Dice Game

Jewelry fashion is sometimes suddenly making steep turns. Multiple “gothic” style adornments have become one of such swings though not in the fashion mainstream, but none the less along a rather flamboyantly represented route. The lately emerged vogue for male and female jewelry depicting characters and symbols belonging to the afterworld turned out to be lasting enough and is so far is not going to leave the stage.

It seems that jewelry designers and those for whom they intend their works got somewhat tired of long-set and habitual jewelry motifs. Of course, the endless flower variations, live nature images depicting butterflies, dragonflies, tigers and panthers, lizards and snakes, and all kind of creatures from the bosom of the sea will never go from the creative luggage of jewelers, but they are evidently insufficient for the keen edge of senses. Abstract avant-garde forms in jewelry are hard to take roots. As if responding to some demand, various manufacturers almost simultaneously turned out series of provoking adornments. These include golden skull-and-crossbones cuff-links, rings, bracelets, earrings and even necklaces with such symbols. There are “Jolly Roger” styled pendants and nice, not at all frightful skeletons of blackened gold bestrewn with black diamonds and red ruby hearts. Crowns turned out to be very befitting to some of the skulls. Thus, Gavello features skulls with ruby or onyx eyes topped with gold crowns and encrusted with gems in its rings and pendants. There are many crowned skulls in the collection presented by fashionable French designer Lydia Courteille. Her collection dedicated to this theme is generally noted for its grandeur, vehement fantasy and variety of materials. Crossbones and skulls (crownless) of blackened gold with cognac and white diamonds are hanging like grapes on Lydia Courteille’s necklace of imposing size. She also features large oval earrings with cameos on a shell depicting a skull, as well as a hefty ebony bracelet with brutal diamond skull and crossbones very distinct on this background.

Italian firm Staurino Fratelli threw its hat in the ring by launching crossbones-shaped gold cuff-links covered with white and black enamel. Fashion rebel Vivienne Westwood made her own type of cuff-links. The list is far from being completed with these names, since many more or less famous trademarks respond to these fashion trends. Nevertheless, the grand jeweler brands have not been noted to play dice.

The afterworld symbols, the theme of Death Dance have deep roots and are widely spread in the culture of many peoples. These images are very popular in carnival costumery and masks. In certain periods they also manifested in jewelry.  However, the current outburst of interest towards this theme is unusual in its scale and it is spreading over not only to jewelry, which is worth good money, but is widely used by designers of garments and fashion accessories, and it seems that it is closely associated with the notion of modern glamour.
Nataliya Korovina