The Look fashion set – One dress, two looks

Via Poetica.com - Fashion set The Look

The Look – Fashion Set by Via Poetica.com

 

From the moment I layed my eyes on this dress, I knew it formed the perfect basis for this post! This dress strikes a perfect balance between romanticism and modernism. The dress, in a soft pink hue, has a romantic vibe, but upon closer inspection the modern construction of the lace gives it a modern feel. Romantic, but not too sugary sweet. Just my thing!

I styled this dress with two different looks. The first is perfect for a work related party or for a woman that prefers a slighty more classic look. The second silvery party look is in keeping with one of the biggest jewelry trends; sophisticated edge. Edgy, but with a delicate, sophisticated quality.

I hope you check out the real thing on Reiss’ website. The image I posted really doesn’t do it justice. And I hope you’ll forgive me for not being very budget-friendly with my first “The Look-post”. I’ll be a good girl next time… I promise ;-) .

Look on the left – from top to bottom:

  1. Meira T – Diamond, mother of pearl, 14k rose gold & sterling silver earrings – Saks.com
  2. Anne Klein – Rose gold-tone watch and bangle bracelet set – Amazon.com and Lord & Taylor
  3. Anne Klein – Ceramic bangle watch with swarovski crystals – Amazon.com
  4. Monica Vinader – The Alma bracelet in 18k rose gold plated vermeil on sterling silver, set with 0.33 carats of diamonds – Monicavinader.com
  5. Gianvito Rossi – Plexy pumps in nude suede – Forward.com

Look on the right – from top to bottom:

  1. Stephen Webster – Pavé drop ear studs from the Magnipheasant collection. 18K White gold, pavé set diamonds and pear shaped diamonds. – Neimanmarcus.com
  2. Stephen Webster – Stem bracelet from the Thorn collection. 18 K White gold and diamonds. – Harrods.com
  3. Rauwolf – Constantinople minaudière – Rauwolfnyc.com
  4. Stuart Weitzman – Nudist sandals – Piperlime.com & Nordstrom.com

And of course the dress:

 

By |December 30th, 2014|The Look|Comments Off on The Look fashion set – One dress, two looks
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Maiko Takeda’s art jewelry

Maiko Takeda Atmospheric Reentry

Maiko Takeda Atmospheric Reentry

Now I don’t want to sound jaded or pretentious, but when you’ve seen the amount of jewelry I have, it is sometimes hard to stumble upon original jewelry. Beautiful jewelry? Yes! In abundance. But truly original? Hardly ever.

I do remember the first time I saw Maiko Takeda’s original jewelry five years ago though. The images of her first collection literally made my jaw drop and until this day it is still one of my favorite jewelry collections ever. Maiko Takeda, a milliner and jewelry designer, draws inspiration from phenomenons such as shadow, wind and gravity and uses it to create sculptural almost ethereal pieces. She is also an admirer of contemporary theatres and performances which explains the theatrical effect of her first collection. She was said to be inspired by “wearing shadows as jewelry”. The photograph-like images were created by meticulously hand drilling countless holes in metal sheets. The results are these mysterious, theatrical shadows on the body that almost look like stills from a great forgotten film noir from the fourties. Just add a fedora, venetian blind shadows and some cigarette smoke and you’re good to go ;-) . Not surprisingly, it was called the “Cinematography collection”.

In the summer of 2013, she presented her second collection, consisting of sculpural pieces covered in acetate spikes. According to an article in Dazed, she was inspired to create pieces that “blurred boundaries to their surrounding environment”. Another inspiration was the futuristic imagery seen in an opera from Philip Glass. When she was invited to display her “Atmospheric Reentry” in the prestigious Joyce Gallery earlier this year, she upped the futuristic ante by adding newly created glow in the dark pieces to the collection. I love the fact that the collection looks futuristic but still looks tactile, almost organic, like newly discovered life forms.

