The Art Of The Goldsmith

Zora Lopes Cardozo is a shining example of the power of traditional craftsmanship. As a 26 year old goldsmith, she’s determined to keep the traditional ways of working with metal alive. After three years of studying the intricacies of goldsmithing at the only official trade school in the Netherlands, she couldn’t imagine making jewellery without paying homage to traditional craftsmanship.

Zora’s workplace

After finding out there are young people who are goldsmithing in a traditional way, a lot of questions came to mind, but first of all; How did you roll into this world?

After I finished high school, I knew I didn’t want to go back to studying from books. I wanted to learn by using my hands. At the time I worked at Eenvoud which is the gold- and silversmithing company from my god- aunt & uncle. When I saw my uncle hammering and working with his hands all day, I just knew that was what I wanted to do.

So, then you did?

Yes, I did my studies at the trading school of Schoonhoven. This is like the smallest and most unknown village. There are no trains going there so that probably says a lot. It used to be in Amsterdam but since there weren’t many applications for the study, they narrowed it down.

Why didn’t they keep it in Amsterdam?

That would seem a lot more convenient and central. Well it’s funny you ask. Schoonhoven is known as the village of silver because it has a long history of silversmithing dating back to the 17th century. So this was the place to learn! Schoonhoven is actually still up and running because of the trading school students, since they’re the only ones using the facilities the village has. Without the students they wouldn’t survive a day. Did everyone at your school come with the same amount of eagerness to learn? All the students were very motivated since it was so hard to travel to. It felt like they all wanted to be there. But it was a niche group of people, our class existed only out of 13 people.

Sketches of jewellery pieces.

There are so many new ways to make jewellery, and this keeps evolving. Don’t you feel like what you learned at the trading

school is ‘old news’. Yes there are a lot of new ways but I feel like with these new techniques, such as 3D printing, the authenticity and quality is going to waste. For me it is important to keep the traditional ways of working alive.

Why is that so important to you?

Our society thinks that it is normal to have 10 different rings during the same year. Like fast fashion. But this is not normal. Think about the reason why your grandma has such beautiful jewellery; she only had one ring her whole life. But this ring was made out of high-quality materials and was made with patience, love and did not contribute to things such as trends. These pieces are there for a lifetime and won’t tarnish or damage as quickly. We all should be less greedy.

What kind of target group do you think you could rely on?

Right now I think my customers are mostly mature, rich people. Good materials and good craftsmanship costs a lot of time and money. But I would love for people my age to start appreciating it the way I do. I usually don’t do sketches when I have an idea for a design since metals are so easy to melt, and therefore quick to work with. But because of that it doesn’t mean that it’s something you can change as easily as the colour of your hair. Goldsmithing is a traditional way of working and the techniques behind it that cause quality, should be appreciated.

Interview by Bo Soepboer for Beyond Garment Magazine