Pastels That Go Pop! — Tom Binns Spring 2013 Jewelry Collection
From collages to assemblages, the Dadaist art movement that thrived in Zurich and Berlin in the early 20th century, eventually reaching New York City, was anarchic in nature, shirking reason, tradition, logic and cultural standards of aesthetics, instead prioritizing intuition, rebellion, and chaos and eventually leading the way for surrealism and social realism. When jewelry designer Tom Binns describes his work as being influenced by Dadaism, then, he’s referring to the beauty he creates when flirting with chaos, when juxtaposing seemingly discordant materials and colors, when fusing together kitschy elements, punk details, and bourgeois references. But, unlike most Dadaist art, which, true to its anti-WWI roots aimed to anger and offend the upper classes, Tom Binns’ work titillates and excites — no matter what the beholder’s social status might be. And, although there is a rebellious streak in Binns’ designs, there is an order in the chaos, a logic to the madness.
The Tom Binns Spring 2013 collection, then, incorporates clear Swarovski crystals that feel opulent and regal alongside larger Swarovski crystals painted in pastel shades like mint green, pale lilac, cornflower blue, and bubblegum pink. And, since Tom Binns wouldn’t dare to insult modern females with overly dainty and prim pieces, he incorporated plenty of bold silhouettes and electrifying colors line neon yellow, turquoise, fuchsia, phosphorescent lime, and orange.
Take, for example, the Pale Pink Asymmetrical Crystal Necklace ($725 at CharmandChain.com), shown at top, a Barbie-meets-Catherine-the-Great design with a single strand os rhodium-plated Swarovski crystals in a collar shape adorned with hand-painted, oval-shaped Swarovski crystals in a bubblegum pink shade, many of them tucked inside draped strands of clear crystals. Similarly, there’s the Lilac Crystal Chandelier Earrings ($288 at CharmandChain.com), shown fourth from top, which features three teardrop-shaped stones painted in a lilac hue and arranged in a fan-like shape right below the post, with five strands of clear-colored Swarovski stones dangling beneath them like a virtual waterfall and smaller teardrop-shaped lilac stones punctuating the tips of these strands like tiny pointed arrows. The Mint Crystal Bracelet ($550 at CharmandChain.com), shown sixth above, incorporates three oval-shaped mint green stones and, between each stone, two strands of draped, clear Swarovski crystals — one arranged like an upward-turned arch and the strand beneath it positioned in a downward-turned arch so that the two strands meet only at their trough points.
But the most mesmerizing pieces are those with an entropic quality, those that combine pastel and neon shades, that create modernist shapes or rely on geometric motifs. The standout piece, then, is the Electric Color Statement Necklace ($1700 at CharmandChain.com), shown at top, an extraordinary bib necklace that incorporates multiple strands of clear Swarovski crystals, some of them draped in a garland-like manner, with smaller hand-painted Swarovski crystals positioned throughout: a strand of fluorescent orange stones draped in a collar-like shape below the first row of clear crystals, a cluster of five pod-shaped turquoise stones at the very center of the bib, square-shaped mint green stones or horizontal, almond-shaped yellow stones tucked in between draped strands, and even diamond shapes along the lower rungs of the necklace made of lilac, yellow, periwinkle, and orange stones. Similarly, the Electric Color Earrings ($375 at CharmandChain.com), shown fifth above, and the Turquoise & Pink Floral Earrings ($350 at CharmandChain.com) feature hand-painted Swarovski crystals placed in shapes that resemble flowers but their colors so bright and kinetic that the effect is psychedelic and reminiscent of 1960s counterculture fashion and paraphernalia.
The entire collection is available at CharmandChain.com so make sure to check it out!
