This Australian Designer, Lucas Blacker looks at jewellery from a totally different angle. Discussing his views and ideas he says, “The most important element in jewellery designing is to understand the rules that allow a contemporary design to become timeless. Understanding the history of design and jewellery is essential. Fashion comes and goes but a good design will always look fabulous.” Blacker believes good design always has to be wearable and comfortable. %%He defines his journey as travelling down a lot of different paths. “In earlier years I was hungry for as many different ideas and influences as I could get. I wanted to absorb as much information and experiences as possible. This led to a large and diverse range of ideas and concepts,” said Blacker, but he also freely confesses that at times they were too many at once to properly digest.%% {{Much More to Come :}}$$ He has taken a couple of steps back from this approach in the last four years and feels that his approach to design is more refined now. “I am looking at a lot of ideas with a new refined approach. With the wealth of ideas and skills I have developed over the last 30 years I feel even more excited about the years ahead than any time in the past,” he adds.%% This jewellery designer finds custom designing very exciting. He explains in his own words the feeling it gives him, “Bringing together a customers idea or need and my ability to create a piece of jewellery that has an emotional attachment for the client. This is what makes designing and making jewellery really exciting.” Blacker’s initial designs are concept based, usually influenced by a strong abstract direction. His ideas come from shape and form; whether it is something from nature or manmade. He sees a line or a shape in an object and gets an idea for a concept. From the concept he sees how it will transform to a piece of jewellery. When asked about his best creation he struggles to find one piece he is most proud of. “The closest would be a concept I call ‘striped gold’. It has stepped sections of 18kt white and yellow gold satin finished. It gives softness (like silk) to the gold,” he explains. The concept is used in hundreds of his designs and has been highly successful in Japan. %%

{{2 Tones Preferred :}}$$ Blacker likes to work with 18kt white and yellow gold and platinum. He says 2-tone designs are his forte because you have a greater range to work with when creating definitions and highlights. He uses a stronger approach to 2-tone metals in his pieces because he believes this gives a stronger and more flattering piece of jewellery. %% {{Challenge for Designers :}}$$ Gemstones are not far behind. He enjoys working with colored gemstones since each has a life of its own. He says, “The challenge is to bring the best out of the gemstone. Too many designers add a gemstone to the design rather than designing to highlight the colored gemstone. I design a lot with South Sea Pearl, pink diamond and unique opal jewellery.” All are quite different gems to design around and yet Blacker loves challenges in designing. $$ Blacker has a diverse range of clients with budgets from US$500 to US$100,000, but the one thing they have in common is ‘they want a piece of jewellery that defines them’. About the importance of design in jewellery he says, “It isn't always the piece of jewellery that has an outstanding design that sells but it is what attracts the customer to want a piece of jewellery. Sometimes the piece is too expensive or doesn't suit the customer. But because they thought about a piece of jewellery they will look at other options more suitable to their needs.” $$ Since Australian markets are renowned for their jewellery and pearls; we asked Blacker about the latest trends in those markets. “The latest trends still seem to be pave set jewellery, mostly white metals. Diamonds and South Sea Pearls seem strong in the Australian market at the moment,” he explains.%% {{Promote Stronger Quality :}}$$ We asked him for his comments on the Indian market. He admits he knows very little about this market and from what he has heard he says that top end of Indian market is beyond belief for most westerners. However he points to a drawback; India promotes too much lower end and price point jewellery and not enough quality jewellery. “The Indian market should promote a stronger quality element internationally,” he concluded.