Brilliant Everyday: Unearthen Necklaces

The Brilliant Everyday series spotlights jewelry pieces perfect for everyday wear.

If ever there were two groups historically on opposing sides, despite sharing outsider status, it’s the punks and the hippies. After all, one faction encourages harmony and friendship, and the other just wants to live fast and die young.

And yet, as much as peace and love doesn’t usually mix well with anarchy and destruction, designer Gia Bahm has found a moderating voice, enabling both sides to shake hands in agreement that optimism and pessimism can indeed reside on the same page.

Bahm’s Unearthen necklaces are perfectly emblematic of the dichotomy existing within all of us, flaunting rough-cut, sparkling quartz crystals stuffed into .38 and .22 bullet casings. The pendants, available with a wide range of colorful stones (ruby crystal is featured above), are hung from 14k gold chains at a 22” length.

To view styles and browse store listings, visit the Unearthen Web site.

Natural Historie

Color is derived from nature after all…iridescent puddles following torrential rains to fading sun-streaked skies smeared with blending hues. And no matter how many acrylic paint tubes you empty onto a canvas, or recreate graphically on a computer screen, artificial color is always going to be second best. Which may answer our fascination with geodes, always romancing us with beguiling shapes, fascinating textures, and alluring colors.

Jenny Vorwaller is a painter and a photographer, but first and foremost, she is a world traveler. And along the way, as she explores exotic locales, she collects arousing elements, such as colorful geodes from Uruguay, and incorporates them into beautiful jewelry designs for her Natural Historie line.

The sliced geodes are electroplated in silver or gold and then hung in different arrangements, some with faceted crystal beads hung in the cavity, others with pearls dangling on either side. Each geode is one-of-a-kind, boasting its very own color palette of rippling bands and interior bursting crystals, and is hung from a 14k gold chain.

To view styles and purchase, visit the online shop SuperMarketHQ. To learn more about the Natural Historie collection, visit the designer’s Web site.