Following the January presentation of the silver coin with the image of Tina Maze, who writes the history of Slovenian sport, Zlatarna Celje paid tribute to another exceptional woman, a historical figure, Barbara of Celje. In cooperation with the Celje Regional Museum, a series of three rings named the Ring for Barbara was presented to the public yesterday. The designer, Ms. Désirée Kolarec has drawn her inspiration from the half a millennium old story about the mystical ruler.

In the famous saga of the Counts of Celje, Barbara of Celje stands out as a woman of avant-garde achievements of her time. Her complexity is captured in a powerful symbolism of jewellery, which summarises the essence of Barbara of Celje and draws its relation with a modern woman for whom the rings are intended. The designer's main wish was to depict Barbara of Celje as one of the victims of the biased historiography in a more real light, which it is basically magnificent.

»The idea is presented in a traditional way, in the spirit of modern times, while new discoveries and work allowed me to present Barbara not as black or white, but as a woman of numberless shades. A woman with a body trapped in the chains of the Middle Ages and a Renaissance mind,« explained Ms. Désirée Kolarec, who graduated last November from the aforementioned theme in cooperation with Zlatarna Celje at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in unique design under the supervision of MSc. Tanja Pak.

The series if rings may be seen in April in the Zlatarna Celje store in the Town Square of Ljubljana and will be available for other customers upon individual order.

Photo: Peter Marinšek