We have many new items in store and we would love to help you find something special for your Mum.  To make sure you get your presents on time we will be upgrading our standard shipping to express shipping  - for free (Australia only). We are also offering free gift wrap and a gift card, our cut off date is Wednesday 8 May at 3pm (WST), to ensure you get your presents in time for Mother’s Day.

Just in case you don’t know what to get your Mum we are offering 10% of our Gift Certificates, this offer is available up until the 11 May; if you are running late we can email your Gift Certificate to your Mum!  Please contact the store to find out how you can redeem this offer.

My best wishes

Image R (top left clockwise):  Cross your heart ring and Wings earrings by Flick Pope, Oke Doke earrings by Flick Pope, Amethyst – Image earrings by Caroline Bassett, Sea Lace necklace by Louise Douglas and Carmen and Pearl necklace by Mary Odorcic.

We love the new pieces in store and hope you enjoy browsing the range.

In the past few weeks we have had a flurry of Gift Certificates being sent out far and wide, from Wannanup to New York! Gift Certificates are available from $50 to $500, and we are happy to meet your specific budget requirements; if you can’t see the amount you are looking for please contact us . We can email your Gift Certificate for speedy delivery or post them to your recipient.

This month’s lucky newsletter ‘subscribe and win’ $50 Gift Certificate Winner is Maria McKay. Congratulations Maria! Please contact the store to claim your Gift Certificate.

Image Above Lower L (clockwise) Luna Earrings, Fragment Ring Stack, Snow Pendant & Constance Bangle.

We have been busy adding new pieces to the store, gorgeous hand crafted rings, necklaces, earrings and bangles.  Why not relax with your favourite refreshment and have a look around?

Many of our customers have been using the ‘wishlist’ function in the store, have you tried it?  It is very easy and means that you can send your wishlist to the special people in your life; to help them choose a present that you will love!

The winner of this month’s newsletter ‘subscribe and win’ is Belinda Edmunds.  Congratulations Belinda!  Please contact the store to claim your $50 gift certificate.

Image R: Joy Necklace by Priya Himatsingka, sterling silver and 18ct gold stamen centre, with oxidised sterling silver chain

We have some awesome new rings by Shauna Mayben, these rings are a part of her ‘Penny for Your Thoughts’ Collection.  Shauna uses 100% upcycled sterling silver, so you can enjoy wearing these stunning rings and feel good about it too!

Image Above: Swan Queen Ring, Image Below, Florabunda Ring, Flourish Ring

New in Store: Jose Marin

I am really pleased to introduce a new designer to Lobo Luxe - Jose Marin, a talented and respected goldsmith from Santiago, Chile.

I discovered Jose’s work when I was in Chile earlier this year; he was highly recommended by some good friends (who live in Santiago).  I had the opportunity to meet him and see his collection at first hand;  I was impressed by the freshness of his designs and the materials he uses, in particular fine silver.

Fine silver has a a whiter appearance than sterling silver and has a higher silver count around 99% as compared to sterling silver (which is around 92.5%).

Jose’s work has lovely textural elements, fine silver is hammered, hand sawn or has a scratched finish, some necklaces are wrapped piece-by-piece and created into organic forms, others have touches of suede leather, semi-precious stones or freshwater pearls.

The work is both feminine, eye catching and luminous.  Jose is stocked in galleries across South America and in Florida U.S.A., and I am delighted his work is now available in Australia through Lobo Luxe.

I have added some pieces to the store, but there will be more!  Please check the site to see what’s new or join us on facebook, where new items are posted regularly.

Image above: The Devine Pendant, fine silver and suede leather cord, it can be worn short (choker style) or long, the lovely details…fine silver toggles at each end of the cord.

Image below: Halo Necklace, fine silver discs, freshwater pearls, clear crystal quartz and all elements are hand wrapped with fine silver wire.

We have just added several elegant and stylish works by Priya Himatsingka.  Priya has a very clean and minimalistic style to her collection, many a piece is accentuated with 18 or 22 carat gold, bi-metals and oxidised sterling silver.

