Pretty perfect, right? So, imagine my delight when Jolie and her fiance Hunter contacted me about an engagement ring. Such an honor. When I went to deliver the completed engagement ring and matching band, Jolie and Hunter greeted me with an enormous sheaf of irises and foxgloves and some soap made from the farm’s French lavender.

They treated me to a tour of the grounds, with over 55 varieties of heirloom apples (including my beloved Pink Pearl), pinot noir vineyards and countless rows of flowers. The sweet William were in full glory, the lilacs and roses were tantalizingly fragrant, and the sweet peas had just started to pop out. I just couldn’t get enough of the incredible views all over the valley and pretty much wanted to move right in.

After I reluctantly said my goodbyes and got in my car, I glanced in my rearview mirror. Jolie and Hunter were holding hands across a rough-hewn table strewn with flowers and exclaiming over her “perfect” ring. I slowly drove through the gate with a lump in my throat and a little thrill at witnessing this unexpected gift of gratitude.

(Jolie christening her ring with soil, planting succulent logs)

You can find out more about their flowers and the magic that the Devoto family works on the farm (moth pheromones! Tuberose bulbs transported from India!) by reading her blog, and if you want to bring your own bouquet home, you can find them at farmer’s markets all over the North Bay throughout the summer.

I’ve used the mariposa lily as the inspiration for several items of jewelry, including the earrings with vintage Georgian amethysts in the sidebar image above the Shakespeare quote. Some time ago I was approached by a client to design a custom version of this motif for her engagement ring, using a reclaimed garnet and a vineyard band in palladium and rose gold. She was drawn to the symbolism of this triad and wanted an orangey-red stone, with the idea that the bloom was springing forth from the band naturally. The end result was very striking, as you can see.

The parade is a total small-town delight, with costumed dachshunds, school marching bands and crepe-paper festooned floats. This year, the theme of “Old McBlossom on the Farm” brought out quite a few goofy pig and cow costumes as well as relics of the county’s agricultural history in vintage tractors.

Lest you think this was a completely wholesome affair, rosy-cheeked girls from the local dance school busted a move in Daisy Dukes, the “radical guerilla marching band”, the Hubbub Club, staged a happening that interrupted the parade temporarily, and the requisite medical marijuana contingent was preaching peace and love in full force. My face hurt from grinning so much, and my two-year-old just stared in (unprecedented) silent amazement for the entire two hours.

After the parade, we ducked through the hordes on Main Street wilting in the unseasonable heat and headed for another West County must-see, K&L Bistro. In this Michelin-ranked (mostly) French bistro, my friends Karen and Lucas Martin serve show-stopping, creative cuisine worthy of loftier addresses by far. No greasy festival food for us here, just an incredible oyster bao starter followed by perfectly-cooked salmon on a bed of spring greens and baby beets, and “the yummiest pasta ever” according to my daughter Maud. We were spoiled rotten and drove home feeling deliciously guilty as the throngs of perspiring festival-goers stumbled back to their cars, overstuffed with waffle fries.

Unlikely as it may seem at first glance, I’m certainly not the first to associate butterflies with a call to action. Eco-friendly brand EDUN launched an ad campaign based on this same concept of transformation earlier this season, which I just discovered after investigating the backstory behind those animated sidebar ads that kept cropping up all over Internet. (Is it just me, or is that one with the model pulling a butterfly out of her shorts just a wee bit over-the-top risque?!) The inspiration for this provocative campaign is described as follows: “EDUN was born when two passions collided — a love of beautiful clothes and a desire to create change.”

Change is a good thing. I’d have to agree. The butterflies are on to something, and maybe it’s time to wake up and take notice. Since the founding of okomido in 2009, we’ve refused to compromise about one thing: making beautiful jewelry without supporting any new mining worldwide. Full stop. What that has meant is that all of the metals we use are completely recycled and all of our gemstones are vintage, which makes every piece of jewelry either one-of-a-kind or limited edition. I don’t know of any other designer who has committed this fully to the concept of “Green” jewelry, and it’s been kind of a badge of honor, I have to admit. However, it seems the time has come to re-evaluate the thinking behind that commitment.

I still love antique and vintage stones as much as ever, and the idea that every piece of okomido jewelry has a story and a connection to history is still a guiding principle for this company. But, in honoring the past and focusing on the present, I don’t want to ignore the future. I want to be part of that change, and a boycott should only last as long as there is no alternative to injustice.

Mining practices are now being affected by the passionate outcry of members of the industry like the No Dirty Gold campaign or the Alliance for Responsible Mining, and the artisanal mining industry is growing. These small groups of independent miners need support in order to survive (and not be exploited), and I’d like to be a part of that process.

We’ll still be using vintage stones like gorgeous Old Mine-cut diamonds as often as possible, but we’re also going to be carrying sustainably-mined stones soon. And, when organizations such as UK-based Fairtrade Gold make responsibly-mined gold available in the US, we may consider purchasing these metals as well.

Follow that butterfly. Change is good.

My name, Midori (which means “green” in Japanese), comes from a friend of my father’s, from before I was born when he studied landscape design in Kyoto. He continued his own practice throughout my childhood, designing breathtaking Japanese-style gardens in California that remain works of art today. He was able to capture the traditional attention to detail, engaging all the senses with striking visual elements, fragrant blooms, tinkling bamboo water features with hand-carved stone bowls, and contrasts in texture and color. As a child, I was enchanted with them and spent hours with a set of tiny Japanese dolls, creating my own miniature versions of these serenely beautiful and stylized environments for them to inhabit.

With such a background, it’s no wonder that I am still drawn to things today that successfully emulate a traditional Japanese aesthetic, and of course my favorites are fresh and modern (and often not even Japanese design at all). A recent find I’m coveting is from Swedish designer Camilla Wellton, whose entire collection is full of personality and stunning architectural details, and it’s eco-friendly to boot. The Kimonoat has full, kimono-inspired sleeves and a sash like a flattened obi, and it’s available in a wide range of fabrics from old school tweed to fashion-forward anthracite wool lined with hemp/silk. During this unseasonably warm winter weather, I’d never be able to wear it out here, but owning it might just necessitate a trip somewhere chilly and European. A girl can dream.

image by Emma Jönsson-Dysell, courtesy of Camilla Wellton

Seriously, it is an exciting time to be in this jewelry industry, because we really are on the brink of much-needed change. Consumers are so much better informed about the importance of knowing where their jewelry comes from, and of course this makes them so much more discriminating. I am grateful to be able to provide so many wonderful people with pieces they can treasure without an ounce of guilt. No sacrifices to anyone else’s health or quality of life, no squandering of natural resources, and no political upheaval required. Now, that is really something to celebrate.

I can’t wait to see what this year will bring. Every day I find out about incredible, inspiring new projects using metal that other artists, metalsmiths and jewelry-makers are involved in, and it makes me all the more passionate about my own work. New design inspirations arise from the most unlikely of moments: knots in a barbed wire fence makes me want a barb-free knotted ring, drinking a latte reminds me of that Carly Simon song “You’re So Vain” (from the year I was born! How dated is that?!) and all day I’m humming “I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee…” and absent-mindedly doodling swirls while answering phone calls. And hearts are everywhere, of course, even in coffee and barbed wire:

photo courtesy of TheLonelyHeart

The orchard isn’t extensive enough to hire a crew to harvest the fruit, so, left to our own devices, we have provided far too many apples for the enjoyment of wandering deer. This weekend I finally got around to buying a fruit-picker basket with telescoping handle to reach those higher branches, and the whole family set to work filling crates with the resulting bounty. We felt very industrious, and my guilt was assuaged just a bit.

Why guilt? I have a confession to make. With all these delicious apples falling to the ground only to become mulch or attract wasps, it may seem baffling that I actually purchase apples at all during this season, but I am a die-hard fan of a particular rare variety that we don’t grow (yet!). It’s only available for a few weeks in the early fall, doesn’t store well and is notoriously impossible to transport because it bruises so easily. But, with a name like Pink Pearl, how can a jewelry lover resist?

When we first moved to this area, I saw a hand-lettered sign with “Pink Pearl Apples” off Gravenstein Highway, and I stopped at Hales Apple Farm to investigate. This apple truly has to be seen and tasted to be believed. The outside is pearly enough, warm and golden with rosy overtones, but when you slice into the marvelous flesh you reveal a shocking, marbleized pink that is simply unreal. The pale skin is thin enough that the hot pink actually shows through somewhat, creating the pearlescent glow. I especially like tart apples, so when I took that first bite I became completely hooked. Now I look forward all year to that precious few weeks when they’re available, and my enjoyment is surely heightened by the deprivation.

My husband teases me mercilessly about this apple gluttony, but now that the Pink Pearls are gone until next August, I can redeem myself by making good use of the newly-harvested mystery apples from our own orchard. Next year, maybe we’ll plant some of my guilty favorites, but in the meantime, I’m playing with pearls of a different variety.

Can you add another couple “nodes” to the vine on my ring?

I love the look of the silver, but I want my wedding ring to wear really well since it’s “forever”. Can you make it in white gold instead?

In most cases, we can accommodate these special requests with no problem. We can alter the twig style a bit to add the particular features and character that you prefer, like additional “nodes” (those little bits off the side that would burst into leaf if the vine continued growing) or a specific texture. We love using heirloom diamonds to make that ring extra-special just for you. We’re even working on rings for men (coming soon!) and some new designs for women as well. We also have worked really hard to satisfy our customer’s requests for white gold, because it’s nearly impossible to use this metal and maintain our commitment to Green jewelry-making practices. (To get the desirable white color, pieces must be rhodium plated, which is not only highly toxic but also wears over time.) We’re excited to provide an alternative that we think is actually an improvement.

Palladium is a precious metal in the platinum family that is durable, lightweight and gorgeous. It’s also remarkably affordable. Raw materials costs are actually less than gold, with somewhat more complicated labor costs, so the price for a palladium ring ends up about the same as our 18K version. No plating or surface treatment is necessary, because the lovely color is the same throughout the piece. To top it all off, it’s even hypoallergenic, which is often not the case with white gold that is frequently alloyed with nickel.

So, why haven’t more people heard of palladium? Platinum was discovered in the 18th century and became widely used in luxury jewelry at the beginning of the 20th, but it wasn’t until 1939 that palladium was recognized as a precious metal with similar potential for jewelry-making. Difficulty in casting made it less commonly-used until recently, when manufacturing improvements and a large-scale marketing campaign have increased public awareness.

We’ve done some really wonderful custom rings this summer in palladium, set with vintage diamonds or a russet-red almandite garnet or even a peachy-orange sapphire. So, when are you ordering yours?

I was introduced to this delightful work through Ecouterre, which is one of my favorite sites to read about cutting edge eco-fashion. From the outlandish and bizarre Chanel bag made from beef jerky to the slightly-creepy yet strangely-intriguing restored Victorian-era dress bejeweled with beetle wings, their features never cease to amaze me. The jewel-beetle dress, in particular, reminded me of my own fascination with the oddities of antique jewelry history when I worked at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, such as misnamed Egyptian-revival “scarab” brooches incorporating those same iridescent beetles, Chinese hair adornments made of brilliant blue kingfisher feathers, and Victorian mourning items of woven human hair. The recycling and repurposing movement in fashion is hardly new.

Beetles and feathers were used in ancient jewelry because it was impossible to manufacture their equal in color and iridescence at the time, and they were surprisingly durable. In the Gothic and Victorian eras, wearing dead animal or insect material was morbidly appealing and did not seem out of place amid a fascination with what Edgar Allen Poe called the “terrors of the soul”.

I’m no Goth girl myself, but I do find the resourcefulness and creativity of early jewelry-makers remarkable. If I could be half as innovative in my own work I would consider it a great accomplishment.

The ten-year reunion of this happy event came and went, and our friend decided to take matters in his own hands. Out of the blue, we received an invitation from him to his own Italian wedding this summer–at that very spot. Of course, there was no way we could refuse.

I’m beside myself with glee. A trip to Florence, Siena and the Maremma, with some of my favorite people ever. I’ve got to start planning my travel wardrobe, don’t you think? I had some fun with Polyvore, putting together an inspiration board with organic, sustainable, eco-friendly apparel from Rag & Bone, the Podolls, Stewart+Brown, Edun and Kim White to wear with okomido jewelry. If you’re a Polyvore fan, you can even access the jewelry images I saved there and use them for your own creative wardrobe styling. Hope you enjoy!

Italy by okomido featuring wooden sandals