earrings that Cossham makes from glass beads in many different colors. She also upcycles the Munich jewelry: “I prefer to dig for gold and stones in my customers’ drawers,” she says. For example, she placed the diamonds of a ring whose aesthetics was showing its age on a new ring in a modern way. The gold of the original ring will of course be recycled. Cossham offsets its value against her work.
Four female entrepreneurs under one roof: Pura Ferreiro (from left), Sarah Cossham, Anne Gericke and Barbara Decker.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
In the designs by Gericke and Decker, gemstones are allowed to unfold their beauty, each in their own way. Ferreiro stands in front of a showcase and looks at her “Little Fruits” collection, pendants or earrings in the form of lychees, lotus or lilies of the valley. She also masters the ancient technique of granulation, in which tiny gold beads are laid into a pattern with a brush.
Ferreiro started thinking about the origin of the precious metal 15 years ago, when she used fair trade silver. Attention is paid to fair wages, but this does not guarantee ecological harmlessness. They are now working with a Munich dealer on Zenettistraße, who supplies them with recycled precious metals from a certified refinery. During recycling, gold is separated from foreign materials by electrolysis. It doesn’t matter whether an old mobile phone, a pair of hoops or gold teeth go through this process: the end product is gold of the same quality as before. “It’s even better because there’s no mining at all,” explains Ferreiro. Decker, on the other hand, obtains its gems from small traders. For example about a Brazilian who grew up in Germany. Because he knows the production conditions in the mine.
Wearing recycled jewelry is becoming a trend
Ultimately, it is a question of trust – for everyone involved. Many Munich residents come to the “Tragbar” because they are specifically looking for recycled gold. This contrasts with the perceived majority of those who shop in large department stores or on the Internet, where the transparency of the supply chain quickly reaches its limits. Although it is now common, especially in small companies, to work with recycled gold, as they say on Zenettistrasse, there is still a lot of room for improvement. But the wearing of recycled jewelery is slowly becoming a trend. Sometimes it just takes a while for consumers to change their minds, and that was no different with green fashion and organic food. It is in the nature of the goldsmith to use the precious materials sparingly. Every chip has always been collected.
Decker is sitting at the workbench sawing on a ring. At the age of 14 she took her first course in goldsmithing. “What I love about the material is that something new can always be created,” she says. And while Gericke appreciates “the interaction with people” about her profession, for Cossham goldsmithing is “the most effective meditation in the world” and for Ferreiro “a channel for the imagination to flourish”.
Four women goldsmiths, for whom the “Tragbar” works so well as a basis because they allow themselves their freedom: Ferreiro studied art history in the meantime, Gericke also works for the city’s cultural and creative industries competence team. Cossham has just started a jewelry podcast called “Others and me”. In it she wants to introduce jewelry artists. The first episode, however, is dedicated to “portable”. Eh sure.
“Wearable in conversation” on March 12 at 10.30 a.m. at the “Schmuck-Infopoint” in the new town hall at Marienplatz 8 (accompanying program of the International Crafts Fair).