From Stone to Glass: A Biotechnological Innovation at the Heart of Contemporary Jewelry

In a context where luxury is being redefined through sustainable practices and innovative materials, designer Salomé Maarek introduces a radically new approach: transforming raw rocks sourced from the land of Israel into precious stones — without added pigments, without mining extraction, and without conventional industrial synthesis.

A Precious Stone Born from the Rock Itself

At the core of this innovation lies a unique technique, developed over more than seven years of research in collaboration with geological laboratories. Named From Stone to Glass, this method is based on the direct transformation of rock into a precious stone.

The process follows an approach akin to material biotechnology principles: the stone is reduced to powder, then subjected to a precise thermal protocol that triggers a physico-chemical transformation of its internal structure.

The result: precious stones with remarkable optical properties, revealing natural colors — amber, turquoise, aquamarine, lapis — derived solely from the original mineral composition.

No dyes. No additives.
The color is intrinsic. The stone is authentic.

An Alternative to Traditional Jewelry Models

Unlike conventional gemstones, often extracted through heavy and polluting processes, this technique offers a local, sustainable, and traceable alternative.

Each piece originates from a rock collected by hand across the landscapes of Israel — from the Negev desert to the shores of the Dead Sea, from the hills of Jerusalem to Mitzpe Ramon.

This act of collecting becomes a foundational step:
it anchors each jewel in a territory, a geology, a memory.

A Globally Unique Innovation

The uniqueness of this approach lies in its ability to reposition raw rock as a source of precious stones, without relying on traditional gemological circuits.

Here, value does not lie in the material’s initial rarity, but in its transformation.
In the craftsmanship.
In the process.

Presented and awarded internationally — Paris, London, Milan, Berlin, Eindhoven, Japan — this technique now stands as a major innovation in the field of material design.

Between Science, Design, and the Memory of Place

Trained at École Duperré in Paris and at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, Salomé Maarek develops a practice at the intersection of science and creation.

Her work deeply questions our relationship to material:
what do we see in a stone?
A simple mineral fragment — or a precious stone in the making?

“When I see a stone, I don’t see a rock.
I see a precious stone.”

Some of these rocks have traveled through millennia. They carry geological — sometimes even historical — memory. Their transformation into jewelry becomes an act of revelation.

A Conscious Luxury, Rooted in the Land

Each piece is entirely crafted in Jerusalem, from collection to final transformation.
Everything is local. Everything is controlled. Everything is traceable.

This approach embodies a new definition of luxury:
a luxury of meaning, of slowness, of material.

A luxury where value comes not only from the final object, but from the story it carries.

Conclusion
With From Stone to Glass, Salomé Maarek opens a new path in the world of jewelry:
that of precious stones created from rock itself.

An innovation at the crossroads of biotechnology, design, and territory —
one that transforms our perception of stone, and redefines what it truly means to be precious.

 

Credit picture : Shimon Perlstein