Emily Rothschild

Concealment clothing, long-favored by expert travelers, has more recently been adopted over the years by practical technophiles. Dedicated cell phone pockets have given birth to dresses with iPad compartments, jackets with built-in computer sleeves, and slap bracelets for iPods that mirror watchbands.

Along this trend, comes Emily Rothschild who understands that design solutions can be visually beautiful while still sufficiently serving the intended purpose. Medical IDs are transformed from dog tags into modernist nameplate jewelry, while pills leave their pharmacy plastic bottles to live within visible bubbles at the bottom of drinking glasses.

Our favorite is the USB drive necklace which houses a flash drive within a replica of a turn-of-a-century mourning locket. Lovely, functional and smart, it blends the best of yesterday and today.

Visit Emily Rothschild’s Web site to view pieces and browse a store list.

Mifflin Jewelry

You grew up a long time ago, swapping Bukowski for Philip Roth, eliminating cigarette breakfasts, and eradicating whiskey shots from your Saturday night activities. And so when you buy jewelry, you’re no longer in the mood for trendy knock-offs from Urban Outfitters. Instead you opt for distinct pieces that elevate your wardrobe without defining it entirely.

For her Mifflin Jewelry line, Brooklyn designer Staci Leatherland avoids large scale pieces in favor of adult selections that are whittled down to promote a solitary statement. The Lost Time necklace (above right) flaunts a barren clock disk in sterling silver, with another version dangling the pendant cracked in half. A series of gold-plated necklaces and rings boast single coins embossed with Pomona, the Roman goddess of the gardens. Antique buttons, cast in silver, swing alone from thin bangle bracelets and chains.

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

Madame Fortuna

Everyone has perennial, hard-and-fast rules when it comes to dressing, but in your book, unoriginality is the only cardinal sin. But that’s the gypsy in you, the free spirit who may get caught up in the quest for the jean du jour, but ultimately settles on clothing and accessories that are anything but ubiquitous renditions. Pieces that meow, whisper, coax and captivate.

Guaranteed to be the most novel jewelry selection you’ll ever own, Madame Fortuna’s Relic necklaces capture personal artifacts within dainty hand-blown glass globes where they can be treasured forever and ever. Allison Nowlin Ward, the designer behind the Madame Fortuna moniker, fills the pendants with bits of moss, colorful feathers, pearls or Victorian lace, but will custom produce the piece with a customer’s chosen keepsake…a lock of your child’s hair, a lover’s note, sand from your favorite beach…you decide. The globe dangles on a 24” gold-filled chain, and fastens with a spring ring clasp.

To purchase visit the designer’s Web site.

Elisa Solomon Jewelry

Reinvention is a wonder to behold. Someone, not just anyone, sees beyond the expected and boldly rearranges what everyone else saw as expected and true. Philippe Starck interpreting the martini glass as a chair or Hendrix transforming Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower from an obscure acoustical ditty to a Hall of Fame guitar assault. Of course, retranslating is not the hard part. The magic trick is to astutely preserve the critical elements, and alter the ones that could survive a creative shake-up.

By taking gemstones, and smashing them to pieces, designer Elisa Solomon presents an intriguing reinvention of the traditional jewel pendant necklace. Sparkling rubies, brown diamonds, emeralds, sapphire, and earthy turquoise, are cracked into small nuggets and then encased within a glass frame, presenting a shaking visual, much like a tipping sand hourglass, except bolder and chunkier. The “shake” pendants are then hung from 14k solid yellow gold chains.

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

Fenton

Sass and spirit, yes they can reside on the same wavelength as sweetness and light. Genuine sunshine, after all, can take many forms…a wicked smile, a contagious laugh, an inclusive whisper. Which is why flowers, the ultimate token of beauty, should never be mistaken for a one-trick pony reserved for perky girly-girls. They are in fact, best suited for complicated women who dabble in shades of gray, but are smart enough to count their blessings.

For her Fenton line, designer Dana Lorenz has created a series of heirloom quality pendants handcrafted from fossilized ivory, that flaunt intricate floral designs using the scrimshaw technique (the picture is first skillfully etched and then filled in with ink). Harmoniously mingling modernity with old world beauty, the dreamy and feminine pendants are hung from sterling silver chains.

