Look Book

30 | The Jewelr y Book MAOR: Full Pavé Solstice Bracelet (from the "Saturn" collection) featuring a honeycomb pavé of 1,071 white Diamonds (7.95ctw), set on three curved bars of solid 18K Gold. MaorOfficial.com AS HUMANS, we have been observing and rendering the stars in the sky for tens of thousands of years. In fact, the oldest known star-chart—an ivory tablet made from mammoth tusk with a carving of a man posed to mimic the stars of Orion, found in a cave in Germany in 1979—dates to 32,500 years ago; making it more than twice as old as the drawings on the walls of the Lascaux caves in France (some of which represent the Pleiades, the Summer Triangle, and the Northern Cross), and four times older than Stonehenge. Our obsession with outer space, as well as the astronomical objects and celestial bodies which inhabit it, has only increased with time. Back in 1932, Chanel's first high jewelry collection was comprised of celestial designs featuring shooting stars, satellite planets, and the sun. In the 1950s, having been commissioned to design a piece to showcase the incredible array of gemstones from Brazil, H. Stern designed a large bombe ring, dubbed "Sputnik" aer the recently-launched Soviet satellite that it resembled. Today's designers have taken the space-theme and run, with representations ranging from the figural to the abstract, oen with humor, ranging from fine jewelry to high jewelry, in the form of rings, bracelets, pendants, necklaces, earrings, brooches, and even hair combs; some of which feature actual extraterrestrial materials such as meteorite fragments or carbonados (black diamonds). Sure, wearing a bejeweled representation of an astronomical object or body, whether a star, a nebula, the phases of the moon, a zodiacal constellation, or even an alien flying a UFO, might not make you smarter; but it's sure gonna put a smile on your face! JORGE ADELER: Meteorite and Diamond Cocktail Ring featuring a piece of the Sikhote-Alin Meteorite (Siberia, Russia | 1947) and Diamonds, set in 18K Red Gold. JorgeAdler.com ANNA MACCIERI ROSSI: Ora Midnight Open Circle Ring featuring Blue Aventurine and Grey Moonstone, set in 18K Gold. AnnaMaccieriRossi.com LORD JEWELRY: Sun and Moon Earrings featuring a pair of cabochon-cut Moonstones (8.20ctw) surrounded by a halo of Diamonds (0.40ctw) and set with figural 'sun' and 'moon' accents of enamel in 18K Gold. LordJewelry.us CHANEL: Comète Perlée Crawling Single Earring (from the "Comète" High Jewelry collection) featuring 26 brilliant-cut Diamonds (0.31ctw) and 5 cultured Pearls, set in 18K White Gold with Rhodium-plating. Chanel.com LEIGH MAXWELL: Bezel-Set Grey Spinel Ring with Side Pavé featuring a bezel-set, cushion-cut grey Spinel (4.37cts) and grey Spinel pavé (4.81ctw), set in 18K Gold. LeighMaxwell.com BUDDHA MAMA: Star Dream Catcher on Disco Ball Chain with Diamonds featuring kite-cut Diamonds (1.79ctw), marquise-cut Diamonds (2.06ctw), and round-cut Diamonds (3.54ctw), set in 20K Gold; on a 24" chain of 20K Gold Disco Balls (4mm), with 6 bezel-set round-cut Diamonds (1.87ctw). BuddhaMama.com CIRCA 1700: Diamond North Star Compass Pendant featuring a fully- functional Victorian Enamel Compass inscribed "She Does… As She Pleases" en verso, set with brilliant-cut Diamonds (3.31ctw) in oxidized 18K Gold. Circa1700.com TOONZ: Outer Space Charm featuring a 'UFO' of Moonstone (4.6cts) and Hand- blown Glass, set on a charm of 18K Gold with a hand-applied Florentine brushed finish. ToonzByAysh.com Oh, My Stars! by Michael Shulman C U R R E N T O B S E S S I O N

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