Minimalist Gold
The most treasured piece of the South African distant past is the Rhino of Mapungubwe , a small expertly shaped golden rhino found in the North close to Zimbabwe. Mining gold has been and still is the corner stone of the South African economy. Johannesburg was founded in the times of the gold rush and its indigenous name is Egoli , the City of Gold. To own a piece of African gold besides the Krugerrand is seducing. So, I went looking for some gold jewellery that would not empty my wallet completely. Finally, I found it at the Watershed, The market place of South African handicraft at the V &A Waterfront in Cape Town. There Famke Koene, a young designer who studied in the Netherlands, is interpreting African gold in a minimalistic style. Her pieces are looking cool and they do not consume all too much of the precious metal. Aenne Huette from Germany could have been her aunt. She had a similar concept of using gold in a...