Alex Jacques Designs
jewelry
razors
design
alexjacquesdesigns.com
I know it’s coming a little late, but Chicago… you are amazing! This years Chicago was so so so much fun! Special thanks to and for putting on these opportunities for artists such as myself! Extra special thanks also go out to all of the customers, supporters, vendors, friends, and dare I say “fans” who give me the energy to keep going! Here are some pieces that went home with people. I wish I took more photos!
Do you like gold? I do too. Stay tuned.
For the longest time I’ve thought to myself “I can’t get my business politically involved”. I didn’t want to lose the precious sales or connections that I do get, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I can’t stay quiet on this any longer. I’ll just try to do it without getting my account banned… I’m sure that all of you know there’s a “war” going on in Ga🇵🇸a. Most of you don’t know that I have close family friends who are Pal3st!n!an and they live in Ga🇵🇸a. They aren’t terrorists. They don’t support terrorists. They don’t cheer for what happened on October 7. They don’t support the group that committed the atrocities that happened on October 7. They only want to live their lives like you and I, in peace. The thing is, it’s not a “war”. It’s an occupying force (!sra3l) trying to wipe every Palest!n!an out of Ga🇵🇸a. It is absolutely an ethnic cleansing. We all know the word for that.
My closest friend there I’ll call Maryam. She’s very private. Her family lives in the north of Ga🇵🇸a where people are starving. She and her sister were in school getting their master’s degrees in education. Her other sister was in an undergrad nursing program. Her brother was getting a master’s of science in medical laboratory. He works in a hospital that now operates without drugs or painkillers. I think they have to reuse blood bags and only for the most serious procedures. And now they are all just trying to stay alive. Maryam’s daily life consists of staying out of sight so she isn’t targeted in a drone strike. Thankfully they were able to make bread yesterday over an open flame. Most days, they don’t have food or water. They can’t sleep at night because of the non-stop sounds of drones overhead and bombs exploding. I speak to her when she is able to get online through a messaging app, never knowing if I won’t be able to speak to her again. Imagine if you had to worry about your life and family in this way.
I can’t fathom how they are feeling. CONTINUED IN COMMENTS…
The Ossuary Bracelet weighs in at over 175 grams of solid sterling silver - that’s almost half a pound! This piece was inspired by a recent visit to the ossuary at the Catacombs of Paris.
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This weekend I’m vending in my first ever virtual market with ! Stop on by their site to browse all of the artists participating. I’m working on my website, frantically trying to update my products and selection. I will also be going live on IG with on Saturday at 7pm est for what I’m sure will be an interesting, entertaining, shoot-from-the-hip conversation!
And finally, you probably know my stance on “sales”, but in honor of this new opportunity, you can use the code DARKSOMELOVE for 10% off and free priority mail shipping on orders over $200!!! Am I crazy???
I got back from LA last week and needed time to recover. I met so many awesome people and made new friends. THANK YOU to everyone who bought something, took a card, followed me on Instagram, or even just stopped by my table to say hi! I had such a great time! Special thanks to for an amazing show! I can’t wait for the next one! In the meantime, here are some of the pieces that happy customers picked up!
I’ll be launching my new Shark Tooth Hoops on my website soon! Each tooth was hand carved and the pain naturally mirrors each other.
The Python Ring coiled around the finger.
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These solid sterling silver shark tooth rings stack on your finger to emulate the way shark teeth grow into their mouth. Each tooth was hand carved separately, together they created a serrated profile.
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The Python and Hognose Rings are two of my favorite designs! They look so nice together, and wear so well! I hand carved these snakes and cast them in solid sterling silver.
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I hand carved the beads for this bracelet from human skull fragments sourced from a 14th century plague pit. I got the fragments from my friends over at , and treated them with a penetrating epoxy to make them durable. Are you brave enough to wear this bracelet?
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This and the tiny skull bracelet will be added to my website soon!
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I’m headed back to the east coast after spending a week in LA for . It was awesome getting to meet so many other talented artists, hanging with old friends and making new ones! Special thanks to my clients who took home some of my work with them.
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It’s almost time! I’ve been busy preparing a lot of new pieces for the upcoming in Los Angeles. Come check out my new and old designs, one-of-a-kind items, and maybe even some human bone jewelry! I’ll have a couple of show specials too. Swipe to see some of my work that will definitely be up for grabs! I’m so excited to see my oddities family again! Shoutout to for the poster artwork too!
