Jewelry designer seeks support from ministry

İZMİR- Anatolia News Agency

Gülay Atıcı Ertan is working with the meetpoint faceting technique, which was important in the Ottoman culture. AA photos

Turkish jewelry designer Gülay Atıcı Ertan, who creates designs using Ottoman stone-cutting methods, has won third prize in a competition in the United States.

Ertan now works with precious stones at her studio in İzmir’s Kızlarağası Hanı, but originally graduated with a degree in Russian Language and Literature from Konya’s Selçuk University. Her real interest was always in precious stones, she told Anatolia news agency.

Ertan said she had always been curious about the process of turning stones into jewels, and began researching it. The art of cutting stones was very commonly practiced it Turkey in Ottoman times, but is almost forgotten today, she said.

She read many foreign sources to learn about gem cutting, and learned the meetpoint faceting technique, which is a modern system of cutting non-round facet designs without using an exact preformed outline as the starting point, and is very commonly used throughout the world. Ertan brought a stone-cutting machine from the U.S. to Turkey in 2002. Thanks to the machine, Ertan said, she can cut any stone for use in jewelry, and the process has brought her international success.

“I am the only person in Turkey who uses the meetpoint faceting technique for precious stones.

Faceting had an important place in Ottoman culture, but this art, this business has vanished over time.
 
It was revived when I started using this technique. I have become a member of the United States Faceters Guild, which organizes competitions every year. The competitions are held in four categories. I joined the competition for the first time in 2007 and placed sixth in the ‘novice’ category,” Ertan said.

She is a master

Ertan was the winner of the “pre-masters” category of the same competition in 2008, and took third place in the “masters” category this year.

“My [winning] shows that precious stone faceting in Turkey has reached the top point in the international arena,” she said.

Ertan completed the faceting of the cubic zirconium that she submitted for the masters-level competition in six months.

“Each stone has a critical angle. You need to meet certain criteria in order to get the maximum sparkle. My method is drawing great interest in the world,” she said. “My next goal is to create a jewelry concept and prepare a collection. I represent my country in the world and win medals, certificates. I seek support from the Culture Ministry, because I am working at this art with limited opportunities in İzmir. I want this business to be given more importance.”