lenses for jewelry by jiro kamata (born in japan, lives and works in munich, germany) the struggle of precious with non-precious materials is typical of recent years and has prepared a new way for ‘young contemporary jewelry’. neither preciousness nor eternal preservation seems to be important to this new breed of arty accessories – with its value lying in its communicative potential. within the young international jewelry scene, the new arrangement of everyday materials is a sovereign one and provides pieces with a lively expression. in the middle of the 20th century, a large part of society consisted of middle class people, conservative in their taste and whose ideals were very strong and deeply-rooted, a society little inclined to change its lifestyle or its symbols. jewelry was often viewed as an emblematic gesture, a sound investment that could be passed down through generations. there was, however, another part of society ready for renovation. industry and fashion have changed the approach to jewelry by removing its symbolic and ancestral value. in a society, where great importance is given to superficiality, jewelry has been deprived of any cultural value thus limiting its understanding and consequently its distribution. in this context, the pioneers of the contemporary scene, albeit with some difficulty, had a fertile ground to work on.