If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

Moritz Glik's Kaleidoscope Collection of Fine Gemstone Jewelry Shakes Things Up.

My new 'wishlist' item is a piece, any piece, from Moritz Glik's latest jewelry collection, Kaleidoscope. A line of fine jewelry that takes ordinarily traditionally set gemstones and uses them in a very unconventional way. Earrings, necklaces, pendants and cuffs in which loose diamonds and gems of various colors and cuts tumble around in settings that are unlike most I have seen before.

above: Moritz Glik "Kaleidoscope" Textured Oxidized Silver, 18k Gold, and Diamond Cuff Bracelet $12,480

The Brazilian born shoe designer turned jeweler places loose gemstones of various cuts and shards of gold inside a two faceted white sapphire crystals, secures them with a bezel and then mounts the pieces as pendants, earrings, bracelets and necklaces.

Some pieces are coupled with traditionally set stones in the bezel, others are flush mounted in simpler settings. Diamonds of all colors, polished and rough, colored sapphires, emeralds, rubies and even shards of 18k gold are used in the creations which are set in everything from platinum to pink gold to oxidized silver.

Rings:

The only consistency within the pieces of the Kaleidoscope collection is the idea of the loose stones tumbling around within the encased crystal. Otherwise the collection varies in terms of cuts, colors and settings.

Bracelets:

There's something to appeal to almost everyone's taste - Modern, Victorian, Art Deco, Edwardian, simple, ornate, monochromatic or colorful. What may not appeal to everyone is the price.

Earrings:

Pendants and Necklaces:

Glik's signature collection creates the illusion of diamonds and precious stones floating within their settings. Many of his pieces are fluid, assuming their shape only when worn. Each earring, necklace, bracelet and ring is meticulously handcrafted by Glik, and he often works with clients to create a unique design solely for them. His latest collection, “Kaleidoscope”, consists of floating diamonds enclosed within double white sapphires that are in fluid motion for which he won the Best Diamond Piece at the Couture Show in Las Vegas in 2011 and was also nominated in 2009 and 2010.

above: Moritz Glik

His jewelry is sold in New York City, and various other cities around the world. His designs have been featured in magazines such as W Magazine, British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Oprah Magazine, New York Magazine, Black Book, TimeOut NY, Gotham , Cigar Aficianado., Noise Magazine, Prestige and many others. Glik’s designs have been seen on celebrities such as Kate Hudson, Rhiana, Mila Kunis, Nicole Kidman, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Lopez, Bebel Gilberto, Penelope Cruz, Christina Applegate, Goldie Hawn, Shakira, and the Dixie Chicks. And recently a commissioned piece for Justin Bieber. store locations

Moritz Glik
phone: 212 679 0948
moritz@moritzglik.com

Fragments Showroom
110 Greene Street
New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212 226 4955
Fax: 212 226 4199

Buy Moritz Glik Jewelry Here

Whacked Out Willow China By Sweden's Nille Svensson. Fake China Dinnerware.

Adding his own narrative to what at first glance looks like classic Willow Pattern China (a style of dinnerware which originated in England in the early 1800s), designer Nille Svensson has created "Fake China."

The blue and white bone china plates measuring 12.3 inches in diameter were originally created for an exhibition in Stockholm on the theme of identity. The Fake China is a cultural twist on the original Chinaware, adding contemporary elements like planes, boats, factories and automobiles. At the end of this post is a detailed explanation about the plate designs in the designer's own words.

ABOUT FAKE CHINA (by Nille Svensson):

On the 12th of September 1745, the sailing ship Götheborg, part of the Swedish East India Company fleet, returned to Sweden from Canton after more than 30 months at sea. It is believed that over 35 members of the crew died during the journey. Only 900 meters from its home harbour in Gothenburg, the ship ran aground and sank. The cargo of several thousand pieces of china was lost and the sailors who did not survive the journey had died for nothing. This story of the harsh reality of commerce has always fascinated me.

When I was asked to create something on the theme of »identity« for the Notch exhibition in 2009, I first thought a lot about how contemporary China, at least from a Western perspective, is generally regarded as a place were things are produced but not designed. China's design identity is also associated with the issue of plagiarism and fake products. I then came to think about the sad fate of Götheborg, and the extremely high demand of Chinese ceramics in Europe at that time. A high demand created out of the fact that the knowledge of how to manufacture ceramics of such quality was not locally available.

As the understanding of production techniques spread, manufacturing of chinaware started in Europe as well. In many cases featuring designs that looked »Chinese«, or were direct copies of Chinese originals. The design was made with the main purpose to add a quality of authenticity to what was basically product piracy. The most famous of these designs is perhaps the »Willow design« made around 1790. The company behind this plate even invented a fake Chinese legend based on the motif just to further promote the authenticity of the product. The motif and the legend has in turn been copied and spread widely ever since. There is even an animated Disney film based on the willow tree legend. From the early plagiarism, the designs grew and permuted and became the starting point of the British and Dutch porcelain-tradition as we know it.

Contemporary designers and artists even relates to the Willow-motif as a kind of starting point. The copy has grown to become an original and as such carries cultural integrity in its own right as it has transformed through the states of copy - original - culture - tradition. What we today may regard as a highly valuable (collectable) item was originally created as a simple copy.

It is a healthy reminder of how cultural influenses and values shift and change over time. Not only geographically, but economically and demographically, the general presumption that the Western world is where things are designed and originated, whilst the East is where they get produced and copied will not prevail forever.

With all this in mind I went to the Museum of Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, stole designs and design elements from plates in the collection, and created my own »fake china« plates, while convinced that nobody can copy anything without adding something to the story.

The result is a small step of cultural evolution. -- Nille Svensson, designer

Where To Buy Fake China

FAKE-CHINA is included in the Röhsska Museet permantent design collection.

In Stockholm, Sweden FAKE-CHINA are available at Svenskt Tenn

For US sales and retail, please contact Jennifer Garcia

For general questions regarding FAKE-CHINA, please email: inquiries@fake-china.com

Liter-Art-ure. Authors Illustrated On The Pages of Their Books by Daniel Edlen.

above: Daniel Edlen's rendering of Hunter S. Thompson in No Sympathy For The Devil

Liter(art)ure is a new project by illustrator Daniel Edlen whose Vinyl Art - portraits of musicians on old LPs - I shared with you about a year ago.

This time, Daniel is heralding authors, as opposed to musicians, by drawing their portraits on the very pages of the books they wrote. Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allen Poe, John Steinbeck and Hunter S. Thompson are hand rendered in a stipple-like illustration within the pages of their respective legendary novels.

Hunter S. Thompson: