5 Of The Best Art-Inspired Jewelry Brands

Art has always been a key source for design, with clothing and jewelry designers finding inspiration in sculptures, paintings and ancient artefacts. Some of the most interesting jewelry brands have been influenced by art or culture from Greek sculpture to abstract painting to Japanese anime.

Anime, a form of Japanese animation that originated in the early 20th century, has since evolved into a diverse genre with a wide range of styles, themes, from science fiction to romance. What makes this art form unique and a great source for jewelry designers is the complex social and psychological themes that are often not found in Western animation. And that’s exactly what inspired Canadian company Bisoulovely to launch an anime-inspired jewelry brand. Founded in a Montreal studio apartment in 2019, the brand has since become a fast-growing business. It was created by video game artist Breanna Millette, who managed to create popular jewelry items without any formal training in jewelry and instead relied on her video game designing skills. “Using my knowledge and software to make environments for video games, I taught myself how to 3D model jewelry. I developed my own shaders and textures to show to clients what their rings could look like in real life. This allowed me to create whimsical and gorgeous lifelike renders that have been the lifeline of my business,” Breanna says.

For her Reflections collection, New York City-based Brent Neale drew upon the legacy of Frank Stella, the abstract painter, sculptor and printmaker. Rainbows, a favorite motif of both Stella and Winston, are key to the collection, which is created from hand-carved colored gemstones that are formed into smooth and rounded tubes that are then set upside down, creating a reflection of the rainbow. The Protractor series Frank Stella produced in the late 1960s are reflected in the designer’s rendition of the curvilinear elements of the paintings. The jewels are made with stones in an arched shape and the gorgeous colors pink, violet, blue, green and yellow are reminiscent of Stella’s palette.

Samantha Sui has a passion for wax carving, an all but forgotten craft that originated in Asia and the Middle East before 4,000 B.C. Samantha Siu incorporates wax carving techniques into her jewelry making process, she crafted a design with impact: her reversible back necklace is stunning. The Renaissance Romance necklace celebrates the revolutionary skills, beauty, and prestige ingrained in Italian history. Howlite stone represents the deep-rooted Italian art of carving marble. And the clasp is sculpted in the image of The Mouth of Truth, a marble art drain cover created in Roman times. Another interesting piece is the Glistening Desert necklace, inspired by the cursive letters of a neon sign designed by American artist and graphic designer Betty Willis in 1955 for the Moulin Rouge hotel, the first major racially integrated hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

Norwegian jewelry brands are ones to watch, not just for their creativity but because they use only recycled materials. Each piece of jewelry by Aur Studio is based on a hand-carved model, created in their studio in Oslo, from 90-100 % recycled gold and silver, materials that have a long lifespan. ​They don’t mass produce their pieces – rather the opposite. They offer order on-demand which is a good way to reduce waste. The collection Ripples has modernist art and architecture as important sources of inspiration. Another collection, Hydra, is inspired by the brush strokes in Van Gogh’s landscape paintings, together with a little hint of the 1990s.

Brazilian jewelry brand Sauer’s Tarsila collection was inspired by the important Brazilian modernist painter Tarsila do Amaral. The collection pays homage to her most notable works from the 1920s, incorporating bright, bold colors, pastels and abstract shapes. Tarsila do Amaral’s work explored Brazilian culture, through a modern, surrealistic lens. Sauer is one of Brazil’s leading jewelers who recently celebrated their 80th anniversary.