TOPPÚRINNGS: A LANDSCAPE OF JEWELRY

design direction + product design

PORCELAIN, BRASS, PLASTIC, PRECIOUS METALS

This project was inspired by my long-term love affair with glaciers and my experiences working aboard private luxury yachts. One day, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a 365 foot boat, I found a bag in the freezer that contained glacial ice from the owner’s recent trip to Alaska. He claimed that the clear, glittering ice was perfect for his caviar. I wondered: what if everyone treated these impermanent wonders with such abandon?

Imagine a miniature landscape of icebergs formed by rings. Individually, they look sculptural and abstract. It is only when they are viewed in their entirety, complete and together, that their true identity can be appreciated.

When you choose one of the rings to wear you must
remove part of the miniature landscape, causing a gap to form in the scene. The other four rings patiently wait, eager for their friend to return home at the end of the day.

future development

The set of rings could be fabricated again and again using different materials to convey another message about the state of icebergs in the world today. Glass would speak to their fragility, bronze to commemorate their impermanence and preserve them in time, gold and silver to speak to their value, and plastic to signify the commodification of the arctic tourist attractions visited
by cruise ships each year.

SIMILAR PROJECTS:

INFLATABLE FASHION

AN EXPERIMENT IN LIFE-PRESERVING CLOTHING