Maria Frantzi won my Critic’s choice award last night, during week two of The Goldsmiths’ Fair. This year marks her 35th anniversary at the bench in an industry that tends to focus on and celebrate newism (is that even a word?!) and in that time she has developed a voice that is both elegantly unique and consistently her. It’s one of the hardest things to do in jewelry - evolve enough to stay relevant but hold onto your signature style year in, year out. Yet her stone heavy, modern medieval, electric jewels do just that. She sighted her jewelry hero’s yesterday when we discussed her triumphant win. Hemmerle, Wallace Chan and Grima were mentioned, all artists who are staunchly themselves. “You have to do justice to your materials” she mused when discussing design and for her that almost always means haphazard but gratuitous stonework in a medley of mouthwatering colours. The metal is heavily textured with stones peeking out of every orifice and she challenges herself constantly from stackable baguettes to her cosmic swirls. Ultimately, everything she does is about people. She watched her parents as a child who were both jewellers in Rhodes, Greece do the metaphorical dance with their customers until the right jewel was identified and given a new home. She slips gothic jewels on each of my fingers while we chat, noting flickers of interest and making every single person who clustered around her stand feel seen. Her clientele are strong women who are drawn to the energy and strange beauty of her work and while 35 years isn’t a long time in jewelry, it’s a lifetime in terms of perfecting all the skills needed to become critically acclaimed. Rhodes’ loss is certainly our gain. The fair is open every day this week including the weekend from 11am - 8.30pm so pop in. Also take a look at 40x40 the wonderful exhibition curated by @rgarrahan . Maria is on stand 25. #mariafrantzijewellery #goldsmithsfair #criticschoice #modernmedieval #gothicstyle #stoneheavy