Kyeok Kim isn’t exaggerating when she says her jewellery leaves a long-lasting impression. I’d take it a step further and say some of her designs are painfully unique. Take for instance the gold plated silver bracelet or ring that when worn actually leaves an impression on the skin. The bracelet leaves behind a message reading “in the rain, sounds like a cello… in the sunbeams, sounds like a piano… like your voice”, the ring’s imprint says “one day in April”.
The premise behind Kyeok Kim’s designs are “Jewellery as Second Skin” and she’s pushing it to the next level.
I’m not sure how “G” the Aurora ring is – its lights cast a glowing pattern on the skin, which seems more flashy than eco-forward. But I’m all about the fragrant soap rings that do double duty. You can wear the ring as long as you want. Then when you’ve had enough, you wash your hands until the soap ring dissolves and leaves behind a lasting scent. What a cool sustainable idea for all of those scraps of soap that end up wasted.
Another unique design is the stamping bracelet and ring. The “Lace Trace” stamps a design that resembles a henna tattoo when rolled over the skin. Just make sure you don’t bump into anyone wearing a white shirt.
For now, you can only marvel at Kyeok Kim’s creations. But soon you’ll be able to purchase them on her website.
Polish born actress Dominika Wolski is the new face of ethical jewelry line Froote. With her lean physique and penchant for sports, the 28-year-old actress is often compared to Cameron Diaz and Uma Thurman. And she’s not a bad actress either. Wolski has been a mainstay of the West Coast Vancouver film scene since her big screen debut in 2001.
Wolski traveled to Mozambique on the request of director Ed Zwick, where she to visited the set of “Blood Diamond”. She later wrote on the Huffington Post, “My own choice to be a ‘face of Froote’ instead of other brands represented how much visiting the set of ‘Blood Diamond’ and learning the history of one aspect of a glamorous icon had influenced me.”
Dominika can be seen in the Canadian series jPod which premieres this month.
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Kerouac had it. So did Ginsberg. Puccini wrote an opera about it. Past residents of Montmartre in Paris or London’s Soho or East Village in Greenwich Village in NYC lived it. All the while struggling artists, writers and actors (that’s you, LA) are experiencing it everyday. I’m talking, of course, about the Bohemian lifestyle Continue Reading / See Additional Photos
In an age of homogenization and mass production, it’s refreshing to stumble on a rare gem like this one.
Alabama Chanin is a curious collection of limited-edition jewelry, clothing, home furnishings, accessories, furniture and fabrics for interiors made by locals artisans using a mixture of new, organic and recycled materials. The brainchild of owner/designer Natalie “Alabama” Chanin, she conceived the idea back in 2006, after returning home from many years living abroad.
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Trekking the Annapurna Circuit many moons ago, I was struck by the beauty of 18 carat gold earrings worn by all the Nepalese women and girls. The flashes of gold in the sunlight were almost as brilliant as the owner’s smiles. Rather than ubiquitous machine-made hoops found in the West, these handmade earrings were perfectly imperfect; it felt as if the soul of the artisan who created them was somehow embodied in its design.
Perhaps that’s why I feel an infinity with acclaimed jewelry designer Toby Pomeroy. Pomeroy grew up in India on the foothills of the Himalayas where he found inspiration in the nature-influenced designs of local artisans. Flash forward many moons, and now not only does Pomeroy create beautiful jewelry favored by many A-listers – Sheryl Crow is a fan and Cameron Diaz wore his earrings in “Charlie’s Angels” – he does so without harming the environment.
“The jewelry industry is one of the worlds’ worst polluters,”says Pomeroy, “and we’ve simply been pretending that we aren’t. We’ve been ignoring the fact that mining and extraction of precious metals is one of the world’s most toxic and polluting industries”. The statistics are startling. “For every one ton of gold the U.S. produces, it also generates 3 million tons of waste rock” — not to mention a host of toxins, including cyanide.
That’s why in 2005, Pomeroy approached Torry Hoover, President of Hoover and Strong, the nation’s largest gold supplier and refiner, to request a program to provide reclaimed or recycled silver and gold. Hoover agreed and the resulting EcoGold and EcoSilver are the basis of Toby Pomeroy’s exquisite designs.
So, now you can adorn yourself in jewels, safe in the knowledge that your beauty doesn’t take away from nature’s.
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