What do you get when you mix a background in dental work with art school metals training? Well, when you multiply that interesting mix by two, the result is the just-this-side of macabre Lady Grey Jewelry.

Jill Martinelli and Sabine Le Guyader are the Mass Art-trained designers behind this bone/wood/icon obsessed line of necklaces, bracelets, rings and wearable objects. They work out of a studio in Brooklyn and as their totally cool site puts it, are "inspired by objects of decay -- such as teeth, branches and bones."

For years we were die hard silver aficionados. Hoop earrings, clangy bracelets, shiny necklaces, it was sterling or nothing. Gold was what our mother wore, for Pete's sake. It was classic but not cool.

Then, while shopping in Abbot Kinney, a too cool for us part of Venice Beach, we found the cutest four leaf clover charm necklace. Except it was gold.

According to the LA Times, guys are getting more and more into jewelry these days. Sales of men's jewelry doubled in the US over the last couple of years, and the trend is certainly visible on trend settin celebrity types from Johnny Depp to David Beckham.

So, why are men suddenly flocking back toward the bling? Some are saying that men are becoming more comfortable with making a fashion statement. Whatever.

Jewelry designer Lauren Wolf has some distinctive influences in her jewelry: She studied in coastal Mexico and now works "out of her studio in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge." While these might seem like opposing forces, she finds amazing and creative ways to use these two influences in her jewelry.

Textures like sting ray skin and and snake skin are cast in gold and silver, giving an urban feel to an otherwise coastal motif. However, I'm partial to the work she does with floral designs -- simple, beautiful flowers are given an edgy twist, so instead of just looking pretty and girly, they look feminine and badass (and who doesn't love that?). Lauren has lots of celebrity fans, including Lindsay Lohan, Cameron Diaz, Michelle Williams, Penelope Cruz, and Brooke Shields.

This isn't your grandma's costume jewelry -- it's the real deal. If you're looking for an incredible signature piece that you can be sure folks will notice for years to come, you've got to check out Lauren Wolf.

VITA Como Wrap bracelets are a new must have for celebrities this season. They're fun because you can snap them together to make them longer or mix colors! Personally, I probably wouldn't wear anything that reminded me of a dog collar or of a funky new kind of S&M handcuffs. But, to each his own. If you're looking to make your day wear a little more hardcore, than these are the bracelets for you.

Each bracelet comes in at a handy $55.00 apiece, available at Harmony Lane. At 7.5 inches long you can wrap them around your wrist twice. Conveniently, they come with gold or silver studs, to match your jewelry. Oh, and I don't just mean gold and silver, the colors. I mean, the studs are made from 24 karat gold or real silver. For that price I would hope so!

Whether I like them or not, I have a feeling we'll be seeing much more of these bracelets in the near future. So far they've been seen on the likes of Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Heidi Montag, Hayden Panettiere, Mischa Barton, Cameron Diaz and Selena Gomez.

I'm a big fan of all of the amazing independent designers out there. The little guys who are working so hard to compete with mainstream fashion labels to earn your respect and your own hard-earned dollars. These designers often do so while juggling 9-5 jobs, college, kids and more. In an effort to get inside the mind of the indie designer and find out just what makes all of these creative types tick, I present to you a new, ongoing segment I call "Indie Designer Interviews". First up is Nicole of Yen Jewelry.

Tell me a little about yourself and your company. An avid shopper, artist and lover of fashion, I design and handcraft jewelry using finer metals and gem-grade semiprecious stones. My line, Yen Jewelry, consists of necklaces, earrings, bracelets and limited release pieces. My work has been featured by various media, including DailyCandy and Lucky Magazine, to name a couple.

How did you get started as a designer? I started making jewelry as something new to try and because I never could find anything on the market that I liked. While my first attempts were nothing I would wear, let alone show to others, I quickly got better and wasn't embarrassed to wear what I was making. Soon after, requests for orders were coming my way and Yen Jewelry officially launched in April 2006.

Sure, you'll wear their name across your hindquarters, but how about your fingers? Jeans purveyors Miss Sixty have launched their jewelry line on Amazon. The pieces are priced from $55 to $185 and include rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets in gold and steel with leather and crystal details. Designs include wings, skulls, and in the new Romantic Collection, hearts. The design sense is a blend of Juicy Couture-style cute with just a touch of rocker edge such as in the ring shown here which sells for $55. I'm not a logo lover so I think it would be far more charming without the label.

[via National Jeweler]

Bracelets, or "arm candy" as I call them, have been a Hollywood staple for months now; Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie, just to name a few. Bracelets are the perfect accessory when worn alone or tossed together into a cluster. Lets face it, the CC Skye bracelet that Nicole made famous is growing old and even the Mintee Peace wrap bracelet is losing its place in the spotlight.

It's time to update your collection and now is the perfect time because the selection has never been better. For Spring '07 the brighter the better is the way to go, like the Alexis Bittar Lucite Pyramid Bangle which is very hot right now (better snap it up before Mischa does).

What would you do if you were an up-and-coming jewelry designer, young Hollywood was in love with your designs and then, you were hit with the most pernicious form of flattery, imitation. And not a knock-off but high-end designs. That's what's happening to cult jewelry designer Jessica Kagan Cushman. As the NY Post reports Cushman believes that her acerbic inscribed ivory cuffs are being copied by Chanel. The fashion house has launched a new line of resin bracelets with witty sayings from Coco Chanel etched on them in a similar script. Cushman is fighting mad and considering legal action. She has also created a new resin cuff hand engraved with the phrase "Ripped Off By Chanel." A rather solid way to make her point.

Don't feel too sorry for Jessica though, her business is set to clear $1 million in sales this year. It's not Chanel territory but still very impressive.

[picture via Fashionista.com who first showed Cushman the similarities between Chanel's bracelets and her own]

BabyPhat calls it a "bracelet," but we know a watch when we see one, and this one is perfect for the diamond diva. Well, at least for the crystalline couturista.

The Ice Kitty Bracelet (watch) is has a round case, and just for our vanity, has a mirrored dial with the Baby Phat kitty logo set in crystals. Of course, the most fabulous thing about this "ice" is that there are tiny floating crystals inside the dial - when they move around, they definitely sparkle.

The BabyPhat Ice Kitty bracelet is $150, available from the BabyPhat website.

The websites of jewelry designers are often a hit or miss proposition. Too often they are weighed down by loud music and a heavy use of Flash. It can be frustrating when a website doesn't seem to connect to the designer in any way. That's not the case with the Subversive Jewelry website. The site does its best to give you the sense of peering into a shop full of strangely wondrous treasures. Artist Justin Giunta has a deep love of history and the baroque. His designs are vintage explosions of charms, beads, and strands for an effect that is both feminine and dramatic. This Gothic Cluster necklace sells for $460 and requires a strong neck and a simple elegant outfit to showcase it.

If you love the look of the Hermes enamel bangles but maybe aren't itching to pay the Hermes price, the new bangles from Coach might be just the ticket. Their enamel bangles are available in a variety of widths and in various versions of either the Coach signature print or their charming Legacy Stripe shown here. The 3/4" inch bangle sells for $98 and is made of gold-plated brass.

One of the benefits of the modern metrosexual man (besides the manscaping) is the wardrobe and accessories potential. It used to be that his faded T-shirts were only suitable for slouching around the house. These days there are all sorts of crave-worthy things tucked inside the male closet; those deconstructed blazers and quirky hipster T-shirts are fair game. You can even share jewelry.

Bracelets from Tivi come in stainless steel, exotic woods and anodized aluminum and look great on a male wrist but also work well for women. They are available in small, medium and large so you can go matching. The designers come from interior and industrial design backgrounds and have also created a line of hinged wood and leather clutches that you definitely won't be sharing with the man in your life.

In a quest to find even more ways to help the envorinment and take advanage of resources that were in plain sight, but going to waste, designer Elizabethe Hake came up with these black, rubber bracelets. This line of accessories - since jewelry would probably not be the optimal term for this product - is made from reclaimed rubber bicycle tires. The origin of the rubber is evident in the style and shape of the bangles, as they even look a bit like bike chains. Some of the bracelets have sterling silver accents, too. Overall, the idea is to make the statement that environmental friendliness doesn't have to be about "hemp and granola." Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that, but sometimes it's good to have a more modern option.