To view styles and purchase visit Dilsey Coal.

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.

Analogous Jewelry

You’re all grown up now, but deep down you will always be the bad girl willing to try just about anything. Because it wasn’t so long ago that you retired your motorcycle jacket and Doc Martin boots, and realized that musicians make horrible boyfriends. However, that doesn’t mean that your successful, professional self doesn’t still know how to cut loose. In fact, older and wiser counts for a whole lot, as now you know exactly who you are, what you want, and how to get it without giving too much of yourself away.

Slightly sinister, but definitely feminine, Judith Hoetker’s jewelry pieces are cast from vintage brass jewelry findings, carved wax models, and toy parts. Her signature razor blade necklace from her Analogous line has been a long time favorite, but her vintage lockets, hung from oxidized sterling silver chains and adorned with insects, are just the right blend of old and new in one cool package.

To view styles visit the designers’s Web site. To purchase visit Rare Device.

Urban Dencity

You may like your men gritty and rough, but deep down you are a lady, who has little interest in looking scummy. And while there is something infinitely pleasing about having your hair freshly cut, legs smoothly shaved, and toes pedicured, you’re no snob hung up on achieving the picture of perfection. Treasuring sophistication after all is a completely different animal than simply keeping up with appearances. Light, elegant, clean…these are words that resonate with you, and infiltrate your decisions on everything from dining to décor, and certainly wardrobe.

With her Urban Dencity line, jewelry designer Kim Shephard creates decadent pendant necklaces that will make you feel every inch a beautiful woman. Richly colored leather is used as a backdrop to sterling silver and gold-filled pendants, some filigree with an antique vibe, and others intricately cut with modern designs. Hung on vintage-looking chains, the two-toned medallions are detailed with colored beads and stones that add just the right touch (not too much, not too little).

To view styles and purchase, visit the Urban Dencity Web site.

Amy Bengtson

The wanderlust bug bit you early on in life, creating an insatiable appetite for snow-capped peaks, historic ruins, and bountiful rain forests. Yes, you’re quite the free spirit, always more than a few steps ahead, eager to explore each and every crevice of our planet. Of course, this defines you more than any job could or should, leaving its indelible imprint on every embarked activity. And your jewelry box, filled with tasteful delights that never betray your inherent down-to-earth sensibilities, is a textbook lesson in owning things that one loves, instead of buying what’s trendy.

Amy Bengtson’s wood jewelry flaunts etched patterns, many with a vintage flavor be it circular mod shapes detailed with mother-of-pearl and sterling silver, or intricate scrolling graphics. A perfect marriage of modern and earthiness, the pieces are special, but unfussy enough to wear with your favorite everyday casual ensembles.

To view styles and purchase visit the Amy Bengtson Web site.

Iggy & Lou Lou

Yes, you're the sort who has her radar honed for trouble in all the right places, with a life eerily resembling a live-action Nick Cave song, filled with dark dreary musings and wistful imagery. Chanel Blue Satin nail lacquer on your toes, eye make-up smudged like Polly Jean Harvey, lips painted a frosty tone that glimmers under the light of the moon, and Poppy Z. Brite's Liquor tucked under your milk and honey arm. And just like everything else, your jewelry choices are always discerning, which is why you’re destined to adore Iggy & Lou Lou's precious ceramic necklaces and pins.

Inspired by her childhood dreams of exotic travels, Australian ceramic sculptor Irene Grishin-Selzer creates keepsake pieces that marry gothic undertones with fanciful characters, cleverly playing in the same sandbox as The Smashing Pumpkins "Tonight, Tonight" video (inspired by Georges Méliès's silent film A Trip to the Moon). The collection ranges from an auburn porcelain bunny pin framed with darkened sterling silver to a maritime-flavored necklace mingling dainty anchor and bird charms. Our favorite is a sterling silver chain necklace flaunting an aged brown tiger head nestled next to a buried treasure-type coin. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

To view styles visit the Iggy & Lou Lou Web site, or shop Le Train Bleu.