Namibia is spectacular and unique, this is also determined by the people who live and work in
this country.Gudrun Bellwinkel is one of them, born and bread in Namibia.

Gudrun started her creative career in Windhoek, first as an apprentice in decoration and
advertising art, later as a Jeweller apprentice at W Meyer Jewellers under the late master
goldsmith Peter Lowe, a friend and her mentor. She served two years at the famous
Goldschmiede Akademie in Pforzheim, Germany, to complete her studies.With these
qualifications under her belt, Gudrun founded on 15th September 1980 her own business in
Swakopmund; African Art Jewellers was born.

Gudrun's idea was to create real African art in jewellery, to move beyond the conventional
designs and create a new, real Namibian style. She focussed on indigenous Namibian materials
like bone, ivory, claws, hair and porcupine quills, often combined with authentic, ethnic
african jewellery like antique glass beads, ekipa and oomba.

In Gudrun's goldsmith workshop you will find always the best of both worlds, masters with top
class training from Germany, combined with Namibia's abundance of precious stones,
diamonds, gold and platinum and ethnic objects d'art.

Inspired and carefully guided by Gudrun and influenced by the Namibian nature and the
traditional African culture, her team of highly qualified goldsmiths create spectacular and
unique masterpieces in the stunning style of African Art Jewellers.
Each piece is an exclusive, exquisite and characteristically Namibian work of art that has been
created through careful design, the harmony of the specific materials and the skilful work of
an artist, the goldsmith.

When celebrating her 20th business anniversary in 2000, Gudrun Bellwinkel opened a second
jewellery studio in Swakopmund. This studio was former owned by the late, well known
goldsmith Immo Böhlke , one of the oldest and most popular jewellery shops in the
country, established 33 years ago. Immo and his wife Karin had decided to retire after
a long successful career.

Gudrun is proud of training young Namibians in the art of goldsmithing and also to
train Namibians as specialised, expert sales personnel, schooling offered by
African Art Jewellers to young Namibian learners, once off in the country.
To date, 7 apprentices were successfully trained at AAJ, in bench and trade.

Many international prestigious awards and prizes have been awarded to Gudrun and
her team for their extraordinary and amazingly inspirational pieces of art, clearly
indicating her 30 years of experience.

This always was a true reflection, a confirmation of her reputation, the way
she followed with passion and dedication.

Reflecting on 30 years as a top jeweller, Gudrun said,
that she had been blessed to be surrounded by talented,
dedicated people in her team throughout her career.

To express gratitude and highlight the 30 years anniversary of
African Art Jewellers on 15th September 2010, there is an
anniversary special of 30% discount on selected jewellery items
until the end of the year.