jewlery

Can wood be used in fine jewelry? The answer is a resounding yes. Over the years we've seen plenty of jewelry and accessories that feature wood as an integral part of the design. When jewelry designer Andrea Rosenfeld decided to work with wood she turned to local artist Ed Kelle, a woodworker painter and sculptor. Together the two have started creating small collections of unique and organic jewelry designs.

The process starts with rough sketches of design elements incorporating the wood, Rosenfeld sends her ideas off to Kelle and the two designers bounce ideas off of each other while working on their individual components."It is important that I send him either an image of the stone or the basic color tones so he and I can pick the wood that would work best," says Rosenfeld. "From there, we discuss strength and structure based on the type of jewelry I'm designing and species of wood before individually working on our portions."

The pieces are designed around the natural movement/grain of the wood and stone. The jewelry uses reclaimed wood, recycled silver and stones harvested ethically (where available) and each have healing elements ignited by Rosenfeld, using Reiki, to release the metaphysical energies of the stones and metals. Rosenfeld balances and charges the stones and metals, increasing their ability to uplift others.

Prices start at $550 retail.The piece shown above is titled Waterfall and combines walnut wood with blue topaz, labradorite, smoked quartz, blue quartz, apatite and silver.

The hit HBO vampire series True Blood has a terrific new collection of modern goth jewelry designed by Udi Behr (right), the Chief Designer for Love Peace and Hope. We attended the launch party for the fierce new True Blood line and chatted with Behr himself about all things jewelry and vampires. Read the interview to find out why Udi Behr wants to be a vampire, and then check out the gallery of the sexy bling True Blood inspired.

Luxist: Do you like True Blood?

Udi Behr: I love True Blood! I don't do anything I don't love.

L: What's your background? Where are you from?

UB: My background is very confusing. My father is Dutch, my mother is English, and they met in Israel, so I was born and raised in Israel. I moved to New York 26 years ago on Halloween Day.

L: Perfect.

UB: My first night in New York was the Village on Halloween night.

L: How old were you?

UB: I was 23.

L: Oh my gosh, that must have been the best night of your life.

UB: Exactly -- if you ask me what happened, this is all because of that first night in New York. I blame it all on the first night in New York! I live near the village today, and I still remember what I saw 26 years ago, but I don't remember what I saw last year.

L: So your True Blood designs are based around the infinity symbol?

UB: The infinity symbol and two fangs that link into it. If you look at my line, a couple of the specific iconic shapes are teardrops of blood with rubies, I'm doing the 8, eternity, and the chains. I use either leather or stainless steel, because vampires get very damaged if they wear silver, so, just in case Louisiana vampires or Texas vampires want to buy jewelry, tada! They can!

L: So, there's no silver in the collection?

UB: The rings are silver, and the earrings are silver.

L: So the vampires should shy away from those.

UB: Yes -- but there are people who want to protect themselves from vampires, too. Not all vampires are great. But, on a serious note, it's hard to manipulate stainless steel in rings, so all the rings and earrings are silver, and all the chains are stainless steel or leather.

L: So, who's your favorite True Blood character?

UB: That's a good question. Let's see, everybody likes Eric. Everybody wants to be Eric, he's the coolest vampire. He's so cool, you know? He's not in love, he doesn't want a girlfriend, and Tara, I like Tara very much, she's a really cool girl.

L: What do you think of her boyfriend?

UB: Well, for me, he just pisses me off every time I go to the gym. It's hard for guys to compete, you know?

L: I would imagine!

UB: I want to be a vampire. That's why I'm doing this. You sleep all day and you party all night! And you live forever! Only one thing: I like to go to the beach.

You can shop for Udi Behr's hot new True Blood collection at TrueBloodJewelry.com.

She loves her inexpensive outfits from the mall, but Michelle Obama will soon be sporting something much fancier than anything you'll find at J. Crew.

A spokesman for top Italian designer Giovanni Bosco has confirmed that President-Elect Barack Obama is looking to purchase a $30,000 Harmony ring made of rhodium and encrusted with diamonds as a thank you gift to his wife Michelle. We expect the future First Lady to receive the ring in time for her husband's January inauguration ceremony. The gift is a thank you for her support throughout the last two years of campaigning.

One of the world's rarest and most precious metals, only about 25 tons of rhodium are mined each year, setting the price at over $7,660 per ounce -- or about ten times the cost of gold. The ring may be uncharacteristically extravagant for Mrs. Obama, but we're sure she'll find a way to wear it with all her usual grace and confidence.

UPDATE: Apparently, the veracity of the story is in limbo. Obama's team is flatly denying the existence of the gift, and the purported jeweler has clammed up, refusing to comment at all. Is this just an attempt to paint the soon-to-be First Couple as out-of-touch with the "common American"? Or is it just a silly rumor?

In 1906, a small jewelry store opened in the luxurious Place Vendome in Paris. Since then, Van Cleef & Arpels has been at the forefront of style and taste, providing their customers with some of the world's most glamorous jewels. Their centennial year has been quite a busy one with the redesign of the Fifth Avenue store in New York and some exciting pieces to celebrate their birthday. This year's couture collection is outstanding as usual and features some daring shapes and vibrant colors. Van Cleef & Arpels has seen many fads come and go, but they have held constant in their superb quality and eye for detail which will ensure another 100 years to come.