Finding Inspiration with Zoltan David

By Irina Hawkins

For Zoltan David, design starts with a vision—as he pursues the elements of the design, he’s also thinking about the engineering of the piece. David calls his process “a two-pronged approach—engineering and fantasy combined.” He follows his intuition and relies on his skills and ability to innovate and problem-solve. When the design and building process is flowing, he’ll complete the piece. When an idea or vision is not flowing, he’ll put the project aside to return to it “when the flow is turned back on.”

David hopes that as observers look at his Flight Ring and contemplate it, they will find their own experiences to act as journeys into the art, “This is what art is—a personal experience. It is your experience of the piece that matters.”

David is always interested and fascinated by manipulating light with structures and materials. In this particular piece, the colors, finishes, and metals are designed to be beautiful and rousing. He used two shades of blue—the lighter zircon is held with platinum, and the darker blue sapphires are set in rose gold. Mirror-like platinum interior walls incorporate his patented inlay in rose gold and are set with diamonds. The elements play off one another, creating the light effect David was looking for when he set out to design the piece. The exterior of the walls features a textured surface, inlaid with 24 karat gold and set with blue sapphires to add the suggestive movement of the overall form. Borders of tiny diamonds along the edges of the wings accentuate the movement, which was important to David, who wanted the ring to have movement even though it’s still. “It reminds me of an exotic race car. Even when parked, it still looks like it’s going 200 miles per hour!”