You know that line in American Beauty where that tortured emo guy who hooks up with Thora Birch is all like... "sometimes there's so much beauty in the world that it HURTS" and then Sam Mendes cuts to this video of a plastic bag flying around like it's meant to be some sort of visual cue to make us viewers realize, wow, the world IS beautiful, that plastic bag IS beautiful, in fact, we are ALL beautiful, hugsies! That was such a crock. But I still loved the movie.

Anyway, what Mendes should have instead filmed as an analogy for beauty, instead of a plastic bag floating in the wind like an unused extra from the Forrest Gump prop room, is some of this jewellery by Bevel, a new New York-based house whose brand of macabre, eerie jewellery actually matches up quite well with the Oscar-winning film. Okay, so this jewellery probably would not float in the wind. And for budget reasons, I guess a plastic bag comes free with a drink at 7-Eleven (or 50 cents if you're in Hong Kong), and a Xibalban Bloom necklace by Bevel (last shot after the cut) is US$1470. I guess that's why one of us is an Oscar-winning director, and one of us is a part-time blogger code-named Geek.

There’s something about De Beer’s latest jewellery collection that makes me lust after it. I suspect it’s the combination between the rough and smooth diamonds in its design that creates such a stunning contrast. Titled the Talisman Collection, the pieces are not what I’d ordinarily expect from the jeweller who coined the infamous phrase “A diamond is forever.” Comprising of 13 pieces, the Talisman Collection showcases diamonds that are of the utmost quality. Apparently only 1 in 1000 rough diamonds fit the bill of ‘sufficient character and beauty’ to be used in the collection. I’m particularly taken by their bands but at HK$20,000 upwards, I suspect I will need to go on a shopping embargo for quite some time before I can afford it.

Barbie is the girl that has it all. An impossibly thin waist. A face that never ages. All sorts of fun careers and now we can covet her jewellery. Come October 20, Christie’s New York will be auctioning off the world’ most expensive Barbie (presale estimate of US$300,000 to US$500,000.) Yes, you can buy a small apartment in Hong Kong with this Barbie. Of course the apartment will be tiny judging by the soaring property prices but still, not a bad deal for a 50 year old plastic doll. What makes her so expensive? She will be wearing a necklace featuring a one-carat fancy vivid pink diamond alongside three carats of white diamonds created by fine jewellery designer Stefano Canturi. The item will be auctioned without reserve and all profits from the sale will benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Now my question is, is there any way to transform this necklace into a pendant or brooch so that whoever buys it can also have a chance to wear the piece?

Images: Canturi Jewels

This is the last scheduled post before I come back (besides the regular Thursday SHOErotica), so I'm just going to give you guys a "stuffs I want" kind of thing. Because it is my firm belief that sharing your materialistic side with others is the path to salvation. Like if I've showed you what I want, by extension I don't have to own it because you all have already seen it, and nobody wears the same thing twice, right? That made sense in my head but I'm sure by the time I come back and re-read it, it will not. So before I change my mind and rewrite this whole paragraph, let's just look at the stuff-porn now.

Up top: Dominic Jones cuffs.
Down below: Keds brogues, Etsy Rabid Fox unicorn ring, and lots of stuff from Nasty Gal, including boho messenger bag, acid trip dress, BEST shearling vest ever, BEST cat-print dress that is not Miu Miu but is good enough for me. I'm not giving links because a) you can google it, b) i don't want you buying my stuff. What's amazing is that I found all of this within five minutes. Where there's a will to shop, there's a way to find stuff really quickly.

By the time you're reading this, I'm gallivanting across the Mediterranean in a sick little cruise ship, stuffing my face and breaking the shopping embargo secretly since no one is there to monitor me. The Euro is useful in that you don't have to use a billion different currencies out here anymore... but in case you wanted to keep track of the rest of the world's major dollar signs, Design Glut has got a currency necklace that's kind of fun. There's also, for the less financially inclined, a world map. I don't think I'd wear these, personally, but they do look kind of cool, and I have great respect for laser-cut acrylic, for whatever reason (maybe because it reminds me of Alex and Chloe)... and besides, I'm scraping the barrel, I need to write and schedule nine posts to go up for when I'm in net-free land. AND, I still need to pack.

I've always appreciated bullet jewellery yet it seems all you see are bullet pendants that while cool, can frankly be rather boring. I just stumbled upon the genius of Bullet Girl, a brand create by Houston-based designer Jessica Meyer. Take the traditional bullet plated in gold or rhodium and add a dash of femininity like diamonds, pearls and onyx and you get elegantly dangerous statement jewllery. Don't expect to see the traditional bullet shape in all the pieces, some only uses bullet caps so the bullet detail is rather subtle. Behold the pieces I covet.

