New book spotlights 33 Ukrainian jewelry designers amid wartime upheaval
A new 224-page book turns 33 Ukrainian makers into a vivid portrait of jewelry as craft, memory, and resilience.
The sharpest thing about this book is that it does not treat Ukrainian jewelry as a sidebar to war. It treats it as culture in motion, with 33 makers, studios, and artists translating heritage into pieces that still belong in real wardrobes.
1. Oberig on the cover
The cover image, a photograph by Stepan Lisowski of Oberig Jewelry’s work, signals that this book values strong visual authorship as much as names and labels. It is the kind of opening that makes jewelry feel like a subject with its own language.
2. Dukachi’s folklore in fine-jewelry form
Dukachi’s “Easter Bread” pendant turns the silhouette of paska into 14-karat yellow gold, hand-applied enamel, sapphire, and diamond accents. It is a neat example of how a symbolic object can still read as polished, wearable jewelry.
3. Guzema’s modern symbolism
Guzema sits in the book’s fine-jewelry conversation with work that has already proved it can handle sentiment without becoming precious in the wrong way. Its “Freedom” collection and later colored-gemstone capsule show how a clean silhouette can carry national meaning.
4. Alona Makukh Jewelry’s independent voice
Alona Makukh Jewelry is one of the featured names in the book, and its inclusion matters because it widens the lens beyond the most obvious house brands. The book is clearly interested in makers who build a point of view, not just a catalog.
5. Jewelry Lab’s studio discipline
Jewelry Lab appears among the fine designers and studios highlighted in the book, part of the section Bondar describes as unified by craft, tradition, and a distinctive visual style. That combination is what keeps studio jewelry from drifting into mere concept art.
6. Katrina Jewelry for the collector who still wants wearability
Katrina Jewelry is another featured studio, and its presence suggests the book is not only about symbolism but also about jewelry with enough clarity to live in a daily rotation. The best collectible pieces still have to sit well on the body.
7. Precious metals as the backbone
Creative Publishing says the roster includes jewelers and studios working with precious stones and materials, which grounds the book in the fundamentals of the category. Even the most experimental pieces still owe something to the discipline of metal, setting, and finish.
8. Ceramics, used seriously
Ceramists are part of the publication, and that matters because ceramic jewelry brings color, scale, and tactility without relying on carat weight. In the right hands, it can read less like novelty and more like a small sculptural object worn close to the skin.
9. Unconventional materials
The book also makes room for artists who experiment with non-traditional materials, a useful reminder that innovation in jewelry is not always about more gemstones. Sometimes the surprise is in the surface, the weight, or the texture.
10. Fashion creators in the jewelry frame
Creative Publishing says fashion creators are part of the 33 participants, which broadens the book from bench work into a more fluid idea of adornment. That is where Ukrainian jewelry starts to look less like a fixed category and more like a living wardrobe language.
11. Studios and brands, not just isolated objects
The largest section of the book is devoted to studios and brands that combine traditional jewelry techniques with modern aesthetics. That structure gives readers a way to think about pieces as part of a system, from design DNA to wearability.
12. Tradition, updated rather than repeated
Bondar says the featured artists are united by a respect for tradition and a distinctive visual style. That balance is exactly what keeps the work from slipping into generic art-jewelry language.
13. A heritage that reaches back further than the present moment
Strong & Precious says Ukrainian jewelry heritage goes back to the early 20th century and earlier, which gives the contemporary scene a longer shadow than many outside observers may expect. The new work lands harder when you can feel that depth behind it.
14. Wartime rethinking
Bondar notes that some brands were founded after the start of the full-scale invasion, during a period of rethinking and a reevaluation of values. That is not a footnote to the story, it is part of the design brief.
15. Beauty as a form of resistance
Bondar also says Ukrainians continued to show a craving for beauty and visual aesthetics despite everything. Read that way, jewelry becomes less about decoration and more about insisting on cultural life under pressure.
16. Anton Boyko’s wartime shift
The book also notes Anton Boyko, who left jewelry making to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Few details say more plainly that this industry has been altered not just by market conditions but by lives interrupted.
