Blog - May 2007 | The Carrotbox - glass rings, lucite rings, plastic rings, wooden rings and other non-metal rings

May 2007

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

This is my last post of this week, as I'm going on a short trip — that is, if I can pry my eyes away from these pretty, pretty rings by Australia's Millicent Russell. Made from vintage lucite, bakelite and celluloid, they are, quite cruelly, one-of-a-kind.

Bonus link: voluptuous gold ring from the "Browny Brown" collection by Swiss jeweller and watchmaker de Grisogono.

Even more jewellery:

Simon MacEwan (Australia) - incredible brooches
Kelly Johnston (Seattle) - bright beads
Bettina Speckner (Germany) - art jewellery
Amy Kahn (Denver) - simple silver & gold
Lauren Elgee (Vancouver, BC) - illustration earrings
Laidback Lux (Long Beach, CA) - semiprecious pretties
Thea Izzi (Oakland, CA) - contemporary silver & gold
Mingle Design (Austin) - organic ovals
Sarah Thirlwell (Manchester) - acrylic & wood
Rebecca Overmann (San Francisco) - simple & elegant
Yasuko Azuma (New York) - delicate gold

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Tuesday, May 29, 2007

These pieces look more like tentacles than rings, multiplying and taking over your fingers until you feel like Ellen Ripley. They're from Italy's Anthias, a collaboration between Milan native Monica Castiglioni (who designed these rings) and Tokyo-born Natsuko Toyofuku.

Bonus link: resin ring handmade (without molds) by California musician and jeweller Stuart Breidenstein.

Even more jewellery:

June Hunter (Vancouver, BC) - photos on clay
Arika C (Emeryville, CA) - modern, gold chainmail
Garnish by Kara Hamilton (Brooklyn) - raw stones
T. Cyia (Los Angeles) - pearls & skulls
Fiona Cameron (UK) - beautiful enamel

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Monday, May 28, 2007

Pearls always remind me of that game every parent of the '80s regrets buying for their kids: Hungry Hungry Hippos (if you've never seen this toy in action, note how you never actually hear it being played in the commercial). The one above, though? Reminds me more of Pacman. Rings by San Francisco's John S. Brana, who I'm pretty sure was not inspired by Hasbro.

Bonus link: puffed rings in high-polish silver and geometric shapes by British jeweller Sally Wakelin.

Even more jewellery:

BtheNV Designs (Barrington, RI) - laminated paper
Prismera (New York) - lasercut beauties
Therese Samuelsson (Sweden) - silver strips
Rebecca S. Scott (Somerville, MA) - organic silver & quartz
Isabella Hart (UK) - corrugated silver

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Saturday, May 26, 2007

Do I still like saying "doilies"? Yes. Yes, I do. Lace ring by Japan's Akiko Tamai, ¥1,050, available in the grandmotherly shades of black, white and grey.

Bonus link: elephant hide sleeve ring in texturized sterling with satin finish ($198), by Sarah McGuire, a Chicago-based metalsmith and designer.

Even more jewellery:

kgearthings (Portland, OR) - fresh, minimal earrings
Jane Kenney (UK) - links & bows
Ruth Avra (Miami) - beads & silver
Devon Leigh (Los Angeles) - metal & stone adornments
David Aubrey (New York) - pretty & ornate

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Friday, May 25, 2007

I've been sitting for a long time composing just the right words to describe these rings. So far, I've come up with: Eeeeeeeeee! I love them!!!!!!!!! These "combi rings" consist of colourful acrylic layers sandwiched between two sterling rings; you can customize your own design by choosing whatever colours you like and as many layers as you'd like. By German jewellery company SIM.

Bonus link: happy enamel polkadots on a large silver ring, at Japanese webshop Capola (¥9,800). Other enamel patterns also available.

Even more jewellery:

Sans Couture (Chicago) - handmade & recycled
Traci Moyo (Los Angeles) - cool & chic
Kicca (Japan) - needlepoint charms

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Thursday, May 24, 2007

Film photography is not dead! That means those plastic film cannisters live on, too. And in the hands of UK artist Jaimie MacDonald, they're reincarnated as these striking "wave goodbye" rings.

Bonus link: oxidized silver "triad" ring by San Francisco jeweller Julia Turner (don't miss her array of carved wooden brooches).

Even more jewellery:

Angie Boothroyd (London) - contemporary gold
Natalia Fabia (Burbank, CA) - mirrored acrylic
Ruudt Peters (Netherlands) - polyester brooches

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Thank you, sweet web, so worldly and so wide, for bringing me the work of Finnish glass designer Niina Mahlberg. I owe you one.

Bonus link: arcing wireframe ring from the cryptic website of New Zealand-based Stella Chrysostomou. You can find the rings on this page.

Even more jewellery:

Candace Ang (Vancouver, BC) - cool keys & cameos
Odette (New York) - matte, texturized silver
Powerhaus (Montreal) - fashion statements (I own one of their pendants; my tree wears it)

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Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Look at UK jeweller Ruth Gordon's "inspiration" page and you'll see pictures of candy and cupcakes. Which is apt, because these rings make me want to eat candy and cupcakes. (Still searching for rings that will inspire me to eat wheatgerm.) These cheerful pieces of silver and enamel are £56 each.

Bonus link: rings by Toronto's Lisa Cinelli and Jean-Sebastien Maillet of cinelli & maillet.

Even more jewellery:

Fountainhead (San Francisco) - hardy silver
Ruth Allen (Australia) - glass amulets
Beth Sutton (Cleveland, OH) - modern silver

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Monday, May 21, 2007

Is London's Clara Francis some kind of ten-pin beer league champion? Because I am bowled over by her gorgeous beadwork and soothing, muted tones.

Bonus link: ring by Rhode Island glass artist Caitlin D. Johnston of January Glass; check out her collection of simple, frosted pastel pieces.

Even more jewellery:

Karen Gilbert (Healdsburg, CA) - pyrex clusters
Hoolala (UK) - playful charms
Becky Lee (Brooklyn) - colourful wooden beads

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Saturday, May 19, 2007

We've got links! And I don't just mean this silver link ring by Dutch jeweller Coretta van Wijk!

Too often, I'd come across a fantastic designer who didn't make rings (or whose rings were not the highlight of the collection), so s/he'd get bookmarked but not posted here. Well, you know what? This is jewellery, not beer — no need to limit myself. Starting now, I'll be unloading some non-ring-specific links. Rings still rule, of course, but there's also:

Donna Keay (Scotland) - a favourite, clean & minimal
Filou Designs (Vancouver, BC) - awesome silver pendants
Sabrina Dehoff (Berlin) - playful & imaginative
Baharal · Gnida (New York) - artistic silver
Haute Hardware (Dallas) - briolettes
Mizo (Japan) - colourful felt
Astrid Björk (Stockholm) - silver & quartz
Franziska Rappold (Germany) - modern silversmith
Tanya Monique (Seattle) - fun enamel
Janet Mavec (New York) - 3D gold birds
Suzanne Myers (Nashville, TN) - modern silver & beads
Tjallamalla (Sweden) - accessories webshop
Gail Klevan (UK) - patterned acrylic
Natacha Matic (Paris) - cute porcelain
Mark Poulin (Oakland, CA) - colourful pendants
Andrea Savar (Seattle, WA) - beaded jewellery

There's a sweet sixteen to get started.

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Friday, May 18, 2007

And sometimes, porcelain sends me running back to glass. That's meant as no offense to Sweden's Paula Lindblom, the artist behind these disconcerting porcelian "meat rings," as her varied portfolio is evidence of her talents.

Bonus link: going back to porcelain of the white variety... Jara Design of the Czech Republic adds a touch of graphic design to their porcelain tops on silver bands.

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Thursday, May 17, 2007

I'm devoted to my beloved glass but sometimes I just want to abandon it all and run away with porcelain! These one-of-a-kind "urban cast-away" rings (US$300-480) by New York's Dror Benshetrit were created by dipping second-hand fur into porcelain, then shaping and firing them.

Bonus link: cute and colourful striped resin cube ring by Italy's Fragolab.

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Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Your fingers are mad at you. You put them on gardening duty all day Sunday and then? Your green thumbs get all the credit. Make nice by treating them to one of these botanical creations from Edinburgh jeweller Hannah Simpson. Pictured are the "fern ring" (left), white metal with yellow metal fern, and the "tree ring," oxidized metal leaves on white metal with corrugated perspex.

Bonus link: double-headed "daba" flower ring from the UK's Yvonne Gilhooly.

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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

I know you think these contraptions look like wind-powered toys, handmade in a sleepy sea-side town by an old man who lives in a wooden cottage. But no, silly, they're steel and resin rings made by Glasgow's Jacqui Toher!

