Cuff: Leather + Metal = Warrior

I should give credits to brands or designers. But I tend to keep it anonymous so that this is a commercial free place for the pure pleasure of visual appreciation of what designers of our generation come up with.

The formula: leather + metal = warrior is the association that I made in my mind when I first saw this great piece, very uncommon among the girly realm of jewelry. The shape and color of the cuff reminds me of saddle. The rough texture which can stand on itself as some art piece because you can see mountains and rivers from the lines as in old Chinese painting add to the toughness and wartime feel, as if this pieces survived some ancient war and passed down accidentally to 21st century. 6 buttons on the metal and 4 buttons at the bottom closure give a perfect number 10.

Cuff as a sub-category of bracelet strikes me as a masculine sibling to its sister bracelet. Cuffs are normally chunky, solid, stiff, sculptured and may hit the table or whatever object that comes in collision with a dramatic clank. That alone may stop many consumers from wearing a cuff. When men have tiny decorative and status-conscious cufflinks, women (and men) wear cuffs to make statement about who they are. In this sense, it's much more dramatic than bracelets. This piece in particular spans probably a good 3/4 of your forearm and will certainly make an impression on surrounding people. But this person who wears it better be able to carry it out well with a fierce spirit.

If I can afford it, I would love to own the piece and wear it sometimes in the "urban jungle" to feel myself protected by the energy contained in this warrior piece and transform myself into a sort of warrior. I give it A+.

Bracelet: Beady serpantine

When you have an open closure like the serpentine style (the bracelet spirals around your wrist for several circles and grips there without falling off, because you need to unwind it to take it off), the feel is laid-back as if leaving the window open for some fresh air. Yet because it's serpentine, your wrist is snuggly huddled by the beads around and around, which is a nice thing to feel.

I am not very sure about the color combo of the aqua wire with mostly brown/beige beads. If the designer applied with more blue/white beads, the piece can be Mediterranean.  The blue bead set is more bohemian and the brown wire set is more western (country) style.

Like the previous bracelet, this one uses button as part of the deco, which loses its function as closure. I am not sure if the button adds much to the design. People like different complexity level. Button here ruffles up the otherwise regular beads between wires rhythm and jumps out of the "circle" if you will at little bit.

Bracelet: Multi-strand multi-texture

Multi stranding has been going on for a few years. When you want to draw attention to your delicate wrist, one circling around it is not enough. The same trend is carried over to ring, multiple rings worn at the same time for that 1 inch or so space on your finger.

I like this piece because the material used here is twisted yarn. With different yarn thickness and the density per inch wrapped, one achieve different texture. And of course as a piece of jewelry, we need some glitter on the otherwise matt surface of yarns. So that beading effect converted this fiber piece into a jewelry piece.

I took one semester fiber art and think we should do more with fiber, which gives us such diverse way of expression: color, texture, the warmth and the earthy tone associated with the material.  In some art exhibitions in Los Angeles, I find more artists are using fiber as their media. I see that trend spilling into jewelry making.

One last thing: I like the big button closure, domesticating the piece for the girl next door.

Ring: twin blooms

After seeing so many leaves, it's great to take a break and see some flowers.

I like the tri-shade pinky plumerica and how the two flowers overlap on one of the pedals.

But I don't like the one-size-fit-one device of an elastic ring band. I hate it. Cheap solution of mass manufacturing. But because of lower price points, the flowers can bloom on fingers of more people. So it may be a good thing after all.

Ring: leaf wrap

It's such a big trend now that rings no longer stay modest by sitting across your finger in a thin band. No it expands into top and bottom of your finger and wants to occupy more space, wrap more of your fingers and draw more attention. Leaf is commonly used to provide that space cover because its curvy shape is easy to mold to fit the roundness of the finger. It's a classical wrap by a turn-symmetrical method. (Gee. I am not sure of the terminology, but it's not a mirror symmetrical, but get the repeat by pivoting one point by 180 degree)

Ring: crown or arch?

Wow. Triangle shapes are unusual for rings, but this designer is bold in applying an open triangle to the front, covering larger part of the finger. The finish is little rough, circles plus "S" repeats, one round disk is missing already. The deep purple-black color provides more depth of the otherwise light piece. Good concept. Can be refined.

Necklace: cobble stone

Coming down on the same line of "chunky front" which is a stiff immobile panel of design hanging by strings to the neck, this one turn the front panel into more 3D form with many stone embedded in various sizes. Effect is that the front provides a certain visual complexity to go with simpler outfit.