Her collections were not only met with great acclaim, they also opened many doors for her. She was able to work with Björk and designed several headpieces for her Biophilia Tour. She recently returned to her homeland of Japan and is now working as an accessories designer for Issey Miyake.

 
By |December 25th, 2014|Art Jewelry|Comments Off on Maiko Takeda’s art jewelry
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Curated – Sculptural angel wings ring by Cristina Ortiz

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Once and a while, you happen to find jewelry that captures a certain pure, feminine and romantic lightness and combines it with a dark, masculine almost armour-like feel. Shaun Leane knows how to capture this style, his colleague Stephen Webster has the same knack for dark romanticism. Now we can add another designer to the list, jewelry designer Cristina Ortiz.

Spanish born Cristina Ortiz has an extensive design background (Prada, Ferragamo, Maison Lanvin) and decided to take the plunge and start her eponymous jewelry line. Her first collection is inspired by angel wings. The first thing that popped up in my head when I saw Cristina Ortiz’s jewelry is “Goddess jewelry”. It is something a goddess would befit. Seriously, in my next life I want to reincarnate as a goddess, for the simple reason I would get to wear this jewelry. Forget superpowers and fighting for world peace, this jewelry would be the sole reason ;-)

This handmade rose gold ring is set with 0.80 carats of pavé set diamonds. Available at Net-a-Porter.com.

By |December 22nd, 2014|Curated|Comments Off on Curated – Sculptural angel wings ring by Cristina Ortiz
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Trend report: Ear jackets – Business in the front, party in the back

Last week, I picked an earring as part of my Curated series. These type of earrings, called ear jackets are really this year’s biggest jewelry trend. The trend actually started about a year and a half ago, but really began to peak this summer. Delfina Delettrez was one of the first jewelry designers to pick up on this trend and created her now iconic eye earring. Call it copying, call it zeitgeist, the fact remains that that specific design marked the beginning of a totally new chapter in earring anatomy. Even though a lot of ear jackets nowadays do not resemble Delettrez’ surrealistic design in the slightest, that earring showed designers the endless possibilities of an earring with a decorative back. Simply put, the back no longer took a back seat ;-) .

Now I don’t want to conjure up images of a Kentucky waterfall aka a mullet, but these earrings are really business in the front, party in the back ;-) . These front-back earrings are created with adorned backings and let you combine them with every stud possible. There are several known variations: double studs, a stud with a hoop or spikey back or the earring with a stud front and a fan-shaped back curving around the ear lobe. Still, they all have in common that they elevate a normally hidden and boring back to a decorative statement piece. To further enhance costumizing, some have several holes in the backing to allow you to adjust the distance between the earring and ear lobe.

Popular motifs and styles are geometric shapes such as cubes and triangles, tribalesque spikes and more delicate, refined nature inspired motifs. And of course this year’s It jewelry piece, Dior’s “Mise en dior” inspired many pearl adorned ear jackets, if not for the simple fact that pearl jewelry in itself is hot at the moment.

After the ongoing ear cuff trend, which, let’s be honest, is a little bit hipsterized to death, this is really a welcome, new interpretation of the earring.

 

By |December 20th, 2014|Trend Report|Comments Off on Trend report: Ear jackets – Business in the front, party in the back
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Instagram = Instaglam – Weekly Instagram Inspiration

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Another update of some truly great instagram jewelry images.

Credits images, clockwise:

 

By |December 17th, 2014|Inspiration|Comments Off on Instagram = Instaglam – Weekly Instagram Inspiration
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Curated – MUNNU The Gem Palace Moonstone earrings

“If I were a rich ma… uh woman. Yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum”. This song popped up in my head when I saw the price tag of these gorgeous earrings. This kind of money is peanuts for a true rich girl, but to me, it’s a few months worth of mortgage payments and groceries. Mmm, sparkly earrings or food on the table? Decisions, decisions ;-) .