Bonus link: "hidden key" rings, £60, by Birmingham's April Neate. Visit for the rings; stay for the adorable house pendants.

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Monday, May 14, 2007

When art inspires art, we get goodies like these rings by Scotland's Islay Jane Spalding. Not surprisingly, she counts Miro and Kandinsky amongst the influences behind her quirky "biomorphs" series of silver and hand-dyed resin pieces.

Bonus link: "half round" ring by Kyley Campbell, also from Scotland. Her work consists of silver stripes, twisted and coiled into various forms of jewellery.

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Friday, May 11, 2007

I think I want to marry these diamond rings. At the very least, at ¥11,000 (~US$90) each, I can seriously consider making a mail-order bride out of one of them. Yuho Fukuhara, a graduate of Tokyo's Hiko Mizuno College of Jewellery, designs under the name Ufo Products and produces a cool range of acrylic jewellery. "UFO," incidentally, means the same thing in Japanese as it does in English, only it's pronounced more like "yuho" — just like the designer's name.

Bonus link: star-shaped jewellery is nothing new but it's rare to find one as simple and sharply-defined as this ring by Dutch jeweller Martijn Verkade.

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Thursday, May 10, 2007

If a tree falls in the forest and there's nobody around to hear it, does it make a sound? And if a ring doesn't actually wrap around your finger, is it really a ring? Herman Hermsen would say yes.

Bonus link: no deep questions here, just adorable little flower rings from Danish jewellery shop Catz (DKK 200 each).

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Wednesday, May 9, 2007

If you're in the mood for something manly, try Geoff Thomas — his jewellery, that is. The Santa Monica artist has a distinctive style that's sculptural and masculine (even his metal bikini tops).

Bonus link: silk thread rings by German designer Dorothea Brill (at Galerie Spandow); €863 for gold or €120 for plastic.

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Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Made of square slices that rotate and slide, these rings are constantly shape-shifting. Of course, you'd have to be Rainman to notice each precise change, but the concept is still cool. Silver and gold rings from the "Facet" collection by UK designer James Newman.

Bonus link: hammered square ring by UK jeweller Deborah Kelly, who specializes in hammered silver (£70).

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Monday, May 7, 2007

P-p-p-pink plastic power! Australian jeweller Natalie Lleonart sources plastic from items like old traffic lights (which these rings are made of) and knitting needles, creating all sorts of fun bits. And because we should all buy things to match our jewellery (rather than the other way around), she's even built an entire dressing table to go with these pink rings. To view all the aforementioned bits, click "gallery," then "jewellery," then each of the ascending circles, then the thumbnail that goes with each circle.

Bonus link: shiny silver ring printed with a pattern of pastel birds, from the "l'envol" series by Clioblue of Paris.

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Friday, May 4, 2007

Good news, everyone: heaven exists! To go there, just visit www dot Miravidi dot FR. French designer Jean-Baptiste Michel performs miracles with colourful Plexiglas; pictured above are the acrylic and Swarovski crystal TOBA (left, €28) and TANIS (right, €32) rings.

Bonus link: got milk? €15 will nab you a few drops to wear as a ring (don't worry, it's really just coloured water). By Eugénie Peirera Gomes at Pylones.

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Thursday, May 3, 2007

Apparently, there are jewellery designers who live outside of the Netherlands. Some even live in Bozeman, Montana, producing colourful jewellery using chiyogami and silver. Well, maybe it's more like "one" than "some" — and that one is Susan Fleming.

Bonus link: sticking with the Japanese theme, here's an acrobatic "ninja" ring from London jeweller Annika Burman.

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Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Oooh, so foldy! I'm almost inspired to wash and stack a load of towels! Dutch jeweller Suzanne Esser likes to fold metal plates, but she also likes to carve wood and ebony, creating sculptural pieces inspired by nature, architecture and African art. You'd be doing yourself a disservice by not checking out her sculptural wooden pendants, so click away!

Bonus link: this "fiori" ring by new favourite Agriegento Designs is almost as big as the model's head. (Literally, not figuratively.) Sterling dipped in platinum, US$550.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007

The grass is definitely greener in the hands of Dutch artist Ineke Otte, whose jewellery is like a clown explosion — a clown who had mice and plastic in his pockets. (Psst: she also does gorgeous things with glass.)

Bonus link: triangular ring with hidden hinge and lock mechanism, by Oakland resident (and Okinawa native) Norika Takada of Iron Studio.