Jewel Juice: Think outside the chain (stores)

Jewel Juice is your main squeeze for all things accessories.

Roses are red, violets are blue, shoot down the cliché — with cupids’s arrow — and find something new. It’s that time again when we watch men young and old scramble to find overpriced, unoriginal, diamond-clad baubles to prove their love. Wretch. 

This year, if your man is still hoping to fill that little box, direct him toward something out of the ordinary. A personal piece is always more appreciated...and often less expensive. Here are a few of our favorites:

Fetty of Brooklyn

Fetty of Brooklyn's "garage-glam"

 

Rising rocker and lead singer of Semi Precious Weapons, Justin Tranter’s name is also breaking molds in the jewelry biz. Labeled “garage-glam,” Fetty's work is, ironically enough, home to a variety of heart-based jewels at three price points: urban, boutique and royalty. 

However, with names like “Shot Through the Heart,” “Butcher’s Wife” and “Love Bites,” these pieces require your significant other has more than good taste (a sense of humor) before you buy this edgy V-day present (available in necklaces and earrings). 

 

Skeleton Keys

Erica Weiner and Tiffany and Co. skeleton keys

Skeleton keys are all the rage right now, and what better time to give away “the key to your heart” than Valentine’s Day? Since these vintage-inspired jewels are everywhere from Tiffany and Co. to the local flea market, we suggest taking two things into account before you purchase: price and personality.  

Original works

Reiterating an original idea, look to local and emerging designers to fuel your love fire? Etsy.com, for example, offers an array of uncommon handcrafted jewels at prices you can’t beat.

Steampunk ring

The Steampunk vintage ring combines an eye-catching industrial aesthetic with an uncommon locket-like functionality.

hand-cut and hammered copper

Similarly, this hammered copper bangle set is a simple wrist reminder of your love. It comes in a trio, and is hand cut, formed, soldered and hammered.

A warm touch of amber

Last, but not least, offer up some ear candy with a pair of danglers such the Warm My Heart earrings. Made of Czech glass, the amber glow radiates a natural warmth all its own.

- by Sarah Zimmerman 

Jewel Juice: Green thumbs...and ring fingers

Jewel Juice is your main squeeze for all things accessories. 

Welcome to a new beat on CCL, Jewel Juice, the place to get your fill on everything accessories — well, mainly jewelry.

We thought we’d start the year off with a nod to Mother Nature. So you’re sick of the Syracuse winter and the awful bag-like bundles you’ve been forced to wear. We get it. But, don’t discount the innate inspiration and beauty she provides. Designers certainly haven’t.

While every industry is “going green,” not many can physically show consumers what that means. Jewelry designers, to our benefit, have done just that, creating amazing raw pieces that illustrate sustainability in all of its — and nature’s — beauty. Here are a few of our favorites: 

Hafsteinn Juliusson’s Growing Jewelry

Hafteinn Juliusson of Growing Jewelry

 

Hafteinn Juliusson, a product designer from Iceland, says he enjoys approaching design from new perspectives that reach a diverse range of people. “I want to be involved with society, ecology and try to avoid mainstream mass production,” he said. His latest jewelry line, Growing Jewelry, does just that as a collision of industry and nature give people unique pieces — and current environmental issues — to talk about.

Ruff&Cut 

Hand-crafted jewelry from Rough&Cut

If you want to go a step further, Rough&Cut is an online dealer with a purpose: providing glittering conscience and socially responsible luxury. Offering pieces by designers with a commitment to social and environmental responsibility, Rough&Cut offers a one-of-a-kind rawness in every hand-crafted piece.

Christine J. Brandt

 

Take a walk on the wild side with Brandt

Speaking of raw, Christine J. Brandt’s jewelry could easily blend in with your backyard. Growing up around the world, Brandt’s design stems from “exotic wood found, like her roots, all over the world.” She aims to keep her aesthetic as close to nature as possible, using a variety of naturally finished woods and completely unique — uncut, unpolished and not dyed — semi-precious stones and minerals.

- by Sarah Zimmerman