Category: Uncategorized

Tomasz Donocik

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Award-winning fine jewellery designer Tomasz Donocik creates unique pieces that blur the boundaries between art and jewellery. Born in Poland and raised in Austria, Tomasz now lives and works in London where he founded his eponymous brand in 2008. Tomasz graduated with a BA from Central Saint Martins in London, followed by an MA in Goldsmithing, Silversmithing and Jewellery Making from the Royal College of Art in London. Immersed in these culturally rich surroundings, Tomasz has developed a life-long passion for art, film and literature, which continuously inspire his award-winning designs.

Text above from Tomasz Donocik’s ‘About Me‘ section on his website

Lovely jeweler with even lovelier designs.
This post a long time coming; the lilypad ring is something of a marvel and something that keeps the eyes busy. Donocik does a great job playing with color and geometry of stone shapes.
Here are a few of his stunning pieces I particularly like. His styles range from sharp geometric to ethereal nature pieces.

Shaun Leane

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British designer hailed for his work while at Alexander McQueen has been on my list of folks to write about for a bit.
I’ve eyed his hook/ sabre lines for a while but never quite got to writing or getting remotely close to jumping the gun on purchasing a piece. I don’t think these statement earrings work well with my style!

Anyways, always happy to see his pieces evolve over time. His newest creations on stackable transformative interlocking pieces really caught my eye.


More pictures than words with this post.
I love a good stackable ring and even more when stackable rings aren’t symmetrical and can be flipped up and down to make a different look!
I especially love set rings that look good by themselves in addition to with their set pair. I pass by only a few engagement sets on social media that do this very well (without the engagement wedding band being the commonly seen eternity bands- quite boring in my opinion). If I ever get married, I’d wish for an eye catching set that is a feast for eyes separate and together.
Shaun Leane has one such example: Ariana set.

Ariana Wedding band
Ariana Engagement ring
Ariana set

Again as most of my posts go:
$$$ – expensive!
Mixed metals, mixed stones but also lots of love for these pieces!

Gem Dior / Netali Nissim ; Chiara Ferragni

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Long time no post; and short post today.
Wanted to share a delectable piece I’ve been eyeing recently sported by the stunning Chiara Ferragni.
Those who don’t know who she is, look her up. In short, Italian entrepreneur who married singer Fedez (Federico Leonardo Lucia) with currently with two gorgeous children. Her road to infamy originated from her fashion blog https://theblondesalad.com/, known for her edgy street wear and street styling. The rest is history! She now has her own brand and partnerships with a multitude of luxury brands etc.

But I digress; back to the topic at hand. So as an avid follower of Chiara (and the Ferragni’s in general- their kids are so cute!) and with an eye for shiny things (of which Chiara is never sparse with), I’ve noticed a bracelet she’s been wearing that seemed vaguely familiar.
A gold cuff with diamonds in rectangular parallel pattern. I couldn’t quite place it, but knew I’ve seen it before while window shopping luxury brand bracelets. I remember when seeing it, my first impression was “edgy, chic, not everyone can pull off”. On Chiara however, it looks wonderful as a companion to all the other bracelets she wears and yet also a statement.
So I decided to find out just where to get this bracelet in the off chance its slightly affordable- though who am I kidding, I don’t think I’d purchase it anyways.
I make my morning latte, open my laptop to Google and open up tabs for all the luxury brands that I know sell fine jewelry pieces.

Gem Dior Bracelet/ WG & Diamonds

When I do find it on the Dior site, I nearly spit out my coffee at the price.
It’s $30,600 USD. Yes. You read right, thirty thousand dollars (and change). Let that fact marinate for a moment. That’s the price of a car…
Anyways, thought I would share that tiny tidbit.
I love Chiara and her style but can only dream of owning, and wearing such a piece on a daily basis.

My next feat is to search up where she got another bracelet from. Its similar to Cartier‘s bejeweled diamond LOVE bracelet but its not… it has emerald eye motifs. Dazzling to say the least. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a custom piece.