Priya is based in Rhode Island, U.S.A., her background is from the vibrant, diverse and unforgettable country of India, these two cultural influences create a very unique aesthetic in her work and this equates to highly desirable pieces that you will fall in love with.

Of course the first thing that drew me to Priya’s collection was her bangles, she has an amazing range of pieces and she also does stunning precious gemstone bangles, similar to the Aurora bangle (pictured top left with freshwater pearls) but with sapphires, diamonds and rubies.  The bangles we have in store have a lovely sculptural aesthetic; it makes you want to touch and feel the finish.  They will work well stacked and with whatever you already may have on your arm…

Her pendants are glorious and I particularly love the sparkler pendant and earrings shown below – they are quite unusual in that they are fine silver wrapped in a tight coil, so when light hits them they have a lovely luminescence.  I have chosen one necklace from her range the Dew Drop Necklace, because of its ethereal lightness and it gives the appearance that that soft luminous rain drops have formed on the oxidised sterling silver links (model wears this piece in the image below).

Priya has many rings in her collection I have selected two of my favourites for Lobo Luxe, I love the peacock pattern and this is available in the oxidised sterling silver ring and 22ct gold bi-metal (gold fused to sterling silver) pendant and earrings.  The Laurel Wreath ring has already been popular with its organic leaf shape that when worn feels like a soft caress, this is available in sterling silver but you can special order this ring in 18ct gold.

Image Top, clockwise L to R: Aurora Bangle, Laurel Wreath Ring, Aster Earrings, Spangles Pendant, Gold Peacock Pendant, Sparkler Pendant, Midnight Peacock Ring.

An Interview with Clare Hillerby

I think I have more than my fair share of ‘collecting’ genes in my DNA, I love calligraphy, and I have a large collection of vintage stamps and postcards from my youth.  These items are like a time capsule that transports you back into yesteryear where people relied on the written word and the postal service to communicate, they had beautiful penmanship and maps were hand drawn with pen and ink; a GPS was not even on the horizon!

I discovered Clare Hillerby’s work a couple of years ago and was in awe of how she captured many of my favourite things and transformed them into highly desirable contemporary jewellery. Clare has a passion for ephemera; she collects old papers, handwritten pieces and extracts from postcards, stamps, postal markings and old maps.

Clare says of her work: “handwriting forms the starting point for my work. Old papers featuring handwritten messages by unknown characters are sourced, interesting sections are extracted; messages become ambiguous, they are then combined with new metalwork, and contemporary stories emerge.

Silver is often oxidised for a depth of colour and to allow papers to become the highlight. Details of yellow gold tube riveting are used to construct parts of the work to reference an industrial landscape; our new history being created daily. Semi-precious beads are added for texture and colour.”

Interview with Clare:

Charmaine: What led you to jewellery design?

Clare: When I started studying I first specialised in fashion. Then I noticed in my fashion designs that I was more interested in the details so I decided to change direction, applying to Edinburgh College of Art; the jewellery course was so well respected and such great people were graduating from there. I appreciated the way you design in fashion though, I think I took that with me into jewellery, and I love the creative process of  jewellery, from the designing through to making and selling.

Charmaine: Tell us about your passion for postcards and stamps from yesteryear…

Clare: I’m inspired by the everyday, people, the city – perhaps from coming from a small compact town to Edinburgh.  The city is full of layers of history merging into the way we use it today, narrow closes and roads beneath roads, I have been really inspired by my time living here.

The postcards I use have been sourced from old bookshops in Edinburgh, while I was studying I collecting them for inspiration.  The postcards weren’t really valued or appreciated at that time, which is what I liked, people’s lives intrigued me; little pockets of stories from decades ago, and you can’t help but imagine the lives the writers of the postcards had and that of their intended recipients.

Gradually the postcards became part of my work. I see them as a precious material, more than the silver in some ways as they are so unique. I discovered a shop to buy great postcards which also sold stamps so I gravitated to other forms of ephemera to make some interesting contrasts, I like variety (I get bored very easily!)

