Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

My excitement grows each day as I await the concert I’ll be attending in Second Life. The perfect gown has been found, purchased and awaits me in my closet. The decision of what jewelry to wear is of no concern or worry to me. My jewelry box is filled with ~flirt~ fine jewelry.    ::smiles::    With the very sexy, long black gown, I’ve chosen to wear one of my favorite collections from ~flirt~. The Tiffany set in Ruby will make me the femme fatale of the evening. I smile at the thought of the tiny diamonds surrounding the most perfect rubies, twinkling as I move around the dance floor.

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Tiffany Double Strand Necklace & Drop Earrings in Ruby

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The Tiffany jewelry range was inspired, unsurprisingly, by the designs of the jewelers Tiffany & Co. of London. As with every design, the finished product is rarely identical to the inspiration, the process of building, the qualities of the prims and the limitations and lack of limits of Second Life each adding to it’s uniqueness.

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The Tiffany Collection, as well as all ~flirt~ jewelry, is fitted with a resize script where applicable to enable quick and easy resizing with a single click. Please ensure you are in a script enabled region and left click your jewelry, then follow the intuitive menu that appears.  Now I ask you, how simple is that?  We strongly advise that you make a back-up copy of your jewelry prior to fitting, and use a pose stand.

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Skinkie Winkler is the designer and creator behind ~flirt~ fine jewelry, hand crafted 100% prim highly detailed jewelry of a quality you just won’t find elsewhere on the grid. Skinkie joined Second Life in February 2007, initially working in the SL club scene and ultimately co-owning a popular mainstream club. In January 2008 she left this to persue her love of art, particularly SL photography and building. She started to make jewelry in February 2008 after creating the full size moving sculpture “Interactions:Coming Full Circle”.   Seeing the beauty in it’s symmetry, it’s balance and what the “art” of the piece meant to her on a personal level, she wanted to make a wearable version. From there ~flirt~, and the “Interactions” jewelry range was born.  She has since designed and released further ranges of jewelry as well as numerous private custom pieces that are truly amazing.

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Be sure to stop by and see us, and take advantage of our free demos…

We’ll leave the light on…

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What I’m wearing:

Skin: – Cre@ction – Ayiki Takakura

Eyes: – MoJo Real Eyes

Eyelashes: – Crissy Designs

Hair: – Damselfly Hair Salon

Dress: – Chic Dimensions

Shape: My own

Jewelry: – ~flirt~ fine jewelry

December blog roundup

Skinkie and myself are absolutely amazed about the love the blogs showed for ~flirt~ during December. Naturally, the nsowflake-inspired Esprit de Neige got a lot of attention, for example from Nissa Nightfire:

I can’t do justice here to the amazing non-bling sparkle of these gems. You have to see them in-world to appreciate the beauty of a twinkling snowflake. Fortunately — you can do that! Skinkie offers free demos in her store. And, as with all her jewelry, this set is easy to resize, and has a low ARC.

Freyja Nemeth combined Esprit de Neige with a gown from SF Designs and managed yet again a stunning combination:

The most striking feature of this jewellery is perhaps the delicacy of the prims, which really echoes the frail beauty of a snowflake. This is further emphasized by the texturing, which does a great job of getting across the feel and appearance of cold, crystalline snow. The earrings, in particular, are very lovely.

Dorothy “Dot” Willis is especially impressed by the traditional primwork of the choker:

Many unique snowflakes comprise each piece and I love the snowflake design as it’s very pretty and, it’s winter after all. I especially like the choker and the bracelet, and wow, i just looked at how many prims the choker has – 240!

My friend Laleeta Xue mentioned the ~flirt~ gift for the Peace on Earth hunt on her collaborative blog “Baking Cupcakes“:

This set looks so delicate, I simply adore it! While there have a look around at the new releases, I personally bought the new Bloom Ring. It never leaves my hand anymore!

