on vacation...

As you may know, this blog is a mirror of the one I keep on my site, thecarrotbox.com. I'll be away for the next while but I've posted a bunch of rings there to keep you busy! See the rings.

Ingrid Montoya / f.dia

Distinctive but minimal: that's my ideal aesthetic, and Ingrid Montoya nails it. Pictured here are her "cubo" ring (top), $100, and "cheese" ring (bottom), $112; visit her site for more from this New Jersey jeweller.

Bonus link: pictured here is one of several organic starburst rings by Japan's f.dia, who also makes colourful button rings.

Even more jewellery:

• Lonna Keller (Coralville, IA) - rubber, pearls & glass


• Softdog Studios (Toronto) - furniture jewellery


• Stitch and Silver (UK) - silver & fibre

Katrine Borup / Dave Stevenson / Mecky van den Brink

Katrine Borup offers a two-page artist's statement describing these pieces, in case you're not immediately clear on the meaning behind wax candle rings molded to fit scale models of Denmark's topography. Unfortunately, I can't read it, as it is written entirely in Danish (the language, not the pastry — and if you think that goes without saying, hello and welcome, new reader!). While I busy myself googling the definition of "uhyggeligt," please enjoy her amazing skull ring:

Bonus: duelling dogs! Left: sculptural silver by New Yorker Dave Stevenson; right: porcelain pooch by Dutchman Mecky van den Brink.

Even more jewellery:

• Daphne Olive (Church Creek, MD) - simple & playful


• Jessica Sherriff (UK) - photoprinted acrylic


• The Fetty (Brooklyn) - axes, saws, daggers

Janice Ho / Camille Cesari

I'm sensing a pattern here, but I can't quite put my finger on it...

Clockwise from top: silver thumbprint rings with gold dots by Philadelphia's Janice Ho; fingerprint wedding band by Germany's Gerd Rothmann; gold oval by Collection-Fingerprint, also of Germany; and sterling "love print" ring, $145, by New Jersey's Camille Cesari.

Bonus link: wrap a hand around your finger with these finger-and-cabochon rings by Cambridge, Massachussetts-based Asagi Maeda.

Even more jewellery:

• Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons (New York) - hands & horns


• Susanna Hanl (Scotland) - textures & fingerprints


• Sara Preisler (England) - gold, silver & fingerprints

Sian Elizabeth Hughes / Ira Van de Vondel

Originally inspired by extreme winter weather in New York's Central Park, the square ring by Sian Elizabeth Hughes is, paradoxically, serenity itself. Each piece is custom made to fit a particular finger (from £77) and is available in different combinations of precious metal.

Bonus link: one of many flat disc rings made by trochaically-named Ira Van de Vondel of Antwerp, Belgium.

Even more jewellery:

• Kay's Room (Hong Kong) - chunky metal & nylon


• Deco Vitro (Paris) - framed glass


• Holly Belsher (UK) - twigs & leaves

Lisette Beems / Helena Skolling

The bad pun is inevitable, so I'm not going to fight it: yes, you're bound to "make a splash" with the aquafloscellus ring by Dutch jeweller Lisette Beems (€63). The pellucid splatters bloom as though they were flowers, not water, springing from your hand.

Bonus link: a stack of lasercut vine band rings by metalsmith Helena Skolling, who maintains a studio and shop in Stockholm.

Even more jewellery:

• Ashi Marwaha (Manchester) - oval patterns


• Amy Faust (San Francisco) - seaglass & silver


• Tila & Co. (Toronto) - beads & filigree

Genna Delaney / Sezgin Akan

Though I've chosen to display her acrylic pieces (old obsessions die hard), many of Scottish jeweller Genna Delaney's most interesting rings are her square and rectangular silver designs (some of which resemble intricate plumbing). Pictured here are her yellow space ring (not for sale), green square ring (£30) and blue/red perspex ring (£35).

Bonus link: bewitching Czech glass beadwork on epoxy core and gold band by Turkey's Sezgin Akan, who also works in felt.

