Charlotte Fontaine / Matt Silver

Switzerland's Charlotte Fontaine is a fontaine of gorgeous jewellery! I'm swooning over her work in enamel, resin and matte silver.

Bonus link: speaking of matte silver, Boston's Matt Silver dreamed up these corn rings as part of a conceptual pitch for GM's ethanol- awareness campaign.

Even more jewellery:

• Florian Ladstaetter | 2 (Austria) - modern & experimental


• Susan N Blake (New York) - decorated gold


• Curtis H. Arima (Berkeley, CA) - botanical necklaces


• Eva Martin (Australia) - white gold & gems


• Rudi Sand (Germany) - twisted silver

Kimberley Selwood / Liza McLaughlin / Glitter Jelly

Butterfly rings to satisfy both the visually- and verbally-inclined. Double butterfly ring by Kimberley Selwood of the UK and scriptural "butterfly" ring by Liza McLaughlin, based in Brooklyn and L.A.

Bonus link: then again, why choose between the pictures and the words? Get both in this peace ring by Japan's Glitter Jelly.

Even more jewellery:

• Becky Crow (UK) - trees & figures


• Sonja Ekman (Sweden) - modern & eclectic


• Nephilim (Australia) - Japanese etchings


• Maja Designs (California) - perforated metal


• Paper Jewels (Kansas City, MO) - paper kanji

Andrea Huppers (Galerie Rheingold) / Elisa Solomon

Would I have to take up hunting and fishing to wear these, or can I just get by in a flannel shirt? (Hello, Seattle, 1991.) For more updated seal rings and other modern pieces, visit German jeweller Andrea Huppers' Galerie Rheingold.

Bonus link: advocates of more primitive hunting methods can accessorize with this 18k arrow ring by New York's Elisa Solomon (US$220).

Even more jewellery:

• Taya Shakouri (UK) - plastic & textiles


• Safari Lee (Australia) - gold silhouettes


• Teresa Milheiro (Portugal) - teeth & claws


• Cecilia Gonzales (Florida) - circles & chains


• Sarah Healy (Brooklyn) - modern metal

Sarah King / Arata Fuchi / Madame M

White holes sure are pretty! I love these resin rings by UK jeweller Sarah King — especially the grouped pieces on the bottom, which use the ethereal quality of translucent white to lovely effect.

Below, more white(ish) rings from Japan's Arata Fuchi; the pale colour actually comes from fine silver powder.

Bonus link: French shop L'atelier de madame M has a number of white porcelain circle rings, like this one with a friendly smile (€17).

Even more jewellery:

• Ela Cindoruk (Turkey) - white doilies


• Annabelle Adie (France) - minimal ceramic


• Martha O'Brien (New York) - white & gold


• Pamela Dickinson (UK) - gold caviar


• Bodil Binner (Denmark) - black pearls

Leo Cahn / Leda Daverio

Holland's Leo Cahn creates small metal constructions, some of which happen to be rings. There's lots to explore on the website of this former film FX technician, like this mechanical fan ring (above), perfect for the weather that's been heating up here of late!

If you're like this woman and prefer to "labour" yourself, there's a manual fan ring, too (if that's not a pregnancy bump, consider me duly mortified):

Bonus link: this ring fans out but it's not meant to cool you — it's just cool, period. By Leda Daverio of Argentina's Arde Joyas collective.

Even more jewellery:

• Tarja Takalo (Finland) - textile brooches


• Anne Brunner (France) - crazy & colourful


• Laura Kranitz (Los Angeles) - bubble clusters


• Precieux (San Francisco) - organic pmc


• Sentimental Silver (Phoenix) - personalized silver

Joanna Rutter

Weekend quickie: cuteness from England's Joanna Rutter.

Good Wood / Simone Vera Bath

Bookending this week with more knuckledusters is Good Wood, out of — where else? — New York City. Rings from their '80s-infused production line (below) are US$40 each; custom work (samples above) also available.

Bonus link: did someone say New York City? (Oh wait, that was me.) Italian Simone Vera Bath's "Citta" ring comes with interchangeable city tops, including NYC (pictured, with out-of-place Statue of Liberty).

Even more jewellery:

• Pebeta Teta (Argentina) - black silhouettes


• Jette Vogt (Denmark) - porcelain brooches


• Sarah Burnham (UK) - bubbles & flowers


• Sarah Abaza (Egypt) - Egyptian symbols


• Studio Mod (Athens, GA) - glass & silver

Marie Borgen / Filomeno de Sousa

Ahh, smell that air! Spring is in full force, which means the rings you planted last fall should be sprouting nicely now.

Adorable and anything but garden-variety, these silver and acrylic rings were grown by Danish jeweller Marie Borgen.

