"The difference between art jewelry and a painting or a sculpture is that jewelry is closer to the heart — literally. Because you can wear it, it's actually even more intimate and personal than other artwork."
In a recent interview, Chitose Ohchi of Tokyo's O-Jewel was careful to use the term "art jewelry" when discussing the pieces shown at her gallery's exhibitions. That's because it's a term that specifically refers to works that have been designed to be unique; jewelry that, unlike most commercial pieces, is handmade to express its creator's vision. It's also the kind of work that has been at the heart of the ongoing debate about whether contemporary jewelry should be considered a craft or an art form.
That debate, however, has yet to gather momentum in Japan, where the art jewelry market is so young that O-Jewel is one of only three accessory-exclusive galleries in the country, along with gallery deux poissons, also in Tokyo, and gallery C.A.J. in Kyoto. All three will be showing at this weekend's Art Fair Tokyo 2012 — in the event's first-ever jewelry section.