Millicent Russell / de Grisogono

This is my last post of this week, as I'm going on a short trip — that is, if I can pry my eyes away from these pretty, pretty rings by Australia's Millicent Russell. Made from vintage lucite, bakelite and celluloid, they are, quite cruelly, one-of-a-kind.

Bonus link: voluptuous gold ring from the "Browny Brown" collection by Swiss jeweller and watchmaker de Grisogono.

Even more jewellery:

• Simon MacEwan (Australia) - incredible brooches


• Kelly Johnston (Seattle) - bright beads


• Bettina Speckner (Germany) - art jewellery


• Amy Kahn (Denver) - simple silver & gold


• Lauren Elgee (Vancouver, BC) - illustration earrings


• Laidback Lux (Long Beach, CA) - semiprecious pretties


• Thea Izzi (Oakland, CA) - contemporary silver & gold


• Mingle Design (Austin) - organic ovals


• Sarah Thirlwell (Manchester) - acrylic & wood


• Rebecca Overmann (San Francisco) - simple & elegant


• Yasuko Azuma (New York) - delicate gold

Anthias / Stuart Breidenstein

These pieces look more like tentacles than rings, multiplying and taking over your fingers until you feel like Ellen Ripley. They're from Italy's Anthias, a collaboration between Milan native Monica Castiglioni (who designed these rings) and Tokyo-born Natsuko Toyofuku.

Bonus link: resin ring handmade (without molds) by California musician and jeweller Stuart Breidenstein.

Even more jewellery:

• June Hunter (Vancouver, BC) - photos on clay


• Arika C (Emeryville, CA) - modern, gold chainmail


• Garnish by Kara Hamilton (Brooklyn) - raw stones


• T. Cyia (Los Angeles) - pearls & skulls


• Fiona Cameron (UK) - beautiful enamel

John S. Brana / Sally Wakelin

Pearls always remind me of that game every parent of the '80s regrets buying for their kids: Hungry Hungry Hippos (if you've never seen this toy in action, note how you never actually hear it being played in the commercial). The one above, though? Reminds me more of Pacman. Rings by San Francisco's John S. Brana, who I'm pretty sure was not inspired by Hasbro.

Bonus link: puffed rings in high-polish silver and geometric shapes by British jeweller Sally Wakelin.

Even more jewellery:

• BtheNV Designs (Barrington, RI) - laminated paper


• Prismera (New York) - lasercut beauties


• Therese Samuelsson (Sweden) - silver strips


• Rebecca S. Scott (Somerville, MA) - organic silver & quartz


• Isabella Hart (UK) - corrugated silver

Akiko Tamai / Sarah McGuire

Do I still like saying "doilies"? Yes. Yes, I do. Lace ring by Japan's Akiko Tamai, ¥1,050, available in the grandmotherly shades of black, white and grey.

Bonus link: elephant hide sleeve ring in texturized sterling with satin finish ($198), by Sarah McGuire, a Chicago-based metalsmith and designer.

Even more jewellery:

• kgearthings (Portland, OR) - fresh, minimal earrings


• Jane Kenney (UK) - links & bows


• Ruth Avra (Miami) - beads & silver


• Devon Leigh (Los Angeles) - metal & stone adornments


• David Aubrey (New York) - pretty & ornate

SIM / Capola

I've been sitting for a long time composing just the right words to describe these rings. So far, I've come up with: Eeeeeeeeee! I love them!!!!!!!!! These "combi rings" consist of colourful acrylic layers sandwiched between two sterling rings; you can customize your own design by choosing whatever colours you like and as many layers as you'd like. By German jewellery company SIM.

Bonus link: happy enamel polkadots on a large silver ring, at Japanese webshop Capola (¥9,800). Other enamel patterns also available.

Even more jewellery:

• Sans Couture (Chicago) - handmade & recycled


• Traci Moyo (Los Angeles) - cool & chic


• Kicca (Japan) - needlepoint charms

Jaimie MacDonald / Julia Turner

Film photography is not dead! That means those plastic film cannisters live on, too. And in the hands of UK artist Jaimie MacDonald, they're reincarnated as these striking "wave goodbye" rings.

Bonus link: oxidized silver "triad" ring by San Francisco jeweller Julia Turner (don't miss her array of carved wooden brooches).

