Creating hidden treasures
- Becoming a jeweller was Sergei's childhood dream
- He spent two years designing fantasy video games
- He uses jewel beetles and sea urchins in his works
Bird's nests, butterfly wings, spider's webs… the world of Sergei Novikov’s jewellery resembles a magical forest. A native of the ancient Russian town of Yaroslavl, he is a true nature lover, and has British textile designer William Morris as one of his aesthetic icons. In Sergei’s hands, a sea urchin shell found on the shores of Crimea becomes a thistle flower ring. He thrives at skilfully fusing together ebony and ivory, silver and mother-of-pearl, precious stones and beetle shells. Sergei takes particular pleasure in decorating the backs of his pieces, pairing birds with leaves and frogs with mosquitoes or dragonflies.
INTERVIEW
I have always loved drawing, and I got interested in jewellery making very early on. My father was working at a state jewellery enterprise in Yaroslavl – his job was to make rubber moulds – and he would sometimes take me with him. I caught the bug instantly, and never doubted my choice.
It was a large ring decorated with the owner’s initials. It was a chance assignment: I was training at my friends’ studio when a client came by, and they invited me to try and make the ring for him. It came out well, and gave me the confidence to move on from being a trainee and start my own career.
Each of my works has a little hidden treasure, an element that only the owner knows about. For example, a ring in the form of a fantasy bird’s head opens up, and inside there is a head of a sleeping girl. The back of a woodpecker brooch which I made for my wife is decorated with maple leaves.
I admire the building of the Stieglitz Academy of Art and Design in St. Petersburg, designed by Maximilian von Messmacher. It reminds me of an enormous fabulous piece of jewellery, and I would spend ages marvelling at its astounding decor. Also, I am a big fan of Arthur Rackham’s book illustrations.
