Tag: diamond

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.

Nadine Ghosn

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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.

Too Cool for School Line


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

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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

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…

Banner Image

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.
kat kim logo
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!

Jessica McCormack

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Bringing up a post from my drafts collection (I have quite a few unfinished pieces).

Confession: fairly positive there’s a direct correlation with snow days / cabin fever/ and me searching for shiny baubles on the web. Every time it snows, I find myself browsing hashtags on instagram of sparkly baubles.

Bringing me to this posts’ star: Jessica McCormack.
Jessica McCormack
Hailing form land of the kiwis, native New Zealand. As her website states, her love for antiques propelled her career move to Sothebys in London. The rest is history. Her passion and exposure to exquisite priceless pieces naturally directed her in starting her own jewelry line.  I fell in love with this jewelers’ eye and talent in taking antique heirlooms and transitioning those same exact pieces into timeless modernity.


Key and point (large pic below) an antique brooch turned ring pair to match her client’s engagement ring! Full-sized picture for full-sized shock and awe. Is that not the most gorgeous match made?
Vintage

This jewelry artist has an eye for transformative pieces. She has quite a few collections out, but in my opinion her ring jackets are to die for.

Daniela Villegas

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Daniela Villegas LogoDeep 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.

 


Alpaca Ring.jpegI’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.

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Tasaki Logo

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?

David Yurman

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DY logoLet me be quite honest. I am not and never was an avid fan of David Yurman and his signature cable designs. Something about it being sterling silver and pretty much done just never appealed to me.
But here I am, writing a post about David Yurman. Fancy. That.
Anyways, I digress. This post comes about me stumbling across a fellow soba lover while at date night with my significant other. My keen eyes always pick up on unique jewelry/ bags/ accessories when crossing paths with a person of good taste.
Here goes a little something different; prose and story behind this gem of a find designed by David Yurman.

A cool wind swished through the restaurant, bringing sweet relief to warm diners in the quaint dimly lit noodle establishment. Mid height with long locks down to her waist, she hung up her jacket at the coat check and sashayed her way to the bar (the noodle bar to be exact – because thats how I roll on a Saturday night. Noodle Bars over BAR Bars).
She sat down at the stool next to R (my very significant other), accidentally elbowing him causing him to drop a mouthful of delicious soba back into the steaming bowl below him. As she propped her black Chanel bag on the counter, R glanced over to her with a death glare, and scooted his stool closer to me. As she raised her left hand in apology, thats when I saw it.
One left hand glint caught my eye, on her pointer finger was one hell of a unique ring.
Black onyx glinting and gleaming in the dim light encased in threads of twisted silver adorned by a string of bright diamonds.
Now that story time is over. You might wonder exactly how I wound up figuring out this was a David Yurman ring. The answer, of course was in the context clues. You see, typically when a person sports Chanel, or any other type of known brand they naturally would purchase other name brands. Luxury consumerism. To be honest, I thought this ring was one of a kind or atleast custom made given wire wrapped rings are mostly found on etsy. (I just thought this was a really well made one).
Petite Onyx Wire Wrapped Ring
After literally creepily staring at this woman’s other accessory details, I grimaced at the sight of a stack of signature David Yurman bangles sighted on her left arm. Thats when a eureka moment hit- after an internal debate of whether or not David Yurman brand could produce two almost oppositely attractive things in my book. Theory in point: in a person buys a specific brand, most the time they would also buy other things within that brand. A quick search on my phone and handy dandy never fail Google image search engine produced the the results I was looking for: David Yurman’s black onyx petite cable wrapped ring.

David Yurman’s Black Onyx Petite Cable Wrapped ring is sadly only available in sterling silver (as white metal). Dainty and intricately intwined thin metal strands are crisscrossed around a hexagonal rock high set with a smattering of diamonds. Retail values will set you back roughly $500. Note the black onyx is no longer available on Yurman’s website, other colored stones are (amethyst etc). You can however find discounted worn onyx rings on ebay.


For those of you who love the design and have longer fingers, there is also the onyx cable wrapped ring in the same line. This ring however sports an elongated rectangular stone with thicker band. Yellow gold options available, an obviously price is elevated to match. In general I love Yurman’s Cable Wrapped Line.

So there it is. Look at her. Isn’t she a beauty? I almost want to say she is top of the list, but Chaumet’s Bee My Love ring set along with iconic Cartier are definitely top 2.