Born in Austria and trained in the traditional art of European jewellery craftsmanship, Roland Krainz has gained 35 years of experience in the jewellery industry and 22 of those running his own company Krainz Creations in New York. Established in 1995, the company has been exclusively commissioned to design and manufacture high-end jewellery for top-tier global luxury brands in the United States and Europe. In 2015, after years of preparation, he founded his jewellery brand, Red Carpet Fine Jewelry, offering high quality craftsmanship and innovative, aesthetic designs.
“Sometimes, you see certain brands going certain design directions that you do not agree with, but you have to do it. If it is your own brand, you can go any direction you want to go, be as creative as you want to be,” Roland Krainz explained his original idea of founding Red Carpet.
The designer told Hong Kong Jewellery that Red Carpet is probably the only company in New York with every jewellery-making procedure in-house from design, CAD, CNC, rapid prototyping, casting, cleaning of casting to sampling, polishing, setting, etc, in order to have a full control of product quality. He pointed out that the quality assurance of their products is 98 percent, which means only two percent of them come back with minor problems.
Red Carpet is an advocate of modern technology and engineering, in the form of combining innovation while adhering to the traditional art and handmade craftsmanship. From the simple start of sketches to the finished product, it takes years of R&D for the company to tweak and adjust to achieve the final result.
According to Krainz, he started using CAD and rapid prototyping 17 years ago when the technology was not recognised in the jewellery industry. Technological advancement made him realise advanced machinery would definitely benefit jewellery manufacturing. “Compared to 80 items a year in the past, we can now produce 400 items a year with machine with the same quality and manpower,” he stated. Different from the common usage of CAD and rapid prototyping machines, the company uses them to divide a whole piece into 30 individual parts, and then sample, polish and put them together by using traditional techniques, which makes the finished jewellery still look handmade with a fine and different look.
Used to making jewellery with traditional large and high-end gemstones, Krainz is more interested in mixing different gemstones especially semi-precious stones with a vast assortment of other materials for his own brand. He expressed: “I have been experimenting with a variety of different materials to incorporate with platinum. I love the combination of coloured diamonds, sapphires, opals, pearls, enamel with exotic materials as woods, stainless steel, leather, silk and glass. Striking the right balance takes trial and error.”
Having set up a showroom in New York and built partnerships with some retailers in the United States, the company has gained a firm foothold in local market. Currently, Red Carpet focuses on venturing into the Chinese market for a diversified clientele and has established a studio there. Roland Krainz strongly believes that China is the future of the jewellery industry, and plans to participate in some private shows in the Mainland and implement marketing and promotion via social media. “I envision myself planting a seed that will eventually flourish throughout China. The growth will be gradual and it takes time,” he concluded. (Photo courtesy: Red Carpet Fine Jewelry)
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