Tonal Elegance. The Jewels of Atelier Zobel

Artist list

Peter Schmid

My jewelry is big and bold, but it has a human touch to it,” said Schmid, the creative force behind the Zobel jewelry design studio in Konstanz, Germany. “When I met a client at Patina I have the chance to get to know who they are, and then how we together can express the client’s unique personality.

Patina has presented an exhibition of Zobel’s most innovative works for 16 consecutive years. Santa Fe collectors prize the jewelry because it is intriguing to the eye and sexy to the touch. Unparalleled refinement and complexity are the hallmarks of Schmid’s designs.

What I make is very personal, he said. A woman wearing a piece completes the process. The piece is nice in a showcase, but the moment a person puts it on, they become complete. That is a great moment.

Schmid’s signature fused-metal technique is always striking: organic, expressive and ultramodern. The painterly quality of his pieces animates the gold and silver works set with unusual gems and dustings of tiny diamonds.

A child-like appetite for discovery and curiosity attracts me to a specific stone, to explore the juxtaposition between color combinations or between two unusual objects, Schmid said, and then to uncover a feeling, an encounter, a story, and draw it into a single object.

Patina Gallery, in its 18th year, is considered one of the world’s top galleries for one-of-a-kind jewelry, photography and fine art handcrafted by the finest designers in Santa Fe, the United States and Europe.