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Showing posts with label modified coffins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label modified coffins. Show all posts

Modern Caskets For Your Body And Soul. The 2014 Equinox Collection from Camaquen.



I'm not a morbid person, despite having written about modern casket options before. No one really likes to talk about preparing for death, yet it's a realistic inevitability. That said, casket shopping is not unlike any other furniture purchase. You want one that is comfortable, reflects your design and philosophical sensibilities and is well-made without having to, well... sell your soul.

Mordaunte's Coffin Shaped Gemstones & Jewelry Are A Spooky Way To Sparkle.




Mordaunte's Coffin-Shaped Gems and Jewelry specializes in semi-precious faceted gemstones, cut into a perfect 6-sided coffin shape by exclusive contract with an international gemstone company. Gemstones include colors such as Blood, Death, Shroud, Moss, Flesh, Scalded, and Pentacle. In stock sizes range from 3 to 10 carats.



"So far, I am the only one in the world that does this", states Mordaunte - owner, designer and creator (shown below).



In addition to the gemstones, she designs and creates finished jewelry in both men's and women's fashions. These include rings, earrings, pendants, and tie tacks, done in sterling silver as well as 14k gold. In keeping with the coffin-shaped design, purchases are even shipped in a cardboard coffin-shaped box. Mordaunte's clients buy her jewelry for costume decoration, funerary wear, immortalizing a departed loved one, wedding sets, and everyday wear with a "kick". "Most people don't realize it's a coffin shape until you tell them - they just comment that it's a beautiful stone", says Mordaunte, "When I mention that it's a coffin shape, they gasp - "That's awesome!". Many customers refer to her business as "The Morbid Tiffany's".




Mordaunte started her custom coffin-shaped gemstone "business" from her desk in her basement in the spring of 2000. She offered 3 different stone materials in two sizes. She then set up a internet service-provider website and went into business. Slowly, but surely, the business grew both in the USA and Internationally. More and more interest was revolving around her unusual gemstones, especially the idea of offering them in pre-made jewelry. Being in the IT field, she had never set a piece of jewelry in my life. However, after much research and "trial and error" she started setting her gemstones in oval and marquise pre-made settings.




As the business continued to grow it took on a life of it's own. Mordaunte began supplying jewelry to celebrities and rock bands that had found her online site. She was invited by the people at OzzFest to be a vendor on their tour. Radio stations and TV shows asked her for interviews. Haunted Houses, Horror Conventions and Gothic Nightclubs contacted her to be a guest and a vendor at their events. In 2005 Mordaunte re-designed the coffin gemstone shape to the perfect 6-sided coffin you see today and has added several colors to her line since then.



The coffin-shaped gems have made many a wicked woman happy and have been used as engagement rings, such as in the examples shown below.

A white topaz coffin gem surrounded by real diamonds makes for an unusual engagement ring:


above black glove image (cropped) © All rights reserved by Countessa Di Fangxious

Other jewelers use her stones as a source for their own creations, such as Lyndsay Brown of Idle Hands Designs on etsy who makes them into pendants, rings and cufflinks set in sterling silver:



shop for the above jewelry at Idle Hands

Coffin Gems and Jewelry Facts:
•All Coffin Gems are cut from genuine semi-precious stones such as sapphire and garnet
•The perfect 6-sided "toe pincher" coffin shape is exclusive to Mordaunte's Coffin Gems
•Each Coffin Gem is expertly faceted, polished and inspected by a professional gemologist
•Sizes are exact - weights are approximate (different gemstone materials weigh differently)
•Visit the Birthstones page for traditional and modern birthstone color charts
•Visit the Gemstones page for color choices and size comparison
•Each piece of jewelry is custom designed in Sterling Silver to hold the Coffin Gems, but is available in other settings upon request



Mordaunte's Coffin-Shaped Gems and Jewelry can be viewed and purchased at her online store - www.coffingems.com

The Best Modern Coffins. When You Want To Go Out In Style.




Halloween is just around the corner, so what better time than now to introduce you to the coolest modern coffins and caskets on the market. Despite the glut of cheesy digitally printed and air-brushed caskets, when it comes to truly modern coffins, there are hardly any to speak of. That's why I wanted to show you some of the ones that do exist.

Coffin-tec

above: One of Gregor Haiduk's first prototypes, designed in 1998.


above: Architect and modern coffin designer, Gregor Darius Haiduk

German-based Architect Gregor Haiduk also happens to be a modern coffin designer. His Coffin Tec caskets are custom made to order and crafted from NDF natural woods and colored lacquer finishes. The carrying bars are made of iron or copper and fastened with copper or metal modern fittings. White linen lined interiors add to his faceted and unusual caskets. These are truly works of art.

The Cross:

The Organ:

The Octavian and The Classic:

The Dolphin casket for children:

Casket for premature infants:

Visit Coffin Tec here.

