Among the million of advantages the internet has brought its users, online shopping tops this list; from the comfort of our homes and offices, we can go online and purchase whatever item we fancy and have them delivered to our doorsteps without having to move an inch. Now, while the most popular online retailers are clothes merchants, a handful of jewelry retailers have joined this trend of trading solely via the internet and a few of these online shops with great selections of jewelry at great prices are featured below!
SWOONERY: ART DECO TO AVANT GARDE
Swoonery is not only a slick online showcase for exciting contemporary jewellers – it is also kitted out with algorithms that enable personalised shopping, offering visitors pieces that directly suit their tastes and needs, then delivering them within 48 hours.
Founder Jean Z Poh and her team work with more than 70 designers, from familiar names such as Jade Jagger and Sabine Getty, to more up-and-coming talents – Bangkok-based Kavant & Sharart’s Geo-Art Oto earrings ($5,900) have a sci-fi meets art deco edge. Poh has even included seven-figure jewels in her offering – namely the $3m Amarante bangle by Neha Dani, a floral-themed masterpiece bursting with more than 12,000 pink and purplish-pink diamonds that took some 2,000 hours to create.
MODERN MOGHUL: ARCHITECTURAL AND ORGANIC
At first glance, the colourful designs of Modern Moghul jewellery don’t scream “architecture”. But the line is designed by an architect, Texas-based Bibiana “Biby” Dykema, who started the brand as a side project and saw it flourish into a full-on business selling bold and bright fine jewellery made in India. Two of the site’s real showstoppers are the Akar bracelet ($15,000) set with over 35 carats of rubies and diamonds, where each and every stone is handset in a harlequin pattern, and the crescent-shaped Vishaka necklace ($5,800), set with dozens of different-shaped blue sapphires. These are not jewels for the shy or retiring.
JULIEN RIAD SAHYOUN: ON THE WILD SIDE
With influences ranging from digging up treasures in the Saharan wilderness to learning the art of jewellery-making in New York, Julien Riad Sahyoun’s work combines the organic and the off-beat. Mixing his Moroccan heritage with his more recent urban experiences, he produces both fabulous bespoke gems and a tempting line of ready-to-wear pieces, all crafted in 18ct gold and available to buy online.
Nature is a core theme, as seen in the subversive, molten-rock-like Just Rebel Star collection, where the undulating yet edgy black-gold Touch Me ring (£4,900) is punctuated with black and yellow diamonds, while a similar piece, the Follow Me ring (£5,200), is available in brighter materials such as rose gold with white diamonds. The Just Revolution Skin range recalls exotic leathers, with pendants, rings, necklaces and bracelets handcrafted in bold, layered combinations of hammered, textured gold.
Its black- and rose-gold bracelet (£10,000) studded with black diamonds makes a dazzling statement. The Just Radiant Sun collection reveals a more romantic side to the designer, with floral motifs carved from mother-of-pearl and set in diamond-studded rose gold as a pendant necklace (£3,700) or drop earrings (£16,000).
LUISA ROSAS: NATURE’S FINEST
Trained architect Luísa Rosas, a fifth-generation member of the Rosas goldsmithing family from Porto, is making waves with her fascinatingly fluid gold interpretations of nature. Her delightful debut collection, Be, set the tone with organic forms inspired by cellular structures, building up layers of yellow-gold and diamond-decorated “cells” into alluringly textured rings (from £987) and earrings (from £907).
Her Skin range (from £1,148), too, explores texture; a sleek reversible pendant necklace (£5,242) and earrings (£4,120) undulate with overlapping gold sections that are polished and shiny on one side, satin and rough on the other. Essences are a striking series of five rings reinterpreting different textures found in nature: while Stone (£1,993) and Water (£2,127) are bold and chunky, Leaf (£1,593) is so fragile you can imagine it blowing in the wind. But it’s the Tribe collection that really brought her name to the fore. Also based on leaves – their density, veins, and overlapping layers – these designs are inspired by the Portuguese tradition of filigree in structural yet stunningly light shapes. The collar necklace (£10,413) is a triumph.
GEMS AND LADDERS: WEARABLE ART
This is not your regular e-gallery. It displays works by world-famous names such as Turner Prize-winning Scottish sculptor Martin Boyce, as well as rising stars like Swiss artist Claudia Comte, but with one crucial difference: they are meant to be worn. Founded by Swiss art collector Thomas W Bechtler and supporter Alexander Pertot in 2014, the site showcases exclusive, limited edition jewellery by contemporary artists. Bechtler gives them total creative freedom, letting them collaborate with skilled jewellers and craftspeople to make their vision a wearable reality. Comte, for instance, is best known for site-specific installations featuring sculptural forms alongside graphic, abstract wall paintings.
Her interest in the results that emerge from the slight movement of a small number of variables is demonstrated in her bold CC, The Necklace (SFr11,000, about £8,113), which consists of two semicircular discs of polished mammoth bone that can be set in 16 different configurations. Also inspired by architecture and design are American artist Carol Bove’s blackened aluminium and silver earrings (Untitled, about £4,794), which recreate the light fittings that hang outside the David H Koch Theater in New York.