CONCRETE JEWELLERY DESIGNER: I GREW UP IN A CITY WHERE CONCRETE WAS A MAJOR OBJECT

Celsius 273 is a contemporary jewellery brand handmade in Lithuania. It’s made of concrete which, according to the woman behind the brand Gerda Liudvinaviciute, is a piece of a city that you can carry around. We spoke with Gerda to find out how she fell for the concrete, and why she doesn’t call herself a jeweller.

Fashion Bloc: Can you tell us what does Celsius 273 mean?

Gerda: Celsius 273 is the lowest temperature in the universe -273 C. It’s a margin where life is not existing anymore. Silence and eternity. Without water and any trace of existence. It’s a sterile environment without time or thought restrictions, carrying a secret of the universe, an inspiration to build an urban utopia all over again. To me, this cold aesthetic and brutalism have always been attractive. I always had Celsius 273 inside me but never had a right moment or means to express it. It had to mature inside me. Celsius 273 has come to life organically. One day I decided to tell my vision in a form that I feel and connect with best.

FB: How are you related to jewellery professionally?

Gerda: I am not a jeweller. When people ask what profession I have, I don’t have an answer. I prefer to see my development as a process. And I don’t like to attach myself to a profession. A human being and everything that surrounds us is versatile and shifting. I try to let myself to be versatile and change all the time.

FB: Why have you decided to use concrete as the main material to express your creativity?

Gerda: I was fascinated by the multiple textures and an endless colour palette of concrete embodying so many emotions. It’s also a piece of a city that you can carry around. It reminds us that we are urban dwellers, wherever we are. I grew up in a city where concrete was a major object – streets and buildings alike. I saw how city walls inspire, but also make you cringe. I saw that cities without people is an eternity without a meaning. This is what Celsius 273 – a mixture of cities, people and eternity.

FB: What is most challenging in your production process?

Gerda: I actually never thought about it. Every time I’m making a piece of a jewellery I’m trying to employ the material so it would work the way I want it to work, sometimes I win, sometimes concrete wins. Every piece of jewellery is handmade which is the most important feature of the production process.

FB: You’re a young jewellery brand from Lithuania. Is growing a business a challenge?

Gerda: It’s not easy. Sometimes you have to fight for yourself. The most upsetting thing is that Lithuanian designers have no shame in copying each other’s work. We’re a small country and it would be great that at least we wouldn’t steal ideas from our own environment.

FB: Do you have your own gurus and inspirations in contemporary jewellery?

Gerda: I don’t associate myself with a particular guru. I follow trends, read design magazines and attend exhibitions. But I don’t look for inspiration in the work of my colleagues. I think that the best place to find inspiration is an immediate environment, where you can feel it.



FB: Do you wear your concrete jewellery?

Gerda: Definitely yes. I create what is beautiful to me. You would rarely see me without Celsius 273.