Talking Threads: Play Hard, Die Nastie and Where to Find Contemporary Jewelry

I spent long hours wondering why I hadn’t taken out-of-town friends to Cherokee, one of the most sketchy streets in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, USA to investigate Scarlet Garnett, a hidden handcrafted jewelry spot. Like a flower poking through a bed of rundown weeds, the shop full of copper chevron trinkets was decorated in way that would make the likes of Portlandia fans giggle.

Yangmeizhu Alley is certainly no Cherokee Street by definition, but the historic lane’s new contemporary jewelry gallery is one of those places I’d point out for a visitor who might otherwise avoid the tourist trap lane and overlook the gallery's charming existence. Ubi Gallery is an airy, modern space that would have had my fifth grade art teacher drooling on her cardboard cutout brooches. If you fancy wearing spools of ribbon (pictured above) or embroidered, laser cut stainless steel on your lapel, then this is your place.

I'm a personal fan of artist Jie Sun's fish carved from airplane wood and painted gold. When you wear it, it looks like a sea creature is swimming straight into your heart. Alternatively, you can hang it on the wall.

Ubi has been around for about a year now, but they’ve recently undergone renovations, so check back here for a full review later.

In Sanlitun, Paloma Sanchez launched an October collection of gemstone rings adorned with white and yellow gold. My colleague commented that the amethyst ring looks like there's molten lava running through it. If you look at it that way, I think it makes for a choice gift for that February birthday girl. This stuff is high quality, so expect price points to hover around RMB 10,000.

If that's out of your range, there's always jewelry for your eyes.

A few weeks ago, I met Erik Biedron, one of the Swedish brains behind the Dienastie sunglasses regime that took over Migas one glorious night last summer. He and his business partner have progressive ideas about how to market shades, and I'm not just talking about getting a "free" pair of sunglasses with a RMB 300 drink at Migas (a great idea, though, I might add). Here's a look at some of their 2013 campaign images:

I’ll post more about Dienastie later, but check out their website in the meantime.

I'm leaving you with this tidbit: Scottish citizens are in a huff after taxpayer money was used to buy a pair of pants worth about 250 pounds from Beijing's Silk Market when the First Minister Alex Salmond forgot to bring his own to a Beijing Caledonian Society’s St Andrew’s Day Ball two years ago. This, folks, is much worse than showing up to your first day of class (or in this case, a ball), in your underwear. The First Minister was recently exposed and forced to repay the money back to the government, but who knows how long it will take before he regains his people's trust again.

Photos: Ubi Gallery, Blaise Hart-Schmidt, Paloma Sanchez, Dienastie

Email: j.rapp@thebeijinger.com
Instagram: @jrapppp

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