Make a Splash with Sea Jewelry

By Suzanne Singer
February 2, 2011

At once awesome, romantic, beautiful, dark, mysterious, playful, deadly and full of life, the ocean and its contents are a constant source of artistic inspiration. Unique jewelry, in particular, is a particularly popular medium, though the manifestations of nautical jewelry are as different and diverse as a sea horse and a sea urchin.

Three contemporary jewelry designers, each of whom incorporates marine motifs into her designs, shared the source of their fascination:

Formerly a jewelry designer for Oscar de la Renta, who for Resort, showed a gorgeous coral and shell necklace, Iradj Moini's opulent. museum-worthy sea jewelry pieces are tiny sculptures—including sea turtles and insects—decked out in precisely positioned precious stones and the occasional real sea shell: “I usually use sea creatures as inspiration. If one is close to water and beach, you want to pick up such elements of the water as respect and acknowledgement of the water world.”

Iradj Moini

Fresh Water Pearl Emerald; Citrine; Lion Claw Shell & Amethyst

Coral branches, shells and sea urchin shapes make frequent appearances next to precious gems in luxe sea jewelry pieces by top jewelry designer Federica Rettore, who for many years also designed nautical jewelry for Gucci: “I love materials left on the shore after a sea storm: wood bridles, sea urchin skeletons, shells and globular stones, all shapes and colors whispering new design ideas.”

Federica Rettore

Sea Urchin Skeleton Ring – 18kt gold, brilliant cut diamonds, cabochon cut milky aquamarine, stainless steel

Los Angeles-based jewelry designer Mali Sabatasso uses seahorse and starfish motifs, along with real fossils and sharks' teeth in her elegant gold pieces: “The inspiration behind the sea life collection was that I grew up by the beach and I lived in Hawaii for several years and St. Thomas. Nature has always been a huge part of my life and the source of my creativity.”

Mali Sabatasso

Large Sliced Shell Mother of Pearl Necklace; Real Starfish Hoop Earrings; Seafoam Green Real Shell Ring; Real Sea Horse/Shark Tooth Long Necklace

San Francisco-based jewelry designer Lauren Wolf is enchanted not only with the creatures in the sea, but also with their consistency: “In my design process I like working with silver because of the texture and contrast it holds after our patina process. I'm always fascinated by what surrounds us in the ocean, so to be able to capture these complex patterns like stingray skin onto a piece of jewelry, especially in silver, is amazing to me. I always design with my wearer in mind and think that textured silver is incredibly versatile. I am constantly looking for new design inspirations, whether it be from my travels, design books, found natural objects, or the complexity of the sea. It's important for me to design pieces that possess a simple elegance, but that maintain a subtle creativity. You can wear one of our pieces on its own as your single stand-out piece or you can mix it in with all of your other jewelry, both silver and gold. I love all of our bracelets from the collection. The silver stingray baby cuff is one of my favorites and it's always great to throw on a few of our bangles into the mix, like the stingray and starfish bangles.”

Lauren Wolf

Large Seahorse on 24" Silver Chain; Silver Stingray Petal Earrings; Silver Stingray Bangles. $95 per Bangle; Oxidized Silver Cardissium Heart with 14k Gold Detail on Silver Chain (18")

eBay is swimming with sea jewelry. Listings for the term "shell" in the Jewelry & Watches category are up 50 percent in a recent 15-day period (1/7-1/21) vs. the prior period.