Writer LAURA SUNYER
When we think of jewelry we imagine gold and precious stones… Bagués-Masriera, one of the most historic and important jewelers in the world, has always had the enamel technique as a reference point and we could say that it has made it its specialization. Joan Oliveras Bagués, its president, tells us about this sophisticated and extremely valuable technique.
Born in 1839, the Bagués-Masriera jewelry store boasts of being one of the oldest jewelry stores in Spain… and Europe! After 175 years of history, how has jewelry evolved? Jewelry has changed with the momentum of social change. The turning point is when women entered the workforce and became direct consumers of jewelry. With this change, the jeweler has direct contact with the wearer of the jewelry and she conveys her needs to him. The woman wants jewelry that adapts to the different moments of the day and wants to feel attractive. Contemporary jewelry is therefore designed for modern life.
Tell me about enamel. Enamel is a language that links us to our cultural environment. We are children of the Mediterranean, which is reflected in a very colorful expression; the Catalan Modernism was one of the introducers of color in architecture. Through enamel, mixtures are achieved that take us to shades of color that we could not reach with precious stones, we pay tribute to this colorful culture so characteristic of us.
This wide palette of colors requires a very refined technique, we work the glazes with fire, which we elaborate at 800 degrees of temperature.
The second generation of the Masriera dynasty, José and Francisco, were painters as well as jewelers. Lluís Masriera was also a painter, playwright and set designer. You are in the Ametller house, a work of Puig i Cadafalch and icon of Modernism. Jewelry, art, architecture… Is there an intrinsic and reciprocal relationship between these disciplines? Yes, we could say that all artistic disciplines are involved in our jewelry, they are interconnected. Even so, jewelry encompasses everything in a synthesized way, it has part of architecture, sculpture and painting. Its only limitation is space.
Lluís Masriera elevated the jewel to the category of work of art, explain this to me. Lluís was first trained in Switzerland as a stagier and then in Paris. That’s where he saw the birth Art Noveau that he introduced when he returned and changed the concept of jewelry to a work of art, and that was a great novelty.
Your jewelry is marketed abroad, tell me about this internationalization. Our first market is Japan, a very mature geography culturally and with a very high level of sophistication. We are also in the United States, Russia, Ukraine, China, Malaysia, Singapore, some parts of Europe and, of course, Spain; although 80% of our turnover comes from foreign countries.
If you had to choose a moment in the history of jewelry, for its creativity or innovation, what would it be? Modernism. I find it particularly interesting because it corresponds to a turn of the century that was an explosion at the artistic level. All the avant-garde movements were born. It was a very rich moment.
THE HITS OF JOAN OLIVERA BAGUÉS
1-A book? “La terra eixorca”, a book of poetry by Thomas Stearns Eliot.
2- A movie? “Blow Up” I wanted to be a photographer the next day!
3- A passion? Art collecting, it’s the only thing I could go broke with. I don’t collect a period or style, but pieces. I’m fascinated by specific works.
4- A trip? New York is a recurring destination, permanently necessary to get perspective.