17. Strong & Precious as the organizing force
Founded in 2022 by Olga Oleksenko, Strong & Precious has become the support structure behind this project. Its role is to make sure the story of Ukrainian jewelry reaches beyond the studio and into the rooms where recognition is built.
18. A mission aimed at the trade and the public
The foundation says its main idea is to present the wide range of Ukrainian jewelry designers to industry professionals, the media, and the public. That positioning matters, because visibility is often the first form of survival for a craft culture.
19. Museum-level, non-commercial presentation
National Jeweler says Strong & Precious commissions and presents museum-level, non-commercial works through exhibitions, publications, and global platforms. In jewelry, that kind of framing gives the work room to be read as art without stripping away its wearability.
20. A 224-page argument for taking the field seriously
The book runs 224 pages, enough space to let the Ukrainian jewelry scene read as a system rather than a sampling. That length gives weight to the idea that this is a living design economy, not a trend story.
21. Volyn stones as a local anchor
Pragmatika notes that the book includes Ukrainian stones, especially the Volyn gem deposit in the Zhytomyr region. Regional geology gives the story a physical root, which is exactly what collectors look for when they want provenance with meaning.
22. Volyn Gems and the material chain
The same coverage points to Volyn Gems, linking the book’s cultural argument to the practical business of sourcing and stone identity. Jewelry feels more convincing when the materials can be traced to a real landscape.
23. Natalia Hermenau’s gemological lens
A separate article in the publication is by gemologist Natalia Hermenau and examines the history, current state, and prospects of Ukrainian gemstones. That kind of technical context helps the book read like an industry document, not just a coffee-table object.
24. GemGenève as an export stage
Strong & Precious has used GemGenève to promote Ukrainian jewelry abroad, including appearances in 2022 and 2023. For a young international market, that is how recognition begins, one show and one conversation at a time.
25. Jewels Basel in the international circuit
The foundation also cites Jewels Basel among its exhibitions, a sign that Ukrainian makers are being inserted into established jewelry calendars rather than presented as one-off curiosities. That placement changes how the work is valued.
26. NYC Jewelry Week in New York
At NYC Jewelry Week 2023, Strong & Precious took the work to Lower Manhattan for the first time. The move placed Ukrainian jewelry in front of a global audience that understands how craft, branding, and narrative intersect.
27. “How Precious UA”
Olga Oleksenko presented the “How Precious UA” exhibition as six unique jewelry masterpieces by contemporary Ukrainian designers. The title itself captures the emotional pitch of the whole project: precious, yes, but also urgent.
28. Six pieces, no excess
Six works is a tight edit, and that restraint gives the exhibition credibility. Instead of overwhelming the viewer, it lets each piece carry more of the story about identity, craftsmanship, and war.
29. Mriya Gallery in Lower Manhattan
The exhibition was shown at Mriya Gallery, which Strong & Precious describes as the first Ukrainian art space in New York. The setting turned the show into a cultural encounter as much as a jewelry presentation.
30. Victoria Gomelsky’s role
JCK editor in chief Victoria Gomelsky helped present the project to the media, giving the story a serious industry platform. When a jewelry editor of her stature enters the room, the work stops being merely local.
31. Melanie Grant’s industry context
Melanie Grant joined Oleksenko in presenting the project, bringing a responsible-jewelry lens to the conversation. That matters because Ukrainian jewelry is being framed not just as beautiful, but as ethically and culturally consequential.
32. Alyona Kiperman and Dana Drutis in person
Kiperman, of Nomis, and Drutis, of Drutis Jewellery, traveled to New York to take part in the presentation. Their presence gave the project a face, a voice, and the kind of immediacy that survives far longer than a press release.
33. A contemporary language for heritage
Taken together, the book and the foundation’s exhibitions make a persuasive case that Ukrainian jewelry is translating heritage into a contemporary visual language during Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine. That is the real story here: not escape from reality, but a craft culture insisting on continuity.
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