Charmaine: How do you source your materials what aesthetic do you look for?

Clare: People used to write so well, there’s a certain time in the mid-20th century were people perhaps stopped taking so much care, condensing their narrative to ‘having a great time/weather is good’ kind of a postcard, I suppose the more ways to communicate and the busier we get, the more watered down they each become.

I like the older postcards, where people were more likely to take their time using real ink pens and it was a treat to buy, send and receive a postcard.

Having said that, back then, there were more mail deliveries throughout the day, you do find postcards with a quick one liner ‘meet you at 6′.  We do the same now electronically –with our mobiles.

I’ve become more particular with the ephemera I choose over time, searching for interesting, characterful handwriting. The writing has to be quite compact to get a lot into the ovals I cut out for the jewellery; each has to say something about the writer. They always have to feel nice too, although they are trapped between silver and perspex for practical reasons, the feel of the paper is just something special I get to enjoy!

Charmaine: Do you share your work space? How would you describe it?

Clare: I have a studio on my own in a building full of artists and makers. So it’s a completely dedicated studio space to make and design and think. One side of the studio is making and the other is the thinking side with a wall full of pinned ephemera (Charmaine: see image below this wall is like a work of art). It’s a very practical space, brick and concrete which only opens to the public once a year. I’m lucky to have a window which gets lots of sun and a view of roof tops with a million chimneys and a sky that constantly changes; it’s good to look at clouds when you’re trying to think!

Charmaine:  I can see where you got your inspiration for the silver lining and rain cloud earrings (see image right and  below)!

Charmaine: What tips would you give on how to wear jewellery?

Clare: I like to see people wear my work quite casually and regularly, rather than just for special occasions, and mixing things their own way. Although I do make bracelets to wear with particular earrings for example I think you can mix anything together to your own preferences, postcard necklace with stamp earrings for example work really well. I like the way people pair them up, it’s often in a different way than I imagined. People gravitate to certain materials too, (I sold to a geographer recently who wanted mostly maps!).

Charmaine: If you had an opportunity to meet anyone who would it be and why?

Clare: There are so many well-known and interesting famous people to choose from but I would really prefer to visit a regular someone in a time and place very different to what I take for granted, seeing how they live and work, it would be far more interesting.

Some new pieces from Clare:

In store we have some new pieces by Clare, including several charming cufflinks featuring maps and stamps.  In addition, we are stocking some new pieces with the option of customising her necklaces and a bracelet with your choice of semi-precious beads (just check out the options tab under each item).

Image Above L to R:  Line of Colour Necklace in Labradorite, Postcard and Oval Earrings, Bangle Wound Quiet.

Image Below L to R: Stamp Earrings, Silver Lining Earrings, Clare’s creative visual board from her Studio, Viewfinder Brooch & Circles Bracelet.

I have always been a big fan of vintage jewellery and was delighted when I discovered Joli Jewelry. I first fell in love with brooches from the collection and now I am happy to tell you we have added some gorgeous necklaces and earrings to the store.

Jody Lyons, the creative force behind Joli Jewelry, epitomizes vintage chic and is a big advocate of reusing and upcycling materials.  Through her collection, Jody hopes to share her love and interest in original, old materials and the importance of reusing things like: vintage glass, original plastics (like celluloid and Bakelite), old metal findings, old French enamels and mother of pearl pieces.

The design process mixes real vintage and upcycled materials with different cultural motifs and new components, such as semi-precious gemstones.  This evolves into fabulous contemporary creations, with a nod to the awesome vintage styles of yesteryear; that are still highly desirable and continue to have timeless appeal.

Because of the limited availability of the unusual components, everything continues to be limited editions.

Jody designs everything in the line. The small production runs are then handmade by a group of wonderful women in her small studio in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York.

Image Above L to R:  Jody Lyons, La Feuille Earrings, Sophia Necklace, Ingrid Necklace.

Image Below;   Grace Necklace