Dara Dubi­net, Yel­low Beryl breast plate

Things have been a lit­tle rough around here, hence my recent attrac­tion for Dara Dubinet’s raw stone designs. Accord­ing to her press, she has stud­ied the art of Feng Shui at the Black Hat Tibet­ian School where she learned the restora­tive power of gem­stones. Which ones cure a head cold? Would love to know.

What I like best about Dubinet’s work is how she mixes the clean lines of the Mod­ernist approach with an organic exu­ber­ance drawn from the 1960s. If I were pitch­ing her jew­elry, Hol­ly­wood style, I’d describe it as Andrew-Grima-Goes-To-Scandinavia. You can view her col­lec­tions here.

On another note: Con­grat­u­la­tion to Bar­bara Hein­rich Stu­dio! The designer just won the pres­ti­gious 2009 Cou­ture Design Awards in Las Vegas for Best of Gold. I’ve long admired Heinrich’s pris­tine and well-crafted pieces. Her rich tex­tures and slen­der sil­hou­ettes exhibit a warmth that retains its buoy­ancy and never appears overworked.

A brief part II of this thread is con­tin­ued on The Jew­elry Stylist…