Exhibition Of Jewelry By V.a.bolin Firm In Moscow Timed To Coincide With Visit By Sweden's King And Queen

An exhibition by famed jewelry firm V.A.Bolin opened in the Kremlin on October 9. The exposition, "Bolin in Russia. Court Jeweler of the End of the 19th and the Beginning of the 20th Century", has been timed to coincide with an official visit by King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia . They will officially open the exposition at 5 p.m. today. Court jeweler Kristian Bolin, the firm's director, told a news conference that the exhibition will feature 240 articles, both owned by the firm and taken from the museums of the Moscow Kremlin and the Hermitage, Russia's State Precious Metals and Gems Reserve and the State History Museum, as well as from private collections. The story of Bolin's connection with Russia goes far back. For two centuries the owners of the illustrious enterprise have been court jewelers of Russian emperors and then of Swedish monarchs. In the history of world jewelry art the V.A.Bolin firm occupies a special place. To begin with, it is the oldest enterprise of the Russian empire, based in St Petersburg in 1791 by Andreas Rempler, a native of Saxony. He was the court jeweler of Emperors Paul 1 and Alexander 1. The business was carried on by his sons-in-law - German Gottlieb Ernst and Swede Carl Bolin, whose name was later given to the firm. The oldest jewelry firm, which is still run by one and the same family, is now headed by court jeweler Kristian Bolin. According to him, the Moscow exhibition offers above all a historical perspective, but it also shows some modern articles which can give an idea of the firm's present-day state and trends in jewelry art. Bolin added that the firm, which had its origins in Russia, is planning to return.