I would think twice before I make a statement like this one. The most masculine men are the men I see on motorcycles, the men covered in black leather, leather boots, rugged pair of jeans, and lets not forget – bands of leather bracelets and thick silver chains… You get the picture.

Motorcycles give you the sense of fearless power, unstoppable movement, and freedom.

As Yamaha describes the 2012 Stryker model – “with its raked out front end and “fists in the wind” riding position, this bike is pure attitude”.

The man in power is the man who knows how to calm down the beast, show some attitude, and look sexy while doing it. A man like this one knows how to show off not only by the style of bike he picks but also by the style of jewelry he wears while riding it – simple yet bold, earthy yet modern, minimalistic…and always ment to make a statement.

I’ve decided for myself that even though I could use cheaper base metals to produce my jewelry pieces, I would not want to sacrifice the value and the quality of my jewelry. Therefore, I’m using only sterling silver and copper as main materials in all my designs.

I finally found a good explanation about the difference between sterling silver and silver plated and hope that by sharing this information, I’ll also help my customers in their future jewelry purchases. The answer comes from SilverHeaven.com:

“The major difference that will be immediately noticed is in the price of the item. Sterling items are much more expensive, but they will hold on to their value over time. Silver plated items are far cheaper, but the items become worthless very quickly. In terms of how the items feel, sterling items are generally lighter than silver plated items of the same size. This is due to the inherent value of the silver – leading to using less of the metal in the manufacturing process. Silver plating is a chemical process that adds a very thin layer of silver to the item, which is made of a different metal. This allows the manufacturer to make heavier items out of cheaper metals.”

Yes, that’s the question I was asking myself before I started this collection. Although I was trying to be different and come up with different color palette, I can’t help myself thinking about white snow, dark brown-gray, moisten from the snow soil, green pine trees, red socks, and colorful presents and decoration.

So, I have to admit – that was part of my inspiration…

You can’t have a better metal to work with, that represents that coldness from the winter, than the sterling silver. Its high-polished surface, is wonderfully reflective like the virgin untouched surface of ice.

The gemstone that first jumped out at me was tourmaline quartz, because of its light grayish transparent color and its fossil-like dark gray, almost black speckles. Another one was the opal and the aqua. Aqua reminds me a lot of a faceted cube of ice and the opal with its milky white surface reminds me of the white snow.

On the other hand, living in Florida the nice sunny weather and the always vibrant colorful nature made me create Holiday jewelry with a twist of bright and lively colors.

Therefore, next to the jewelry pieces, having the traditional colors, associated with the winter, I am placing the jewelry pieces, inspired by that wonderful sunny weather outside my window.