For Pride Month: Jewelry that’s also ‘his and his,’ ‘hers and hers’

The jeweler Hans Brumann’s latest collection is called “His and Hers, His and His, Hers and Hers, To Have and To Hold.”

The designs are not run-of-the-mill classic. Rather, they were made while Brumann thought of friends and clients who wanted to celebrate personal and relationship milestones, but felt “ignored” by the safe and traditional offerings in the market.

There are no dainty flowers or fragile-looking solitaires. The cameo pendant is reinvented by outlining non-Western-looking faces in white gold.

There are more black diamonds than white, more colored stones than diamonds, and Brumann used his favorite kamagong wood to highlight the delicate colors of two-toned tourmalines.

“I have very good clients from the gay community, they suggested ideas. They gave me a free hand,” Brumann said in an interview in his Makati atelier.

“The challenge was to do a collection for all genders because there are people who feel ignored, who cannot relate to more traditional designs. I wanted to create designs they can enjoy. Design is still the most important thing in jewelry for me, a great expression of individuality,” he added.

And so, Brumann went ahead with rings that have diamonds settled solidly in austere white gold settings. In a more audacious piece, matte yellow gold was bent to resemble rattan furniture that encircles a finger.

One cameo pendant suggests the profile of a man with dreadlocks. Brumann also made maskara pendants that used colored stones and pavé diamonds for facial features.

Candy-colored

His stackable rings highlight candy-colored rubies, peridots, chrysoberyls and opals. Brumann’s 2021 collection has yet to debut in his Power Plant Mall store on June 15, but many of the stackable rings have already gone home with their owners.

The term “unisex” hardly describes this collection. The pieces are neither masculine nor feminine. “They are for everyone,” he said.

Brumann’s earlier collections leaned heavily on the feminine, but his works are also known for being different and edgy.

“It’s fun to be different. It may be riskier, but it is something enjoyable. Of course, I still do classic designs for those who ask,” he said.

Brumann realized, however, that to be really different, one must purposely break the limits imposed by the comfort of knowing that there is a market for one’s pieces.

“We have always used jewelry to celebrate unions, for example. But not all unions are traditional. Jewelry can celebrate something that is non-traditional, but still speak of lasting emotions like love, the desire to be together,” he explained.

“Design cannot cover only one gender,” the jeweler added. “It’s not all about flowers. There are icons that can be appreciated by more people. Identities and cultures can be different. I want my work to be liked by a broader group and to remind people of their adventures. Imagine the stories that can be told by one ring that is not just masculine or feminine. But rather, it becomes whoever uses it.”