Links of Love
It all started in fall 2013, when Peter D’Enbeau, owner of Cincinnati’s Soulmates Jewelry, made a suggestion to his fellow jewelers on Facebook’s Metalsmiths Coffee House group: making a holiday gift for the group’s administrator. He had proposed a bracelet, but after 72 people committed to contribute a link, D’Enbeau realized the project was becoming more than just a present.
Because he thought he might collect 100 links, he named the project A Hundred for One. But a total of 194 artists from seven countries added to the roughly 5-pound, 33-foot-long piece: Silver, brass, copper, and even gold links came from locales including the Philippines (right after Typhoon Haiyan struck), Brazil, and India—one link from a man recovering from cancer, and another (the very last) made by human trafficking survivor members. The chain will be auctioned to benefit the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, which aids professional craft artists in career-threatening situations.
“All this happened without anyone meeting each other,” says D’Enbeau. “It was all out of faith and love.”
If you’re interested in providing a forum for the sale, call 513-683-5333 or email pedrothejeweler@gmail.com.
Crowning Glories
Medusa tiara in gold-leafed silver with freshwater pearls; $1,350; Aida Bergsen, Istanbul; 90-212-231-3624; aidabergsen.com
Aida Bergsen’s dramatic flair—seen in her oxidized silver sculpted jewels like thorn bracelets and snake-hugging tree-trunk pendants—now extends to headpieces. Like her jewelry, they are hand-carved in metal with gold leaf finishes to lend an antique vibe, featuring equally ancient motifs: a Medusa crown with slithering serpents, a leafy Flora tiara fit for Julius Caesar. “My best sellers,” says Bergsen, are the sprawling works in the Wings collection, some of which incorporate rose-cut diamonds and rubies. Many find homes in the designer’s home base, Turkey (plus the United Kingdom and Russia), but there are plenty available for headpiece-loving Americans.