Even more jewellery:

• Bethan Laura Wood (UK) - fabulous plywood links


• Mushka Designs (Miami) - lots of leaves


• Tara Kirkpatrick (UK) - circles & cones

Shelby Fitzpatrick / Crazy Pig Designs

So, what is a ring supposed to smell like, anyway? UK artist Shelby Fitzpatrick creates jewellery with "innovative mechanisms" and "changeable units," adding that "elements of smell and sound are entering the designs." Personally, I'm satisfied as long as my jewellery is pleasing to the eye — any nose and ears action is just gravy. Pictured here are her "strato" rings in varying combinations of gold, silver, plastic and silk.

Bonus link: a sterling silver Beethoven bust for your finger, £116, handmade in London by Crazy Pig Designs.

Even more jewellery:

• Rosie Buck (UK) - lasercut silver, new but old


• Metallic Evolution (Guelph, ON) - stainless steel


• Lean In (Seattle) - framed images

Go Go Rings / Tuulia Kasonen

Would you buy a ring from this woman?

I've had this for years (have two of them, actually) and have been meaning to add it to my personal collection page for just as long. Maybe now that I've finally photographed it, I will. It's a vintage cardboard ring display from the '60s, with all original pieces intact. For ten cents, you could have had yourself a plastic "Go Go Discotheque" ring. Très chic!

Guaranteed to land you in some heel-kickin' good times.

Bonus link: is it just me, or is that ring taking a shower? "Levitation" ring (note the levitating cube!) by Helsinki's Tuulia Kasonen.

Even more jewellery:

• Dada's Diamonds (Sweden) - Alice in Wonderland


• Vicente Agor (San Francisco) - customizable silhouettes


• Marion Cage (New York) - beautifully minimal

Julie Hannay / Lucy Q

Whatever happened to Bonkers? Remember them, those chewy fruit rectangles with a second fruit flavour inside? With those "bonks you out!" commercials that I remember from the '90s but which Wikipedia tells me I actually remember from the '80s, making me feel old? Bonkers are what I imagine these rings would taste like, with their sweet pastel hues and names like "orange sherbet" and "strawberry bonbon." Resin rings by London-based Julie Hannay, whose dotted pieces are reminiscent of Kaz Robertson, one of my favourite jewellers.

Bonus link: simple silver button ring from the unsurpringly-named "button collection" by UK jeweller Lucy Quartermain, aka Lucy Q (£28).

Even more jewellery:

• Tiny Crown (Japan) - sweet vintage


• Beautag (Vancouver, BC) - breadtag jewellery


• Marie Pastorelli (France) - ceramic

Katie Clarke / Lauren Tobey

If you ever attend an anemone-themed party (which would either be really cool or freakishly sad), you must a) bring Menomena and b) wear this blue ring from the "spikey" range by UK jeweller Katie Clarke.

Bonus link: it may look like a glazed donut but it's an aventurine "O" ring by Albuquerque's Lauren Tobey (US$70).

Even more jewellery:

• Mori & Mimosa (Stockholm) - clouds & skulls


• Thea Grant (Brooklyn) - oversized objects


• Kyeok Kim (South Korea) - wearable lights

Grażyny Zalewskiej / Alex Fabry

If these rings could talk, do you think you'd need a translator? Something about this jewellery just feels Eastern European (a region whose languages are quite foreign to me, even if Hollywood would have us believe everyone there just speaks English with a vaguely Russian accent). Poland's Grażyny Zalewskiej creates stark, striking pieces in silver, Baltic amber and — as in the case of that curious, hinged ring — wood.

Bonus link: ridged, texturized silver band by Alex Fabry (available at Antewerp jewellery shop Aura, which seems to work better in IE than in Firefox).

Even more jewellery:

• John Moore (UK) - amazing anodized aluminum


• Nanopod (Toronto) - glass and silver


• St. Kilda (Brooklyn) - small gold charms

Marije Geursen / Rebecca Scheer

Proof that not everything that indicates plural with a "z" is bad: the "Pearlz" ring by Dutch designer Marije Geursen. She's taken the "stereotypical pearl necklace" and made it wearable elsewhere on the body; single-strand or double-wrapped, €147 for silver or €365 for gold. The real jewel, though, is her openwork heart pendant!

Bonus link: hand-forged silver ring with piercings, US$350, by Rebecca Scheer of Portland, Oregon (where I spent the last few days on vacation!).

Even more jewellery:

• Dapple Grey (Australia) - nostalgic lasercut shapes


• Debbie Fisher (Brooklyn) - bright colour combos


• Lush Metals (Boston) - circles & hexagons