Our visit to the tiny town
Of Idar Oberstein
Saw us making our way down
In a single file line
As we snaked on through the empty streets
Snapping photos of scenery
Marching on our merry way
To Jakob Bengel’s factory
Walking on a creaking staircase
We made our slow descent
To view showcases in dusty rooms
Where our attention was spent
Absorbing all the history
Of fascinating things
From watch chains, coins, and sketchbook
works
To art deco pressed forms and rings
Creating intricately patterned chains
Was an amazingly complex machine
That would pull a spool of wire
And loop through small jump rings
We then proceeded to make our way
Up the stairs to the factory
Where it was filled from floor to ceiling
With so many machines to see
From chain makers, punches, and presses,
The smell of grease and iron filled the air
The tools and stamps that lined the walls
Meant that not a single spot was bare
The production nature of the place
Cast a very different light
Upon studio work, and uniqueness
These were designed with multiples in mind
This made me think of other artists
That we’d seen and talked to before
Whose attitudes of singular work
Was in stark contrast to what we saw
The nature of the jewellery
That was made within these walls
Was created to be cheap to produce
And thus be afforded by all
It is a completely opposite
To jewels that are one of a kind
That are created by hand laboriously
With a single buyer in mind.
Thus I found this visit
To be of interesting value indeed
As it referred to production and multiples
And fulfilling affordability and need.
Jessica McDermid
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