Uono Cocoon Coffin



The Uono Cocoon coffin is a modern oval pod with a high gloss lacquer finish that is entirely made by hand. Developed by Andreas Spiegel in cooperation with various funeral directors, the very modern lightweight Cocoon coffin is available in 14 different colors.




The handles are neatly tucked into the design and easily extend for handling. It is specially made of a material that is firm, but actually bio-degrades in 10 to 15 years:


Visit Uono Coffins here.

Luigi Colani's Eternity 2000
The Eternity 2000, a modern coffin by designer Luigi Colani for Epocca of Germany:

This coffin was mass produced in Germany and sold, but is no longer in production, nor can I locate the company. My apologies.

J. Marlow's Modern Motorcyle Lover's Coffin
J. Marlow Company of Michigan also makes custom caskets. The Motorcycle Lovers coffin is clad in whip-stitched black leather with biker-like accents. The design is taken from the concept of a saddlebag with the added touch of stainless steel exhaust for the handles and the old school look of the chromed fishtail ends. The top is accented with chrome studs:


Modern Coffins By Joe Scanlan


Things That Fall
is a gallery that offered two beautiful sleek modern coffins by artist Joe Scanlan. Joe Scanlan is the artist who created the DIY coffin for IKEA.

The Custom is an elegant and unique vessel crafted in Australia entirely from Tasmanian Blackwood. As the brand name implies, Custom is no off-the-shelf coffin, with not one of its construction angles being a reasonable 90 degrees.




Day Bed is just as meticulously crafted as Custom, but its care is devoted to a gorgeous inlaid surface that creates an illusory, coffered effect. Very clean and very modern.



Both the Custom and the Daybed caskets each cost $15,000. and are sold.
Things That Fall.

Lux Mortem Caskets


Another designer, Brian Tenorio, is on the brink of introducing a line of upscale designer coffins. The Lux Mortem designer caskets are designed and made in the Philippines. Simple and sleek, the upcoming designs are said to range from classic designs to contemporary artforms. The launch collection will be available in Manila’s top funeral parlors in November 2009.



above: renderings of the Radiance and the Emerald Cut caskets
Lux Mortem will be launching these lines in 2010.

TenderRest NextGen Coffins
And for those who prefer a more eco-friendly resting place, TenderRest of New Zealand offers a line of Bamboo coffins whose simplicity and modern style is an elegant, lightweight and earth friendly alternative.




The Ecopod
And there's the Ecopod. More modern in function and materials than looks per se, the Ecopod from ARKA is made by hand from recycled newspapers and hand finished with paper made from recycled silk and mulberry leaves, the Ecopod is available in a range of colours with screen printed motifs, plain white, or gold.

Screenprinted Ecopods:

Gold ecopod:


The inner base of the Ecopod is covered with a natural calico mattress and the interior painted light cream, or white, using eco-friendly paints. As an optional extra, the walls of the interior can also be lined with feathers in a choice of colours, including white, red, cream or pale blue.


Learn more about the Ecopod.


Although this isn't an available option, this project by artist and designer Charles Constantine deserves noting:

The Memento Coffin/table





In the artist's own words:
"Memento is a dual purpose piece of furniture that functions as a coffee table during its first stage, and as a coffin in its second. Memento will absorb the life and love that occurs around it, and will create personal identifications with the coffin, through the patina it acquires over time. Memento creates value through the symbolism inherent in the design.

The body is meant to be placed in a fetal position, which gives the piece its shape. This way the body can be buried facing the east, toward the rising sun, which is a common symbol of rebirth. The casket is made of pine, and treated with a soap finish, making it ecologically friendly. The open bottom construction, will help the body reintegrate into the environment faster. Memento is an attempt to bring one of our most sacred rituals back into the hands of the family, by encouraging home death care."
See more of Charles Constantine's work.

Ah, now I can rest in peace. And in style.

Cheesy Novelty & Fantasy Coffins That Don't Count As Modern:
Sure, there are outrageous novelty and fantasy coffins shaped like everything from giant fish to shoes and by now, you have likely seen the gold-plated coffin by Batesville Casket Company, the one in which Michael Jackson chose to be buried. Memorable? yes. Modern? No.

Companies like Art Casket will specialty paint metal caskets, making them individualized, but modern? Hardly.

above: metal painted coffins from Art Casket are more like tacky airbrushed van art than modern design

And some of you may even have seen the slew of printed and custom graphic cardboard eco friendly coffins by companies like Colourful Coffins, Creative Coffins and Dying Art on various blogs or sites, like those shown below.


above: cardboard printed coffins may be modern, but they certainly are not stylish

And yes, there are even coffins for Baseball fans and Star Trek lovers. But these are 'novelty' coffins that I would call tacky as opposed to modern.

If you never saw my post on Coffin Couches, now would be a good time to check it out.


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