A jeweller's patient struggle.

(From The Slovak Spectator)

Byline: Zuzana HabSudova Spectator staff

Internationally successful, but unknown at home, jewellery designer Peter Janik from Kysucke Nove Mesto expects changes after the country's EU entry WHEN Bryan Adams came to rock out in Bratislava earlier this year, he received a distinct jewel. A pendant in an oval shape represented the world map, and a black Tahiti pearl on it pointed to the place where Slovakia is located. Entitled Slovakia - the Pearl in the Heart of Europe, it was the creation of Slovak jewellery designer Peter Janik. "The idea behind it was to illustrate the geographical location of this country for someone who had come here for the first time. And also to remind him where Slovakia is, so he can come back in the future," said Janik, who has always tried to bring something more than just pure decoration into his work. But he would probably never have gotten the opportunity to work for such a star as Adams, if he had not won the world's most prestigious jewellery-pearl competition, The Tahitian Pearl Trophy. With his Go Create ring, enabling a boundless number of combinations of pearls and colours, he scored first in the Jewellery for Men category in 2002, the second time this biannual contest was held. Currently, the 32-year-old designer, who devotes his time to custom-made products, designing unique jewels for individual customers, is one of the most internationally successful jewellery makers in central-eastern Europe. His works have been shown in 25 countries and are owned by people around the world. Though successful internationally, he struggles in his homeland. "Obviously, after I won the [Tahitian Pearl Trophy] contest, some people started to notice my name and my work. The promotion in the media, however, increased sales in the jewellery industry in general. The lowest gain from the whole affair was probably mine; the commercial creators did much better off of it," said Janik. He has been in the jewellery industry for over a decade, but he still cannot afford to buy a car or his own flat, even though his works can cost hundreds of thousands of Slovak crowns. "Everything I earn I put into exhibitions. But it has to be [this way]. Only the awards from significant competitions distinguish an excellent jeweller from the average one," he said. "If somebody becomes successful in the West or in the US, the name sells the products itself. But here, the price for such products would be a joke. Society has not matured so much that a person would go to the [original] source. He is happy with a cheap replica of similar design," he said. To understand the reasons, he says, one has to go to the country's past. According to him, the fact that Slovakia had not been an independent state until now is that neither the economic nor the political structures have supported inner industries for export. "They have worked quite the opposite way - we have imported far more, and thus paralysed our domestic production." Ever start his own studio? The country's backward mentality, according to Janik, is also the reason he has not yet opened his own studio. However, this should change by the end of this year. Living off the main highway, in the small northern Slovak town of Kysucke Nove Mesto, he plans to move his workplace to that region's capital of Zilina, so that potential customers have easier access to his work. Another reason he has not yet opened a studio is that he chose to follow a different path than most of the other Slovak jewellery makers. For him, the main priority was earning credit, so that he could then fully devote himself to his creative activities. "It was impossible to take care of such a place during the time when I had to be flexible and travel the world to collect experience," he explained. More than just a jewel Janik started to experiment with jewels when he was a student. He designs "variable constructions" that can be changed in some way, play with optics, and combine unusual materials. He is the first jeweller in Slovakia to start using titanium and palladium alloys, rubber, silicon, and laser technologies in his jewels, which he mixes with rare materials - ...