Look Book

22 | The Jewelr y Book by Michael Shulman GOLD, JUST GOLD AND ONLY GOLD C U R R E N T O B S E S S I O N F I RST FOU N D AROU N D 5 ,000 BC, in the rivers and streams of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley, gold was one of the first metals discovered by humans. Not only did its shiny luster make it the subject of awe, but unlike other metals, gold did not tarnish, was easy to shape, and could be highly polished, which only elevated its prestige and significance among these ancient civilizations. To the ancient Egyptians it was known as auf-en-neter (the "flesh of the gods"), and dating back to the First Dynasty was depicted hieroglyphically as a piece of jewelry (to wit, a broad collar with seven pendants)! The Incas thought of it as quri inti pa llipiynin (the "sweat of the sun"), while the Aztecs referred to it as teocuitlatl (literally, the "excrement of the gods"). Now, if you are reading this magazine, odds are you're a fan of gold. I certainly am. In fact, I love virtually everything about gold. Actually, there's only one gold- related thing that really gets stuck in my craw, and that is the expression "yellow gold," a cringe-inducing semantic redundancy akin to "tuna fish," "unexpected surprise," or "ATM machine," which when spoken aloud recalls the Little Caesars character yelling "Pizza Pizza!" You see, when found in nature, gold is a bright, metallic yellow. White gold and rose gold, however, do not exist in nature, and only come into being after gold has been alloyed with other metals (nickel, silver, palladium, or manganese for white gold; and copper, often with a bit of silver, for rose gold). Thus, when another metal has been added to the gold, so too should the color of the resulting alloy be applied as an adjective (i.e., "white gold" or "rose gold"). Wanting to emphasize the various goldsmithing techniques used and the details thereof, for this feature I opted to use only jewels which utilized gold, just gold, and only gold. Thus, no alloys, no embellishments, no stonework, no pavé, no—well, you get the idea. So, I invite you to channel your inner Auric Goldfinger and dive into this shimmering array of golden jewels. JENNIFER DAWES DESIGN: Relic Lace Band (from the "Bridal" collection) in 18k Gold. Dawes-Design.com MARCO BICEGO: Flexible Bangle with Small Beads (from the "Africa" collection) in 18k Gold. MarcoBicego.com ANITA KO: Large Bamboo Bracelet in 18k Gold. AnitaKo.com VICTOR VELYAN: Unique Necklace of Handmade Golden Pebbles in 18k Gold. VictorVelyan.com SEAN GILSON: Small Octahedron Pendant (from the "Geometry" collection) in 22K Gold. SeanGilson.com AZLEE: Large Gold Bar Necklace in 18k Gold. AzleeJewelry.com STATEMENT PARIS: Rockaway Mini Pyramid Ring in 18k Gold. Statement.Paris SYNA: Startrack MixTape Charm in 18k Gold. SynaJewels.com

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