Ward Strootman
Meet Ward Strootman, gemmologist and designer merging generations of diamond heritage with contemporary craft. In the Nassau Journal, he shares his view on material, intention, and modern gentlemanship.
Ward Strootman is a maker before anything else. Not in a romantic, studio-myth way, but in a measured, thoughtful, materially grounded one. His understanding of stones is scientific as much as it is intuitive. That knowledge shapes how he works, how he sees, and how he builds.
His connection to gemstones began early. His family has worked with diamonds for generations. His great-grandfather ran the diamond warehouse Elion & Jesse in Amsterdam. His grandfather was a diamond trader who travelled across Europe with major watchmakers and exceptional stones. Precision and responsibility were part of his upbringing long before they became professional choices.
Ward studied International Business first, spent a year in Singapore, and found himself drawn back to jewelers’ windows even 10,000 kilometres from home. A course in gemmology at the VU confirmed what he already suspected. Four months later, he moved to London to study at the Gemological Institute of America, the same institution his mother attended, but in his own context and on his own terms.
Today, his practice moves between jewellery, sculptural objects, and spatial work. The starting point is always the mineral itself. His wall objects, now among his most recognised works, are informed by crystal structures, layered geometry, and atomic composition. One edition refers to black tourmaline.Another draws from the texture of gogotte. A third is inspired by solid transparent quartz. His new edition explores lead sulfides. Each step is research made tactile.
Building
The Gem is Ward’s base. What began as an atelier has gradually become a gallery, an event space, and a place where conversations emerge naturally around objects and ideas.
The building has been part of his life long before he worked there. Growing up in Badhoevedorp, he passed it while cycling, running, or walking. It was a familiar silhouette on the horizon.
Originally built as the HydraPier for the Floriade of 2002, the pavilion was designed by Asymptote Architects. Two wing-like roofs hover above glass walls. Aluminium recalls aviation. Water flowing over the roof echoes the pumping stations that keep the polder dry. Technically advanced cold-bent glass made the structure forward-thinking at the time, earning it the AIA New York Design Award in 2003.
For Ward, the building is less a landmark than a working organism. A place to test materials, host people, and create space for collaboration. In the future, he imagines installations by other artists and designers surrounding The Gem, with Sabine Marcelis as a natural kindred spirit.
FAVORITE RESTAURANT
Ward does not define meaningful experiences by restaurants. What stays with him are moments, not menus.
During Art Miami he once wandered into Mila by chance, only later realising how iconic the place was. But the memory that lingers more strongly is simpler. A holiday years ago with his current partner. They bought pizzas, sat on a cliff, and ate while looking out over the landscape. No staging, no spectacle. Just the right company at the right time.
A CITY THAT SHAPED ME
Milan is always inspiring, especially during Design Week. It’s where creativity and commerce meet in a very natural way. What struck me most was seeing how art and design can become commercial without losing integrity. It proved that you can build something successful and still stay true to your vision.
A PLACE I RETURN TO
First used as Ward’s workplace but now more as a place to host meetings and events. A place where ideas settle, materials reveal themselves, and conversations find their natural pace.
GO-TO DRINK
Ward drinks little alcohol. What interests him more is taste, texture, and composition. That curiosity is now extending into scent. He is exploring how flavour and fragrance can meet in something distinctly his own.
SOMETHING I WEAR THAT FEELS LIKE ME
In his youth, Ward appreciated the clarity of a fine Rolex. Today, that pull has faded. Recognition matters less than substance.
He often wears his own jewellery, not as adornment but as an extension of his work. In clothing, material and fit come first. Things must look right and feel right on the body. That is why he feels aligned with NASSAU. The compositions, the fabrics, the fabric-covered buttons on the utility suit. Nothing loud, everything considered.
AN OBJECT I CARE ABOUT
His own jewellery. Pieces born from minerals he has studied, handled, and understood over years. Objects that sit close to the body, where art, science, and craft meet quietly.
A DAILY CONSTANT
He starts his day slowly. An extended breakfast, taken seriously, without rushing. And when his body allows it, he trains. Discipline without severity. Rhythm without rigidity. At the moment he’s training for the marathon of Tokyo.
A PERFECT EVENING
It is less about place than about presence. A simple meal, like pizza on a cliff, shared with the person he loves. Space to talk, to watch the light change, to exist without distraction.
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A FAVOURITE ARTIST OR DESIGNER
Ward does not elevate one figure above others. What excites him is collaboration. His stone bench created with David of Solid Nature reflects that mindset. Around The Gem, he hopes to invite installations by artists and designers such as Sabine Marcelis, allowing different sensibilities to converse in space.
WARD ON MATERIAL, HERITAGE, AND MODERN CRAFT
HERITAGE AND CONSEQUENCE
Ward grew up surrounded by diamonds, but he never inherited the trade uncritically.
“My family taught me that knowledge comes before confidence,” he says. His grandfather’s travels with watchmakers instilled respect for precision. His mother’s gemological training grounded him in scientific understanding.
Working with De Beers now feels deliberate rather than predetermined. “It is not nostalgia,” he notes. “It is continuity with intention.”
A PARALLEL PATH
Choosing International Business before gemmology was not a detour, but a lens. Singapore sharpened his observational eye. The VU course confirmed his intuition. Studying in London at GIA placed him within a global discipline while keeping his perspective distinct. He did not follow the traditional art academy route because he wanted to understand materials from the inside out. “If you don’t know what something is, you cannot shape it honestly.”
WHAT HE DOES NOW
His practice begins with minerals. Jewellery came first. Wall objects followed, inspired by crystal structures and atomic order. Each piece is both study and expression. At The Gem, he cultivates a space where making, hosting, and collaboration intersect. The De Beers installation reflects that same ethos: rigorous, thoughtful, and quietly ambitious.
STYLE WITHOUT DISPLAY
Ward does not perform style. It emerges from alignment. Between knowledge and intuition, past and present, making and observing.
For him, refinement is not loud. It is consistent. Measured. And always rooted in the material itself.
“Understanding comes before shaping,” he says. “Everything else follows.”
