Jewelry Waxes…Nostalgic

Designers play on the nostalgia of iconic objects and toys from bygone days to create joyful, playful and technologically innovative jewelry.

Parisan-born and based Marie Lichtenberg, whose jewelry always reveals a sense of wit, optimism and nod to the past, re-created one of my favorite ‘fortune telling’ toys—the Magic 8 Ball pendant in collaboration with Mattel. She revealed during an interview about the design she unveiled during the Couture show in Las Vegas that her original Magical 8 Ball sits on her desk at home.

The orb-shaped pendant is handmade in Italy and rendered 18K gold in the company’s matte coco finish. It features the iconic 8 on the front—this time in diamonds or sapphires against a backdrop of vividly colored or white enamel. It works much like the original 1950’s toy —with a little window in the back that offers the answers to questions when shaken. “Yes, No, For Sure, Maybe” are some answers. I admit that when I used to ask ‘essential’ read (teenage) questions in the 70s/early 80s, the 8 ball, which I still own, always told me to “ask again later” or “outlook not good.” When I asked Lichtenberg’s pendant a question—that needed a clear answer—it gave me a straight-up “for sure” I’m sticking with that.

Margarita Prysiazhniuk, the founder and designer behind the London-based Sybarite Jewellery, which launched in 2012, began her career as an architect and engineer. This helped her realize her goal of creating luxurious yet playful one-of-kind kinetic jewelry in which each piece is “designed to interact with the wearer.” Her references also appeal to the nostalgic and youthful wonder in all of us. Optical illusions, secret mechanisms and unexpected movement are all part of the fun of the pieces, yet they are so intricately designed a piece can sometimes take up to a year to complete.

Here are two of her pieces that might bring back fond memories for you as they did for me.

The Kaleidoscope Ring in 18K gold is set with white diamonds and fancy sapphires—look into one end of the ring and see the movement and different configurations of precious gems through a lens inside the tube of the piece.

The Kite earring was inspired by summer beach days and flying a kite in the wind.