Marina Massone / Margarita Marcone

Argentina's Marina Massone manipulates metal in a multitude of manners.

Bonus link: silver and ebony rings by Margarita Marcone, who also hails from Argentina. The two should get together and go bulk shopping for monogrammed towels.

Even more jewellery:

• Maria Medici (Argentina) - contemporary metal


• Emma Bracefield (Vancouver) - simple & modern


• Gintare (California) - pretty crosses


• Ana Verdun (UK) - silver & gold


• Helga Mogensen (Iceland) - fish & driftwood

Vicolo Pagliacorta / Third Project

Have you heard about the Eggo Waffle shortage? This fascinates me. Not the shortage — I don't eat them — but the article itself (written by anonymous "Staff," so I don't feel too guilty), from the apostrophes in "Eggos" (once extraneous, once missing) to the misspelling of the Kellogg's brand name to the enlightening line, "You stick them in the toaster, then pour syrup on them (some people also add butter)." And then there's the small matter of the headline, in which it is suggested that people "Lego" their Eggos. Lego? Leggo is the neologism which plays on the double-G in "Eggo." Lego is what Italy's Vicolo Pagliacorta uses to make these playful rings.

They also make Italian-flavoured keyboard rings.

Bonus link: if your experience with playing bricks is more digital than analog, you might appreciate this Tetris ring from Massachusetts' Third Project (Juno Elysium).

Even more jewellery:

• Maria Haralambidou (UK) - playful necklaces


• Simone Richmond (Vancouver) - texturized silver


• Timothy McMahon (New York) - bubbles & medals


• Objet Trouvé (France) - chains & charms


• Wingo Designs (South Carolina) - enamel pendants

Little Rooms (Ester Delug) / Elisa Bongfeldt / Rita Franze

For serious city folk only: show your love of gridlock with this double-finger bridge ring! Find it at Little Rooms, where Los Angeles designer Ester Delug displays an interesting mix of urban and Victorian styles (with an emphasis on keyholes).

Maybe you translate "urban" and "style" as "guns" and "pearls." California jeweller Elisa Bongfeldt's industrial rings look like weapons loaded... with cultured finery.

Bonus link: if guns with bullets are out of your comfort zone, Germany's Rita Franze has rings that look more like discs from cap guns (she also has earrings made from real red plastic cap discs).

Even more jewellery:

• Astali (New York) - clustered bullets


• Tonia Welter (Germany) - USB jewellery


• Becca Williams (UK) - houses & clouds


• Adrienne Grafton (Pennsylvania) - enamel & copper


• Impish Betty (Japan) - dainty gold

Lisa Juen / Roberto Coin

A little hump-day reverie courtesy of Lisa Juen, a German jeweller currently living in China. Her "Reality & Fantasy" series, created with silk floss and enamel on steel, offers an escape from the modern world via a "self-created realm of fantasy."

Bonus link: Italian jeweller Roberto Coin creates a fantasy world of his own, with luxe, gem-encrusted lizards and other creatures that spiral around your wrist or finger.

Even more jewellery:

• Deganit Stern Schocken (Israel) - sculptural art


• Elisabeth Heijnen (Netherlands) - organic enamel


• Louise O'Neill (UK) - modern classics


• Jemma Wynne (New York) - bold & glam


• Roulette 18 (Chicago) - Bali silver

Maureen Duffy / Pearls Before Swine (Nikki Majajas)

Yesterday, you got fingers and hands. Today, you get the whole dang arm... and plenty of 'em! If you need some extra help around the holidays, you may want to look into the "Can I Lend a Hand?" rings made of silver and dollparts by Philadelphia's Maureen Duffy. Check out her site for oversized urban pieces, as well as a terrifying bird-head ring (even if it is a fake bird).

Bonus link:
Shiny gold hands from the "gold digger" series by Pearls Before Swine (Australian jeweller Nikki Majajas).

Even more jewellery:

• Barbie Rocks (Beverly Hills) - Barbie silhouettes


• Daniel Nagels (New Zealand) - potatochips & pyramids


• Folia Jewels (North Carolina) - simple silver


• Verdeagua Alhajas (Spain) - gems & pearls


• Poya by Rachel Balfour (UK) - birds & charms

Fien de Graaf / Spoilt Victorian Child

Not what you'd expect from this blog: a finger without a ring. Since it's a holiday for many of you today, let's take a brief holiday from the rings as well and turn instead to Dutch artist Fien de Graaf, who casts body parts in porcelain plaster to create anatomical jewellery (pictured above is a cast finger).

Bonus link:
What you do expect from this blog: a finger (or five) on a ring. Hand ring by Spoilt Victorian Child of Austin, Texas.