Even more jewellery:

• Angie Boothroyd (London) - contemporary gold


• Natalia Fabia (Burbank, CA) - mirrored acrylic


• Ruudt Peters (Netherlands) - polyester brooches

Niina Mahlberg / Stella Chrysostomou

Thank you, sweet web, so worldly and so wide, for bringing me the work of Finnish glass designer Niina Mahlberg. I owe you one.

Bonus link: arcing wireframe ring from the cryptic website of New Zealand-based Stella Chrysostomou. You can find the rings on this page.

Even more jewellery:

• Candace Ang (Vancouver, BC) - cool keys & cameos


• Odette (New York) - matte, texturized silver


• Powerhaus (Montreal) - fashion statements (I own one of their pendants; my tree wears it)

Ruth Gordon / cinelli & maillet

Look at UK jeweller Ruth Gordon's "inspiration" page and you'll see pictures of candy and cupcakes. Which is apt, because these rings make me want to eat candy and cupcakes. (Still searching for rings that will inspire me to eat wheatgerm.) These cheerful pieces of silver and enamel are £56 each.

Bonus link: rings by Toronto's Lisa Cinelli and Jean-Sebastien Maillet of cinelli & maillet.

Even more jewellery:

• Fountainhead (San Francisco) - hardy silver


• Ruth Allen (Australia) - glass amulets


• Beth Sutton (Cleveland, OH) - modern silver

Clara Francis / January Glass

Is London's Clara Francis some kind of ten-pin beer league champion? Because I am bowled over by her gorgeous beadwork and soothing, muted tones.

Bonus link: ring by Rhode Island glass artist Caitlin D. Johnston of January Glass; check out her collection of simple, frosted pastel pieces.

Even more jewellery:

• Karen Gilbert (Healdsburg, CA) - pyrex clusters


• Hoolala (UK) - playful charms


• Becky Lee (Brooklyn) - colourful wooden beads

Coretta van Wijk / non-ring links

We've got links! And I don't just mean this silver link ring by Dutch jeweller Coretta van Wijk!

Too often, I'd come across a fantastic designer who didn't make rings (or whose rings were not the highlight of the collection), so s/he'd get bookmarked but not posted here. Well, you know what? This is jewellery, not beer — no need to limit myself. Starting now, I'll be unloading some non-ring-specific links. Rings still rule, of course, but there's also:

• Donna Keay (Scotland) - a favourite, clean & minimal


• Filou Designs (Vancouver, BC) - awesome silver pendants


• Sabrina Dehoff (Berlin) - playful & imaginative


• Baharal · Gnida (New York) - artistic silver


• Haute Hardware (Dallas, TX) - briolettes


• Mizo (Japan) - colourful felt


• Astrid Björk (Stockholm) - silver & quartz


• Franziska Rappold (Germany) - modern silversmith


• Tanya Monique (Seattle, WA) - fun enamel


• Janet Mavec (New York) - 3D gold birds


• Suzanne Myers (Nashville, TN) - modern silver & beads


• Tjallamalla (Sweden) - accessories webshop


• Gail Klevan (UK) - patterned acrylic


• Natacha Matic (Paris) - cute porcelain


• Mark Poulin (Oakland, CA) - colourful pendants


• Andrea Savar (Seattle, WA) - beaded jewellery

There's a sweet sixteen to get started.

Paula Lindblom / Jara Design

And sometimes, porcelain sends me running back to glass. That's meant as no offense to Sweden's Paula Lindblom, the artist behind these disconcerting porcelian "meat rings," as her varied portfolio is evidence of her talents.

Bonus link: going back to porcelain of the white variety... Jara Design of the Czech Republic adds a touch of graphic design to their porcelain tops on silver bands.

Dror Benshetrit / Fragolab

I'm devoted to my beloved glass but sometimes I just want to abandon it all and run away with porcelain! These one-of-a-kind "urban cast-away" rings (US$300-480) by New York's Dror Benshetrit were created by dipping second-hand fur into porcelain, then shaping and firing them.

Bonus link: cute and colourful striped resin cube ring by Italy's Fragolab.

Hannah Simpson / Yvonne Gilhooly

Your fingers are mad at you. You put them on gardening duty all day Sunday and then? Your green thumbs get all the credit. Make nice by treating them to one of these botanical creations from Edinburgh jeweller Hannah Simpson. Pictured are the "fern ring" (left), white metal with yellow metal fern, and the "tree ring," oxidized metal leaves on white metal with corrugated perspex.

Bonus link: double-headed "daba" flower ring from the UK's Yvonne Gilhooly.

