Astali by Shannon De Jong

Rebels may come in all shapes and sizes, but generally there are a few commonalities...a passion for hard liquor consumption, an appreciation for music that’s both loud and aggressive, and a live-by-your-own rules mentality forged straight from the Old West. Designer Shannon De Jong straddles all of these areas with her Astali line, presenting the maverick personality in distinct collections.

Inspired by Jack Daniels, the Jack Astali grouping flaunts snake vertebrae sourced from rural Africa and memorably mingles it with brass and snake-glass beads. The rocker-influenced set (Rock Astali) pairs weapon charms with repurposed guitar strings in brass, copper and silver, and the Tex Astali pieces incorporates apropos elements such as Fool's Gold nuggets, wheat pennies, and bullet casings (even an antique faucet handle makes an appearance).

We love the stack of snake vertebrae bracelets interspersed with Afghani silver beads strung on brown leather (above right).

To view styles and purchase, visit the designer’s Web store.

Specimen Jewelry

Designer Carrie Yee is an ardent enthusiast of anthropology infusing her Specimen jewelry line with elements such as coyote teeth (paired with Indian glass beads) and shark vertebrae (nestled with skulls carved from nuts).

Of course, lots of on-trend feathers make an appearance in her pieces, as well as shells and semi-precious stones, but it’s her arrangements that are bewitching, such as the Hawaiian Fish Hook necklace, flaunting an off-center bone pendant on chain braided into cord.

Until recently, one had to visit Yee’s booth at the Brooklyn Flea to snap up one of her creations, but no more…a just launched Etsy shop offers a chunk of the Specimen collection online.

Hot Pick: Lark and Lotus Damballah Necklace

I'm a Voodoo Child baby, I don't take no for an answer.
(Jimi Hendrix)

Because snakes know how to shed skins, and redirect their cause, slithering covertly to strike when the moment is just right. And so one must tread carefully and not believe every skillful twist of the tongue.

The Damballah necklace from designer Suzannah Murray's Lark and Lotus line is a spirited homage to the mighty serpent, flaunting an uncoiled 14k gold pendant, textured and set with a deep garnet stone.

To purchase, visit the Lark and Lotus Web site.

Best of Etsy: Neile Butterfly Jewelry

This series highlights noteworthy jewelry selections available on Etsy, the mammoth online marketplace for handmade goods.

Nature on its own is so color-streaked and full of life, that imitation is not always the best form of flattery. After all, why take the humdrum route, simply casting butterflies in silver, when you can preserve them in full tinted winged glory?

Stained glass artist Neile extends the beauty of the butterfly by recycling their wings (after natural death), and placing them under glass. The pendants are offered in different arrangements, with some clustered in circular shapes, and others dangling a single crescent. All flaunt a dazzling array of colors, from the Monarch’s golden orange hues to the deep purple shade of the Graphium Weiskei butterfly (above). Each pendant is framed with silver alloy and hung from a sterling silver chain.

To view styles and purchase, visit the Neile Etsy shop.

Hot Pick: Ant Earrings From Jezebel

As far as insect jewelry goes, the usual suspects generally appear…spiders, scorpions, beetles, and flies. So hats off to Jezebel for choosing the entirely underrated ant as the focal point, an ego-less bug who understands that seemingly impossible feats can be accomplished by being the consummate team player. The stud earrings are crafted from 14k rose gold.

Available at Catbird.

Best of Etsy: OctopusMe Tentacle Ring

This is the first post in an ongoing series highlighting noteworthy jewelry selections available on Etsy, the mammoth online marketplace for handmade goods.

The San Francisco seller OctopusMe is obsessed with tentacles, but in a good way, really. She casts octopus tentacles in sterling silver, leaving no detail to the imagination, and then lightly oxidizes the jewelry pieces on the exterior leaving the interior nice and shiny for contrast. Her spiraled tentacle earrings are creepy cool, but we think the ring is the prizewinner. Capturing the suctioned underside of the tentacle, the ring wraps around the finger, enabling the wearer to vary the position of the piece.

View this ring and other styles at the OctopusMe Etsy shop.

Pamela Tuohy Jewelry

Sure life is not about keeping score or collecting notches on your belt, but there is something immensely gratifying about finding a sensational piece that no one else owns. Of course, it’s not just the thrill of the hunt, but the discovery of a designer who fits just right with your personality, one who dabbles in intriguing compositions and materials, and understands that jewelry can indeed be flavorful without being conventional or weird.

Designer Pamela Tuohy recognizes that now and then you need to reach back in time to savor something really good. Her one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces, crafted from recycled antique frames, flaunt portraits of the world’s creatures, big and small. A mixed metal chain necklace dangles a green Praying Mantis pendant encased within a gold and brushed silver frame…an ornate gold frame brooch boasts a majestic lion…a black and white spider portrait is mounted on a darkened silver cuff. While all the selections have a similar focus, each piece has its own distinct vibe, solidifying its singular status.