Bonus link: Portugal's Filomeno de Sousa goes beyond mere seedlings in his plant rings, using grapes (pictured) and even topiary shrubs.

Even more jewellery:

• Tina Marie Bentsen (Denmark) - bold porcelain


• Kaipaus (Finland) - scented jewellery


• Karen Karch (New York) - modern classics


• Gingerly Designs (Vancouver) - modern agate


• Leanna Lin (Los Angeles) - kitchy beads

Atipika / Mio Studio / Diane Falkenhagen

From shag to Peruvian, Chile's Atipika has all your rugged ring needs covered.

Or, if your taste runs more toward hardwood, there's Lancaster, PA's Mio Studio with their modern pieces in wood and silver.

Bonus link: coordinate with this cushion-like "upholstery" ring by Texas jeweller Diane Falkenhagen (actually made of non-cushy Corian plastic).

Even more jewellery:

• John Ferdinand (Hong Kong) - silver & ebony


• Manon Gignoux (Paris) - fabric necklaces


• Heather Perry (Maine) - organic silver


• AVEDesign (Netherlands) - bead clusters


• Agnete Dinesen (Denmark) - large stones

Michael Dale Bernard / LittleGun

For those of you not fluent in English, these pictures of a pistol and pistil might help translate this ring for you. No matter what language you're most comfortable with, you'll want to see the rest of L.A. artist Michael Dale Bernard's wild, aggressive jewellery.

Bonus link: LittleGun.be is all about little guns (no surprise there) but one of them is an antique miniature pistol ring that even comes with a bullet!

Even more jewellery:

• Claudia A. Designs (Santa Barbara, CA) - geometric silver


• Allira Tee (Australia) - cute brooches


• Günter Wermekes (Germany) - stainless steel


• Flauxy (Massachusetts) - bright beads


• Robert Lee Morris (New York) - shiny & organic

Chrissy Angliker / Mali Silverwear

Because sometimes, you need to engage in hand-to-fin combat with a trout: fishing knuckles by Swiss designer Chrissy Angliker.

Bonus link: check out Japan's Mali Silverwear for jewellery with both Arabian and Asian influences, like this "fish play" ring in Chinese characters.

Even more jewellery:

• Beth Lauren (New York) - quartz & silk


• Beaufort (Netherlands) - clean metal


• Elisa Paiva (Brazil) - silver & agate


• Dominic Design (Vancouver) - wood & gold


• Atelier Zobel (Germany) - contemporary metal

Martina Christoffel / Marina Callis / Hubert Verstraeten

Pleats-a-plenty! Is this transparent foil piece by Switzerland's Martina Christoffel a ring or a time portal? I'd like to try it on but I'm afraid my finger will end up somewhere in October 2027.

Below: more pleats, more colour from Argentina's Marina Callis, who employs several different folding techniques to create these textile colour bundles.

Bonus link: you don't have to be Superman to bend steel — Belgium's Hubert Verstraeten does it with style in his pleated stainless steel rings.

Even more jewellery:

• Andrea Janosik (Brooklyn) - pleated fabric


• Kathryn Lindop (UK) - modern silver


• PInc (Singapore) - vintage style


• Danielle O'Connor (Thamesford, ON) - beads & metal


• Zeger van der Voet (Netherlands) - latex masks

Gandolfi / Ease Design

Spain's Gandolfi has got my blood pumping with their sleek pairings of resin and silver. They also have a number of rings that look more suited to gas pumping, like this intricate motor ring:

Bonus link: for more auto-themed pieces, check out Japan's Ease Design; pictured are the "knuckle car" and "signal" rings.

Even more jewellery:

• Refinding (Kansas City, KS) - tires & typewriters


• Thomas Eurlings (Netherlands) - silver keys


• Tarbay (Venezuela) - gold wire


• Malcolm Betts (London) - matte & sparkly


• May Yeung Designs (Los Angeles) - contemporary pearls

Uta Knoop / Sigurd Persson

Gross: Starbust candy. Not gross: starburst rings! Pictured above are delicate nylon and gemstone starbursts from Germany's Uta Knoop. Also pictured, in black and white, are silver starburst rings from the 1960s by late, great Swedish silversmith Sigurd Persson (here's a direct link to the rings).

Bonus link: I'm breaking my own "link only to designers' personal websites" rule for the second time in two weeks but how could I resist this Starburst candy wrapper ring? By CandyCalamity, US$9.

Even more jewellery:

• Mathias Bengtsson (London) - magnets & animals


• TriHand (Slovakia) - clear PVC


• Made By Me (Sweden) - briolette basics


• Lisa Leonard (California) - stamped silver


• Christine Pyman (Australia) - flying figures

Peter Skubic / Tineke Van der Eecken

And you thought I was joking yesterday about keeping your rings neat and tidy. Wild wire rings by Austria's Peter Skubic, originally from Yugoslavia (now Serbia).

