Benedict Haener: First Impression

Winner of the 2026 Swiss Design Award, following his receiving of the Art Jewelry Forum's Young Artist Award, Ornamentum will debut the magnificent work of Luzern based Benedict Haener on July 25. 

Haaener's  First Impression series, finds the Swiss artist hammering diamonds into highly recognizable traditional (and costly) jewelry forms of aluminum, leaving their impressions. Only upon close inspection does one realize that the value is in concept rather than materiality. In Haener’s Sugar Free series, jewelry appears to be crafted of candy, the sugary surface however, is composed of glass and diamonds.

From the Swiss Design Awards: "Diamonds, gold, sapphires, pearls: the collection takes materials we traditionally associate with jewellery and presents them in a new and surprising way. Familiar everyday items like sour sweets, sugar cubes and sandpaper are creatively “transvalued”. They remain recognisable for what they are, but the use of materials such as diamonds and precious stones and metals suddenly turns them into expensive pieces of jewellery. The puzzlement this causes makes us reflect on the value of luxury goods”