And finally we know what Willis is talking about (clever pun, eh?) – Willow Zander showed her love not only for Esprit de Neige but also for the Bloom ring series:

I absolutely love this Choker, it comes with 2 options, glow and non glow and with 2 body attachment places too, so no more fiddling about effing it all up. [...]It’s an adorable mesh of snowflake type prims and exquisite workmanship and I for one am happy I have a copy!

The Bloom rings also got reviewed by wonderful Alicia Chenaux:

Something that I know a lot of partnered women will love is that rings for the right and left hands have been included, so there won’t be any fussing about having a partnership ring knocked off, or having to reattach to the other hand and move around. Let’s face it, sometimes you just don’t have time to do that! There is a resizer script included as well, which is a feature I love in prim jewelry since often the prims are too tiny to be reduced with a plain Stretch.

The Bloom ring in Onyx was also seen on one of Cajsa Lilliehook’s wonderful outfit combinations.

Jhuzen “Ketsy” Ketsugo, our landlady at Retrology, used the Tiffany ring in Amethyst in one of her “Look of the day” outfits:

A big ~flirt~ Amythyst in Platinum Tiffany Ring pulls in another dash of purple to round out the look. Having fun with a dash of colour makes me oh so very happy.

Achariya Rezak chose the Hearts & Diamonds choker to complete one of her “Dress me up” challenges:

Second, and contrasting with the toughness of the hat, is this choker from ~flirt~. I really like the quality and color-changing ability of the choker, too.

And finally one of the Wedding bands was featured on one of Second Life’s best known male fashion blogs – SL Men – by fashion blogger icon Ben Vanguard.

A warm thank you for all those wonderful reviews!

Reviews without lingerie

Sorry to disappoint you – no lingerie this time, even though our friend Quaintly Tuqiri did quite some teasing in her review:

I figure I’ll never need to buy another piece of jewellery in SL coz this will match absolutely anything I decide to wear, lol. See how versatile it is! And how pretty and elegant!

She has some impressive photos in that article, showing how versatile Hearts & Diamonds can be combined to various styles of clothing.

Quaintly shared her thoughts on jewellery pricing (and pricing in general) on her blog today, which is interesting to read as well.

Efemera Bisiani, who reviewed ~flirt~ creations before, combined the classic Tiffany Diamond set with a gorgeous gown by Ivalde. The resulting ensemble is formal yet stunning, monochrome yet sparkling and makes you stand out at any event. Read Efemera’s thoughts in her blogpost.

My dear SL-sister Trinity Dechou recently married in SL, and Skinkie’s gift for the event was a specially crafted choker with variations on the number 3 (as in Trinity). While this is not (yet) a jewellery line for public release, Trinity posted a gorgeous photo on her Flickr stream, and finally there is also some lingerie in this post:

~flirt~ reviews October / November 2008

Over the past – ahem – “weeks” we got some wonderful reviews of the ~flirt~ jewellery again. A surprisingly large number of fashion blogger combine the creations with lingerie, thus underlining the subtle erotic impression of the pieces.

SL supermodel Ana Lutetia, who normally does not review jewellery on its own, dedicated a whole post with wonderful photographies to the sensual lingerie by Ornamental Boudoir combined with the whole range of ~flirt~ creations, including the Tiffany Range, Hearts & Diamonds, Fragile, Pearls of Wisdom and the Interactions range. In Ana’s own words:

“Skinkie really did an amazing job creating the pieces and the textures are distinctive.”

Nissa Nightfire posted a wonderful picture, suggesting that the Tiffany Ruby set is perfect for your Holiday wardrobe:

This beautiful set is from ~flirt~ and features about a gazillion tiny prims, tortured into brilliant gems. [...] You can’t go wrong with these jewels in your holiday wardrobe.

Efemera Bisiani of “Efemeral Style” uses the newly released Hearts & Diamonds to enhance a more formal outfit.

This really is the sort of “fine” jewelry you expect to find in up-to-date high-end stores, the traditional gentle glimmer of diamonds set against highly polished metalwork, or smoothly shaped gemstones.

