Radiolarian Jewellery

Robert Kraus creates Radiolarian jewellery 3-dimensional in gold and silver. He was born in Germany in 1965 but is now living in Austria. After his University career (Taxonomy and Ecophysiology of plants) he spent some years organising and leading field trips and expeditions to North and South America. He has been working as a jewellery artist since 1997. Robert's expositions are highly appreciated at national and international scientific meetings.

"The idea was born years ago. Already in my first years as a student of Biology I fell in love with the beauty of plankton organisms and microscopical structures in general. Wouldn't it be great to create delicate and precious jewellery taking these images as an inspiration? One day I admired a perfectly shaped sanddollar on the beaches of Baja California. This was the breakthrough, I just had to start and make the dream come real."

His first little pieces of art were sanddollars, cacti, leaves, flowers, and fruits, but very soon he started to model the microscopical world, 3-dimensional in lost wax pattern: cross-sections of plant stems or spines of sea urchins, the gracile structures of freshwater Algae like Micrasterias and Pediastrum and of course: tiny Diatom and Radiolaria shells.

"To carve Radiolarians is the one of the most intriguing challenges. Nobody can escape their elegance. People who have never seen or even heard of Plankton become completely fascinated by viewing and feeling these shimmering objects of art."

Robert's biological jewellery is for sale. For more information please look at his homepage: www.pretiosae.de or contact Robert Kraus (by e-mail).