Philip Sajet’s minimal work can be found in his clean workshop. There is everything he needs, no more, no less. Visit of his workplace, in a village near Perpignan.
Where do you work?
I live in the South of France, I have a house in La Tour de France, next to Perpignan. It is a four floors house with a garage downstairs which is now empty but it used to be my workshop. My new workshop is on the third floor. There is a very nice view.
Philip Sajet. Photo : © Thereza Pedrosa
Philip Sajet – 2/3 Know-how
What are your favourite tools?
I like the saw, the file and the torch to weld, obviously. I like the saw and the lime because it goes straight and it embillishes the material. A hammer is mostly used for curves, I don’t use it a lot. I really like flat and straight works.I have never been asked this question!
My ex-wife who is Italian used to tell me ‘sai segare’ (you know how to saw). After 11 years of marriage, that’s a compliment!
Vue de l’atelier de Philip Sajet / View from Philip Sajet’s workshop. Photo : © Philip Sajet
What are the others tools you mostly use?
I don’t have a lot of tools. Apprentices come from time to time, they look at my workshop and there is not much to see. I ask them what they are missing and, finally, nothing is really missing because we don’t need many tools.
I used to have many tools but I got rid of it afterward. At the beginning, we don’t know exactly what we want to do and which materials we want to use. Using gold and gemstones is a bold choice. We start thinking we have to work with many materials to be contemporary. One day, I decided that my palette was composed of: gold, enamel and gemstones. That’s it.
Vue de l’atelier de Philip Sajet / View from Philip Sajet’s workshop. Photo : © Philip Sajet
Which materials do you mostly use?
Naturally, when I have the occasion, I choose gold. It is the most beautiful material. Given that I cannot always work with gold, I work with niello and silver. I don’t really like silver. Most of the time, I work with yellow and black, day or night, we may say. I work with enamels and gemstones even if – on balance – I only work a little bit with enamel. I used it a lot in the past. It is really fragile, pieces often need to be fixed. I noticed people don’t react a lot to colours. From time to time, I still want to use colours but my palette is now very limited, it is composed of red, black, white and yellow.
Vue de l’atelier de Philip Sajet / View from Philip Sajet’s workshop. Photo : © Philip Sajet
Regarding gemstones, I love sapphires, rubies and emeralds. It is quite annoying but diamonds are very beautiful too. I also like garnets, agates and stones. Transparent gemstones such as quartz, rock crystal and amethysts are magnificent. I cut it myself in my garage and I assemble in my workshop.
Vue de l’atelier de Philip Sajet / View from Philip Sajet’s workshop. Photo : © Philip Sajet
How do you choose raw materials?
Regarding gold and silver, I need to buy it from a provider. I make niello by myself with lead, copper and silver. There is a supplier in Idar-Oberstein if I need to select gemstones. He provides all the sizes of transparent to opaque gemstones.
I sometimes find materials by myself. I made a necklace entitled ‘Gradient’ with white to black river stones I observe how classic jewels are made and then, I make my own interpretation rather like Bob Dylan who used to select a very classic song by Sinatra et sing it in his own way. It is very funny so if Bob Dylan can do it, me too!
Vue de l’atelier de Philip Sajet / View from Philip Sajet’s workshop. Photo : © Philip Sajet
What does a usual working day look like?
I get up, I gather up my courage to go to my workshop, which is at home. I work for several hours. I cook and I more or less eat the same dishes but I enjoy cooking and eating to eat. I work at least 6 hours a day, 6 days a week.
To read the third and last part : Philip Sajet – 3/3 More details about Philip…
Vue de l’atelier de Philip Sajet & Stewi / View from Philip Sajet’s workshop & Stewi. Photo : © Violeta Adomaitytė
Photos : © Thereza Pedrosa, © Violeta Adomaitytė et © Philip Sajet . Couverture / Cover : © Philip Sajet.
Photographies des bijoux de Philip Sajet fournies par Philip Sajet et publiées avec son autorisation.