Resourceful Gabby Panacek of “Couture Conundrum” has reviewed our items before, but grew especially fond of the new Hearts & Diamonds set:

“Just one more note about ~flirt~ jewelry. I don’t know about you, but often I use jewelry to add a little “shine” to my wardrobe. The challenge, though, is often in finding the little bit of shine and glitz you want without the dreaded bling. Skinkie has solved this challenge for me. Her designs sparkle without being the least bit blinding or ostentatious, and they are so meticulously designed.”

“Baking Cupcakes” author Laleeta Xue praised the free gift for Calla’s second anniversary:

My favorite gift is this gorgeous brooch from Flirt. The brooch has a menu when you click on it that allows you to resize it and change the textures of the flowers and stems separately so you have tons of different ways to wear it!

And Reid Lorefield of “Free Finds for Men” concludes:

Skinkie Winkler of ~flirt~ has included a gift for the guys; this spectacular lily to fit on the lapel of a suit. It is stunning. I look forward to seeing what else she comes out with for men.

Thank you very much all of you, the reviews are wonderful!

P.S. If you reviewed ~flirt~ jewellery in the past and are not featured here, please let us know!

Kitty and Willow love ~flirt~

Delightful Kitty O’Toole posted some photos of her wearing ~flirt~ jewellery on Flickr a few days ago, so we knew she mit write something on it soon. We were not prepared for the amount of praise though:

The textures really are as good as the PR would suggest and I’m seriously enamoured with it, BUT I’m absolutely besotted with the ‘Fragile’ series, created by Skinkie Winkler ( FABULOUS name!) I haven’t taken it off since I received it! [...] It’s evident that the people behind Flirt don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk when it comes to creating quality, and if this were the real life high street it would be the kind of loveliness that only the very best stores would sell.

Willow Zander shows that the Tiffany range can be nicely combined with Neko ears, and even though the Fragile series does not meet her personal taste, she enjoyed it nevertheless:

Tiffany is a GORGEOUS set, the detail in it is AMAZING and I don’t think i’ve ever in my whole Slife seen such a gorgeous Diamond texture as this, honestly. I love the colour of the Ruby it’s very precise and clear as crystal, they really do look genuine [...] There is also NO bling in these babies, isn’t that great Overall I think all I can say about these are OMFG GORGEOUS! SRSLY!

Read her full report on her blog. Thank you Kitty and Willis!

Wonderful reviews

With Jewelry Expo and Glamour Expo at the same time, the ~flirt~ jewellery got a lot of exposure. I would like to share the recent reviews.

Freyja Nemeth combined both the Tiffany and the Fragile sets with some stunning red lingerie, showing the sublime sex appeal of diamonds on a female skin.

The Fragile series is quite a contrast to the classic elegance of the Tiffany series. It too is elegant, absolutely, but it is also very modern, designed to look like it is crafted from sterling silver and glass. The glass, in particular, is a very innovative look that I don’t think I have seen before on SL, and I also think the end result is quite striking. There is, I think, something architectural about it.

Phoebe Petrov of Fashionality combines the Hearts & Diamonds series with a variation of the Little Black Dress and a focus on sheer stockings.

If you haven’t been by to visit ~flirt~, I definitely recommend a visit, Skinkie Winkler’s designs are gorgeous!

Dorothy Willis has reviewed ~flirt~ jewellery in the past and shows Hearts & Diamonds on a wonderful Last Call outfit.

Phoenix Chapman of “Be less stupid” was rather critical of Jewelry Expo this year. All the more reason to be proud that she liked the Tiffany Set.

I loitered in front of Flirt’s booth for quite a while, looking at the gorgeous posters with the fancy jewelry, and I couldn’t decide what I wanted for the life of me! [...] My absolute favourite was the Tiffany set in Ruby, and I put it right on. [...] They’re well-done and the bling is non-existent (yay!) and besides ruby, they come in several other gemstone types, so even if rubies aren’t your thing, there’s plenty else to choose from.

