This weekend Illife Yard in Southwark is holding an Open Weekend.  The small cobbled yard was built in the late 1800’s as live/work space for craftspeople, with workshops on the ground floor, connected to living space behind.

Through one of the small doorways, up a narrow staircase is the studio of jeweller Alex Monroe.  Though the street below is quiet, the tiny room above is crammed with people (mostly women!) sifting through trays of “seconds”.  The jewellery, which looks pretty perfect to me, is in held zip-lock bags with the price scrawled on them in black marker.

Amongst the bumble bees, I spot what I’m looking for.  The ring I have been coveting for months having spotted it in the Whistles in St.Christophers Passage.  It is the only one left, and it fits perfectly.  And it’s a fraction of the price it would normally sell for.  Sold!

Iliffe Yard, Kennington, SE17 3QA

x

Algorithmic Quartz Small Crystals

Philippe Cramer

Online Store

Check out these beautiful rings by Philippe Cramer - they are 3D printed and are available in a number of finishes including yellow gold and carbon coated, as pictured above.

X

There was a fab retro/vintage market on in Spitalfields last Saturday - it was quite small for a market there, but what they did have was good.  The stalls selling clothes didn’t look like they had emptied a student’s wardrobe, they were actually selling vintage clothing in a good condition at really reasonable prices.

The bric-a-brack stalls sold everything from cigarette tins to those old glass pint bottles that the milkman used to bring.  One stall was selling only cups and saucers - they had a basket of odd saucers for just £1.50 each!

In the midst of all of this was one stall selling brass rings - all new and imported from god knows where.  This was the stall I made a bee line for.  In my defence I think the two rings I bought are amazing!

One is a blatant rip off of a Cartier ring - the other I just though was quite quirky!

Baiga Bangle

A Peace Treaty

Online Store $130.00

“A PEACE TREATY is an evolving collection aimed at creating ethically-produced, artisan level accessories and apparel for the luxury fashion marketplace.

Each season, A PEACE TREATY travels to a particular region and seeks out local village artisans to re-define an accessory, designing limited edition pieces in style unique colorways. Each jewelry or scarf collection resuscitates ancient handmade textile and metalsmithing techniques that are at risk of extinction. Working with craftspeople in eight countries and injecting life and trade back into local economies, A PEACE TREATY employs artisans with above fair trade wages and invests in creating income generation opportunities for out-of-work artisans, disabled and widowed women.”

x

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about OG-by-JM.  The brand born out of discarded lengths of rope has found a way to re-invent itself season after season, exploring the possiblities of the material which shaped it.

SS12 has seen them move yet further away from the large, sculptural knotted pieces and sorft hand dyed colour of their earlier collections.  The collection is more minimal with simple shapes, single knots, dipping and embossed metal.

My favourite pieces this season are the ones dipped in enamel, where on-trend pastels provide a glossy contrast to knotted gym rope…

Necca Necklaces

OG by JM

Madelaine Necklaces

OG by JM

This season they also seem to be using metal a lot more than in previous seasons.  This works best in pieces where it looks like the rope has been plated…

Concord Necklace

OG by JM

Savannah Bracelet

OG by JM

You can see more OG by JM here.

x

As much as these make my skin crawl, I also think they are stunning beautiful.  Greek jewellery designer Lito Karakostanoglou preserves real beetles and sets them in solid gold, surrounded by gemstones…

You can see more of her work at the Galerie BSL, or at Trendland.

x

Mmmmm, I love bank holiday weekends.  And this one is extra special because we get four day instead of three - yipee!

I was mooching around Covent Garden yesterday and noticed that Kate Spade is still there!  For some reason I had thought that it was a pop-up store :s

I’m loving costume jewellery at the moment - especially if it’s big and loud.  What I really like about Kate Spade is how well it is made.  Yeah, H&M is good for a quick fix.  But these are so much better…

Idiom Bangles

£60.00 - £85.00

Kate Spade, 1-4 Langley Court, WC2

x

There is so much good costume jewellery on the high street at the moment - here are a few pieces I’ve picked up in the last week…

Gold Geometic Earrings

H & M

Online Store £3.99

Very 80’s - love them!  I seem to be going a bit eighties with my jewellery at the moment - lots of big, gold blingy things.

I also got this bracelet in Topshop…

Bones Bracelet

Topshop

Online Store £15.00

My flatmates nearly wet themselves when I walked in with this one - I think it’s now known as my ‘Bam-Bam Bracelet’.  They wet themselves whenever they catch me wearing it too.

I think it’s fabulous!

x

Normally this blog is strictly jewellery - today though I am making an exception of sorts.

Leafing through a copy of ES Magazine on my way down the longest escalator in the underground I spotted something I thought I recognized.  And on closer inspection it was!

On page 18 Dolores Chaplin sports a pair of fabulous vintage sunglasses with ornate porcelain wings - the caption reads:

Dolores wears ‘Desire’ sunglasses, £330.00, Moo exclusively at Browns.

In my first year at CSM I studied Jewellery Design.  As our names fell next to each other in the register, I was assigned the bench next to Moo’s.  Back then I had little patience with metalwork and spent more time sawing into my fingers than the metal - she was very sympathetic!

Moo is now stocked in Browns, has appeared in Vogue and Elle and is worn by Lady Gaga - go Moo!

To visit Moo’s Facebook page click here, or to view the article online visit the ES Website.