Created by passionate and meticulous hands, Torun has charmed for generations with its timeless silver jewelry.
Wearing headphones blasting music into his ears, the artisan is oblivious to everything around him, focusing solely on perfecting the shape and surface of a ring with some sort of polishing tool. His desk is cluttered with various tools and materials, but it’s also organized in a way that only he knows what goes where. An order form is laid on a stool nearby on a pile of books that also serve as references. But when you’ve been crafting for so long, you’d know the curves by heart and be able to gauge the smoothness through touch alone.
A look inside the small workshop located in Jakarta, filled with busy artisans equipment and tools tells you that every jewelry piece is crafted over a long and intricate process. The tight quality control allows for not even the tiniest flaw – which would go unnoticed by the naked eye. Only then is the jewelry displayed at the gallery, delivered to customers or shipped to prominent galleries in Europe, Australia and Japan.
Far from being showy, Torun silver jewelry are simple statement pieces with uncommon yet feminine curves that can still be worn by generations to come. The whole collection is made with 925 Sterling Silver, some subtly imbued with gold. You will find semi-precious stones like citrine, agate and obsidian, pearls or seashells, each with naturally distinct colors and patterns. And given the handcrafted process, no two pieces are exactly the same.
One of the most popular collections is the ‘Night and Day’, with obsidian and mother-of-pearls set behind one another on the center piece which can easily be turned around. There are also other reversible collections if you’re looking for other colors. Or if you like mixing and matching your jewelry, there’s a choker with a dangling pendant which can be taken off and replaced with another. These dangling pendants are also sold separately and come with various stones.
The creative mind behind Torun jewelry is Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe, the first female Swedish silversmith to set up her own workshop and also the first female silversmith to gain international recognition. Her distinguished clientele includes Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Brigitte Bardot and Ingrid Bergman. Her acquaintance with Picasso eventually resulted in an exhibition of Torun jewelry at the Picasso museum in Antibes from 1958 to 1960. She was forty when Georg Jensen granted her designer status amongst other high-standing silversmiths in 1967.
Around a decade later, Bülow-Hübe moved to Indonesia and met Mansur Geiger, an Australian geologist. Their shared vision to cultivate the raw talents of local artisans matched their passion for beautiful and natural stones, and together they started a silversmith’s workshop which eventually led to the opening of Utami Gallery. It was named after Mansur’s wife, Sri Utami, who later learned the art of silversmithing and created her own contemporary jewelry line, Utami, inspired by Indonesian culture and nature.
Under Vivianna’s guidance, the workshop achieved high quality standards and began supplying for Georg Jensen until 2002. Now the skilled artisans and the team behind Utami Gallery allow Vivianna’s ideas and creations to remain eternal.
Utami Gallery currently operates as Adhara to better accomodate a variety of designers. Their clients may also order custom-designed jewelry and silversmith classes are available upon request.
Adhara
Jl. Puri Mutiara Raya No.1
Jakarta 12410 Indonesia
T: +62 21 750 2962
adharasilver.com
Photos by: Adhara, Cita Arsita Farani