To view styles and browse a store list, visit the designer’s Web site.

Pade Vavra

For some, it's a cathartic experience...toes dipped in sand, salty air kissing your face, and the soothing sound of lapping waves. For others, it's a lifestyle filled with indulgent freedoms, from tossing your shoes aside to letting your work become a distant memory. And then there are those who see it as a reminder of what's pure and essential, and commit themselves wholly to the power of nature. But that's the beauty of the beach, there's always a staunch personal connection, and a level of unwavering devotion that can never be matched by any urban structure.

Los Angeles designer Pade Vavra has indeed created a passionate homage to the beach with her collection filled with sparkling seahorse locket necklaces, and bangles inset with coral. Vavra's gold vermeil jewelry flaunts precious and colorful elements, such as turquoise, pearls, and gemstones such as Peridot and Iolite. Her serpent necklace, a pendant adorned with opals and sapphires is a decadent piece, but it's her shark tooth necklace that makes the most majestic statement, dangling a hefty fossilized tooth from a double chain with tiny pearls (her Prehistoric Mako Shark Tooth in her fine jewelry collection is even more dazzling).

To view styles and purchase, visit the designer’s Web site.

Yayoi Forest

Flowers, of course, get all the glory, but they come and go too quickly. Which is why all women know that good looks only take you so far, and that it is better to have unwavering strength that can carry you through absolutely anything and everything. Like a tree branch weathering the heat of summer, the cold of winter, the rains of spring. Like a tree branch that remains standing after the colorful leaves and scented flowers have all fallen to the ground.

Jewelry line Yayoi Forest understands the unparalleled beauty of the tree branch, using its meandering form throughout its collection. A blackened silver twig necklace, spiral vine earrings, a gold branch pendant brandishing the word “love”. Naturally, other earthly creatures find their way into the designs, from owls etched into silver pendants to tiny gold birds dangling within a birdcage comprised of twisted silver branches.

To view styles visit the designer’s Web site. To purchase, visit YLANG 23.

Andrea Moore

Your home may be filled with antique lamps and furniture, and you sleep in a four-poster bed piled high with beaded pillows, but that's Black Sabbath on your stereo, not Devendra Banhart. You're an individual, thank you very much, and so your philosophy is to never buy into a whole package of anything, but rather pick scattered pieces that bristle with fusion, inspiration, and originality.

Austin designer Andrea Moore knows a thing or two about fusion, blending tough chick leather and chain mail with earth mother elements like wood and turquoise. Each selection from her Gypsy Born Designs line has a free spirit vibe, but she knows restraint, so nothing seems overdone. Many of the selections feature organic shapes, but we adore the whimsical owl pendant necklace brightened with turquoise and contrasted with a textured chain body…the perfect summer adornment.

To view styles and purchase visit the designer’s Web site.

Lauren Wolf

A living, breathing embodiment of Mary MacGregor’s 1977 hit song Torn Between Two Lovers, your soul craves the tranquil comforts of a calm beach and soothing sea, while your heart aches for the pulsating city filled with grittiness and adventure. But there is room in your life for two great love affairs, even if they are geographically and contextually divergent.

Lauren Wolf, who studied jewelry design in coastal Mexico and now calls Brooklyn home, presents the best of both worlds with her sea collection, an urban-spiced tribute to nature’s most breathtaking compositions. A blackened silver nautilus pendant is paired with a green gold centerpiece textured with a sting ray pattern. Silver Amazona bones dangle from yellow gold chains. A spiked green gold bracelet, textured with a sting ray pattern, is studded with sparkling diamonds. Indeed, the beach has never looked so high-end and refined, yet equally edgy.

To view styles and a store list, visit the Lauren Wolf Web site.

Pamela Love

You’re the playful chick in the corner that people seek out at parties, and not because you’re always equipped with a great, not good, dirty joke. It’s because you never bore anyone with self-serving tales of how yoga changed your life, or worse yet, how you avoided a wait list and scored some item that you and the rest of the country, spotted on some trendy actress. But you can however, thoroughly analyze Donnie Darko, down a shot of Jack without wincing, and do a spot-on impersonation of Darby Crash. And as if that’s not reason enough, well, you’re scorching hot too, all dolled up in a nerdy Isabel Marant button-down shirt, crisp Built By Wendy jeans, and your wicked cool Pamela Love talon cuff.

Gold-plated cuff bracelet with three talon claws wrapping around the wrist, the piece is part of an artistic collection from designer Pamela Law filled with beloved objects that explore the darker side of nature…bird cranium pendants, deer tooth necklaces and menacing scorpion rings. But like any great love affair she doesn’t linger on the underbelly entirely, serving up sparkling rings flaunting peacocks, rams and dainty bear heads.

Available online at Cabinets of Curiosities.