Cool Collaborations

As jewelry fans, we often get swept away by the next innovative jewel by our favorite designers. But during the holiday season, there is always more going on such as two designers from the same or different worlds collaborating on a jewel or accessory together. There is also a jeweler designing a safe to keep your most treasured valuables and a collection based on a permanent museum collection. Here are just some of the cool collaborations taking place in December during the 2022 holiday season.

Art x Commerce

For Brazilian Silvia Furmanovich, an invite from the designer Madeline Weinrib and The Metropolitan Museum of Art to create small artisanal items based on the snuff bottles on permanent exhibition in the Chinese Treasury of the Museum for the MET Store was a dream come true and couldn’t be more apropos. The small bottles are display items found in Chinese treasure cabinets and assembled throughout the late Ming 1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties.

Furmanovich’s earrings, necklaces and handbags are rendered in her signature marquetry technique and paired with precious stones. The pieces celebrate the skill and imagination of Chinese artists in designing and crafting snuff bottles.

Silvia explains, “The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibitions and permanent collection has served as an endless source of inspiration for my work. In the past, I have researched techniques and motifs which I incorporated into my jewelry collections. When I was invited by Madeline Weinrib to participate in The Heirloom Project, an initiative that commissions special, items for the museum’s store,I was thrilled to have access to the Met’s archives and study various areas of the permanent collection. For this evolution of the project, I began looking into the snuff bottles in the Chinese Treasury, a little-known area of the Met Museum. I have always been interested in snuff bottles and, in fact have used actual antique snuff bottles in the past, which I have transformed into pairs of cuffs and earrings. This time, it was about studying each design and exploring how it would look made from wood marquetry. Snuff bottles are small and fit in the hand, so they naturally remind me of pieces of jewelry.”

Security x Jewelry

Created in 1834 and aptly named Wolf 1834 is a fifth-generation company that is unparalleled in the world of jewelry cases, watch winders, travel items and safes designed to protect your jewels and enhance the interior of your home. Over the generations, they have formed numerous collaborations to create beautifully rendered products for the treasures we hold so dear. Last year the company collaborated with Bea Bongiasca on different jewelry boxes that were fun and whimsical and colorful aesthetic. This year they have taken the collaborations further, providing the ultimate in security for your watches, jewelry and valuables; Wolf X Bea Bongiasca. Designed by Bea Bongiasca for Wolf 1834, it reflects Bea’s vibrancy and playfulness and offers the ease of finding your jewels in a chic and effortless way. But as chic as it is –it is also forged in American steel, UL tested and certified for burglary & fire, the Atlas is an impenetrable fortress for your treasures.

Friendship x Bracelet

Bea Bogiasca has been a busy designer this year, launching the fine segment of her collection, collaborating on the security of the jewels we wear and working with one of her BFFs on a bracelet that brings together their two aesthetics. AnanyaxBea pairs Bea and Ananya Malhotra of ANANYA who have traveled back to when they were both in the jewelry course in Central St. Martin’s together. They have been friends since then, have supported each other through their school years and the launching of their respective collections in 2013. So when the opportune moment hit, they combined their creative talents to create a cool, fun and highly wearable bracelet that plays on both of their cult favorites: Bea’s vibrantly colored enamel and Ananya’s chakra style bracelet designs in the Rainbow Chakra Bracelet. Crafted in 9K yellow gold, it is set with round and princess diamonds and adorned with Bea’s signature rainbow enameling around the bar and bracelet.

(The bracelet will be exclusively sold on ananyaxbea.com , for a limited period only, while stock lasts)

Destiny x Time

Jewelry designer Jacquie Aiche luxe bohemian spirit and Timex’s rich history of master craftsmanship with once again unite for the second time. Timex x Jacquie Aiche’s The Destiny Collection is a special holiday capsule collection of watches, which judging from the first drop in early October is highly coveted, selling out on Jacquie’s site in less than 24 hours. It will be a limited edition collection again and includes three timepieces, with sunray dials available in blue, pink and black. Each is crafted with a Jacquie Aiche signature evil eye, mineral glass lens, and crystal hour markers. The Timex x Jacquie Aiche collection will launch on December 9th at Jacquieaiche.com, Timex.com and Mr.Porter.com. Each piece will retail for $250.

When approached by Timex, Jacquie knew that it was meant to be, “There was a time when my dad was having spinal surgeries, and he would get out of bed and say, ‘I’m like a Timex watch, I take a licking and I keep on ticking.’ Not long after, a friend of mine reached out and said Timex would love to collaborate with me. It felt so serendipitous, like my dad manifested it for us,” said Aiche.

“Our partnership with Jacquie Aiche can be summed up as ‘luxury with a soul,’ said Giorgio Galli, Chief Executive Creative Director of Timex Group. “Her designs are thoughtfully crafted and meaningful, perfectly aligned with the Timex vision for our women’s portfolio. The themes for this collection are represented through the expressive dial artwork that adds a level of sophistication and a spirit of internal belonging.”

Talisman x Studs

“And you thought the ear party was over. Not a chance now that designing Sorellina sisters Nicole and Kim and renowned piercing artist Stephanie Anders have joined together to create the best of the design duo’s talismanic and symbolic motifs. They have scaled them down into studs for an accessibly priced collection that will be available at Tiny Gods. The Sorellina x Stephanie Anders collection consists of six 18K gold and diamond stud earrings: a dagger for strength; a spiral for gratitude; a butterfly for transformation; a hummingbird for resilience; a crescent moon for dreamers; and a geometric diamond for balance. Intended to be mixed and matched, you can layer the studs up the ear or purchase one or more for your existing collection.

Love x Stability

To celebrate the birth of Pamela Love’s baby, FoundRae’s Creative Director, Beth Hutchens, and Pamela created a token for the guests of Pamela’s baby shower. Pamela took the FoundRae Earth symbolism and redesigned it in her own hand in honor of the grounding and stabilizing love she felt from her community. The two friends wanted to share and spread the love at the heart of this collaboration of Pamela Love x FoundRae

During the month of June 2022, FoundRae and Pamela offered this piece for sale on both of their websites and at the FoundRae flagship retail store. 100% of the retail proceeds was contributed to UNHCR UN Refugee Agency in support of humanitarian emergency aid in Ukraine.

The medallion is still up on the FoundRae website to purchase with proceeds continuing to go to the women and children who make up a large majority of Ukrainian Refugees. Inside Ukraine, UNHCR is on the ground delivering and providing protection, shelter, basic needs, and core relief items, showing solidarity and offering timely and lifesaving support to the thousands of displaced men, women, and children.

Hair x Art

When Fine jewelry and hair accessory designer Deborah Pagani purchased one of 1,989 Sisters’ artist Blair Breitenstein’s NFTs and shared it on social media, the two women connected, were inspired by each other’s brands. The collaboration Deborah Pagani x 1989 Sisters evolved organically. They have created an exclusive hairpin, becoming the first independent female-founded accessory brand to move into the NFT space.

Pagani was immediately drawn to the way Breitenstein’s 1,989 Sisters generative art series represents the duality of womanhood. She explains, “We are all individual but interconnected at the same time, and Blair and I are passionate about celebrating this in our work.”

Breitenstein says, “I fell in love with Deborah’s brand, especially the DP Pin. I always wear my hair in a low bun and find it to be the perfect fastener. When we started talking about a DP x Sisters Pin, it seemed a perfect match, given it’s the exact kind of chic, timeless accessory that a Sister would wear.”