'Gold macht blind (Gold makes you blind)' bangle

Gold Macht Blind (Gold makes you blind)
Unlimited edition first produced in 1980
Bangle rubber, gold, spherical diameter
1.2cm diameter tubing
Each bracelet is handmade and varies slightly in size. 

A design classic and a jewellery piece that exemplifies one of the central themes of contemporary jewellery: that material value is secondary to concept. 

Gold is from stone, out of mountains. It spends millions of years in darkness before breaking out, before its shine appears. Because of its constancy - which underpins its claim to eternity - this unique yellow hue and great reflective quality, almost all cultures have made of it a symbol of light, sun and the celestial. Medieval goldsmiths and those of Antiquity created out of sheets of gold the reflection of the divine. Only with decline of traditional craft forms and pursuits did gold jewellery become empty of content, interchangeable, arbitrary. In 1980 I stopped using gold for a while because of considerations like these, social changes in the late 1970s and certain personal experiences. I wanted to achieve detachment in the hope that, after a period of abstinence, I would be able to re-appraise gold. A 'final work with gold' was created as a manifestation of this decision: a bangle of black rubber, the interior consisting of a golden ball - like a snake with a small elephant in tis belly. It was time for gold to return to the darkness.

Otto Künzli