Skip to Content

The Arts Intel Report

Jewels in a Gem

A mantis jewel by Luz Camino.

May 25 – Sept 3, 2023
613 W 155th St, New York, NY 10032, United States

“I love the beauty of imperfection,” the Spanish jewelry designer Luz Camino said in 2014, describing a line of spirals inspired by pencil shavings. But it’s a perfect imperfection she produces. Camino uses 3-D imaging, lost-wax casting, plique-à-jour enameling, and more to make her acclaimed pieces. She is most often inspired by the fragile beauty of nature. “I don’t like my jewelry to be very shiny,” she told The New York Times this year. “I want the jewelry to look as natural and realistic as possible.” When she uses gemstones they are integrated into forms that are often strange and startling. Camino debuted in 1973. Fifty years later she is Spain’s first woman of jewelry. Her wondrous work is now on view at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library. —Laura Jacobs

Photo courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library