Unique – Shine & Starfire

Tomasz Donocik

May 10, 2023May 10, 2023 shineandstarfireLeave a comment

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.

Nadine Ghosn

December 29, 2021 shineandstarfireLeave a comment

She makes old school number 2 pencils look good.
Check it out: Nadine Ghosn

She’s got a case load of quirky jewelry from her ‘Too Cool for School” line; pens, pencils, paper clips etc.

Honorable mentions to the mix and match stackable burger rings. (All made of real bling bing)
And her mini sushi inspired charms. Super cute!

Want is an understatement. Need is slightly too strong a word.
Short post today; last of the 2021 year. More to come next year!

Eva Fehren

December 7, 2020December 7, 2020 shineandstarfireLeave a comment

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

Victoria Walker

March 21, 2019March 21, 2019 shineandstarfireLeave a comment

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.

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

Kat Kim

January 9, 2019January 9, 2019 shineandstarfireLeave a comment

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.

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.

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

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!

PollyWales

May 13, 2018May 13, 2018 shineandstarfireLeave a comment

Poly Wales Polly Wales!
Keeping this post short and sweet ~ mostly self explanatory.
Mosaic of precious stones set in random display in solid gold.
Love the simple, elegant, and spontaneity in this haphazard design.
Price Scale: $$$$

Diaboli Kill

January 7, 2018January 7, 2018 shineandstarfireLeave a comment

New year, new post right? Right?

Anyways, I have been waiting to post about this particular brand as I only really like one piece and have been patiently waiting for the designer to produce more designs. Needless to say, patience paid off.
Introducing Diaboli Kill, a New York brand founded by New York born Egyptian- Dominican Angie Marei.

Diaboli Kill’s website boasts of designs as a ‘tie between sinister and sexy’, and this could not be closer to the truth.
I first fell in love the Damian Horn collection and lusted after their Damian Brevis Horn Ring in gold vermeil. Alas, my tiny hands would not do this baby justice as statement jewelry is designed for larger longer fingered statement hands… (that I do not possess~ tiny short baby hands is what I have).

Newer lines like the Isadora have also caught my eye; colorful stones cohesively aggregated together with precious gold metals to adorn the ears are my new eye-candy.

Luxurious jewelry for the rich and famous. Like most my posts, way too expensive for a mere working girl like me to afford. Best to stare with awe and wonder in my eyes from afar… like way way far. Their Garnet Isadora ear cuff in 18k will set you back $6.6k. The infamous Damien Onyx Horn Ring in various vermeil/ silver / gold ranges from $395- $7,500 USD.

Pricey.

Daniela Villegas

September 19, 2017September 19, 2017 shineandstarfireLeave a comment

Deep diving into one of a kind beauties in the world of fine jewelry. One artist of quite notable mention is Daniela Villegas.

This Los Angeles based designer uses only the best materials to create one of a kind works of art. Each piece stems from a love and appreciation of nature.

I’m not usually a fan of symbolic and close renditions of animals, but the sheer craftsmanship and attention to detail Villegas puts into her work is nothing but breathtaking.

However, don’t be too tempted to pour your soul out to own one of these beauties. Each piece is literally one of a kind with a sky high price tag.
(This gorgeous Alpaca ring on the left retails for about $25,000+ USD!) This particular piece on the comes from her Peru collection inspired by the colors and culture of historical Machu Picchu. Handcrafted in 18k rose gold with a string of roughly 5 carats worth of multicolored sapphires, this ring sure is a sparkly stunner.
Incredible prices for incredible pieces. I think I’ll just look from a far… by that I mean really really far… definitely jewelry made for the luxurious.

Currently: work, work, working hard ~ but not on jewelry things….
Music: Too Good at Goodbyes by Sam Smith

Tasaki Intl.

August 16, 2017August 16, 2017 shineandstarfireLeave a comment

Back tracking to a few of my recent favorites. Always a love for Japanese brands, this is no exception. I’ve been meaning to write this post for quite sometime but wanted to gather a bit more research on company background.
Introducing Tasaki Intl. a subsidiary of the infamous DeBeers company head quartered in Japan. Tasaki Intl. is a luxury Japanese brand with new and innovative designs adhering to old school materials such as the classic pearl.

With pearls making a bold resurgence; design head Thakoon Panichgul creates fresh new ideas to showcase the elegance of pearls. And quite frankly, I’m a fan.

Small background on Thakoon Panichgul: he is Thailand born, Omaha Nebraska raised, and currently NYC based designer. Truly brilliant designer who brings new ideas to his creations. I have nothing but respect for him. Panichgul’s work like many but few have graces the presence of many a famous celebrity (including the Obamas!).

As always I digress.

With a flare for elegance, modernity, the Tasaki branded jewelry never feels clunky or too much. Feast for the eyes to follow. Each line of jewelry is distinct in design (and designer) as each line is created in collaboration with different jewelry designers such as Melanie Georgacopoulous, Mare-Helene de Taillac etc. Collaborations with these designers generate new styles while keeping the beauty and elegance of the materials quality still at 100%.

SIDE BAR // I’ve recently found myself gravitating to pearls. A personal favorite brand, Vita Fede has been showcasing pearls in a classic yet modern and elegant way. In general I’ve found more and more jewelry companies designing pieces in pearl or with pearl accents. I’ve also seen younger girls accessorize with pearly pieces (real or otherwise). To be honest, I’ve always believed pearls would be for… lets say… mature women (ok fine, old people). But seeing trends and I, myself owning a pair of black pearls; they’re not that bad at all; I do not think pearls age me as much as I feared they would. But then again… does that make me more mature/ old now?

everette nyc

January 27, 2017January 27, 2017 shineandstarfireLeave a comment

I absolutely love dainty shiny things. Diamonds on thin bands display a certain subtle sparkle that simply light up my day. Everette nyc does just this with their delicate yet well crafted jewelry. From what I hear, if statement pieces aren’t in, its most definitely the tiny fortunes.

Everette nyc jewelry can be described as sort of hipster Brooklyn jewelry. Subtle, with a bright flash of diamond to depict a sort of hidden richness; not overly fancy just a tiny sparkle from a diamond here or there. Simply beautiful. To be quite honest, Everette reminds me of the brooklyn based Catbird.

Earlier in the year (more like late 2016) what initially caught my eye about Everett was their collaboration earring piece with ABLE cosmetics. Diamond stud earrings with whimsical cat eye/eyebrow earring jackets look absolutely adorable! Available in white, yellow, and rose gold a single earring (right or left) costs about $275.

10% of all proceeds are also stated on their website to be donated to The Seeing Eye, an organization with a mission to raise and train cute adorable puppies as seeing eye dogs.

In addition, looks like Everette is hosting a sample sale with markdowns on select pieces making pricing a tad more agreeable (peep the large starlight gold/diamond earrings at $300USD from $430USD; while not an absolute steal worth a gander). Sample sales are usually followed by new designs, those of which I look forward to seeing!