Today in the section ‘Audio Stories’ – a story about a jewellery set ‘Hungry Bear meets the Queen Bee’, created by Peruvian stone-cutter and jeweller Luis Alberto Quispe Aparicio, who founded the creative studio L'AQUART; one of the most successful and sought-after contemporary artisans.

Luis Alberto was born into a family of jewellers, from his childhood the boy was interested in stone-cutting. He created his first work at the age of six. It was a tree made of hollow malachite with black fused crystals and a trunk made of tiger's eye. The beauty of the resulting piece was so personal to the boy that it is still stored in his private collection. It was then that his experiments with different stones, tools and working techniques began. After a while, Luis realised that he wanted to carve stone professionally so that he could show the world the fascination of nature by using new forms. L.A. Quispe Aparicio founded L'AQUART, a brand offering a variety of art objects whose centrepieces, accents and details are skilfully decorated with carved gemstones.

Today it takes a couple of months to create a medium-sized work. Luis Alberto himself develops sketches, selects materials and carefully monitors the realisation of the idea, despite the well-established production process. The master notes that he is most attracted to gemstones that have a rich colour, a certain texture and unique natural defects. They are a key component of the design and give the pieces a special character. Materials from different parts of the world can be found in one piece - rubies from Tanzania, rock crystal from Brazil, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan and opals from Ethiopia, for example. So each piece has its own story to tell.

A talented artisan with the necessary qualifications, practical skills and filigree craftsmanship can create a piece of unimaginable beauty, but it is not enough to create something truly colourful and extraordinary. The piece will seem inanimate if the master has not put into it the passion with which he does his favourite work.

Passion is an integral part of the work of Peruvian stone cutter Luis Alberto Quispe Aparicio, whose speciality is the creation of sculptural items in semi-precious stones and metal. He is the creative director of his own brand L'AQUART. One of Luis Alberto's works, the jewellery set ‘Hungry Bear Meets the Queen Bee’, is the subject of the presented audio story.