Remember the Bulgari Save the Children ring that I coveted a year ago and finally purchased about a month ago? Well here’s the main reason why I bought the ring. Bulgari has come up with a second iteration of what I assume will become their annual Save the Children ring. There’s nothing wrong with this version, if anything it’s classic Bulgari and I’m sure will be another crowd pleaser. However, there’s something about the gothic version that appeals to me so so much more. The only problem with the ring is that it’s easily scratchable and I felt that with the way I bang up my jewellery, it won’t be long before the ring becomes unrecognizable. Of course, much with any new product after the first scratch you stop caring so much.

This second Save the Children ring will set you back HK$3,100 with 20% donated to the charity. Much like last year, photographer Fabrizio Ferri will donate his time and talent to shoot more celebrities wearing the new ring, beginning in July 2010 and continuing throughout 2011. I loved the campaign last year where celebrities such as Sting, Ben Stiller, Willem Dafoe, Terence Howard, Ronaldinho, Jessica Biel, Olivia Wilde, Jason Lewis, Valeria Golino, Isabella Rossellini, and Debra Messing were featured. So do your part for the children and snag yourself a nice ring in the meantime. And if like me, you prefer the first version, I think it's still available at the Bulgari flagship in Central.

I never knew I had such an overwhelming collection of rings until I needed props to test out my new iPhone camera app. And wasn't willing to leave the vicinity of my bed. It came down to either the contents of my bedside jewellery box, or the bewildering stash of snacks I keep within arm's reach, consumed and replenished daily. And yeah, bling porn won out over evidence of my descent into gluttony.

The camera app is Super Camera, by the way. It's free and has lots of options, but Scrub and Natural Sepia are the only selects worth using.

Do you want to know where these are from, by the way? Click on for credits.


1. Clockwise from bottom left... Chunky gold ring and rusty gold three-finger knuckleduster from Bangkok; giant amber cocktail ring from hawker stand, $20 from the super bitchy hawker lady that I hope to re-encounter outside Aji Ichiban/Okashi Land in Causeway; four-finger ring from Maison Martin Margiela.

2. Clockwise from top... Marc by Marc Jacobs coil ring; cosmic-looking ring from Forever 21; necklace (duh) Dior -- one of faves from the honey pie.

3. Left to right... White flower/filigree ring made by our own Chic Infinity, aka FashionGeek, for my birthday; Swarovski crystal heart ring from my daddy; corset ring by Dior; two-finger Bijules seagull ring from Moxsie.

Some of you may know that I like to make jewellery and have an online store under the brand name Chic Infinity. Unfortunately, in recent months, the shop has fallen to the wayside as I’ve been dedicating all my efforts to my full time job and of course, this blog. Well, since I’m officially banned from shopping in a pact that I made with ShoeGeek, I was inspired this weekend to recreate a piece of jewellery that I am coveting, the Vera Wang asymmetric pearl necklace.

I decided to create something similar but not as extravagant as I’d like it to be wearable every day. With weight being a key factor in the making of this necklace, I had to forgo the lovely Japanese glass pearl beads that I normally use and use the inferior plastic beads which are so so much lighter. Three hours and a couple hundred beads later, this is the result. I’m still not quite happy with it and am thinking if I should add another strand of beads to it to tangle it up a bit more but the beauty of DIY is that I can wear what I’ve made for now and add more when I’m bored. Amazingly easy to make and without the US$650 price tag. Perfect for a Geek on a budget.

I'm not sure if this is commonly known, but say you have UA miles that are soon to expire, but you don't really have a UA destination that you want to travel to, you can always extend your expiration deadline by shopping on UA Mileage Mall. There are a whole bunch of sites you can shop, but not all of them ship to Hong Kong. Shopbop is one of them, and with their free shipping to Hong Kong with any purchase over US$100, it's a wise place to spend. Since you're really shopping for the sake of shopping, I thought I'd put together a list of cheapie goodies from the sale section, all in or under the US$50 mark. The opening image is a simple tank with back button detailing by Alice and Olivia, US$46.20.

Click in to see more picks...


Like this dagger necklace by Noir, the brand of jewellery often spotted on thy favourite tomboy boho blogs, Fashion Toast and lulu and your mom. And only US$37.50, which for Noir is damn cheap.


I'm obsessed with bustiers, no matter how uncomfortable they are, there is nothing like throwing one on over a white tank or tee to take casual to come-hither. This one from Kettle Black (US$47.50) sort of has an open back as well, making it twice as cool.