Even more jewellery:

• Gold & Citrus (San Francisco) - body chains


• Etten Eller (New York) - modern gold


• Justine Brooks (Vancouver) - organic silver


• Lis Toft (UK) - glazed ceramic


• Jesse Taylor (New Zealand/Japan) - simple metal

Cheyenne Weil / Pade Vavra

Behold the "fluffy cocktail ring" with peacock down by Cheyenne Weil. And if you need a real cocktail to celebrate this weekend, you're doubly in luck — the Oregon artist serves up a cocktail recipe with each of her cocktail rings (this one comes with instructions for a ginger lemon drop). Cheers!

Bonus link: here's another cocktail ring made of (pea)cocktail feathers. From the PADE collection of Los Angeles jeweller Pade Vavra.

Even more jewellery:

• AH Jewelry (Virginia) - peacock feathers


• Liz Hancock (UK) - gold on silver


• LULU (Chicago) - vintage style


• Susanna Galanis (New York) - link necklaces


• Frauke Stadtmann (Germany) - contemporary metal

Triian Burbank / Saretta

Absolutely rockin'. Miami's Triian Burbank (sculptors Trisha Brookbank and Brian Burkhardt) create "modern era gems" that may look like rocks but are actually created from synthetic materials, which they sand, polish and top with Swarovski crystals. Did I file this under "favourites"? Yes. Yes, I did.

Bonus link: if it's space rocks you're after, check out London's Saretta (Sarah Bond) for the "Meteorites" collection. Rings available in various combinations of gold and silver.

Even more jewellery:

• Kelly Cimber (Miami) - agate geodes


• Jessica Winzelberg (San Francisco) - stone pendants


• Rosemary Lucas (UK) - silver moons


• Emilie Loyauté (Paris) - simple gold


• Formia Design (Virginia) - contemporary metal

Caroline Swolfs / Lost at Sea

I still have rain on the mind — but not because of the weather. It's because of Belgian jeweller Caroline Swolfs, who created her entire collection while constraining herself to a single, simple shape: "The Drop."

Bonus link:
Skip the rain and get right to the source with this adorable cloud silhouette ring in solid wood. By England's Lost at Sea.

Even more jewellery:

• Tamara Comolli (Germany) - pavé teardrops


• Tamba Designs (New Jersey) - organic & oxidized


• Fleur Goedendorp (Netherlands) - artful neckpieces


• Rebekka Notkin (Denmark) - clean gold


• Fluidity Design (UK) - simple silver

Karine Rodrigue / Alexandra Simpson

Vancouver had a great summer and early fall but, in the past week, we've been drenched with reminders that we do in fact live in a rain forest. But that's ok because, without rain, we'd have no forests — and without forests, there'd be no inspiration for woodsy jewellery like these "Raw" rings by Karine Rodrigue (who lives way on the other side of the country in Québec).

Above, her "Jardinière multicéphale" ring with interchangeable botanical tops. See more on her blog, Naphtalene Fabrik.

Bonus link:
Here's another sylvan piece: solid sterling pinecone ring from the "Cone" series by UK jeweller Alexandra Simpson.

Even more jewellery:

• Hidemi Asano (UK) - bamboo & branches


• Scosha NYC (New York) - modern metal


• Colleen Mauer (San Francisco) - simple & organic


• Teresa Estapé (Spain) - art necklaces


• Felicia Liban (Florida) - cloisonné enamel

Sarah Rhodes / Phioro (Clare Victoria Pardoe)

Last week, we saw red with silver — let's do it again, but this time with bronze! UK jeweller Sarah Rhodes entwines bronze, enamelled wire and a touch of ostrich egg for a pleasing balance of metal and colour.

Bonus link:
This piece may not use real eggshell but it was inspired by one. Ring by Phioro, aka UK metalsmith Clare Victoria Pardoe.

Even more jewellery:

• Enchanted Hen (New Mexico) - decorated eggshells


• Le blob (Brazil) - fluid silver


• Judith Bloedjes (Netherlands) - modern porcelain


• iWear (Florida) - nuts & diamonds


• Minimal Marzipan (UK) - copper & bronze

Laura King (Dixie Darling) / Tegan Ford

If you were told to think flowers, felt and enamel, you'd probably picture a burst of colour. Seattle's Laura King, however, takes the opposite approach, creating rings in restrained white with just tiny spots of yellow. It's the shapes that are bursting instead. See more on her site, Dixie Darling.

Bonus link:
Here's a colourful felt ring from New York fiber artist Tegan Ford, in the form of a double-finger pin cushion!

