Dark Forces
During the past few years, oxidized silver jewelry has become a staple in collections everywhere: Think blackened mesh bands and skinny bangles, or studs lit up with pinpoint-size diamond chips. Fans of the noir styles are abundant. Here’s a look at two designers who keep the rest of the industry darkly dreaming.
Alex Soldier
The New York City–based Russian transplant applied his signature patterns resembling leaves and tree bark—that’s “kora in Russian,” notes daughter and executive director Maria Soldier—to silver jewelry a year ago. What started as an intimate collection of just eight bracelets has grown to include more than 20 cuffs, with matching earrings, necklaces, and rings. Bracelets are available in four sizes—5.75 inches (a hit among small-wristed wearers), 6 inches, 6.5 inches, and 7 inches—and feature double hinges for maximum comfort. Deeply plated with 24k vermeil or platinum, the bracelets also come in a rhodium-plated version dubbed “dark platinum.” Suggested retail prices for cuffs start at $2,500; bangles start at $750 each. Soldier is in 17 doors nationwide, including 10 Neiman Marcus stores.
Notte necklace in silver with 0.60 ct. t.w. diamonds; $2,700; Emanuela Duca, New York City; 646-580-9328; emanueladuca.com
Emanuela Duca
New from the onetime resident of Rome is the Notte (“night” in Italian) collection, combining organic-looking surfaces with sophisticated colorless diamonds in a nod to her present-day home in New York City. Duca says the pieces are a departure from her gallery-oriented works, shown at the annual American Craft Council show in Baltimore. The “playful” looks are part of an effort to woo more independent jewelry stores, she explains. (She exhibited at JCK Las Vegas for the first time this year.) “I have been exploring rough surfaces with movement—shapes that can be oxidized, brushed, and are always evolving,” says the designer.
Duca has 25 accounts in the United States, as well as one in Hong Kong and another in Canada. Her suggested retail prices in silver start at $550.
Seeing Stars
Wide band in 14k gold and sterling silver with 0.19 ct. t.w. diamonds; $725; Brooke Burke Collection by Chad Allison, New York City; 877-977-7844; chadallison.com
As any avid Dancing With the Stars viewer knows, cohost Brooke Burke-Charvet loves her jewelry. So it’s no surprise that she’s been working on her own line, the Brooke Burke Collection by Chad Allison, which debuted at JCK’s LUXURY show.
According to Chad Allison marketing manager Debbie Son, Burke’s down-to-earth aesthetic mirrors theirs. Signature motifs in silver and 14k gold (plus some gold plate) include hearts, lockets, initials, and spiritual symbols that are “romantic and floral, with vines and scrollwork,” says Son. The line, which retails from $99 to $3,000, comprises 30 SKUs: bracelets, charms, pendants, earrings, and rings, some with diamond accents.
Brooke Burke Collection 36-inch pendant necklace in sterling silver and 14k yellow gold plating with Swarovski crystal; $720
Burke-Charvet wanted to create a collection that was “thoughtful and sentimental” and to encourage women “to play a little bit with their fashion,” she told JCK. And as a smile ambassador for Operation Smile, which helps children born with cleft palates and facial deformities, Burke-Charvet was happy to reveal that a portion of sale proceeds would benefit the charity. The collection ships in September—just in time for the new all-star edition of Dancing With the Stars.