The evil eye may be 2022’s jewelry talisman of choice, but symbolic celestial amulets are not far behind.
Throughout the pandemic, many jewelers (and probably a lot of others, too) have looked to the skies for inspiration. Some found it in the moon, an icon of comfort as it reliably appeared night after night, though not always in the same form.
Karma El Khalil kept the moon as company at the height of the pandemic, sparking her stellar Conversations With the Moon collection. Christina Alexiou found inspiration in the cultural currents surrounding the moon landing of Apollo 11 for her David Bowie-inspired Space Oddity line. And still so many more offer new design takes on the moon, including many jewels highlighting all or some of its eight phases.
And yet it seems we can’t get enough—which is just fine, since jewelry creators have plenty to give.
Like Julie Bowen of Bowen NYC, whose Moon and Stars collection gives us a selection of delectable, well, moons and stars.
“The moon is always changing her shape as she causes the tides to wax and wane along with her,” it says of the collection on the brand’s website. “She has come to represent our ever-changing moods, emotions, feelings that wash over us.”
This always-changing aspect of the moon seems to strike a chord with a lot of designers and their customers, and that symbolism is universal.
“I’ve always been inspired by the night sky, the moon, the stars,” says Bowen. “The moon is a symbol of change and yet consistency. Our lives are always changing like the moon, but to see it, even as a sliver, and to know it is always there, is comforting. For me, the stars symbolize wishes and achieving dreams. So to create pieces and a collection based around this makes sense as they resonate with so many people.”
The collection boasts highly wearable styles like chunky gold cigar bands with burnish-set gray diamonds, sparkling from their star-patterned settings that look like Moroccan lanterns (hence the name Moroccan Star). You’ll find dreamy blue sapphires in a similar version of the band, but also popping from the Blue Moons earrings, with crescent moons dangling from sapphire-accented stars. You’ll also see pieces featuring waves, which, while not a member of the night sky, are still scientifically linked to the moon and its phases.
Bowen also plays with two-tone metal, most prominently with the Starry Night bracelet, a gorgeous gold and blackened strand of six-point stars, with sapphires and diamonds providing the light and dark sparkle.
Prices for the collection start at $520 for a pair of star stud earrings and go up to $14,520 for a stackable ring set featuring multicolor sapphires outlining the shape of waves.
Top: Moroccan Star cigar band in 18k yellow gold with diamonds, $3,190; Bowen NYC
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