Author: shineandstarfire

Attracted to all things jewelry related. Love accessories as I believe they personify a make everyone unique!

Yvonne Leon

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lovoI’ve been on the prowl for some new earrings. Naturally, I do some online window shopping the the jewelry section on Net-a-porter. Found the cutest solid gold, multi color stone crab earring by french jeweler Yvonne Leon.
Little is known about Leon save for her quirky designs that breathe life into precious metals.
Her website displays a multitude of designs; from sea creatures like lobsters and manta-rays to more abstract geometric designs. She certainly creates something for any woman at every age.
I particularly love her creations focused on ears. Pictures to follow.


A bit on the pricy side. I do wish some of her pieces were smaller (the crocodile in particular looks like it would cause sagging earlobes if I wore them everyday!

Super cute! Hope to one day own a piece for myself.

Angie Crabtree

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Taking a side street to post something slightly different today. Not entirely unrelated to jewelry, but also not jewelry at the same time.AC Logo.png

Introducing the amazing artist AngieCrabtree.

An extraordinary oil canvas painter in her own right, she captures the very essence of the shiny things I am so very captivated by; that’s right, she paints diamonds.
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Her website states: 
Angie Crabtree’s work examines luxury, materialism, and humanity’s unique relationship with the commodification of nature. 

My response : you are damn right she does.

I stumbled upon Angie Crabtree on instagram while scrolling through my feed. Tapped to view more, promptly followed her and the rest is history. Her work never ceases to amaze me.

Her paintings speak for themselves with a clear display of attention to detail and focus on all the things.

Painting.jpgUpon discovery of Angie Crabtree and the idea of gemstone painters, I did a little bit of research. It turns out, there aren’t that many out there. There’s about a handful of gemstone painters out there and in my opinion Angie is the best.
No other gemstone painter that I have researched gets to that certain level of detail in painting. No other painter gets it looking that real. Like you can almost see and touch the gem as a real 3D (albeit 5ft tall) gem right in front of your face.

Bonus points as she sells phone cases of her paintings!
(sadly they are currently all SOLD OUT as of Dec 2019) 

On another note, I certainly did not realize how many colors can go into painting a colorless diamond (her swatches include pinks, reds, and greens etc.)

View link below for a small video of the artist herself. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upmtr8MhwGg
(Ignore the brand/branding featured and plastered in the vid)

Below is a link to a few other gem stone artists out there. 
https://www.katerinaperez.com/articles/instagram-the-best-accounts-of-artists-who-paint-gemstones
Current Song: 
Bleed
By: Hot Chelle Rae

Stephen Webster

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StephenWebsterLogoA current artistic jeweler favorite is Stephen Webster. Words can only do so much to describe the splendor and amazement his pieces invoke in me. World renowned British jewelry designer Stephen Webster spins masterful pieces from a multitude of sources and materials. Each piece tells a story like no other and is unique alone as statement pieces worthy of conversation at any event. I personally would love to own a piece!
Each piece is a show stopper.

Feast your eyes on a few of my personal favorites:

Hammerhead shark bangles in solid gold +/- colorful gems would look great coupled with the simpler Cartier Love bangle.

Jeweled long finger lobster rings or his cuckoo bee or two piece jitterbug rings would be perfect for cocktail parties.

Elegant thorn drop earrings & many more look amazing for red carpet events.

Price: $$$$+++ (way way out of my budget)
Would love if he created a separate mini sterling silver collection for those of us who aren’t gazillionaires!

Currently Listening to:
Johnny Run Away
By: Tones & I

Victoria Walker

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Here’s a post on something a little less well known.
First let’s introduce you all to a type of jewelry called ‘kinetic jewelry‘. To my understanding, kinetic jewelry is mostly artisan and hand made. Kinetic jewelry utilizes the kinetic movement of the wearer to transform or add some spice to the jewelry piece in different ways.
One common example of kinetic jewelry are spinner rings. These are rings that have rotating gears in which the user is able to move 2 connected pieces together.

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I’ve been eying this jeweler for about a couple of years now and am super happy to introduce you all to her pieces!

