Meet Paolo, our wonderful producer in Italy responsible for making most of your beautiful jewelry. When we first started working with Paolo we couldn't have imagined how over the years Paolo and his wife would become like family to us. We love to visit them and eat delicious homemade Italian food in their living room by the fireplace (yes they really cook us their family recipes). Talking to them about their love for rock music and modern architecture, as well as how they do yoga weekly inspires us to stay young at heart! When we visit we love melting into the Italian work culture, starting the day standing at a counter in a coffee shop quickly drinking an espresso and eating a croissant, before we head off along with all the other Italians to our respective workplaces. Here's what Paolo had to say about himself, his work and what it's like working with JUKSEREI.
Can you tell us a little bit about your work?
I have been doing this job for about 45 years, I was 15 years old when I started working with silver. It was in November 1976. The working methods were different those days, the production process was much more manual, in the factories there were many people and delivery times were much longer than today. On the contrary, today, to limit costs and stay competitive, I do some phases of work internally and others are done by my collaborators in their own companies, we specialize in a segment of production to be able to meet the demands of customers. My job is to design and execute the ideas, the project of my customers, create the first prototype for approval, and then move on to the production phase.
How is it working with the JUKSEREI team?
I got in touch with Chanette in December 2013, we started with one ring and one earring, today we have about 500 items in our sample book, I can only say one thing: It has all been very exciting, thank you JUKSEREI team!!! Working with JUKSEREI is like being with family: you never get bored.
What are your favorite JUKSEREI pieces to create and why?
The items I prefer are the less standard ones, the most original ones, which are often the most complicated to produce and the most difficult to sell, however I like to produce a little bit of all styles.
What do you love most about your job?
The best thing about my job is the moment when I create the first prototype. When I start from a drawing that Anne or Chanette sends me by email with all the details, measurements etc, and the prototype manages to be just what they had in mind. The difficult thing is to interpret their design, and I don't always succeed ... sometimes it takes more attempts, but when the first model is right, then it's great!
Why is it sometimes a long process to create some of the JUKSEREI pieces?
When I receive a design from the JUKSEREI team, first of all I have to decide which working process is best to realize the idea. Every object has different characteristics, some start from a piece of wax, others from a foil, others from a wire, or from a tube and then there is the investment casting where the object is made directly from a casting. This means that on some processes you have shorter times while others take longer, sometimes even weeks.
How do you relax?
Once a week I go to yoga which in addition to exercise also includes some meditation. I like it very much, it relaxes me and yoga helps concentration. Also once a week I go to do postural gymnastics, to avoid contractures and back pain. When you are no longer young you need gymnastics.
On Saturdays we get together with friends and go out and see new places and experience new restaurants. In winter on weekends when it's not raining I go for a run on Sunday mornings.
What is the best part about Italy, besides all the lovely pasta dishes?
Italy is known for fashion, food and beautiful places, but personally the thing I prefer are the people with their simplicity and the way they don't take life too seriously, a bit like me.
