Turkish designer creates jewelries for foreign productions

ISTANBUL

AA Photo

Hüseyin Sağtan, a jewelry designer from the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, has for many years been designing and producing works for Hollywood productions. Now he creates jewelries for Netflix series “The Witcher” and “Black Sails.”

Sağtan’s designs have so far been used in foreign productions such as “The Other Boleyn Girl,” “Henry VI,” “Troy,” “Eragon” and “Hobbit,” as well as domestic productions including “The Magnificent Century,” “Resurrection: Ertuğrul,” “The Founder Osman” and “Kösem Sultan.” Now his glamorous crowns, earrings and necklaces are used in Netflix productions.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Sağtan said that his designs had first been used in “Troy,” starring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom. “Then we became known abroad for other foreign films. When it comes to the period dramas, they come to us first. They can find anything they want because I worked for a period movie. I complete the missing pieces with my designs.”

He said that when he got a demand for historical productions, he started researching that period.

Sağtan said that his talent was discovered by his teacher in elementary school, adding “When I was in elementary school, I had talent. I used to make cars made of wire and paint wood. I started the jewelry business, thinking, ‘If I do this one day, I will do the best. The world will recognize me.’ And I succeeded,” he said.

Stating that he was designing products for a new foreign movie these days, Sağtan said his jewelry went to every corner of the world.

“I’m watching a series. I see my necklace on the neck of a woman. In the Oscar awards ceremony, a woman got out of the car, and my necklace was on her neck. It catches my attention. I see my designs everywhere,” he said.

Sağtan said that he dropped out of elementary school but read many books about antiquities and auctions. “These books feed you. I’ve been going to the flea market every Sunday for the last 10 years. I buy an old broken object and redesign it. I give them life again. These things feed me, too.”

He said that he never used machines like CNC. “I do it with my hands. By putting each piece on top of each other, I lay out these pieces. Now, the biggest designers, even famous brands, make their designs on the computer. I don’t want it because handcraft gets lost in the computer. I am looking into the details. I see the error on an object. Because that mistake explains that it is handicraft.”

Emphasizing that he did not duplicate his works, Sağtan noted he produced at least six and maximum 10 pieces of each work.