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Elsa Peretti has designed an Aegean collection for Tiffany' s that features a gorgeous necklace made of elongated, slightly irregular open sterling silver links that falls just below the breastbone. Simple and slightly edgy, it' s pure elegance.
The charm bracelet is once again being reinvented. Henri Bendel, the exclusive mini-department store in New York City, is showing a gorgeous bracelet made of big, open gold links—ovals alternating with circles—sporting suitably posh charms.
Even the festoon has come back, this time in Steampunk fashion, using antique watch movements as the centerpieces of the necklaces' multiple chains.
The big chunky dog-collar chain has also returned in the chicest way possible. The Italian clothing designer Roberto Cavalli, known for his love of excess, sets his golden chains against bare, tanned skin. He shows a model in a white bikini top, wearing a heavy gold open link chain that falls just below her collar bones. You almost can' t help wondering how practical this necklace is—the chain looks heavy enough to drown anyone who dares swim in it—but practicality is clearly not the point. The look is all about luxury and turning heads. This is chain to wear as you stroll along the beach on St. Bart' s or Mustique.
At the more delicate end of the chain spectrum is Me&Ro, whose elegant, casual jewelry is regularly featured on fast, edgy TV shows like Weeds and Burn Notice. (Check out what the characters Nancy Botwin and Fiona are wearing.) Me&Ro takes classic silver and golden chains and links them with hammered disks or disks engraved with flowers. The look is so light and graceful, you almost you don' t notice you' re wearing it, but it' s guaranteed to turn heads.
Thick, thin, bold, delicate, endlessly versatile - chains may change their style over the years but they never go out of fashion. Beyond that, chains are connectors. They connect links of gold or other precious metals to each other. They connect pendants to bracelets or necklaces. And if we look at their history, they connect us to our past. |
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