Pretty sure none of our readers are going to buy this, but I am mysteriously drawn to this cotton onesie by Haute Hippie for US$43.50. Maybe I am subconsciously reminiscing about my days as a baby, when I didn't have to go to work on Mondays and read endless reams of colour proofs for the upcoming and always ridiculously intense September issue.


More bling, this time courtesy of Fallon Jewelry, US$49.50.


Sick little belt, probably DIY-able if you had the time and motivation... but no one has the time or motivation, especially not if you can pick one up and renew your mileage status all for the dirt-low price of US$32. Thank you, Elegantly Waisted.


It's a miniskirt. It's designed by Erin Wasson for RVCA. It's tiny, hot and priced at only US$37. This should go in the cart no matter what your mileage state-of-mind might be.


Last but not least, this toes the line just a bit at US$50.70 but it's a comfy-glam poufy-shouldered T-shirt mini, Torn by Ronny Kobo. Every girl needs one of those, right?

Sorry for the radio silence -- have been enjoying life sans internet too much, and discovering that away from the computer, there's such a thing as life, vintage shopping, Five Guys, Target and fresh air and trees. Oh, and also more spine necklaces, for all you spineless fools out there. I loved 'em then, and I love this now, so I guess some things never change, in spite of prolonged absences from the internet.

By Ayaka Nishi at Not Just a Label. Her other stuff is also immensely worth checking out.

How very Mandarin Oriental! From maslodesign at Need Supply.

Last night, after pigging out on Hot Pockets and microwave deep-dish pizza (from city'super -- try it, it's good and only $40 for two personal pizzas if I am correct) I thought I was really full, and then I got bored and changed my phone wallpaper to an archive shot of cupcakes in different colours and flavours. Lo and behold, after looking at it for too long we crawled out of bed to make a snack of apple jacks and cornflakes in a generous bath of skim milk.

The reason I'm recounting this tale is because this necklace from Garnett Jewellery, as much as I like it, will undoubtedly only succeed in making me fatter. It's already making me hungry.

On a slightly non-sequitur note, Ritz crackers always remind me of Harrison Ford in Regarding Henry, painting boxes of Ritz crackers after he loses his memory, while he struggles to recount stolen encounters with his mistress in the Ritz Carlton. Oh you old dog.

EDIT: Did I just post a Ritz cracker necklace without realizing that FashionGeek just posted a potato chip necklace? How cosmically apt!

You can live in Hong Kong for twenty years, walk past a building every other day, and never be curious as to what's inside. That was the case for me with Annette, a jewellery boutique located on the third floor of Pedder Building in Central. It's been open since 2006, and the press release for the shop has been sitting on my desk since maybe May, but neither shop nor release received much attention from me till today. But methinks next time I walk down Pedder, instead of just furiously inhaling the sent of ginger flower wafting from Shanghai Tang, I might just head into the building and into Annette.

Annette brings together a number of costume jewellery brands from around the world, as well as a small selection of vintage costume pieces from brands like Dior and Chanel. Being a sad little toad who lives in a small little pond and never ventures out, I know only a handful of jewellery brands (other than the big 'uns), so forgive me if you are already know these labels (my understanding of beauty products is even more woefully bad). You can tell from the selection that owner Cince Lee has a passion for the ornate, Victorian, vintage-inspired baubles, and you can expect to find chunky gold lockets, big rhinestones and crystals, metal-plated floral explosions and lots of pretty pretty turquoise. This being costume, the prices aren't astronomical, so you can pick up a piece for somewhere between HK600 (for pendants and charm necklaces) to around HK$3000 for the beautifully bombastic Tataborello necklace below. I'm loving the French boudoir-inspired interior, too. Brand list and more images after the cut.

Tataborello necklace (Italy), HK$3290.



Tataborello bracelet (Italy) HK$2390


Rachel Leigh snakeskin bangle (USA) HK$790 (reminds me of the Vita bangles that were a hit a couple years back)


La Vie Parisienne gold-plated locket necklace (France) HK$1190


Vintage 1960s Kenneth Jay Lane turquoise/rhinestone bracelet and earrings HK$6390


Vintage 1950s Christian Dior rhinestone earrings and brooch set HK$3,900



Brands carried include:
Tataborello, Italy
Azaara, USA
Diane Yang, USA
Dakini, Spain
Sophia & Chloe, USA
Rachel Leigh, USA
La Vie Parisenne, France
Abbie, Japan
Flying Lizard, USA
Metalfor, Spain
Be-Je Design, USA
By Boe, USA
Sheila Fajl, USA
Tomshot, Germany
Parure, Italy