Before aluminum was just the stuff we used to wrap sandwiches, the silvery-white metal—the most abundant alloy in the earth’s core—was actually a valuable commodity. Napoleon III prized his collection of aluminum cutlery over his gold and silver sets, breaking it out for only the most special occasions. When entrepreneurs discovered how to separate the metal from its minerals in the late 1800s, aluminum quickly became an industrial alloy. Then, in early 2016, when Munich-based fine jewelry atelier Hemmerle was researching ways to create bigger earrings that were also lightweight, the [AL] Project—a collection using aluminum as its main metal—was born. This one-of-a-kind Clematis brooch marries aluminum (flower petals) and white gold with diamonds and sapphires. “We’re always looking to do new things,” says creative director Christian Hemmerle. “Sometimes you have this m