After many years of doing business activities focused on culture and arts in Saudi Arabia, he returned to Türkiye in 2015. collector Bekir Kantarcı, With a team of academics, historians and artists, we present the periods that shed light on history in the form of collections. transforming it into jewelry and art objects .

Kantarcı, who founded Kiswah Jewelry after coming to Türkiye and introduced his own collections to his enthusiasts after 3 years of intensive work, focuses on Islamic civilization and Turkish Islamic arts and combines fine arts such as calligraphy, illumination, and engraving with craftsmanship and applies them to jewelry.

Kantarcı uses many different materials such as diamond, ebony, gold, silver, ruby, emerald and tortoiseshell in his designs, taking the enthusiasts on a journey through the history of art and civilization through jewelry.

"The richness of our history has inspired us"

Bekir Kantarcı, who adds his own interpretations to traditional jewelry, told AA, "The richness of our history has inspired us. Introducing these beauties to people can often be done through antique works and presentations in museums. We transferred these interpretations to jewelry in order to bring this into life."

Kantarcı pointed out that they classified the jewelry designs they made by being influenced by historical motifs according to periods, and said that they collected the products under titles such as "Unity", "Golden Age", "Andalusia", "Precious Touches", "Classical", "Neoclassical" and "Sacred Arts".

Designs are used in history series

Bekir Kantarcı stated that they tried to use many historical figures in their special designs, from the architectural style of the Alhambra Palace in Spain to the seal of Suleiman the Magnificent, and that in addition to precious stones, they also made necklaces depicting the silhouette of Istanbul with miniature art on aloe wood.

The collector, who emphasized that some of the designs were used in the Payitaht Abdulhamid series, said, "The design, which attracts attention in the series as a brooch that Sultan Abdulhamid II gave to his wife Bidar Sultan upon the birth of his son Abdulkadir, was made of silver. The patterns on it were prepared with gold plating and atomic stones were used in the design."

The goal is to open a museum

Noting that he started collecting Kaaba covers and making them into a collection about 27 years ago, Kantarcı said, "At first it was curiosity, then it turned into a love of collecting. As a result of our meetings with people we have met over the years who have pieces of Kaaba covers, we have now created a collection of nearly 45 pieces."

Kantarcı concluded his speech as follows:

"After I started collecting pieces from the Kaaba cover, I thought of using these pieces in jewelry. I started doing this in 2010. Of course, what we were doing was also done in Saudi Arabia. I first started this business in Jeddah, we had a big store. We had mother-of-pearl inlays, copper work, engraving and fret saw cutting works. My goal was to open a store that processed museum replicas of Islamic artifacts into jewelry. However, we realized that this would not happen in Saudi Arabia. We started working by aiming to transfer our experiences there completely into jewelry here and to do this with a certain discipline. My next goal is to increase my collections in a way that will create a museum and to open a museum."

News Link: Historical Jewelry Comes to Life with Modern Designs

Author: Anadolu Agency