Tickets available in advance at Oddities Flea Market: Los Angeles https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oddities-flea-market-los-angeles-tickets-487587616687?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=wsa&aff=ebdsshwebmobile
This 14k Gold Skull Ring has a little tapered baguette diamond tooth that I cast in place. It looks so good!
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Please enjoy the accidental selfie!
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So I’m making a bracelet of small silver skulls for an awesome guy. It’s going to look great and I’m really excited about it. I’ll probably offer it from now on too. It’s so tedious having to clean up and prep 45ish tiny skulls for it though. But really, that’s what makes the difference between a small, owner operated business like mine and something cheaper- the level of care that goes into each and every aspect of your finished piece. I hand finish everything myself so that I am happy with the final result. And I’m a picky guy. lol
I’ll be finishing these two up soon for an awesome couple in MA who I met in NY! It’s been very busy here for me recently with several different non-jewelry projects in the works. Sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day to do the things I want and need to do. It’s the hard life of a self-employed artist and small business owner (think supporting gigs!). But we all make it work somehow. How do you other artists out there manage?
I'm getting excited about going to the spring market this weekend! I'll be bringing these pieces as well as a few new designs that nobody has seen yet! Come say ✋ if you're in Kingston, NY too!
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I can’t wait to work on this one. 14k yellow gold and I’m going to set little Diamond teeth across the front. If you want to claim it, DM me!
This post is all about 𝗪𝗔𝗫!
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In my practice, I use a few different kinds of waxes to make my jewelry. When I'm carving the master design (second and third picture), I tend to use 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘅 because it's generally the hardest wax which allows you to get better detail. In addition, the dark color makes it easier to see those details.
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I'm currently carving a rattlesnake ring (fourth picture) out of 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘅, which is a similar hardness, but I’m finding that the lighter color makes it a lot harder to see fine details for me at least! I wanted to try it, but probably won’t get more when I run out. When I'm using a mold to make multiples, I really prefer using pink wax instead of the red wax that I used to use.
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The 𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘄𝗮𝘅 (first photo) is more flexible, less brittle, and flows better which retains more of the details. There are still other waxes that I’d like to try, especially for the injection process, but currently there are only so many hours in a day!
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Special shout out to my friends who have helped me figure out a process that works best for my designs and my work style!
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I had an amazing weekend in Chicago vending at ! It was great getting to share my work with the Oddities community; thanks to everyone who stopped by my booth! Here are some photos of pieces that found new homes this weekend!
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I'm so excited to share my Ossuary Bracelet with you! This bracelet is made up of stacked skull beads, and weighs in at over 175 grams of solid sterling silver! This piece was inspired by a recent visit to the ossuary at the Catacombs of Paris. An ossuary is a chamber made for storing bones, and the chambers under Paris hold the remains of over 6 million people! There, rows of shin bones alternate with rows of skulls to create a decorative wall, which holds back the remaining piles of bones behind them.
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Check out my newest design, the Wraparound Skull Ring! I hand carved the skull to wrap around the finger with the lower jaw floating below the upper jaw.
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I first shared this ring with you when I was carving the wax in December... It takes so long to make each piece, and I'm so excited to have finally completed it!
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These Femur Rings (and much more) will be available next weekend in Chicago! I'm looking forward to seeing my mid-west friends April 1 & 2 at the .mfg building.
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Bone x Sterling Silver. I’m excited about these bracelets. I really like the skull that I carved and love how it looks on both the lava and bone (both of which were used in mourning and memento mori jewelry historically)! I’m also making it as a full silver piece with the skull just repeating all the way around! Wait till you see that!
Exciting news! I’ve got a new logo! So the pumpkin I designed myself so many years ago has served me well. It doesn’t however Point in the new direction of my business. So I asked a good friend of mine to design me something new. I gave him some ideas and in a short time he really delivered! I’m so happy with it! So look for my new logo to start inhabiting all the spaces of my old one soon. Extra special thank you to ! His work is amazing and this was no exception! What do you all think??
These waxes will get cleaned up so that there's no flashing or imperfections, and then cast in solid sterling silver. I've got a lot of items in the works as I get ready for the Chicago !
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Sterling silver handcarved skull bead with lava rock bracelet. Coming soon! You can see them in person along with a bunch of other new stuff I’ve been working hard on at the in Chicago, April 1+2!