Limited Edition Bent Wood Bracelets & Cuffs By Gustav Reyes

One of the standouts at this year's Smithsonian Craft Show (which ran from April 14-17) was the contemporary jewelry of Gustav Reyes. On the Craft Show website, they only show his rings, but it's his limited edition series of coiled, twisted and knotted wooden bracelets that really appeal to me.

The modern and elegant bracelets and cuffs by the Chicago based woodworker are formed by hand using a cold bend process and finished with natural bee's wax. The Cherry, Walnut, Maple and Rockelm woods can be rejuvenated by simply applying more natural bee's wax. Several of the styles are available in multiple wood options.

Walnut:




Cherry:



Rockelm:


Maple:




above photography by Lauren Bost

Prices range from $120 to $320. Available from Artful Home.

"My training and personal development have led me to believe that humans surpass biological processes by creating. The desire to create is the vehicle by which we, as humans, extend our minds and souls beyond the limits of our physical selves."-- Gustav Reyes

As a young man, Reyes attended the Art Institute of Chicago, where his understanding of art was greatly broadened. He also studied at the Chicago Bauhaus Academy, where he developed an understanding of the finer aspects of woodworking. His formal training and years of dedication to his craft have allowed him to find the point where nature breathes through the form.

A Handful Of Art. Rockin' Rings From The Klimt02 Gallery Exhibit In Barcelona.

above: Untitled ring by Karl Fritsch

If you are a fan of very unusual fine jewelry, then the Klimt02 Gallery collection from their 2010 exhibition in Barcelona will be right up your alley. A collection of fine jewelry by 26 international artists, the pendants, neckpieces, earrings, rings, objects, chains and more are really wearable sculpture rather than simply ornamentation for the body.

The Beauty & The Best
Klimt02 | Gallery, Barcelona presents a selection of 140 pieces from 26 international artists. The selection of works, presented through this 2010 collection, aims to involve you in the implicit concepts, messages, thoughts, ironies, questions, answers, transgressions and languages that have taken shape and have become physical beings.

Here are a few of their eye-popping ring designs (which are all available for purchase) from their Barcelona "Beauty And The Best" 2010 collection:

Microrings by Marc Monzo:

Avondvlinder ring by Ted Noten:

Capri Seaside by Dominique Labordery:

Capri Hillside by Dominique Labordery:

MY VIRTUAL ME ring by Dominique Labordery:

Platinum Groove by Dominique Labordery:

Biobringe by Peter Bauhuis:

Biobringe by Peter Bauhuis:

Happy Family Mrs (silver) by Benjamin Lignel:

Happy Family Mrs (gold) by Benjamin Lignel:

L.N.32 by Benjamin Lignel:

Untitled ring by Karl Fritsch:

Untitled ring by Karl Fritsch:

Diamond Purple ring by Helen Britton:

Scull (sic) Ring by Helen Britton:



As they describe the 2010 Beauty and The Best collection on their site:
Klimt02 presents a selection of essential and benchmark jewels in contemporary jewellery. We wish to give you the chance as receivers to feel the emotion involved in appreciating a work of art, thus completing the artistic act.

These jewels incorporate different levels of language: tradition, innovation, history, present, words, sounds, notes, gaps, orbits and connections… as an exquisite way of discovering and understanding reality. These jewels deserve our attention: something is happening.

We are not striving for any kind of originality, trend or discovery but rather we simply wish to state that every single piece in the collection involves a high degree of creation with which we wish to address you as receivers of the message. We offer receivers and request of them the possibility of exercising choice, their selective affinity.

These pieces tell us how we understand things today. This is their contemporary nature. The creator, the artist or the jeweller is a catalyser of our reality.

Beauty is something more than ornamental; in this case it is the coming together of what is good, well made and essential. The Best, for us and now for you as well, is the selection of jewels on the basis of which to start to think and feel the best.

shop for all the above rings here.

Rings That Rock and Roll. Kinetic Jewelry By Michael Berger.

above: Stainless Steel kinetic ring with 14 brilliant cut diamonds

Most kinetic (moving) jewelry is downright ugly. But these modern rings by Michael Berger are definitely an exception. Geometric shapes in brushed and polished golds or stainless steel, some set with fine gems, diamonds or Tahitian Pearls, sit upon the finger like little moving sculptures. I love how the shanks are all unusually shaped as well.



The Johannasberg born and now Germany-based Berger assisted and worked with Friedrich Becker (1922-97), the inventor of kinetic jewellery, for many years before he began designing his own.

Stainless Steel:

Stainless Steel and Stainless Steel with Peridot:

18k gold with 12 brilliant cut diamonds:

18k gold with 12 brilliant cut diamonds:

Stainless Steel or 18k gold with a Tahitian pearl:

Blackened Stainless Steel with 18k white gold and 12 brilliant cut diamonds:

Blackened Stainless Steel with 18k white gold and 14 brilliant cut diamonds:

Stainless Steel with Mandarin Garnet:

Peridot in stainless steel and blackened steel:

Stainless Steel with and without Citrine:

Stainless steel and 18k gold:

Tahitian pearl rings and combinations of stainless steel and 18k gold:


Goldsmith Michael Berger:

some of his rings on display:


Atelier Berger
Michael Berger
Columbusstraße 16
40549 Düsseldorf

Cable Tie Jewelry By Ambre France.

Jewelry designer Ambre France has several unusual collections of jewelry. One of my favorite is her Cable Ties Collection in which she has turned the utilitarian device into rings, bracelets and earrings- even rings set with diamonds.

Rings:

Bracelets:

Earrings:

a Eur cable tie version of the ring:

Set with diamonds:


Available in sterling silver, silver plate, gold or gold-plate, the pieces look just like actual cable ties and in the case of an engagement or wedding ring, signify the everlasting (since we all know cable ties in reality can only be removed by cutting them).



In her limited edition "Plan B Kit" the cable tie engagement/ wedding ring comes in 18K (18ct) yellow gold, complete with a pair of gold plated tin snips.


Platinum and 9ct gold versions are also available.

In her own words:

The inspiration for my work is drawn from a variety of sources. I tend to reflect on intangible or conceptual aspects of the world and translate these into pieces of work. Primarily, I enjoy the process of subverting a range of materials that then become tools in which to highlight my artistic concepts. This, at present has manifested itself into the realm of jewellery.

Giving the audience an option to interact with the piece and ‘make it their own’ has also played an integral part in the relationship I have with the pieces. They are no longer completely mine and I enjoy the interaction the work has with each new audience.

My aim is to create work that in many ways makes us look at our surroundings and the objects that inhabit it, and then look again. The fascination I have developed between playing around with the conventional meanings of certain objects and our relationship with them is a constant driving force behind my work.

You can order directly from her site where her pieces are made to order and available in either sterling silver, gold-plate, sterling silver or all gold.

Or you can buy her sterling silver cable tie rings and bracelets online here at Jewel Thief


Make sure you visit her site so you can see all of her unusual work.