Rough Cut Podcast, Rebooted!
We're back with a slew of new shows for fall flavored with feels from our earliest shows; on earrings: the quest for vintage cloisonné and a tiny chain with the power to modernize your ear stack.
Time For a Pivot
Hello, Rough Cutters! We’re so excited to be dropping a new set of shows that reflect a slight change of attitude and perspective here at headquarters (okay, Alain’s living room). After three years of producing Rough Cut Podcast, we’ve done a lot of experimenting—with styles, formats, hosts, guests, topics, etc. And what we’ve discovered is that while you’re willing to go on wild rides with us (thank you!), you like us best when we’re simple and casual, having spirited, silly, and shamelessly sanctimonious conversations about jewelry and style, amongst ourselves and the occasional guest. We hear you! And we hope you’ll take a listen to our debut episode, featuring Rough Cut co-founders JB Jones and Alain Simic. They explain it all!
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A Quick Way to Modernize All Your Stud Earrings
Put a chain on it! This tiny chain can turn your studs into Zoe Kravitz-worthy connected earrings; slip any stud into the tiny jump rings to create a more dramatic, pulled-together look that’s perfect for multiple piercings (“ear parties” if you must). There are two ways to wear these chains: looped front-to-back on a single stud, or connecting two studs, a la Grainne Morton’s incredible mismatched chain earrings (below). It’s fun to play with these little chains, which come in two lengths here. -Emili
I’m Ready to Bring Back Cloisonné Jewelry
I like marinating in weird little details and obsessing over minutia. I’m a small-picture person. And that’s especially true when it comes to jewelry. Which is why at 2 a.m. the other day my husband caught me doom-scrolling on Etsy for 80s-era cloisonné earrings.
What’s cloisonné? It’s the art of arranging thin metal walls along a pattern etched onto a metal base, creating shallow channels in which to add colored material (usually enamel). Fun fact: Almost all cloisonné is enamel, but not all enamel is cloisonné. What?!
Anyway, the cloisonné look was super popular in the 1980s, so lots of Hong Kong- and mainland China-made “cloisonné” jewelry was manufactured (pricey, high-end cloisonné definitely exists—it’s an ancient and highly skilled art—but that’s not what’s on Etsy for $5.99). To me, cloisonné or cloisonné-lite is beautiful and tinged with a pleasant nostalgia. And after looking at bargain-basement cloisonné for two hours, I feel like the return to detailed, painterly jewels is inevitable, and that the first person to do it cleverly, ideally with a dash of subversiveness, will hit it big in the market. Mudd Pearl and Old Jewelry, I’m looking at you!
Here are a few favorites from my search (all these are under $20). —Emili
