NEWS

Despite the inspiration of Formentera, the contemporary jewellery of Majoral has always had a strong link with the city of Barcelona. With the Mediterranean landscape and culture as a referent, Majoral’s work has become a key name in the course of Catalan contemporary jewellery. .

Considered one of the artistic and cultural epicentres of the Mediterranean and the south of Europe, the city of Barcelona has become a welcoming place for contemporary jewellery. Also considered one of the epicentres of artistic and cultural currents such as modernism and noucentisme, from its beginnings jewellery has had Barcelona as a referent in its evolution. The founding of the open jewellery classroom in the Massana School in 1959 marked a turning point for the country’s goldsmiths, artisans and artists.

The current of contemporary jewellery, which advocates a new way of making jewellery, gradually grew throughout the seventies and eighties. Some artisans such as Montserrat Guardiola, Sergi Aguilar or Teresa Casanovas formed, in the seventies, the group known as “La joya como diseño” (Jewellery as design). 

At the same time, Enric Majoral had settled on the island of Formentera, where the Catalan jeweller began a creative process parallel to the jewellery schools. In the nineteen-eighties, Enric Majoral took part actively in the creation of the La Mola art fair. Some years later, Majoral’s task began to be appreciated by the ecosystem of Catalan contemporary jewellery. The opening of his first workshop-shop with direct sale to the public in Formentera would have an impact on lovers of contemporary jewellery.

The contemporary jewellery developed by Enric Majoral in the seventies in Formentera produced a growing interest among the Barcelona public. So the cultural and commercial stimulus generated in Barcelona around Majoral’s jewellery led the Catalan author towards Barcelona. The arrival of Majoral’s signature jewellery in Barcelona began with the opening of a workshop-shop in Carrer Laforja, in the city’s Sant Gervasi district. The fine reception of the Barcelona public led to Majoral opening a second sales space, this time in the Pedralbes Shopping Mall.

The joining of the workshop with the shop came from Enric Majoral’s own conception of the creative process of contemporary jewellery, a process that does not end until the item of jewellery is worn on a body.

“The workshop is an intimate space, where you feel protected; where the tools become an extension of your own body. A perfect space to experiment, learn, have fun and be inspired”, states Enric.

The work undertaken by Majoral and other contemporary jewellers in the city during the 80s meant that jewellery would experience a turning point in Barcelona in that decade.

Thus, the item of jewellery took on increasingly more conceptual and artistic value. The Catalan capital filled with exhibitions, catalogues and international fairs that endeavoured to analyse the role of the new artistic currents in jewellery. At the same time, Majoral created his own dynamic and modern language, recognisable for a public that began to understand jewellery as another form of artistic and creative expression with its own personality.

But far from remaining with a narrow style, the very essence of Majoral’s jewellery led the company to evolve constantly, seeking new forms and new languages through jewellery. The Majoral project, always connected to Mediterranean culture and the inspiration provided by nature, was given a further boost with the arrival of Roc Majoral, Enric’s son. Since the early 21st century, Majoral has been a project with two creatives, who make every effort to create new languages within jewellery.

The evolution of Majoral’s contemporary jewellery in Barcelona has also led it to align its values in the entire creative and productive chain. Thus, Majoral began to create a discourse that advocated the need for jewellery to show respect for the natural, social and cultural world. Since 2012, Majoral has worked with Fairmined gold, which guarantees respect for the environment and the people working in gold extraction.

The evolution of Majoral’s contemporary jewellery has also been accompanied by progress in its presence in Barcelona. Today, Majoral has two shops in the Catalan capital. One in the centre of the city, in Carrer Consell de Cent. And the firm’s other one can be found in Carrer Santa Fè de Nou Mèxic, in Sant Gervasi. Two spaces that unite with the other shops of the company located in Ibiza and Formentera