WAnyone who imagines an old man in a dusty coat when he hears the word goldsmith will have to reconsider. Nowadays, it is precisely (young) women who have trained as goldsmiths, mostly at the Schoonhoven Technical School. Take Iris Camp (1987), owner of Atelier Camp & Co, and her colleagues Floor (1990) and Marleen (1989).

Rose gold earrings with aquamarine and morganite

They mainly manufacture handmade jewellery on commission. Due to more and more requests to give old jewellery a new chance, but also because of a lack of space, Atelier Camp & Co moved a year and a half ago from Denneweg 6 to the bright corner building at Vos in Tuinstraat 7. "Here, I can continue to grow and we have a much larger window," says Atelier Camp & Co.

The shop's shiny rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets attract a lot of interest. As early as around ten o'clock in the morning, the first curious people peer inside. The ladies are also visited by people from outside The Hague.

Yellow gold bracelet with tourmaline

"Especially through Instagram, they know how to find us," says Camp, who maintains this social network. "The other day, a lady of around 60 from the Enschede area stepped in here." Camp is still impressed by it. "She had a wooden box full of jewellery under her arm. When she put it down and opened it, it contained wedding rings from her parents, as well as broken necklaces and a dated necklace she wanted to sport.

Wedding rings

We melted down most of it so that we could make six new rings out of it. Not just for herself, she wanted to give some to her family. We replaced the settings of the wedding rings and put new diamonds in them."

Yellow gold ring with watermelon tourmaline and diamonds

Why that lady chose Atelier Camp & Co? "Our style appealed to her. We know how to combine the classic with the modern. The artisanal and the love for the craft. That's why we also have an open studio back here, so you can see how we work. I estimate that about eighty per cent of jewellers outsource diamond setting these days. Here, we do everything in-house."

3D printer

Although the word 'craft' comes up several times, the ladies are open to new techniques. "That's why we sometimes use a 3D printer. For a necklace with the same links, for example, that's a godsend. And look at this one." Camp pulls a ring off her finger and shows a gold one with diamonds. "Also 3D.

By the way, don't think it rolled out like that, it comes out of the printer rough. So first we have to sand and polish the ring and put in the stones. The advantage is that with 3D, the settings for the stones are exactly the same size.

You can't make it that tight by hand. There are jewellers who no longer make anything themselves, but we now 3D print something once a quarter. Purely because of the practicality. Of course, the most fun is to just make something yourself."

Atelier Camp & Co

Every piece of jewellery that leaves the door at Atelier Camp & Co, whether commissioned or not, is unique. Owner Iris Camp: "Some people ask us, 'Why don't you make a series, then you can sell more of them?'

Well, I did that once and it did not make me happy. And let's face it, you don't buy a gold ring with watermelon tourmaline and diamonds or a gold set with cut Tahitian pearls every day. It's quite an expense. If I were to make an expensive expense myself, I don't want anyone else walking down the street with it either."

18 carat rose gold and white gold ring with diamonds

Last February, Camp visited trade fairs again. "To get inspiration and to buy stones. Of each stone type, I only buy one." The current trend is colourful stones. "Think green tourmaline and blue sapphire. Yes, and diamond, which always does well. Indestructible, it's the hardest material on earth. And white goes with everything."

www.ateliercampco.com