today i've been flipping through books on the book shelf at home I've never flipped through before cos they're new - esp the jewelry books my mum collected and surprisingly there were some related things in there I could see myself use as a reference. how some lay them out categorically, how they are usually against a black or white background, clean, to show the best version of themselves.
also, how jewels by JAR reference nature and use jewels in such a way they seem more like artworks than accessories.
https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2013/jewels-by-jar
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/27/arts/design/jewels-by-jar-joel-arthur-rosenthal-at-the-met-museum.html a fairly critical article on the met show
also, I read the sort of 'introduction' book to jewelry, a sort of encyclopedia of jewelry terms, and I found the CHAIN particularly interesting. its a continuous loop of circles forming a larger circle essentially (depending on which type of chain.. box chains have a more structured shape) and you wear it. and that made me think of the ideas of the circle, loop, venn diagram, overlaps, etc... I looked at the hula hoop in the house in a different way after that (i could make physical venn diagrams..) there's something Really interesting with the idea of accessorising itself, decorating oneself, representing, embellishing onesef in a particular way (I could make an embellishment/accessory...) there is also the accessory which serves as a place to have a photo of a loved one etc in it, the type you open and look at like a souvenir/momento, but much more sentimental, close to the heart, literally. that is a bit different to the always exposed photo pendant which I am sure is popular in modern times. you can easily get a personalised necklace off etsy. that's really something. wearing a photo around your neck. and what if its a photo of an object? or a fake necklace that records everything from those tiny spy cams? (I nearly bought a spy cam before flying back here ... )
