With the Irish national budget only a day away and Christmas shopping on everyone’s mind. I decided to go in search of some recession-chic jewellery. You’ll be delighted to hear the gold and silversmiths didn’t disappoint!
The jeweller Andy Cooperman has a collection of work looking at the effect of magnification. In this recession friendly pendant he takes a small diamond and sets it beautifully with a 7x lens to magnify the stone. So a diamond which may be considered modest, with a little help from a lens looks unaffordable. A perfect illusion in these frugal times!
The other jeweller I found was Sarah Hood. I loved the use of organic objects in her jewellery. The acorn ring and necklace above are really good examples of combining precious metals with found objects. What Scrooge would deprive you of her jewellery when these jewels really do grow on trees?!
I found this piece called ‘Illusions of Grandeur’ in a book I have called ‘500 Necklaces‘. Unfortunately I couldn’t get any more information on the maker or other pieces in the collection. I love the detail of this piece and marvel at the fact that she went to the effort of cutting out each little section by hand. This attention to detail is what makes this piece work so well.
Hopefully this has proven that we don’t need a large budget to adorn ourselves with jewels. As long as there are creative makers out there we will always have an alternative.