In terms of quality and craftmanship they are worth every penny though. Especially if they are made by MUNNU The Gem Palace
who are renowned for their exquisite craftmanship. They created these earrings in the traditional Kundan technique. The result are these stunning three-tiered, matte 22 karat gold earrings. In true Jaipur style, the jewelry design let’s the gems do all the talking. They were set with one of my favorite gemstones, 31.60 carats of moonstones. The pictures really do not do it justice. If you really want to see these earrings in its full glory, check out the video accompanying the product page. Absolutely mesmerizing! Available at Net-a-Porter.

By |December 15th, 2014|Curated|Comments Off on Curated – MUNNU The Gem Palace Moonstone earrings
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Jewelry News – Rihanna shines bright like a Diamond at the first Diamond Ball, Cartier and more

RIHANNA WEARING CHOPARD AND REPOSSI JEWELRY - Image source: http://instagram.com/chopard

RIHANNA WEARING CHOPARD AND REPOSSI JEWELRY – Image source: http://instagram.com/chopard

Well technically speaking, diamonds do not shine, they reflect light, but seriously who gives a damn when you look like Rihanna? The 11th of december, Rihanna hosted and performed at her Clara Lionel Foundation’s first annual Diamond Ball, held in Beverly Hills, California.  She walked the red carpet wearing a stunning Zac Posen Fall/Winter 2014 off-the-shoulder gown in a rose hue. She paired the dress with some Manolo Blahnik’s but what really elevated this look was her stunning Chopard jewelry. The jewelry included a diamond necklace with an 123 carat pear-shaped rubellite offset with diamonds set in platinum, a 21 carat ruby cuff set in rose gold, and a pear-shaped rubellite ring. Both the ring and necklace are from the 2012 Red Carpet Collection. It’s not the first time she wore a piece from Chopard’s Red Carpet Collection.  At “The Concert For Valor” held on november 11th in Washington, DC, she wore a dazzling diamond necklace, this time from the 2013 Red Carpet Collection. It’s not really a Rihanna-look without some edge and that was taken care of by adding a Repossi ear cuff of the  Berbère collection, set with diamonds. As much as I like Rihanna, I’m not really a fan of the hand tattoo and unfortunately the beautiful cuff got lost against the backdrop of the tattoo. But honestly, I’m nitpicking. For the past four years, red carpet jewelry has become increasingly minimalist and understated, sometimes not even present at all. It’s a welcome change to see a piece of statement jewelry taking front and center.

December the 9th, Sotheby’s New York auctioned off the jewelry collections of Mrs. Estée Lauder and Mrs. Evelyn H. Lauder.  The Lauder collection was sold to raise funds for the The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. The collection, including jewelry from big jewelry houses like Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, David Webb, Buccellati and Oscar Heyman & Brothers, raised $44,151,251 dollars. Highlight of the collection was the truly iconic Tutti Frutti bracelet from Cartier. Seven bidders bid against eachother, driving the final price to $2,165,000 making it a new record price for any “Tutti Frutti” bracelet by Cartier.

Until march 15 2015, the Denver Art Museum is exhibiting the Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century show. Curated by Margaret Young-Sánchez, the show will exibit 250 jewels, watches and objects from 1900 to 1975. What makes Cartier so great is the fact that the jewelry house, during its 167 year existence, has created so many truly famous designs.  The Love Bracelet, the Tutti Frutti collection and the tiger jewelry collection all have become iconic designs. Even the wrist watch wasn’t mainstream at all before Cartier decided it needed to become a staple for every sophisticated gentleman and designed one for Alberto Santos-Dumont. It became an instant hit. As a designer you’d be more than happy to design one iconic piece during your lifetime, let alone several. The fact that Cartier continues to do so with talented designers and some great marketing, is what makes Cartier the brand it is today. Too bad I live nowhere near Denver, otherwise I would have certainly paid a visit.

Check out a day in the life of a jewelry designer. Intermix followed Vita Fede’s Cynthia Sakai around for a day.

Line & Jo launched another (!) new collection on december the 5th, called “PINS”. The collection, in sterling silver and sapphires, is available in their shop.