Thank you all for those kind and nice reviews!

Confessions of a jewellery convert

When I talked to Alicia Chenaux, her statement that she barely wears – and does not really like – jewellery in SL posed a challenge I was unable to resist. She was one of the first recipients of review copies of the new Tiffany and Fragile items, and apart from some technical background I did not influence her further and was looking forward with what she might come up. I expected some comments on craftsmanship and design, maybe even some constructive criticism as Alicia has been around a while and has a good eye for fashion. I was not prepared however for the amount of praise she gave in her wonderful review, and for the fact that ~flirt~ jewellery radically changed her view.

Photo credit: Alicia Chenaux

When I had first seen the Tiffany Series at the Jewelry Expo, my first thought was, “Oh. My. God.” I mean, it’s just so gorgeous and exactly the kind of jewelry I would wear in real life. Delicate, sparkling, the kind of jewelry that you wear but it doesn’t wear you. [...] Big big big thanks to Skinkie Winkler for allowing me to blog these marvelous pieces, and for pretty much changing my mind about wearing jewelry in Second Life. For the rest of you, RUN to ~flirt~ or the booth at the Jewelry Expo and go check out these items for yourself and have fun being beautiful!!

Please visit the ~flirt~ booth at the Jewelry Expo, which runs until Saturday October 11!

~flirt~ Tiffany Range officially released

Since its release in June, the ~flirt~ Tiffany Ring has been one of the signature items of jeweller Skinkie Winkler, praised in many reviews and worn by well known fashion icons. An exclusive Pink Diamond version got auctioned for Relay for Life in July. Today, we officially release the complete range of Tiffany items, consisting of bracelet, 3 necklaces (regular, pendant and double strand), stud and drop earrings and the ring, available in amethyst, diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire.

The Tiffany jewellery range was inspired, unsurprisingly, by the designs of the jewellers Tiffany & Co. of London. As with every design, the finished product is rarely identical to the inspiration, the process of building, the qualities of the prims and the limitations/lack of limits of Second Life each adding to it’s
uniqueness.

The Tiffany Drop Earrings consist of glittering diamonds set in the finest platinum and fall in two strings from a large, rare gem encircled by precision placed micro-prim diamonds to form an earring that few will surpass. “Luxury, elegance, and decadent sexuality in equal measure.”

The three Tiffany necklaces are hand built and djusted to perfection. The Tiffany Pendant uses two attachment points (chest & spine) and boasts a combined weight of 346 prims, an ARC of only 40 and two pendant types, to suit shapes of all proportions. Finally the Tiffany Double Strand Necklace – the necklace of every woman’s dreams – showcases 417 tiny twisted and hand placed prim jewels and should be worn with pride to be seen in.

Weighing in at a mere 126 prims each, the subtle design of the Tiffany Studs add class to any outfit. In spite of the number of prims, careful design and build technique has ensured that these gems won’t lag you down, their Avatar Rendering Cost being only 35.

Comprising a single flawless 7.15 carat Linden precious gemstone surronded by double row of 75 melee diamonds set in platinum on a band shouldered by a further double row of diamonds, the ring is available with five central gemstones – Diamond, Ruby, Amethyst, Sapphire and Emerald. With an Avatar Rendering Cost of only 20-25 (minumum possible being 10, suggested avatar total being 500-1000) this ring is the perfect way to show a loved one just how much you care. Two rings are included in the box, fitted to the left and right hand respectively, and whilst sized for the average female hand size (20), it is fitted with a resize script to ensure the perfect fit for every shape.

~flirt~ jewellery and Avatar Rendering Cost
Each piece of ~flirt~ jewellery is hand built and 100% prim-based. Care has been taken to assure the lowest possible Avatar Rendering Cost (contribution to sim lag) possible whilst 7 below 100 in whichever combination you choose.

