The youngest award winning “Design Time” competition, Amelia Rachim has produced very interesting and yet luxurious conceptual jewelry. This talented Amelia Rachim who is originally from Indonesia, now based herself in Italy and working as an independent jewelry designer. Ms. Rachim has won a top-winning designer of Mejuri’s Enchanted Emerald design challenge; Breil and Designboom design of the future, and became the youngest winner of over 3037 designers from 96 countries in the “Design Time”, she spares a moment to talk to us about her passion, process, and personal stuff. (Text and Interview Dinta Jakile)
DEW: Can you tell us a bit how you first discovered that jewelry design was your calling?
AR: I LOVE details. When I was studying industrial design I always spent a lot of time and attention on little parts which most people didn’t even notice. So I decided to focus my carrier in jewelry design.
DEW: Where did you find most of your inspirations?
AR: Nature, personal feeling, artworks, books. And internet of course.
DEW: Could you describe your personal style?
AR: I’m a simple person and love simple things, thus I like to be different in my own style. Being different doesn’t mean exaggerating. People don’t listen if you ‘shout’, or they may listen but will get bored easily. A pinch of ‘salt’ doesn’t hurt, the key is to know the right proportion.
DEW: Tell us about your design process, from conception to final product?
AR: I’m not an artist, nor a superstar. So I’m not into costume jewelry like other “booming-accessories” designer which called their self “jewelry” designer.
I’m a designer. So like the other good designers, I’m designing jewelry with ‘industrial-design’ approach; knowing target market, planning idea, concept and design image, following industrial process, understanding machinery tools, controlling quality, maintaining production cost, etc. As designer I’m not just mastering one, or two masterpiece, but I also have to know how to produce that piece into thousand or million pieces.
DEW: We noticed that you were doing a wide range of conceptual luxurious jewelry, what’s the story behind it?
AR: I wanted to create a piece that was experiential and that would require viewer interaction. I loved the idea of incorporating each viewer’s different interpretation of objects and identities. Knowing the individuals in the profiles personally, makes you able to choose objects which were more revealing than the information they presented themselves. And the inclusion of a fully constructed fake identity allowed the objects to vary more greatly than they may have otherwise. Intriguing isn’t it?
DEW: When you enter the “Design Time” competition, what’s the story behind the pieces?
AR: I’m interested to put emotion into watch design and its potential to affect us, a functional design that has a deeper effect than just superficial appeal. That’s why for this project, I took an ‘infinity’/’endless’ symbol (∞) as a stilation object –which has a strong relation with concept of ‘time’ itself, make it discreetly visible so people will recognize the visual symbol, perceive it, and subconsciously connect it with content, with the ‘feel’ that I try to communicate.
DEW: Also, for the Mejuri’s Enchanted Emerald design challenge, you dedicated the pieces to your home island of Indonesia. Could you describe the whole process?
AR: ‘Zambrud Khatulistiwa’ or ‘Emerald of Equator’ is a project dedicated to my beloved home island, Indonesia. I try to put main elements from Indonesia’s nature in one design; Green tropical forest, Exotic animals, and Golden sunshine. Make this simple ring uniquely standout: Wild and elegant in the same time.
DEW: What is your favourite piece from your most recent collection?
AR: Each piece has its own story and sentimentally connect to the feeling I experienced on the moment I created.
DEW: Do you treat jewelry as an accent or a feature to a look?
AR: For me jewelry is a vehicle through which cultural identity is exhibited. It’s a personal thing. It could be feature, accent, or anything, but one thing for sure: it will “define” you.
DEW: What are the next exciting projects in line?
AR: I’m still focusing my mind, my heart, and my time on my new jewelry label: AMJ (you can find on www.amjjewels.com or https://www.facebook.com/Amjdesign.it). On this project I’m collaborating with Italian senior designer, Mauro Ronchi. We’re hoping to complete all collections soon.