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Saw this on MoCo Loco some time back. Anya Kivarkis makes some pretty lovely jewelry that takes on the forms of the traditional but the result is something entirely new anfits perfectly with current trends.

After I checked out L'ArtiChaut, I discovered Argentum, which, according to my mother (woa!) is actually this local lady. I was pretty impressed so I googled and voila, found the familiar .com.sg ending to the web address. So anyway, I can't quite find the person's name, although FARM FEED has it as Shing. According to my mom, she graduated from NAFA some time back and started her own business soon after, making custom pieces. If the website is anything to go by, then there's a pretty interesting, if dark and slightly gothic vibe to the jewellery. The only thing I hate is the jarring music, which is on repeat. I'm really not into barren, wind swept soundscapes that make me feel like I'm in a desert.

The materials are mainly metals, with the handcuffs a motif used in several pieces. Maybe she feels shackled by Singapore... I like the mix of colors and the textural feel to the current collection. Its very contemporary. Very very contemporary, both in context and aesthetic. Good to see good stuff from the local scene. Pictured above is the co-Coil-ox choker from the isolation S/S 2006 collection.

I was tagging along with my girlfriend as she scoured Singapore for a new wallet. She didn't manage to find one after going through Taka, Tangs, Marina Square and Pacific Plaza and Actually... for one. We'll probably try Arab Street next but she seems to have settled on getting a Poketo wallet.

I blogged about Poketo previously but they're worth another mention. They also have a range of bags and tees. Check the blog.

One good find we had out of the long shopping was L'ArtiChaut. At Tangs, we came across these very funky and modern pieces of jewellery which had interesting materials and forms. There was like a golden unicorn brooch, a cloud brooch, a woman walking a dog brooch. I then remembered that I'd seen this stuff somewhere before so I browsed through an old issue of 8 Days to find the weblink. I think the pictures in the article did no justice since the L'ArtiChaut pieces were lumped with some other stuff.

Shown above is Vice & Vanity's Hedwig Necklace. I thoroughly recommend the labels Argentum (gothic tough girl chic), flos ad florem (lace earrings), Tatty Devine and Vice & Vanity (what a name!). The latter two are certainly sitting at the edge of contemporary jewellery design for the girls. A tad expensive but very very unique plus you can get them in Singapore so you can save on shipping.

Jewellery is all about narcissism so what better way to really really drive home that point by wearing a mirror around your neck? Core77 mentioned this a while back and my girlfriend loved it. This is an art statement that definitely looks good, although I do wonder if many people will actually wear it out. In any case, Studio Ditte suggest you could also hang it around at home. You can order this and more off their webshop.

You might have seen some of their stuff at SIDEWALK 10 and ASYLUM among other stores in Singapore. FLEACIRCUS give life to the local jewellery making scene. They call their style "unique hybrid of flea-market luxe" and they make some pretty interesting pieces for both men and women. I saw a guy walking round with a key worn like a necklace and that's a FLEACIRCUS piece. They have this necklace made of out mini tools like spanners and you can sort of customize the number and types of tools. So this "unique hybrid of flea-market luxe" is really taking ordinary things and making them into jewellery in essence. So if you like to rock your safety pins, this is it.

Hehe, again from 7dv, we find Konzuk, who make these powder coated rings like above, among an assortment of jewellery. Whilst I find their stuff a little bit jarring and the colors too ultrabrite, its really along the lines of what I'm think jewellery needs, a dash of colour and personality.

Who made those acrylic "diamond" rings you've been seeing everywhere you ask? Why, Alissia Melka-Teichroew of course. Yet another new name in the amazing world of Dutch design, Alissia has also made silver and gold versions of that same ring in different lengths as well as a lot of other stuff. (It seems like Holland churns out bright young design talents a whole lot faster than football prodigies.)

Pia Wallen is from Sweden and she loves to use felt in her stuff. Seen above is her bracelet which I remember catching a fleeting glimpse of once somewhere. I was so caught by the strong contrast in materials. I loved how the dark dark wool and the shiny metal gave off this rather futuristic, industrial look. The design itself is ultra simple and its down to the finishing and details that make this stand out.

I feel like quite the plagiarist since I actually made a felt lined silver ring recently. I trawled the entire interweb to find her site because I remembered the existence of the bracelet above after I made the ring and I feel kinda bad. I just thought it'd be lovely to have a "comfy" ring that was stark and masculine and somewhat had that flashback. I made mine different in some ways by having diagonal slants at the ends of the metal and I embellished the gap with another material. So I suppose, its like taking her concept and changing it a bit, which makes me feel better but not much. I didn't even know she made a ring the same way. Boohoohoo.

Anyway, I still like my ring, although I feel there's a lot of room for improvement. Maybe I'll post up my collection and refined pieces in future. 

Tjep or Frank Tjepkema, creator of the bling bling pendant/necklace that won the Dutch Design Award for fashion design in 2004 and a whole lotta other stuff, also made these lovely rings which are bent cutouts of the space invader icons back in 1998. Pop culture certainly invades a lot of the work you'll find on the website.

Traipsing around the interweb as usual, I bumped into Uncrate, where i saw this ring you see above. Sorry bout the blurry pic. I'm just obsessed with making all the pics 320pixels in length and I didn't bother finding a more high res one. Anyway, at first I thought its was some feline obsession thing cos it had like a cat head cutout. Obviously, I didn't realise that the Ring Thing is really a bottle opener you can get off here. Pardon my stupidity!

By the way, there's lots more to see on Uncrate.