Victoria Walker takes kinetic jewelry to a very refined and yet elegant level. Her pieces revolves around nature’s flowers and the little happinesses the result from blooming flowers. Each piece is thoughtfully hand crafted and uses a twisting movement of the base to unfurl metal petals. Made from a variety of metals, her collection has slowly been growing to incorporate increasing varieties of blooming flowers.


From sterling silver, rose gold, yellow gold, white gold and simple diamonds. Victoria Walker makes use of everything her admirers may wish for in her studio in Cornwall, UK.


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I absolutely adore her peony locket pendant necklace. The details in the petals are just gorgeous.
Can’t wait to see what next pieces she has in store for us!

Current Craving:
Chicken Tikka Masala

Spinelli Killcollin

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SK LOGOA simple yet intriguing jeweler is Spinelli Killcollin. His works mesh the simplest of ideas with the finest of jewels. Quite literally rings on rings on rings!

This jeweler meshes different sized rings in interlocking patterns to create unique pieces. Simple edits of gemstones, diamonds, different interlocking ring sizes, metal color, metal grade, and quantity of ‘rings’ combine to generate endless possibilities while remaining similar in concept.


Pro: its all or nothing! If you wear these pieces on separate fingers, you probably won’t lose the ring or shall I say rings (?)
Con: these pieces probably won’t look flattering to those like myself who have small hands, short fingers, baby hands. It’ll just look lost!
Mix
Absolutely love and would like to own a piece in the future!

Cost: $$$

Jade Trau

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Jade Trau LogoEvery time I glance back in my backlog I see Jade Trau looming; I kid you not this draft has been sitting here forever.
I’ve put off posting about this particular jeweler because I’ve secretly been wanting to covet her for my own selfish reasons.

Without further a do: Jade Trau. Hailing from a long line of jewelers  it is no wonder her pieces strike awe and wonder. Jade connects the beauty of diamonds with the elegance of gold in all her pieces. I especially love her stacking rings and would love to own a piece of my own some day…

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Sidebar convo: Everytime I see ‘Jade Trau‘, in my head its actually ‘Jade Fucking Trau’. I mean absolute zero disrespect; the brand/ name is just so BADASS that the word ‘Fucking’ has to be placed in there somewhere for me.

On the Wishlist: 
Near Future Attainable: typeset stacking ring, astor ring
Mid Attainable: typeset bracelet
Far Future Attainable: three stone rae wrap ring, one of her kismet stacking rings! (or
maybe a set of 3… but let’s not get carried away..)

Price: $$$
Customizable: No
Bespoke: Yes

Currently Listening to: 
Just Friends
Hayden James, Boy Matthews

Messika Paris

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Messika LogoMessika Paris is a french jewelry brand founded about 12 years ago by Valeria Messika. Their signature design plays upon movable diamonds (Move). Other notable collections are their ‘skinny’ technology diamond pieces. These pieces are advertised to meld with all different body types.

Interested in the brand’s history? Attached here is a lovely article written by the New York Times : https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/19/fashion/jewelry-messika.html

Honest Confession: Messika has not been very high on my list.
When I first glimpsed at their trademark pieces a few years ago, I’ll admit I wasn’t very impressed. I tally-ed Messika in my list of jewelry brands to watch as it would be a hit or a miss. I will say that with time and the additions of new design pieces, Messika Paris is most definitely one to watch. Their modern take on jewelry fit the mark in luxury with the times. Attached below are are few pieces I especially love running my eyes over.
Furthermore, I can definitely see one of their bracelets sitting side by side the iconic Cartier Love bracelet in a lovely arm stack.

One small thing I will mention that continues to leave me perplexed is:
How on earth do you keep these jewelry pieces clean?
Closer inspection of the mechanics between movable pieces and main pieces include so many tiny little crevices... with which dead skin cells can linger and flourish… I mean… have you ever taken a multi stone pronged ring under a microscope and seen like grey/ brown stuff caked within the tiny little nooks and crannies ???

That aside, actually really obsessed with the new collaboration My Soul collection with Gigi Hadid.

Currently Listening to: 
Zombie 
By: The Cranberries

Kat Kim

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Threaders.
Pearls.
Put them together and you get the most gorgeous pearl ear threaders to adorn your lobes.
Kat Kim crafts something a little extra with her eye catching threaders that are both bold and demure.
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Piercings have been making a comeback as recent trends show. Quite a few brands are picking up on the trend and creating their own body jewelry/ piercing lines (much needed and undersaturated to be quite honest). It is often extremely hard to find quality piercing jewelry (non stainless steel/ plastic). As someone who is allergic basically all the alloy metals with the exception of gold/ platinum, I find it refreshing to increasingly be able to find quality piercing jewelry from upcoming brands that display some artistic flare.


Kat Kim does three things for me.

  1. Picks up and adds to the current modern pearl jewelry trend
  2. Provides piercing jewelry pieces for those of us who are bored of the normal diamond studs
  3. Meshes diamonds and metal lines in a beautiful minimalistic way

    Pictures for proof:

    ear pinear pin collectionthread pin earring

Need I say more?
Price Range: $$$
Bespoke: Yes
Custom Metals/ Stones: Yes

Note:
First post of 2019! I’ve made it one of my New years resolution to post more. I’ve got quite a bit of brands/ things I would like to share.
I will change it up a bit; I’ve noticed how I basically rave about all the jewelers/ brands in posts which can get boring and repetitive.
NEW CONTENT SOON!

Noor Fares

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Noor Fares LogoDefinitely one a showstopper, Lebanese jewelry designer Noor Fares has been on my radar for quite some time.
Her signature wings earrings are almost always sold out on her website. I’ve seen a lot of winged jewelry renditions overtime, but Noor Fares creates the best balance of flashy, and elegance. Each piece is hand carved made of various different stones, materials and attached to precious metals; from wood, sandstone, diamonds, quartz, jade, ebony, mammoth ivory etc. you name it, she can probably craft it. Her iconic ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ earrings have shot her straight to fame since 2009.


Each and every piece she creates provokes meaning and almost beckons someone to come forth and inquire. Would love, love, love to eventually be able to purchase and own one of her pieces! Feast your eyes on some magnificent jewelry porn below!
18k Chandra Crescent
One of her latest pieces I absolutely adore is from her rainbow collection. The Crescent Chandra earrings are particularly sublime. That slice of crystal in the shape of a crescent moon sitting on a golden bed of rainbow stones is just gorgeous.

Rich and richer.
Noor Fares is the daughter of Lebanese multi-millionaire Issam Fares. Hailing from Tufts University, she learned all about gems at London’s GIA. Some can only dream of being able to fulfill endless inspirational pieces with boundless resources! Her father is said to be a very successful entrepreneur and it looks like his daughter most definitely followed in his footsteps!

Mateo NYC

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I recently lost one of my favorite rings at a Dave & Busters (literally tossed it off into the abyss as I was lobbing a basketball in one of those arcade games). Sent out a mobile phone flashlight party, but to no avail it is most definitely gone for good. And that is the reason why I’m back here. The hunt for a new shiny piece is on!

I’ve been pretty much MIA with life this summer. As the days grow shorter and the daylight wanes, I’m back to my usual online prowl for glimmering beauties.

Mateo Logo

MATEO NYC was introduced to me by the one and only Eva Chen (I’ve been an avid follower of her instagram and fashion pieces). Mateo NYC is headed by Matthew Harris an NYC implant of the ripe age of 16 from the sunny, sandy shores of Montego Bay, Jamaica. A self taught jeweler, he started with mens jewelry and later evolved his collections to include women’s jewelry. Love his simple designs.

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Absolutely adore some of his most recent pieces made for women. I’ve been recently very interested in mixed metals, diamonds, and pearls with modern shapes and designs. Something about the translucency and timelessness of pearls just makes we stop and stare. And while I don’t quite put myself at an age appropriate enough to dare are wear white pearl jewelry, one of Mateo pieces just might make me break that rule…
Most worth mentioning is the fact that some pieces are still pretty affordable as diamond/ gold goes… for now…
Get em while they’re hot! As any new upcoming jeweler is bound to sky rocket in fame, so are the prices!