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© Pietro Lucerni Photography
© All rights reserved
© Pietro Lucerni Photography
© Pietro Lucerni Photography
© Pietro Lucerni Photography

Maris Aunins

  • Jewellery maker
  • Riga, Latvia
  • Master Artisan
Maris Aunins Jewellery maker
Contact
Latvian, English
Hours:
By appointment only
Phone:
+371 26537787
© Pietro Lucerni Photography

The gemstone architect

  • • Maris learned jewellery making from his father
  • • He cuts the gemstones himself
  • • Every piece is unique and he never repeats his works

Maris Aunins learnt his skills from his father, the 1930s goldsmith Eizens Aunins. Now, both his and his father’s works are exhibited in the permanent collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Riga. As a child, he spent many hours in his father’s workshop, discovering the technical tools and processes, which would inspire him to study metal design at Tallinn’s Arts University, Estonia. In 1992, he inherited his father’s workshop, a cozy and creative space in the heart of Riga's Old Town where Maris creates his distinctive jewellery, which he describes as miniature architectural constructions inspired by gemstone nuggets. And now, with a sense of history repeating itself, Maris has also trained his son.

Read the full interview

Works

  • © All rights reserved
  • © All rights reserved
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  • © All rights reserved
Photo: © All rights reserved
Ring

To create this sophisticated aquamarine and silver ring, Maris favoured simplicity in order to highlight the natural beauty of the stone. Like Brutalist architecture, Maris’s jewellery is often characterised by heavy shapes as well as straight angles and lines.

Length 2.5 cm
Height 2.8 cm
Width 1 cm

Photo: © All rights reserved
Bracelet

Cutting gemstones is an important step in Maris's creation process, since he aims to respect the natural form of the stone as much as possible. He likes to describe his pieces of jewellery as miniature architectural constructions inspired by the natural structure of gemstone nuggets.

Length 6.5 cm
Height 5.5 cm
Width 3 cm

Photo: © All rights reserved
Bracelet

The inspiration behind this aquamarine and silver bracelet was the modernist movement in architecture and its affinity with minimalism and straight angles. Through his work, Maris aims to highlight the natural shape of gemstones, simply polishing their surfaces to allow light to shine through.

Length 6.5 cm
Height 5.5 cm
Width 3 cm

Photo: © All rights reserved
Necklace

To create this sophisticated aquamarine and silver necklace, Maris favoured simplicity in order to highlight the natural beauty of the stone. Like Brutalist architecture, Maris’s jewellery is often characterised by heavy shapes as well as straight angles and lines.

Length 23 cm
Width 4.8 cm
Depth 1.5 cm

Photo: © All rights reserved
Ring

To create this sophisticated topaz and silver ring, Maris favoured simplicity in order to highlight the natural beauty of the stone. The ring was forged with silver and set with a square cut topaz enhanced by a delicate gold setting.

Height 2.5 cm
Width 2.2 cm
Depth 2 cm

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