Jacqui Toher / April Neate

I know you think these contraptions look like wind-powered toys, handmade in a sleepy sea-side town by an old man who lives in a wooden cottage. But no, silly, they're steel and resin rings made by Glasgow's Jacqui Toher!

Bonus link: "hidden key" rings, £60, by Birmingham's April Neate. Visit for the rings; stay for the adorable house pendants.

Islay Jane Spalding / Kyley Campbell

When art inspires art, we get goodies like these rings by Scotland's Islay Jane Spalding. Not surprisingly, she counts Miro and Kandinsky amongst the influences behind her quirky "biomorphs" series of silver and hand-dyed resin pieces.

Bonus link: "half round" ring by Kyley Campbell, also from Scotland. Her work consists of silver stripes, twisted and coiled into various forms of jewellery.

Ufo Products / Martijn Verkade

I think I want to marry these diamond rings. At the very least, at ¥11,000 (~US$90) each, I can seriously consider making a mail-order bride out of one of them. Yuho Fukuhara, a graduate of Tokyo's Hiko Mizuno College of Jewellery, designs under the name Ufo Products and produces a cool range of acrylic jewellery. "UFO," incidentally, means the same thing in Japanese as it does in English, only it's pronounced more like "yuho" — just like the designer's name.

Bonus link: star-shaped jewellery is nothing new but it's rare to find one as simple and sharply-defined as this ring by Dutch jeweller Martijn Verkade.

Herman Hermsen / Catz

If a tree falls in the forest and there's nobody around to hear it, does it make a sound? And if a ring doesn't actually wrap around your finger, is it really a ring? Herman Hermsen would say yes.

Bonus link: no deep questions here, just adorable little flower rings from Danish jewellery shop Catz (DKK 200 each).

Geoff Thomas / Dorothea Brill

If you're in the mood for something manly, try Geoff Thomas — his jewellery, that is. The Santa Monica artist has a distinctive style that's sculptural and masculine (even his metal bikini tops).

Bonus link: silk thread rings by German designer Dorothea Brill (at Galerie Spandow); €863 for gold or €120 for plastic.

Natalie Lleonart / Clioblue

P-p-p-pink plastic power! Australian jeweller Natalie Lleonart sources plastic from items like old traffic lights (which these rings are made of) and knitting needles, creating all sorts of fun bits. And because we should all buy things to match our jewellery (rather than the other way around), she's even built an entire dressing table to go with these pink rings. To view all the aforementioned bits, click "gallery," then "jewellery," then each of the ascending circles, then the thumbnail that goes with each circle.

Bonus link: shiny silver ring printed with a pattern of pastel birds, from the "l'envol" series by Clioblue of Paris.

Miravidi / Eugénie Peirera Gomes

Good news, everyone: heaven exists! To go there, just visit www dot Miravidi dot FR. French designer Jean-Baptiste Michel performs miracles with colourful Plexiglas; pictured above are the acrylic and Swarovski crystal TOBA (left, €28) and TANIS (right, €32) rings.

Bonus link: got milk? €15 will nab you a few drops to wear as a ring (don't worry, it's really just coloured water). By Eugénie Peirera Gomes at Pylones.

Susan Fleming / Annika Burman

Apparently, there are jewellery designers who live outside of the Netherlands. Some even live in Bozeman, Montana, producing colourful jewellery using chiyogami and silver. Well, maybe it's more like "one" than "some" — and that one is Susan Fleming.

Bonus link: sticking with the Japanese theme, here's an acrobatic "ninja" ring from London jeweller Annika Burman.

Suzanne Esser / Agriegento Designs

Oooh, so foldy! I'm almost inspired to wash and stack a load of towels! Dutch jeweller Suzanne Esser likes to fold metal plates, but she also likes to carve wood and ebony, creating sculptural pieces inspired by nature, architecture and African art. You'd be doing yourself a disservice by not checking out her sculptural wooden pendants, so click away!

Bonus link: this "fiori" ring by new favourite Agriegento Designs is almost as big as the model's head. (Literally, not figuratively.) Sterling dipped in platinum, US$550.

Ineke Otte / Iron Studio

The grass is definitely greener in the hands of Dutch artist Ineke Otte, whose jewellery is like a clown explosion — a clown who had mice and plastic in his pockets. (Psst: she also does gorgeous things with glass.)

Bonus link: triangular ring with hidden hinge and lock mechanism, by Oakland resident (and Okinawa native) Norika Takada of Iron Studio.