Maria Nilsdotter

Swedish jewelry designer Maria Nilsdotter started her own brand after graduating from renowned arts collage Central Saint Martins, with a BA in Jewelry Design, in 2007. In the beginning she made all the pieces herself - often in very limited editions, sometimes only one of some designs. As the brand now has become too popular for her to have time to create everything herself, her jewelry lines are now being produced in both Sweden and England.

In June 2011 Maria opened her first shop/working studio in the Old Town in Stockholm, where she also offers her customers to come in and place special orders. The inspiration for the design she finds in a mysterious and dark fantasy world often drawn from folktales and mythology.

Here are some of my favorites:

Bracelets

Claw Bangle Feather

Mask Bracelet

Earrings

Snake Leaf Earrings

Tiny Claw Earring

Necklaces

Mask Necklace

Tiny Raven Necklace

Rings

Bat Ring

Claw Ring Single

Raven Ring

Tiny Raven Ring

Twig Diamond Ring

Headpieces

Madonna Leaf Tiara

Pearl Dagger Headpiece

Snake Leaf Headpiece

To see the whole collection, go to Maria Nilsdotter's web site: http://www.marianilsdotter.com/

Boucheron

When it comes to create opulent pieces of jewelry, The House of Boucheron is one of the best in the world! From it's founding, in 1858, by Frédéric Boucheron, this house has spread all over the world, while decorating queens, tsars and maharajas on the way. Except for jewelry, Boucheron also creates watches and perfumes, but it's the jewelry I'll be showing you pictures of today!

Even though I love looking at all these lavish pieces, marveling at how something like this can be created, I have to admit I prefer the jewelry with only (or almost only) clear diamonds the most. Not that I would say no to any of the colorful ones. But still...I did however fall completely in love with the necklace in the two bottom pictures! It's called "Le Double Jeu", and as you can see the buds of the flowers can be opened and closed. It was inspired by a flower called "The Queen of the Night". This flower only opens up at night, and closes it's petals again at dawn. As I prefer the night before the day I would love to be able to wear this!