thank you, lanvin

And thanks to Elie Top, the super talented designer behind Lanvin's coveted jewels who put the only jewelry on the men's runways for Fall 2012.  There's a certain sophisticated subversiveness to these pieces that I am really digging.

more vicenzaoro treasures

Plenty of fun stuff to see at this show, but my favorite discovery was Etho, a fine jewelry company based in Milan.

With beautiful pieces and an unusual approach to working with precious materials, I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of their jewelry.

all jewelry by Etho

vicenzaoro favorites

Here are some standouts from the VicenzaOro show last week.  Packed with stands showing off piles of precious gems and endless bling, it's the best place to see some great new Italian jewelry.

diamond creole drop earrings by Zydo

sterling silver and rose gold cuff bracelets by Laurent Gandini

diamond earrings by Ponte Vecchio Gioielli

future jewelry

Coming soon to a desk near you is a 3D printer ready to create a prototype or even a finished product, requiring only the design to print out whatever your heart desires.  For those of us who like to make things, or own things, serious ground is about to be broken as these miracle machines become better and cheaper.

Already widely used on an industrial level, it's only a matter of time until designers become familiar enough with this new tool to start creating pieces that were hitherto impossible, pushing the aesthetic boundaries of jewelry into some exciting new territory.

Starting Jan 13th, the Aram Gallery in London will be showcasing some new works from designers using 3D printing technology for jewelry and more. The "Print to Send/Send to Print" exhibit is a glimpse of what's to come.

jewelry rocks

In London, the Art Rocks exhibit now on at Shizaru Gallery showcases some masterful jewelry, dark and light hearted.  It seems like London is way ahead of every other city in its embrace of jewelry as an art.

indian festival

While everyone else was presenting their pragmatically named pre-fall collections, Chanel made a grand show of its honorific Métiers d’Art collection, highlighting the exquisite work of the Lesage and Desrues ateliers (maisons of embroidery and jewelry respectively).

The Paris-Bombay show, as Karl called it, borrowed heavily from traditional Indian jewelry and clothing, with a nod to the counter-cultural impact India has had on the West, and an implied big handshake on the emerging global significance culturally-rich country.

images courtesy of Please! Magazine and Vogue.com

Definitely the best appropriation of Indian swag was for the guys.  There's something wonderful about seeing a man draped in jewelry.


You can get a taste of the labor-intensive craftsmanship behind these pieces in this sweet video: