It’s been a while since I’ve talked about my friend Juilan Lamb’s work.

Julian’s company, Ruby Crush, makes some distinctive and creative jewelry. But as with many creative people, he’s lacked a good web presence. His original site was updated once and then left.

Recently though, he’s started over; new site, new blog, and to go with it, some fantastic new jewellery (to use the british spelling). The new site looks great; new logo, new slogan (Infamous English Jewelry, which I think is great), great gallery.

As well as skull rings, he has cufflinks I’m absolutely drooling over, some wonderful pendants, earrings, and some stylish, elegant bracelets.

But it’s the rings that really make a statement. I’ve blogged about his elvis ring before, but he’s gone far beyond that now, adding Sid Vicious and Jimi Hendrix. I have three of his earlier skull rings, the Classic, the Vintage and the Femme Fatale (an xmas present for Barb a few years back). But he’s got several new models; the Absinth, the Belladonna, and the piratical Sweet Revenge, and the new Fetish skull (all viewable here, though I can’t direct link to the individual pages).

The other thing that’s really terrific about Julian’s new site is that it’s got some breathtaking examples of Julian’s custom work. Like many of my other jeweler friends, this is where the creativity really shines (though obviously, this is also where the prices skyrocket.) Make sure to brose the custom gallery, though, for some amazing work, AND for some really wonderful, moody photography (I wish I could figure out how to take shots like this of my rings).

Julian, who in addition to beaing a gifted artist, is also a hell of a nice guy, recently sent me a couple of samples to check out.

Below are pictures of his brand new ‘fetish skull’, which is a smaller skull, well suited to smaller hands, or as a pinky ring on big fists like mine. Also pictured is his ‘belladonna’ ring, which reminds me of the Deadrings Classic, though it features some distinctive details I really like (It’s also a bit more delicate than the Deadringers).

Also pictured in the full hand pix are the older ‘classic’ and ‘vintage’, mentioned in previous postings.

(click these to embiggen)

I’m very happy with these two rings. The Belladonna is very wearable – reasonably light, and low-profile for a large ring. The Fetish ring is interesting in that it’s a toothless skull, the only one like it I’ve seen. The effect is particularly macabre.

My sample of the fetish skull was an early casting, so some of the edges (particularly the gum-line) are faintly sharp; however Julian assures me this is corrected in the production casting. A tiny bit of filing should correct this on my sample (and I in no way mind this). The distinctive features work extremely well aesthetically though; it has the slightly exaggerated look needed to make a small skull make sense. This is the first pinky ring in my collection, and as such, will get lots of wear.

Both rings came sized exactly as ordered, which is a huge plus for me; comfort depends on sizing.