MAD AS A HATTER FOR TOM BINNS

HOW COULD YOU NOT BE WITH PIECES THIS EXQUISITE?

Tom Binns' Black Safety Pin Necklace

Tom Binns is a phenomenal jewelry designer who mixes hard and soft gems and textures with such semblance, the irony of the pairing almost disappears. Costume, maybe, but divine and revolutionary and certainly leading in one of the biggest jewelry trends to date, Binns' pieces are smartly intermixed with pearls and metal, black opalescent rhinestones, with safety pins (!) and vintage chains, skulls and diamonds. Actually, his work is utterly sensible and dynamic. 

Tom Binns' Rhinestone Pearl Necklace

Tom Binns' Silver Foil Drop Earrings, $300

Tom Binns' Skull and Diamond/Rhinestone Ring

My very first Tom Binns' piece was a gift from my husband. Dazzling silver foil drop earrings, metallic and sleek. I couldn't believe he had picked them out himself. He said the saleswoman who helped him assured him that I would simply love this designer. I always find it humorous that random sales people at random department stores can so unabashedly claim to know my taste. Nonetheless, she was right (this time). Tom Binns had just started collaborating with Cristina Viera-Newton. It was 2004, the same year Binns and Newton joined forces under the auspices of Tom Binns' Designs, LLC. One pair of earrings, that's all it took. Several necklaces and rings and cuffs and brooches later, well, you get it. Apparently, I was not alone. Binns is a force to be reckoned with in the world of bauble beauty and everybody wants a piece.

Binns' talent is so far-reaching and his couture so extravagantly perfect that just this year, Disney called upon Binns (along with designer extraordinaire, Stella McCartney) to create an "Alice in Wonderland"-themed collection. A bit trite one might think for such a wizard of gemology. I know, I thought the same, but I stand corrected. I would wear these pieces regardless of the fact that they might conjure up unsettling images of the Cheshire Cat or "falling down the rabbit hole." This stuff is off the hook unreal. 

Tom Binns' Alice in Wonderland Collection

Tom Binns should be a part of your accessory vernacular and with pieces priced to suit every pocketbook, it's almost shameful not to own one of his unique creations. Check him out http://www.tombinnsdesign.com/.