Purple Creek has professionally inspected, restored and cleaned this piece of fine jewelry. Our expert metalsmiths have approved this item as ready for the next generation of ownership.
Photos are of the actual item being sold.
Estate jewelry may contain very minor to minor markings due to age and wear. While we represent items accurately on our site to the best of our ability, the color calibration of computer monitors can vary, causing colors to appear slightly different from one monitor to another. Due to this, please note that precise color representation of metal and gemstones is not always possible.
Authentication
This item has been inspected and evaluated by our team of Metalsmiths, Jewelry Appraisers and Gemologists using strict industry standards for diamonds, colored gemstones and precious metals.
Mountings may prohibit full and accurate observation of gem quality and weight, all data pertaining to mounted gems can be considered as approximate unless accompanied by an independent laboratory (ex. AGL, GIA). Unless otherwise stated, all colored stones and pearls are assumed to be subject to industry standards of acceptable treatments, by gemstone miners and producers, of relatively stable and possibly undetected color and/or clarity enhancement.
Shipping and Returns
This item can be returned for credit card refund.
Return Authorization requests must be made within 14 days of shipment and the item must be returned within 21 days of original shipment with security tag intact on the item as received.
See the Return Policy for more details.
Oystein Balle
Øystein Balle was born in Stavanger, Norway, in 1930, a city known for its community of craftspeople. His father ran a small workshop, and it was there that Øystein first picked up the tools of the trade. He gravitated to enameling, learning how heat and powdered glass could transform plain metal into something vivid and luminous.
By 1953 he had earned his craft certificate and opened a workshop of his own, just a short walk from his father’s. The pieces that came out of his hands in those years; jewelry and spoons decorated with bright enamel, quickly setting him apart. Collectors noticed the way his colors clashed and blended, almost like shards of stained glass. Instead of following the established patterns, he pushed toward abstraction and experimented with unusual combinations.
His ambitions carried him beyond Stavanger. In the early 1960s he expanded his workshop and tried to break into markets in the United States, across Europe, and into South America. It was a bold step, but sustaining such growth proved difficult. By the 1970s he was forced to scale back. Even so, the work he had already produced made its mark.
Today his enamel jewelry and spoons are sought out by collectors who value both their beauty and their departure from traditional Scandinavian styles. Øystein Balle’s career may not have grown into the large enterprise he once envisioned, but his pieces remain a distinctive blend of Norwegian craft and modern experimentation, carrying forward his legacy in every streak of color fused into metal.
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