Jennifer Aniston made an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s talkshow to talk about her role in Horrible Bosses 2 and subsequently talked about the jewelry she wore in her role as a sex-crazed dentist. “They laid out the jewelry and I just gravitated towards that beautiful piece of jewelry. And I put it on and I’m like ‘this is unique and cool’ “. Turns out it was something else ;-) .

By |December 14th, 2014|Jewelry News|Comments Off on Jewelry News – Rihanna shines bright like a Diamond at the first Diamond Ball, Cartier and more
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Jewelry retailers offering great deals

 

monica vinader jewelry 

Good news if you’re a jewelry addict, bad news for your bank account! Several jewelry brands and retailers are getting in the holiday spirit of giving and are offering free shipping and discounts. Some truly great deals. Oh boy,  I… must… stay… strong :-) .

    • Kabiri decided to spoil their costumers with a new gift each day! Check out the advent calender.
    • Max & Chloe offers a discount of 20% until the 25th of december. Promocode “Save20”.
    • Vita Fede – Free worldwide shipping.
    • Matchesfashion – Free shipping- Enter “freedel” at checkout.
  • Monica Vinader offers you the chance to win your wishlist (to the value of £500). The only thing you have to do is make a wishlist and share it on a social network or via email. Image source both images: http://instagram.com/monicavinader .
By |December 9th, 2014|Shopping news|Comments Off on Jewelry retailers offering great deals
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Curated – Gayla ear jacket by Dannijo

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EAR JACKET GAYLA BY DANNIJO

 

Every now and then, I want to post one single piece of beautiful jewelry, and what better way to start than with this stunning ear jacket by Dannijo? This ear jacket combines everything I look for in jewelry: originality, sexiness and a bit of edge combined with pure class. Not only is it all that, it’s also versatile. It’s hard to tell by just looking at the image, but this ear jacket actually consists of three separate pieces and you can combine the jacket piece with a random stud earring. How cool is that?

The Gayla ear jacket, silverplated with swarovski stones, is available at Dannijo.

 

By |December 9th, 2014|Curated|1 Comment
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Pearl jewelry collection Balloons by Line & Jo

In the Netherlands, it’s nearly impossible to walk into a interior design shop and not stumble upon dozens of Danish design products. And it seems you can’t really qualify as a fully-fledged Dutch interior blog if you’re not displaying at least one Danish design product. Simply put, Danish design is hot. And as a Danish design lover, I’m certainly not complaining!

Danish jewelry brands however, are less known amongst the general public. Yeah sure, almost everybody knows the iconic Georg Jensen, the famous silversmith and his eponymous jewelry brand. They are usually also familiar with Shamballa jewels, a brand famous for its line of bracelets, if not for the hundreds of knock offs it inspired. But beyond that, people usually look a bit puzzled when you tell them you love Danish jewelry.

Trendy Danish jewelry brands, the brands that I love the most, are often characterized by a love for abstract nature inspired designs, geometric shapes, oxidized silver and a love for minimalist aesthetics. Until a few months ago, Line & Jo certainly fell into that category in terms of design style, but managed to set itself apart from the other Danish jewelry brands with their truly exquisite and original jewelry design. Their well known ear cuffs for example, were on trend, but unlike the dozens of others ear cuffs I had seen. In september of this year they managed to set themselves even more apart with their new collection called “Balloons”. The invitation for the launch of the collection introduced the collection as “A tribute to the fearless and feminine fifties Hollywood stars” and promised a reinvention of pearl jewelry design. Well, they certainly delivered. And it true Line & Jo-style, it’s completely on trend but with an original twist like no other.

The Balloon collection consists of 14 pieces in 14 karat gold with akoya pearls. Available at Line & Jo.

Image source featured image: instagram.com/lineandjo. Image sources clockwise: 1 Lineandjo.com 2,3,4 instagram.com/lineandjo.

 

Line & Jo Balloons Pearl Jewelry Collection

 

 

By |December 8th, 2014|Jewelry Label|1 Comment
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