Netali Nissim/ YG, Diamonds, Emeralds

Update: 30mins later. I found the eye/love bracelet!
Brand/Jeweler: Netali Nissim
Their USA online boutique doesn’t have that exact one for sale (or a pave version) so I mused at this being a custom piece. However some more digging pointed me to another site that did carry the exact piece.
This Italian website sells the exact one that Chiara sports, so it looks like this isn’t a custom piece. Still gorgeous at a mind boggling 15,000 EUROS (~ $18,300 USD)
I coughed at the price, but barely. Pave is expensive… that much I know and this brand is not well known luxury brand.
Netali Nissim: on the brand as a whole features colorful gemstones with eye motifs. Def cute!

Paola Vilas

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Paola Vilas is the epitome of where sculpture meets jewelry. Or as some may say: wearable works of art. This artist embraces sculpture and celebrates feminine energy where love is love is love in her signature line. Lovely statement pieces; amazing eye catching sculptures.
100% guaranteed to start a conversation.


A little bit about the Brazilian artist Paola Vilas from her website:

Brazilian born jewelry designer Paola Vilas creates wearable sculptures inspired by modernist references and feminine forms. 
Living in Rio de Janeiro, Paola launched her eponymous brand in 2016, and has quickly gained notoriety among the most relevant medias and stores worldwide.
Paola chooses jewelry as a support to express her vision on contemporary issues such as feminism, but always addressing through inventive and sculptural aesthetic perspectives.
Her pieces cannot go unnoticed and they work as true conversation starters. This interaction and possible connection between two strangers is something that she looks for in all of her creations and it is also what helped the brand to get well known.
Working with silver and 18k gold plating, the designer also explores new materials such as marble including unique cuts for her designs. Her production is all locally sourced in her hometown Rio de Janeiro.

– ‘About’ section on Paola Vilas’ website

Price wise, Vilas’ pieces are slightly more affordable compared to the shiny diamonds I usually showcase. Materials range and vary from sterling silver to gold and pearls. While none of her pieces sport diamonds, they absolutely shine on their own and are not lacking in the very least.

Currently Listing to:
Only a Fool
By: Galantis, Ship Wrek, Ping Sweat$

Eva Fehren

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I’ve had my eye on this particular jeweler for quite a while. Words escape me every time I try to write about her work. Something about her brand aesthetic just captivates me. Hailing from my very own city of New York is Eva Fehren.


Her designs speak a mixture of minimalism, geometric, high shine and glam. Simply complex yet stunning in equal parts precision craftsmanship, all pieces are a joy to online browse.

This from her website:


EVA DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM THE CITY’S GEOMETRIC URBAN PATTERNS AND ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS, LIKE THE CHRYSLER BUILDING, THE CRISSCROSSING OF POWER LINES AND THE INTRICATE PATTERNS OF CRACKED SIDEWALKS.

EvaFehren.com

Her style and aesthetics are simply gorgeous. I can’t wait to own one of her pieces in the future. I just love how she plays with black/ white and shadow colors. Fahren also makes use of uncommon diamond shapes to celebrate their uniqueness; each piece a showstopper on their own.

Fehren’s got an amazing new ‘Nova’ line based off nova stars. A lovely collection that gives a head nod to the stars we see in Chanel’s COMÈTE line, though absolutely 100% different. Fehren’s Nova line showcases stars as glowing triangular diamonds arranged in the most artistic way.
At a whopping $39.75k, you can have you very own nova star earrings.

Find these amazing jewels here: https://evafehren.com/

Currently Listening to:
 第六感 / The Sixth Sense
By: Reol

Felicia Chiao

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Something a little different for this post.
I wanted to share an artist (Felicia Chiao) whose work I greatly admire and find universally relatable.

Quick Link to her instagram account https://www.instagram.com/feliciachiao/

With recent worldly events like COVID, politics, BLM, global warming etc etc I find browsing art and seeing artists create work that express how they feel really refreshing.

Squares
Most of her illustrations include a genderless/ raceless subject in a background of florals/ nature and simple lines (elements that stem from the artists’ industrial engineering background).
Color scheme of most all backgrounds is on a pale yellow/ tan background. Subduing all the colors she uses in each illustration. The subject (usually singular) portrays simple facial features that give light and breathe meaning to each illustration.

I could stare for hours at each image and give a nod to the message each one strikes to convey. Almost always a most definite ‘yea man. I totally feel you.’

There are a lot of copycats out there. Felicia Chiao is most definitely an original.

Show some love and support here: 
https://society6.com/feliciachiao

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.
Angie Crabtree.jpg
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.

VWlogo

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.


PeonyOpen.jpg
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