The famous jeweler and stone cutter Andreas von Zadora-Gerlof was born in 1957 in the Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada.
“I studied sculpture, silver engraving, totemic wood carving, and mudstone carving, a local black stone. As a result, I got so carried away and loved this process! It cost me nothing to work ten hours or more.”
Over time, Andreas Zadora created a world-class workshop that mastered almost any jewelry technique. His clients are the most famous and wealthy people on the planet, including the crowned heads of Europe and the Middle East. From stone carving, Zadora moved on to creating unique jewelry, amazing art objects, one-of-a-kind watches and automata, such as this aquarium clock.
Translucent fish made of tourmaline, aquamarine, green beryl, amethyst and other minerals swim in a crystal aquarium decorated with lapis lazuli, two-tone gold and diamonds. All 56 gem carved fish are wearable jewelry. The fish are designed to start moving every hour. With the help of magnets, the illusion of the natural movement of fish is created.
“I promised myself and my clients that I would never repeat the design. If you own a Zadora watch, then this is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Thus, the constant striving to surpass the last design, which we considered final, really expanded our creative horizons.
Zadora doesn’t just create jewelry. His vocation is to surprise the viewer, he has learned to be a magician jeweler, hiding mechanisms and surprises in the most unexpected places. Amazement became his trademark. He creates mechanical systems that are completely unique.
Zadora is often called the modern Faberge, implying that he creates exceptional jewelry creations. However, there is also a direct connection between Zadora and Faberge, which began when the Forbes family from New York, who had the largest collection of imperial Faberge Easter eggs, commissioned him to carry out several restoration projects. During the restoration, Zadora learned the techniques needed to restore Russian jewelers’ pieces, many of which were original and technologically sophisticated. Subsequently, the Forbes collection was sold and formed the core of the current Faberge Museum in St. Petersburg.