dona dona

It must be the busiest month for jewelers.  

I've been sending orders out to stores that are getting ready for the holidays.  

During finishing those rings, I was singing dona dona song.

This Yiddish song is popular in Japan. 

As kids, we sang this song as a joke when we were on a school-bus comparing us to calves that were carried on a wagon to a market.  

I felt like I was seeing those rings off at the gate of our home. 

They are on an old wagon and will be on a trip shortly.

When I found English version of this song today, I was shocked that this song was a bit cruel in English.  

Wow, the third verse, how realistic is that.

Dona Dona

1. On a wagon bound for market
There's a calf with a mournful eye.
High above him there's a swallow
Winging swiftly through the sky.

How the winds are laughing
They laugh with all their might
Laugh and laugh the whole day through
And half the summer's night.


Dona dona dona dona
Dona dona dona down
Dona dona dona dona
Dona dona dona don


2. "Stop complaining," said the farmer
"Who told you a calf to be;
Why don't you have wings to fly away
Like the swallow so proud and free?"


3. Calves are easily bound and slaughtered
Never knowing the reason why.
But whoever treasures freedom,
Like the swallow must learn to fly

Original Yiddish text by Aaron Zeitlin & Shalom Secunda
tr. Arthur Kevess & Teddi Schwartz

what I was doing last week

 

I've been doing a construction work for a ring.  

Lately I'm into layering jewelry.  I like layering short and long necklaces, layering some bangles in silver, brass & rose gold, and layering rings in different gold colors and a small diamond ring.  I like to do one of those at a time.  Never do all at once.

My customer happened to order "seven diamond ring" and her wedding ring together and I have decided to reconstruct the diamond ring to raise the top diamond part so that both rings can be worn together comfortably.  I made one piece in silver and checked if they worked together when they were layered.

It needed some time to do this construction but it was fun.   

No wonder there are many jewelers who used to be architects.  If you can do a technical drawing for a bridge, it should be a piece of cake.

 I would love to see other rings will be added in the future to those two rings.  I love Italian older ladies wearing many many rings together.  It's a history of you.

wedding rings

I like making wedding rings.  

I feel warm when one ring is small enough to fit comfortably inside of another ring. 

Congratulations on your wedding.

warm night

Don't know how to read a Chinese name of this "hand-pulled noodle" place in Chinatown.  

At this tiny place packed with customers, we had warm soul food from China in a cold night of NY.

another "unusual engagement rings" column

My jewelry designer friend Satomi has emailed me that both of our rings were featured at Glamour website as "5 pretty and unusual engagement rings we're loving right now."  

We met last year and became friends.  

We have similar back ground; both Japanese, started learning making jewelry after coming to New York and we speak in the Osaka dialect.  In my case, after living in Tokyo & NY and married to a Tokyo-grown husband my dialect is almost gone though.

Thank you Glamour for picking both of our rings.

Satomi's ring.  See our similar background?

working, working... and shopping desire

It's been a while. 

After my last update, I became sick, very sick.

I had a fever of 103F and I had to stay on a bed for a week.  

Then I had another trade show in New York, then now I am working very hard to catch up the orders.  

I'll soon update my new collections on my website.  Thank you so much for emailing me to ask for my new collection images, I will really do it. 

I once lost my appetite and fashion desire after my sickness, but now I eat too much and I'm back to daily online shopping habit.

Speaking of fashion desire, today I found Melissa X Alexandre Herchcovitch shoes on Atlantic Avenue. 

 What a great collaboration of two great Brasilian designers.  I'll go back to the store again next weekend and if I found them again, I consider the shoes are linked by fate...and I'll get them.  

They are not enamel leather, they are plastic as many of you know about Melissa's shoes.

That means my friend Victoria would approve them for me to wear.  

Plus they are $140 but they don't look like only $140.