Where required, your jewellery is fitted with a resize script. Simply click on the root prim, usually the largest central gem, to open a dialogue box and follow the instructions. A full instructions notecard is included should you need it. You are strongly advised to use a pose stand when repositioning your
jewellery, one is provided. Should you run into difficulty, and if your shape is transferable, I will be more than happy to fit your jewellery for you. This service is only available for transferable items.

Customisations

We offer customisation services for all items. This can be changes to metals and stones and – where applicable – engravings. An additional cost of 500 L$ per customisation applies.

Pricing and availability

~flirt~ Tiffany Bracelet: 400 L$
~flirt~ Tiffany Necklace: 700 L$
~flirt~ Tiffany Double Strand Necklace: 1000 L$
~flirt~ Tiffany Drop Earrings: 450 L$
~flirt~ Tiffany Pendant: 1000 L$
~flirt~ Tiffany Ring: 700 L$
~flirt~ Tiffany Stud Earrings: 350 L$
~flirt~ Tiffany Set: 3000 L$ (1600 L$ rebate compared to single items)

Right now, these items are only availbale in-world at the ~flirt~ mainstore (SLURL), our booth at Glamour Expo (SLURL) and our booth at Jewelry Expo (SLURL). It will take a bit until we have listed them on Xstreel SL (SL Exchange) and OnRez – please bear with us.

At all 3 locations you will also find DEMOS of the pieces, so you can try them on before you buy.

Please enjoy the Tiffany Range!

Tiffany Ring used in outfit review

“When I read about the ‘New School’ collaboration [...] I knew I had to rush right over and buy all of the pieces“, writes ~flirt~ customer Gabby Panacek in her recent blogpost ‘Tag Team’. The outfit she showcases looks really stunning (yours truly will need to buy Skinkie the shoes featured), but what we really appreciated is Gabby’s closing paragraph: “For now though, I just added Maitreya’s Frenzy heels, my favorite ring and some funky earrings from Flirt.“

The items she wore are:

~flirt~ Tiffany Ring

The Tiffany Ring by ~flirt~

The Tiffany Ring was designed for a dear friend of mine, JoshuaSteven Schism as an engagement ring for his now fiancée, Carly Corleone.

As we talked about the design it became clear that he wanted something out of the ordinary, something that she could show off and be proud of, something a bit different to the rings commonly available on the grid. He left the details to me. As I browsed the net for ideas and inspiration it becaome clear in my mind that I wanted to make something that was slightly ostentatious, something that, in the real world, would be coveted and way above the price bracket of average Joe’s like Josh and I, but was still elegant and classy. Something in the vein of the classic Tiffany designs… and, well, diamonds are a girl’s best friend! Of course, the design evolved during the creative process to become something unique, but in naming the final design I wanted to reflect the source of my inspiration, credit where credit is due, and the Tiffany Ring was born.

The Tiffany Ring :: Platinum & Diamond

Shortly after finishing the ring, after Carly had said “yes” to Josh, Linden Labs announced the introduction of Avatar Rendering Cost, initially on the Release Candidate viewer, but soon to hit the main viewer. At 178 tiny tortured prims, I feared that the lag caused by such a piece, measurable by everyone around the wearer, would be a major negative incentive to anyone wanting to wear the ring, myself included. After much research, experimentation, and learning about how ARC works, I was finally able to come up with a slightly modified design that had an ARC so low it could almost be ignored (see here for details of that process).

And so, I present to you, The Tiffany Ring. Comprising a single flawless 7.15 carat Linden precious gemstone surronded by double row of 75 melee diamonds set in platinum on a band shouldered by a further double row of diamonds, the ring is available with five central gemstones – Diamond, Ruby, Amethyst, Sapphire and Emerald. With an Avatar Rendering Cost of only 20-25 (minumum possible being 10, suggested avatar total being 500-1000) this ring is the perfect way to show a loved one just how much you care. Two rings are included in the box, fitted to the left and right hand respectively, and whilst sized for the average female hand size (20), it is fitted with a resize script to ensure the perfect fit for every shape. Priced at a very reasonable L$349.