Meet the designer – Contemporary Silver Jewelry by Alexandra Ungurelu

Alexandra Ungurelu is a young jewelry designer, with a great potential and so much to offer. Her dearest project “Expression Contemporary Jewelry” was born two years ago and since then she’s constantly experimenting and discovering the wonders of the jewelry universe, by bringing ideas to life and putting them into original pieces. I was delighted to get to know her at Jewelry Design Fair in Bucharest and later find out more about her creations on a beautiful yet rainy Saturday afternoon.

I asked Alexandra to answer some questions as I was convinced you would like to know her too. So, my dear reader, I am more than happy to introduce Alexandra to you:

Alexandra Ungurelu, Contemporary Jewelry Designer

How would you describe Expression - contemporary jewelry in a few words?

AU: Jewelry is an expression of self! My jewelry is an expression of myself and I believe it can also be for other jewelry lovers.

Expression Contemporary Jewelry, by Alexandra Ungurelu

Why silver jewelry?

AU: My story with silver is pretty much simple. I love silver, the way it feels, the way it looks and most of all the way you can manipulate it into almost any shape or form. I believe it is the precious metal that represents me at this time and I love how adorning it with precious stones only makes it more attractive.

120 Degrees Collection

What does inspire you?

AU: This I think is an answer that changes constantly, because sometimes you can be inspired by architecture, other times by food. Most of my ideas come from me constantly observing and absorbing everything around me. From a song on the radio to the shape of a flower, everything comes together in my mind and shapes are formed, they are given a purpose and a life of their own. I believe that different sources of inspiration give you place to evolve and create something different and unique every time.

Silver Wings Collection

If you’d have to pick just one piece of jewelry to represent your work from all your collections, which one would you choose and why?

AU: It’s really hard to choose just one, from almost twelve collections. I have done a lot and different pieces that I love; each represents a certain feeling and creates a special connection. I think at the time the one piece I care for very much is the Silver Pill, it was a challenge to make and I started this project with two guide lines in my mind: one was that it represented all the secrets that everybody and anybody who wears it carries and the second was the fact that to me it is a symbol for today’s world. We are constantly depending on something, we are all addicted to one or more “substances” and it only seems to get worse. This silver pill is sort of a reminder of what we have become.

Silver Pill Collection

How does your client look like? (A short profile of the woman that buys Expression jewelry)

AU: My clients’ profile varies as my jewelry collections do, so I guess a few connecting traits would be the boldness to wear something unique, the need to have something that completes and shows who you are and the love for creative and contemporary shapes and design. 

Silver Cube Collection

What jewel took you the longest time to create?

AU: If I remember correctly it was the “Spinning Ring”, I started working on it at the beginning of this jewelry journey and it was challenging to put together but it was worth every minute.

Silver Spinning Ring

You made some gold jewelry as well. How was the experience of working with this precious metal?

AU: For me working with gold means having a different mindset than when I’m working with silver, especially when I work with yellow gold. I believe that yellow gold can be captivating but under the right circumstances and when it is given the “right” shape. I say the “right shape” because I think it can sometimes express more as something organic than something minimal or geometric, but of course that is just my opinion following my taste in gold jewelry. It is a harder metal to work with but it is just as beautiful and I had a great time experiencing with gold in my “Golden Paper” Collection.

Golden Paper Collection

How was Alexandra before designing jewelry and how do you see yourself now?

AU: I used to search for things to make me happy, trying to find a way to express myself, a way that I could show who I was but not all the way. I used to dress mainly in grays, black, just dark colors and I didn't really feel the need to try new things. Now I wear more colors (maybe not as much as I should, but I am getting there). I exercise, I feel the need to travel and gather inspiration from all around the world, I realized that I really love to cook so that is what I do in my down time and most of all I have found a true way to express myself and that is through creating jewelry.

Morocco Stars Collection

Dear Alexandra, it is great how the passion for jewelry makes you feel alive and it stimulates your imagination and creativity. Keep up the good work and I wish you lots of inspiration!

I hope you all enjoyed this interview and I promise you this one just marks the beginning of a very interesting section on Jewelry Love Affair blog – Meet the designer. So stay tuned for other interesting interviews!