After choosing the perfect dining table, preparing an unforgettable meal, and gathering your guests, don’t forget to select a set of dinnerware that will showcase your style.
The way we display our food has become a delicate form of art, from intricately drizzled sauces to the dishes on which they are served. Cristina Vezzini and Stan Chen are making elegance easy with their stunning dinnerware collection. Vezzini & Chen is a combination of hand-carved ceramics and hand-blown glass, which gives each piece a unique touch.
Vezzini, originally from Italy, and Chen, who is from Taiwan, met while attending The Royal College of Art and continued working together after graduation in their London studio. Although the two specialize in different materials and techniques, Chen being the skilled glassblower and Vezzini focusing on handcrafted ceramics, the team is a cohesive unit, which shines through in their work.
It is unlikely that you’ll find another set like Vezzini & Chen’s because each and every piece is handmade and carefully constructed by the duo. Their broad range of inspiration also adds an exclusive aspect to each set. Inspiration from nature, such as fire and water elements, comes through in their designs and pairs nicely with the natural materials that they mold.
Vezzini & Chen’s Hexa Plates and Hexa Bowls are inspired by the idea of looking through water, and the layered, multi-faceted image that appears on the other side. The bowls and plates are available in four signature textures.
Just a glimpse of Vezzin & Chen’s work include these other remarkable collections. The Hexa Wine Glasses are also available in four textures, but each individual glass is as unique as a snowflake.The Horizon Wine Glasses are delicate, hand engraved, and unforgettable. Buyers will certainly want a set of their own, but the hand-carved ceramic plates are part of a limited edition for the Spring Restaurant in London.
Light, geometry, texture, and repetition are also a large part of Vezzini’s designs, which contrasts Chen’s smooth, flawless glass creations nicely. The two designers use these inspirations to work together and bring their pieces to life. Vezzini & Chen’s dinnerware collections will stand out on any table!
Photos courtesy of Vezzini & Chen
Contemporary hand-blown glass pieces are taking over as glass blowers are creating everything from unique lighting fixtures to colorful vases.
Photo by Richard Waite for Soneva
Harmonizing perfectly with both modern and classic spaces, hand-blown glass pieces “bring life and atmosphere to any living area, regardless of the mood that you have created,” says Hassan El Maoula, the commercial director at Verrum.
Whether hanging from the ceiling or positioned on a dining room table, homeowners are increasingly craving a personalized look to their space. “The beauty of hand-blown glass pieces is that each one is unique and no two are exactly alike,” adds El Maoula.
Reviving traditional glass-making craftsmanship, Verreum produces vases, lamps, small furniture pieces and more in collaboration with international designers, including Sacha Walckhoff.
Fascinated by the hand-blown procedure, El Maoula says that “witnessing a magical process, watching a human being drafting and breathing life into an object or material and turning it into a living soul, is a fabulous creation process.”
Jonathan Rogers’ Filigrana Pendant Mesh
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Rogers
Verrum Double Jeu Large Vase, Bronze and Pink
Photo courtesy of Filip Beranek
Verrum Double Jeu Carafe and Tumbler
Photo Courtesy of Filip Beranek
Jonathan Rogers, who started blowing glass at the age of 16, also creates hand-crafted glass pieces. Launching exclusively with Heal’s, the Filigrana pendant explores texture and pattern using a traditional Venetian cane-work technique. Rogers meticulously handcrafts each glass pendant in his workshop to create truly one-of-a-kind designs.
Meanwhile the Soneva Fushi resort in the Maldives is taking hand-blown glass to the next level. In addition to creating visually exciting pieces, Soneva now uses local recycled glass — collecting between 1,100 and 2,200 pounds of glass from neighboring islands each month.
In conjunction with the Soneva Art & Glass program, the glass is washed, crushed and delivered to Soneva’s Glass Studio, where it is melted down in the company’s glass furnace and blown into extraordinary pieces of art. “Every piece from the smallest and most simple to the largest and most complex is one of a kind,” says Evan Venaas, chief glass specialist at Soneva Fushi.
Venaas believes that Soneva has started some very important conversations following its decision to be eco-conscious. “The fragile ecosystem exists everywhere in the world but it is increasingly important that humans realize that we are part of it,” he explains, “and that we make conscious decisions in life and business that support that understanding.”
