With the anti-establishment movements in Germany in the 1970s came a wider desire to challenge tradition and break away from convention. Jewellery was no longer just a sign of wealth and status. It now had sculptural qualities and narrative elements, often critical of modern life and conditions.

The widely used term ‘New Jewellery’ (‘Neuer Schmuck’) evokes the spirit of the period. Jewellery makers sought freedom in their artistic expression, emphasising the individual approach and experimenting in forms, materials and techniques. New galleries dedicated to the sale of contemporary jewellery emerged in the major German cities.

Hubertus Skal (born in 1942 in Jungferndorf, Eastern Bohemia) was trained by the Munich jeweller Carl Hemmerle before graduating from the Staatliche Fachhochschule für Glas und Schmuck, Neugablonz and the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich. He stayed in Munich where he was co-founder of the Galerie Cadillac in 1971.

His jewellery is not about fine craftsmanship, even though he was an excellent craftsman who used precious metals when other artist jewellers were experimenting with alternative materials. Wearability was equally not a concern, some of his pieces are simply sculptural objects. Von Skal’s jewellery is more about symbols and metaphors, as thought-provoking ideas for the viewer. Eye-catching miniature human figures, animal forms, flowers and abstract symbols abound in his artistic concepts. The tiny man wearing a suit and a trilby standing in the corner of this brooch shows his preoccupation with the human form and is a motif which can be seen repeatedly in his jewellery from this period.