Bonus link: for a more controlled tangle of wires, see Belgium's Tineke Van der Eecken, who's also travelled the world in her work as as social scientist.

Even more jewellery:

• Yolanda Döpp (Netherlands) - circles & loops


• Franziska Rappold (Germany) - pods & waves


• Rich Rocks NYC (New York) - pavé & rose gold


• Simma Chester (California) - metal & semiprecious


• Lotta Djossou (Sweden) - silver & pearls

First Floor Items (Floor Spigt) / Manuel Charpenet

This is one plastic retail tag you don't want to cut off. Dutch designer Floor Spigt of First Floor Items turns a throwaway item into a system for keeping your stackable rings in a neat, ordered pile.

Bonus link: here's another way to wear your clothing tag on your finger, from French jeweller Manuel Charpenet.

Even more jewellery:

• Kevin Hughes (Providence, RI) - blood & silver


• Hanne Bay Lührssen (DK/DE) - lacquer & plastic


• Billy Would (Vancouver) - reclaimed wood


• Malin Lindmark Vrijman (Sweden) - art necklaces


• Erosion Jewelry (Florida) - silver & sea glass

Julis Jacobs / Pilz Schmuck

Julis Jacobs is from the future!

Okay, so it's 1982's version of the future, but still!

The first set of rings, all circuits and wires and plastic, is from the Dutch artist's "Have You Updated Your Body Yet?" series, which plays on the idea of pacemakers and artificial knees as signs of "men becoming cyborgs" (cyborgs that won't be running any marathons, I presume.) Also pictured above are digital number rings from "Your Numerical Code." Visit his site for tons more, like his "Re-membe-ring" collection of rings (and other sentimental items) embedded in larger rings, and pieces like these, below:

Bonus link: for more bits of circuitry for your fingers, see Hong Kong's Pilz Schmuck (under "Wearable Objects").

Even more jewellery:

• Lauren Wolf (New York) - black & gold


• Dick & Dora (Australia) - acrylic animals


• Heike Elfrink (Germany) - silver pods


• Kyja (Florida) - beads & gems


• Aiko Designs (San Francisco) - circles & briolettes

Melanie Favreau / Steven Trussell

Well, if the end is near, might as well accessorize for the occasion. I'm a big fan (and customer!) of Montreal's Melanie Favreau, who designed this end-of-the-world "Kaboom! Kaboom!" ring set (US$95 for both, shipping included). Check her shop for more pieces in that fun, distinctive style, including more rings in silver (samples below) and solid resin (not pictured).

Bonus link: if bombs aren't your style, L.A.'s Steven Trussell offers "Eight Million Ways to Die" for many more options. They're mostly all charms but the charms do include a ring and this bejeweled hand.

Even more jewellery:

• Holly Rittenhouse (Los Angeles) - mod silver


• Yoshiko Creations Paris (Japan) - drama & fantasy


• Mamita Linda (Spain) - fish scales


• Florian Wagner (Austria) - gold & gems


• Kathrine Lindman (Norway) - bead clusters

Ana Margarida Carvalho / Fifi la Ferraille

"A door without a knob is a wall." That's the premise behind this "gripping" (sorry) collection from Portugal's Ana Margarida Carvalho, whose colourful rings and pins consist of silver, nylon and rubber. Wear one and prevent a door today!

Bonus link: find plenty of more knob and faucets at France's Fifi la Ferraille, where browsing the collection is like rifling through a junk drawer (in a fun way).

Even more jewellery:

• Stone Soup Jewelry (Littleton, MA) - silver blossoms


• Uli Rapp (Netherlands) - textile jewels


• Susan Hanover (Long Island) - hoops & stones


• Catherine Mannheim (London) - gold & gems


• Bico (Australia) - men's pendants

Takehide Ozaki / Laura De Monchy

Aluminum cans in clear plastic rings? I can't be sure what inspired Japan's Takehide Ozaki but I can only see it as an ingenious take on the common six-pack. Visit his site for more creations, like the bullet skull rings (samples below) and cigarette necklace.

Bonus link: for another aluminum tab ring, see Laura De Monchy, a Dutch artist who does a lot of work with plastic jugs (as in water, not Pamela Anderson).

Even more jewellery:

• Henken Bean (Baltimore) - mathematical equations


• Smitten Kitten (Toronto) - young & playful


• Sylvia Blickman (Netherlands) - aluminum brooches


• Mirri Damer (UK) - silver clusters


• Katja Querfeld (Germany) - pearls & marbles