Even more jewellery:

• Moufelt (Oregon) - cheerful felt


• Liana Pattihis (UK) - coral enamel


• Stephanie Tomczak (Seattle) - organic copper


• Kelleigh Carlyle (Tennessee) - chains & briolettes


• Papier Colle (Pennsylvania) - colourful paper

Rachel Llewellyn / Meow Box

Mug trees! On rings! Mug trees on rings! These cups runneth over with cute. For miniature saucepans, ladels and most everything short of the kitchen sink, visit UK jeweller Rachel Llewellyn. Below, her "biscuit barrel" ring with tiny silver cookies.

Bonus link:
For rings with a higher calorie count (like this cookie topped with whipped cream), check out UK shop Meow Box and their miniature non-edible edibles.

Even more jewellery:

• The Automatic Crystal (UK) - porcelain peanuts


• Liesbet Bussche (Netherlands) - jewellery installations


• Lillot (New York) - metal & thread


• Linda Blair (New Zealand) - distressed silver


• Gaffelkonst by Bo Ekström (Sweden) - forks & spoons

Jia Style / Emily Hartley

Silk, pearls, pink and red — but not suffocatingly feminine. Paris design duo Jia Style combines those elements in just the right proportions, keeping things fresh and modern.

Bonus link:
For another take on silk, see UK jeweller Emily Hartley. Her work features silver petals lined with printed silk inserts.

Even more jewellery:

• Uncommon Threads (Missouri) - contemporary metal


• Gian Luca Bartellone (Italy) - gems & textiles


• Miranda Lark Maher (New Jersey) - mixed materials


• Gold Fusion - Gareth Barrow (UK) - enamel & keumboo


• Inger Margrethe Larsen (Denmark) - red & silver

haoshi design studio / Hudesa Kaganow

Have you started your holiday shopping? Remember: rings make great gifts :)

They also make great pets. Plastic and metal rings from the "Animal" series by Taiwan's haoshi design studio.

Bonus link:
Do you like your animals less... dimensional? Check out this adorable flat cat ring from Italy's Hudesa Kaganow.

Even more jewellery:

• Saba by Geraldine Murphy (Ireland) - silver animals


• Gular Mustafa (Netherlands) - coral & clay


• Emma Fielden (Australia) - modern metal


• Melissa Kandiyoti (Belgium) - deco style


• Elizabeth Anne Norris (UK) - simple shapes

Eszter Máté / Tyes by Tara

Brown paper packages tied up with string? That's nice, Maria, but these are a few of my favourite things. Fabulous string rings by UK-based Hungarian jeweller Eszter Máté. Lots more on her site, including spiraling acrylic and colourful pompoms.

Bonus link:
How 'bout being "tyed" up with a bow instead? Colorado's Tyes by Tara is all about neckties and bowties, including ones for your fingers.

Even more jewellery:

• Noshii (Texas) - string & wood


• Dotty K. (UK) - pearls & bows


• Andrea Quast (Germany) - metal & gems


• My Friend Roze (California) - organic silver


• Makri (Greece) - colourful pavé

Allan Scharff / Sophie Vuldy

Pool, billiards, snooker — no matter what you call it, I suck at it. I'd be perfectly fine with all the world's pool balls being carved into jewellery, especially if the results are as great as these sculptural "Snooker" rings by Danish jeweller Allan Scharff.

He also has several collections of gorgeous metalwork, like these "Ricefields" rings, above. While you're visiting, make sure to check out the "Buddyguards" series for some playful gem settings!

Bonus link:
Here's another set of stacking, undulating bands in multi-tone metal. "Eye of the Deer" rings by French jeweller Sophie Vuldy.

Even more jewellery:

• Jennier Wells (North Carolina) - steel balls


• Bijoudally (Washington State) - lasercut leather


• Broken English (Vancouver) - charm necklaces


• Hannah Stamper (UK) - contemporary metal


• Matthieu Cheminée (Montreal) - textures & gems

Allyson Bone / Satoshi Dáte

Like one of my favourite indulgences, salted caramel, these rings are all about contrast. Decorating the pierced black metal is—did you notice?—a motif of what is normally white and fluffy: bunnies!

Above: more bunnies (and carrots and hearts), this time in wood and polymer clay. All rings above by New York's Allyson Bone.

Bonus link:
Speaking of white and fluffy, here's a white and fluffy felt ring by London-based Japanese fashion designer Satoshi Dáte.

Even more jewellery:

• Lisa Walker (Germany) - eclectic & playful


• Sussanne Thalmaier (Austria) - flowers on felt


• Juila Failey (Chicago) - wings & thorns


• Nancy Rose (UK) - simple silver


• Björn Weckström (Finland) - contemporary metal