Kathia Pinckernelle
Serious Content.
Light-hearted Packaging.
MY BACKGROUND
I’m a jewellery historian with a master’s degree (MPhil) in ancient Greek and Roman jewellery. My field of interest is the story of Western jewellery in its historic, economic and socio-cultural context, from early beginnings to the late 20th Century – where I learn new things all the time. Future research interests include other cultures, particularly China, Japan, India and pre-Columbian civilisations.
I’m a gemmologist (FGA) and jewellery specialist with a focus on antique and vintage jewellery. I’ve worked in the luxury jewellery business in various roles for almost 20 years.
I’m an educator and have taught classes to adults for almost 5 years. I like looking at the bigger picture – but I can be a stickler for details, too… My favourite word is probably “why”.
I’m open-minded and love travelling on my own: it opens our minds and hearts – to ourselves and those around us. I once criss-crossed Uzbekistan and then walked into Afghanistan where I stayed at the house of an ex-mujahideen, went to the market with my burqa-wearing hostess, and had mansaf at a “restaurant” (wooden platform with curtains) in the middle of nowhere while everyone pretended not to look at the only woman around.
My Experience
I started out at Christie’s in Geneva where I wrote all content for three jewellery auction catalogues per year. I also trained other cataloguers, created the in-house international cataloguing guidelines and liaised with the press office.
I then worked in publishing and taught English in Amman and Moscow. Back in Geneva I joined Cartier Tradition, buying and cataloguing Cartier antique and vintage pieces.
I’ve been teaching the history of jewellery at the SSEF in Basel since 2022 and, since 2023, at the Haute École d’Art et de Design (HEAD) in Geneva. Occasionally I give talks on aspects of jewellery history. As part of the Eric Horovitz Foundation‘s Masterclass project I also speak about potential pitfalls when young jewellery designers set up their businesses.
I particularly enjoy curating the SSEF Jewellery Collection. The SSEF is a foundation with a clear mandate to focus on research and education, and they were looking to establish a Jewellery Collection for educational and research purposes. Handling actual jewellery is absolutely essential to the learning experience! Since 2022 we have carefully chosen small pieces representing either a particular time, technique or material and with multiple learning points. We also want the pieces to keep their value in the future; so the quality of workmanship is another important aspect.
MY PHILOSOPHY
Jewellery
I believe in jewellery. Its story is a human tale of beauty, status, technology, science – and a lot of hard work. It illustrates neatly, and beautifully, the history of humanity.
Education
I believe in education. Years ago, after a particularly hair-raising request from a client who just didn’t know any better, I recognised the necessity to develop knowledge both with clients and colleagues alike. To answer this need for education in our field has been close to my heart ever since.
Serious Content.
Light-hearted Packaging.
I believe in serious content. And in light-hearted packaging (if it’s recyclable that is…). Consider Brian Cox and Robin Ince in The Infinite Monkey Cage.
Serious content doesn’t have to be dry!
Photo: Lucie Poirier