ILGIZ F.: It’s All About the Enamel

Colourful, glittering and smooth – in the hands of an artist, enamel is capable of the most unpredictable transformations. Works of enamel can be compared to the works of the impressionists; such is the extent to which an auteur can both lyrically and subtly communicate his/her temperament.

Today, the number of highly experienced professionals is significantly smaller than it used to be because working with enamel is technically difficult and labour intensive… Nonetheless, artists on a par with the legendary Lalique and Fouquet do exist and one of them lives and works in Moscow: Ilgiz Fazulzyanov, known as the “king of enamel” in professional circles.

Ilgiz developed a technique of working with this material over twenty years ago and since then enamel has been an inextricably regular feature of his jewellery. The pieces, released under the brand Ilgiz F., are unusually expressive, bright and unique. Even the maestro himself couldn’t make two identical pieces. Why? You shall find out if you read the following interview in which Ilgiz tells us all about the different varieties of enamel and shares some of his experiences in working with this “precious glaze”.

When a series of precious jewellery transforms into a class of high jewellery creations, each piece has to be looked at separately and in small groups. Every work that has coloured this interview has its own character. This serves as a wonderful example of how modern jewellers have surpassed the common boundaries of stock creations and turned enamel into a unique art form.

Photo credit: Igor Gerasimchuk