Our season of Blame It On The Bling continues with this diamond brooch submitted by AJF member Rachel Carren, who loves her diamonds natural, but not too rough. Now this is a vision of landscape that we here at at AJF could happily gaze at for hours.

Steven Ford and David Forlano, Diamond Pin #6, 2006, 18k gold, sterling polymer clay, 1.25 x 2.25 x .5″, diamonds. Photo: Robert Diamante

Diamond Pin #6 by Ford and Forlano would be great to wear to an Art Jewelry Forum event. The four diamonds bring a bit of bling into a piece of art jewelry through a play on the idea of diamonds and a series of contrasts. The roughness, both apparent and real of the polymer surfaces and less finished quality of the metals, contrast with the physical and conceptual refinement of the gemstones. The sparkle of the diamonds offsets the visual textures and earthy hues of the polymer and non-lustrous metals. Ford and Forlano also tweak the idea of diamond another way through the use of round details in the surface patterning that echo the round shape of the actual diamonds and is inset into diamond shaped forms. For me, all of this makes for a pin that is engaging and eminently wearable. It is definitely not the status quo for what one would envision of diamond jewelry.