I love curating jewelry since it’s always about making some sort of style statement. It doesn’t *have* to get statement jewelry. Even when you wear the simplest of earrings and/or necklace it does
Annachich Jewelry is amazing. It’s hand-made in San Francisco. Designer Becky Johnson gets her creative inspiration from her grandmother who was a seamstress.
Johnson takes care to the details just as her grandmother did!
Annachich Jewelry materialized as a natural extension of the graphic design work she fondly created. Annachich Jewelry emphasizes architectural ornamentation and embodies the preservation of ornate details.
Becky is committed to using fine jewelry production practices to create fashion jewelry that is affordable and well crafted. She designs and hand fabricates all Annachich Jewelry in her San Francisco
Layered Dreams Necklace, $90 (contact designer to order)
Prismatic Opal Cuff, $248 (contact designer to order)
Sunfall Earrings, $152
Winter Moonrise Necklace, $124
April Star Davis
April Star Davis is a self-taught jewelry designer based in San Diego. Her designs are very eclectic and tend to be done in a series of similar pieces. Using gold-filled or sterling metals along with bronze and other metals, April has an amazing array of designs and she is a celebrity favorite. Here are some designs that are currently in-stock.
Gold Hoop Earrings with Whiskey quartz hoops $120
Gold chain with blue quartz and chalcedony $70
Oval blue topaz $80
Giselle Earrings $90
Double sterling lotus petal earrings $75
Whiskey Quartz Double Drop Necklace. $120
This specific piece has changed design and the photo is not on the site.
Gold earrings are gold-filled if they are yellow gold. All silver pieces are sterling silver.
Please note that these prices are as current as April can provide. Prices posted here or on the site are subject to change dependent on two factors: if April has the stones in her possession or if she must get them. The cost of materials (gold, silver, stones) are fluctuate daily. If costs go up, so does the price. Each item is hand-crafted and you might have to wait a bit to get yours because it is hand-crafted.
One particular piece is priced less here to give MY readers a bonus if they can figure out which piece from aprilstardavis.com it is
Find them on www.aprilstardavis.com
Khalama is not your typical line of jewelry. Manufactured in Afghanistan *(and possibly other locations). On the Khalama site, their description of the collections is summarized in this fashion
Introducing Khalama, the high-end jewelry collection created by Gabriela Emma Olivera in Miami, FL. “Khalama,” a Tibetan expression meaning “sky path” embodies the collection to perfection, as it is an expression of our path through the natural and spiritual world, and the beauty it entails. The Khalama Collection expresses the natural and the spiritual. It is filled with Tibetan symbolism such as the image of Buddha, of Lord Ganesh, koi fish, and lotus flowers as well as natural stones and organic materials with spiritual energies like those of turquoise stones, lapis lazuli, amber, and coral. Khalama offers a variety of pieces including necklaces, earrings, bracelets, scarves and handbags.
Khalama is a company based in Miami and reflecting jewelry of a Tibetan tradition and various influences as seen in the countries of Tibet, Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar(Burma) and even parts of Afghanistan and China on the Northern border. The diversity of countries gives the designs a unique perspective and a way to show you the beauty of the Tibetan traditions since much is derived by the shared geography, populations and changing geo-political landscape of that area of the world. That said, there’s so much beauty to share that no one country can lay claim to it all.
What I am sharing with you from Khalama today is the amazing jewelry. The jewelry has a more ethnic – even ‘boho-chic” style that gets its meaning and beauty from being as authentic as possible. These pieces are made by artisans in various locations so that no two pieces are exactly alike and reflect the diverse cultural and artistic styles of that region!
Silver and Turquoise Bangle/Bracelet $300
This bangle or bracelet is a very beautiful piece. according to the website,
bangle made from White Silver and Turquoises inserts, by Tibetan artisans.
More details came from the company: The silver its also a working of a repousse with flowers and leaves.
Detail Photo:
Find it on the site Khalama.com
(the link is directly to the specific product page)
Lapis Necklace $120.
This necklace is of silver and lapis lazuli in the style of the tribal jewelry work for Afghanistan.
