All photos by ShouroukA couple months ago, I spied a glittering necklace with sequined cherries adorning one of my classmates in my CAD for Jewelry Designers class. The design reminded me of the classic Bakelite cherry necklaces that you see on auction, or at high-end vintage jewelry shops, remade with a glimmering twist, and I had to ask my classmate where she got her necklace. You can always depend on other jewelry designers to give you the best jewelry shopping tips, and although my colleagues and I will jealously guard our sources and production methods, we will always blab about other designers who inspire us.
My classmate happily informed me that the necklace was by French designer Shourouk, and a quick look at his website revealed pieces that tickled all of my closeted and repressed princess tendencies--I almost had to surpress a squeal when I saw the bunny necklace or the snail headband. The whimsical baubles are inspired in equal part by vintage and retro glamour, a childish sense of play, and the designer's Tunisian origins. Many of the pieces mix traditional embroidery methods and sequins with hundreds of rhinestones, to create jewels that sparkle with the intensity of diamonds, while flaunting the fact that they're the antithesis of those precious gems. Who needs those conflict-ridden diamonds anyway, when these rhinestones will do the trick?
-Tiffany