Robert, why did you decide to devote yourself to working with precious stones and jewelry? What attracts you the most in this craft?
Opportunities attract me the most, and I consider it a privilege, to some extent, to work with precious stones of tremendous beauty. These jewels were created by nature itself over millions of years, and there is nothing more exciting than the process of discovering these treasures and transforming their pristine beauty into the finest jewelry that can remain (I hope so) a legacy for future generations.
When did you first feel the passion for precious stones and jewelry?
From a very young age I was attracted to beautiful jewelry and, in particular, the precious stones installed in them. I consider myself lucky, as my childhood passion turned into a successful career! Having started working in the jewelry industry at the age of 16, I still feel the incomparable pleasure of what I do (and after more than 30 years have passed!), And these endless searches for treasures lead me to the rarest and most beautiful gems.
Please tell us about the idea of creating a collection of jewelry “Style of Jolie”? Why did Angelina Jolie prompt you to this creative decision?
Angelina Jolie and I have been working together for over ten years. Largely thanks to our long-standing friendship, about two years ago, we began to talk about how it would be nice to create works of art that could clearly demonstrate the rare beauty of amazing jewelry and, at the same time, help those in need children around the world through the foundation created by Angelina The Education Partnership for Children of Conflict ("Educational Partnership for Children"). In these conversations, the idea of the “Style of Jolie” collection was born.
What did you want to convey to people using the “Style of Jolie” jewelry collection?
The main goal of the Style of Jolie collection is to convey the unique sense of Angelina Jolie's style. However, the creative component of the collection goes far beyond that. We wanted to emphasize the rare beauty of precious stones that we specially selected for our jewelry, and to create genuine works of jewelry, realizing which later, we could give hope to all needy children in the world.
The main accents in the jewelry of this collection indicate the beauty and simplicity of facets of semiprecious and precious stones. Why?
Angelina Jolie's own style is simple, therefore, while working on a collection of jewelry, we tried to create classic, timeless and pronounced feminine things. The gems presented in the “Style of Jolie” were carefully selected for their color, characteristics and unique quality indicators - from breathtaking Colombian emeralds and vibrant diamonds to rich citrines, deep dark spinels and divine green quartz. Due to the unspeakable beauty, these stones did not need any additional decorations - a modest frame of warm pink gold was quite enough. It is important to note that Angelina really likes the idea of hidden messages, so she constantly studied the information about how messages were transmitted from one people to another before.
In the end, we came to the characteristic stitching of the stone in the form of a “pill”, which became a characteristic feature of the “Style of Jolie” collection, along with the more traditional forms of cushion-cut gemstones.
Let's talk in more detail about the charitable side of this creative union, since everyone is well aware of the desire of Angelina Jolie to help all children in the world.
This was our common goal with Angelina - to help disadvantaged and unhappy children in different countries of the world. From the very beginning, we agreed that despite the fact that the “Style of Jolie” collection will become a kind of platform for Angelina to manifest her creativity and artistic vision, our main mission will still be to support international projects through her charitable foundation “The Education Partnership” for Children of Conflict. " It was a great honor for me to work together with Angelina on this collection, because I understand that the implementation of Style of Jolie jewelry will allow us to give real hope for a better future to many needy children. We already see how many projects that are impossible without the money we received during the sale of jewelry begin to take on tangible forms. For example, we have already raised enough funds to build and support a school in Afghanistan, the construction of which will begin at the beginning of next year. And believe me, this is just the beginning!
How would you describe the buyer of “Style of Jolie” jewelry? What items in the collection do you consider to be true works of art?
It seems to me that “Style of Jolie” jewelry is intended for women who will not only enjoy their aesthetic design and unsurpassed quality, but will also be able to share Angelina’s creative vision. In addition, I believe that this collection is for people who will fully appreciate the magic and divine origin of rare gems.
As an internationally recognized expert in the field of precious stones, as well as a creator of unique jewelry for the elite in the USA, how do you see the future of high jewelry and the luxury segment as a whole, especially in such difficult crisis times as it is now?
The market for expensive and rare jewelry is changing today, and buyers have become much more selective. I think that today we are dealing with clients who pay more attention to the ethical origin of gemstones (for example, in my work in the gemological laboratory I increasingly develop microscopic engravings on the facets of gemstones, which is extremely important today), as well as investment potential jewelry, which is determined based on the aesthetic characteristics of the design. I also believe that we are seeing increased customer attention to the quality of jewelry, as well as more rare, but more significant acquisitions.
What are your future plans? Can any other Hollywood celebrity inspire you to create a collection of jewelry?
The upcoming year 2012 at Robert Procop Exceptional Jewels will be very "hot", because now we are finishing work on several copyright collections that will be ready right at the beginning of next year. This list includes collections such as “American Glamor”, “Parisian collection” (“Paris Collection”) and “Queen of Diamonds” (“Queen of Diamonds”).
In addition, I plan to continue working with Angelina Jolie, creating new jewelry for the “Style of Jolie” collection, and since I am the new editor-in-chief of the book “Famous Diamonds” (“Famous Diamonds”), I will be very busy with her new edition, which will include more than 80 stories related to the world's most famous gems. The book is scheduled for release in October 2012.
What would you like to wish our readers on New Year's Eve and Christmas?
Peace and love. To everyone and everyone.