Detail photo:
This choker features red and blue inserts in a specific style typically seen of Afghani tribes. (How do I know? I purchased a similar one from an Afghani merchant in San Francisco.) Such pieces are one of a kind.
Find this piece on Khalama.com (link takes you to the product page)
Brass Pendant with Goddess! $370.00
Mix Beads Necklace with Brass Pendant Goddess with Lotus Flower on the back.
(description courtesy of Khalama.com)
Detail photo:
The description courtesy of Khalama.com
This necklace has a very important pendant on a dzi stones (sic) with a green(stone) goddess Green Amogasiddhi Buddha Tibetan Pendant. This Buddhist Meditation Yoga Jewelry, is hand-made in brass repousee with an inset of coral. The beads are glass, ceramic, tagua, and brass chimes.
A bit of clarification of this piece:
The stone is actually turquoise or something similar since it’s not really green. The goddess featured as they have named it and it matches the images found on Wikipedia, is a male god in meditation.
The description of Green Amogasiddhi Buddha from another site Do READ this because the description will show you the import of the necklace, the pendant and the meaning behind it as well as the description given in a certain manner!
Amoghasiddhi is the last of the Five Dhyani or Five Wisdom Tathagatas. They are believed to have originated from Vajrasattva, the Buddha of purification. Of these five, Amoghasiddhi is the buddha of the north. He is associated with energy and known as the Lord of Karma and the Buddha of unfailing accomplishment. His name literally means infallible (amogha) success (siddhi).
He holds his hands in the Abhaya, fearlessness mudra. Amoghasiddhi is the Buddha of all accomplishing wisdom. He is venerated not only for his wisdom of success but he is also known to defeat envy.
As it says in Buddhist tradition, Devadatta, a very envious cousin of Amoghasiddhi once attempted to murder the Buddha by releasing a rampaging elephant into the Buddha’s path to which Amoghasiddhi simply raised his mudra calming the beast, embodying both fearlessness and defeating envy.
He is often depicted as green and radiating green light as the color represents peace and tranquility of nature. (hence the naming of the color GREEN because it’s not about being GREEN but that he was called the GREEN God. ) The color is calming, it is soothing to anxiety. When meditated upon, Amoghasiddhi is said to help relinquish envy, calm anxiety and fear and reveal wisdom of accomplishment. Amoghasiddhi reverses the negative failing of envy into the positive wisdom of accomplishment. Envy is a positive emotion as it feeds ambition and pushes us to reach higher. However, the bitterness generated towards the target of envy is a negative emotion. When we can avert the associated bitterness and understand that the object of our envy is merely an agent leading us to greater Karma and better accomplishment, the message of Amoghasiddhi will be understood.
Amoghasiddhi wields the crossed vajra or double dorje. The consort of Amoghasiddhi is the Green Tara. She is believed to have emanated from Amoghasiddhi and like him, she is a deity of action in the Buddhist pantheon. Amoghasiddhi rides the half-man, half-eagle mix Garuda. Garuda is associated with the Himalayas of the north, sharing a direction with Amoghasiddhi. Garuda feeds on snakes and has an impeccable strength in vision to sense the serpent-like negative delusions that afflict our mortal frames.
As you can see Khalama.com has a serious interest in SE Asian jewelry. It’s based on the fact of real designs being replicated or created in the tradition of the centuries. Khalama jewelry is very reasonably priced for what it is. It looks beautiful. I have not seen it in person but I know the style of jewelry having studied the artwork of those countries and the historical references.
So you have lots of choices for unique jewelry designs that are hand-crafted and very much of an individual taste. I personally have many pieces from April Star Davis jewelry because her prices are great and they also suit my personal style. AnnaChich is an amazing line that I would love to see locally! I also think that Khalama jewelry is stunning in its attention to detail and that the jewelry represents some great artisanal work.
If you purchase anything do leave a comment here or ping me on facebook.com/lastoryblog or on twitter.com/lastory
Stevie Wilson,
LA-Story.com
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You’ve selected some gorgeous pieces Stevie! Several of them grabbed me but my favorite is the Lapis Lazuli and Silver Tribal necklace. I so want that one!
Isn’t that piece gorgeous? It’s truly amazing! I have a piece very similar to that too.