Jewellery designer Hannah Martin has teamed up with tech-design genius Moritz Waldemeyer on a breathtaking installation at Dover Street Market, involving lasers, sensors, sound effects and augmented reality.

THE MAN WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING

18th-30th March 2011

DOVER STREET MARKET

17-18 Dover Street, London W1S 4LT (020 7518 0680)

To launch her latest jewellery collection, called The Man Who Knows Everything, Martin opted to collaborate with Waldemeyer to create an imposing display for a single ring, which doubles as security for the precious gems within.

Waldemeyer came up with the idea of an interactive obelisk to house Martin’s newest iconic ring. Sitting at three metres, produced in black Dupont Corian and surrounded by sound-making-laser-strings, the imposing structure takes jewellery displays to a new level.

Break the laser beams and the sound effects change, reminding you not to get too close!

If you’re compelled to try on the ring in question (Euphoria of Lights: The Comte’s Pyramid Ring), you can do so in cyberspace using a new app that has been specially developed by augmented reality experts, Holition. All you need is your computer, a printer and a web cam. Here’s a video showing how it works.

Some of the pieces in Hannah Martin’s new collection are shown below.

Above: Euphoria of Lights: The Comte’s Pyramid Ring (red gold with channel-set rubies, tourmaline and orange sapphires)

Above: Shaman’s Triangle Pave Cufflinks (red gold with rubies, tourmaline and orange sapphires)

Above: Shaman’s Triangle Simple Signet (yellow gold)

Above: Shaman’s Triangle Bangle (silver)

Above: Shaman’s Triangle Pendant (silver)

All pieces are available in gold and silver.

Installation images by Mark Cocksedge. Product images courtesy of Hannah Martin Ltd.

Online video magazine – Crane TV – has made a short film about the Joy of Living charity exhibition, which is being organised by LDG editor Max Fraser. See interviews with Max, as well as designers Hannah Martin, Tom Dixon and Giles Miller.

Watch the video by clicking on the image below:

Video supplied courtesy of Crane TV.

Joy of Living aims to raise £50,000 for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres. To buy an artwork online, visit the dedicated Joy of Living website (artworks released online on 15th March 2011). To make a donation to Maggie’s, click on this JustGiving link.

Thank you.

It’s December and the Christmas season is well and truly upon us. The annual dilemma as to what to buy our discerning friends and family is here, and to make life a bit easier, we have searched the stores featured in LONDON DESIGN GUIDE to bring our pick of the top 20 products from 20 great places.

Start as you mean to go on – kick off Christmas day with Champagne and sausages.

Above: Champagne Glasses by Ilse Crawford & Michael Anastassiades. £85 (sold in pairs) from Sigmar, Chelsea (page 19 in LONDON DESIGN GUIDE)

Of course, no day begins properly without a caffeine injection.

Above: Coffee & tea maker by Naoto Fukasawa. £149 from twentytwentyone, Islington (page 119 in LDG)

Right, breakfast over, its time to change out of your dressing gown and make an effort. Its Christmas day after all.

Above: Hinged Facet cufflinks in sterling silver by Hannah Martin. £335 from The Modern Gentry, Mayfair (until 5th December) or online from Hannah Martin London (page 84 in LDG)

And for you ladies, a beautiful ring should do the job.

Above: Grace Round silver ring with crystal by Jacqueline Rabun. £1500 from Jacqueline Rabun, Knightsbridge (page 15 in LDG)

Its not just how you look. What about how you smell?

Above: ‘Standard’ Comme des Garcons Artek perfume (100ml). £70 from Dover Street Market, Mayfair (page 54 in LDG)

Winter days can be rather gloomy so its important that you can see what you’re doing before plunging into that pile of pressies.

Above: Chimney Lights by Benjamin Hubert. £295 each from Viaduct, Clerkenwell (page 106 in LDG)

OK, if the kids don’t open some presents soon, they’re going to climb the walls. Perhaps that goes for the adults too? 

Above: Playshapes by millergoodman. £79 for a set of 74 wooden shapes from Aram, Covent Garden (page 76 in LDG)

Feeling peckish already? Time for a mid-morning snack served in style.

Above: hemDing platter by Andreas Fabian. £109 from Thorsten van Elten pop-up shop, Brompton (2-13 December) or online (page 72 in LDG)

Christmas is a time of celebration so do just that, and assemble and scatter illuminated balloons.

Above: Balloon Lamp by Kyouei. £25 from placesandspaces, Clapham (page 154 in LDG)

Argh, is that the time?! Must be time to start cooking the almighty roast…

Above: Red Wrist Watch by Uniform Wares. £85 from Uniform Wares online store (available from 4th December – its that new!)

OK, pots and pans to the ready…

Above: 20cm Casserole by Jasper Morrison. £38 from Jasper Morrison Shop, Shoreditch (page 131 in LDG). The other products in the image are also available from Jasper Morrison Shop.

So, who is going to set the table for lunch?

Above: Tonale tableware range by David Chipperfield. Prices from £13 from Alessi, Mayfair (page 52 of LDG)

After a long boozy lunch, it is time for a snooze on the sofa wrapped in warm blankets.

Above: Nos Da cushions, throws, and blankets. £60, £160, and £275 from SCP, Shoreditch and Notting Hill (pages 31 & 136 in LDG)

Wake up sleepy head!

Above: Braun Alarm Clock AB5 by Dietrich Lubs. £29.95 from Design Museum Shop, Bermondsey (page 150 in LDG). Be warned – these clocks are out of production and have been sourced from a savvy collector in Japan, so they are strictly limited!

If you’re not the snoozing type, have a read of your latest cultural tome.

Above: Anish Kapoor, published by Phaidon. £59.95 from Phaidon Store, Mayfair (from 6-7pm on 11th December, Anish Kapoor will be signing books in the store. To secure a place in the queue, pre-order your copy with a 20% discount)

Time for some Christmas cake already?

Above: Pedastal (grey) by Harri Koskinen for iittala. £329 (limited edition) from Skandium, Brompton and Marylebone (pages 20 & 42 in LDG)

Of course, you can’t have cake without a cup of tea, right?

Above: Adonde stoneware teapot. £79 from Mar Mar Co, Brick Lane (page 134 in LDG)

OK, revived, its time for some more presents. 

Above: Wallet by Porte Monnaie, made from paper-like flash-spun high density polyethylene. £69 from Darkroom, Lamb’s Conduit Street (new store opening 8th December)

Wow, a knockout sculptural centrepiece if ever I saw one.

Above: Yellow Loop by Merete Rasmussen. £780 from Contemporary Applied Arts, Fitzrovia (page 89 in LDG)

At the risk of being really boring, I’m off to bed…

Above: French tin candle box with drawer of refills. £19 from Few and Far, Brompton (page 14 in LDG)

So that’s the end of our pick of 20 great Christmas presents from 20 great places. Explore over 100 more fantastic design destinations that are featured in LONDON DESIGN GUIDE 2010 – buy your copy for Christmas! Only £10 directly from this website.

We’ll leave you with a nerdy statistic: each year Britons spend on average £435 on Christmas presents, but now researchers have calculated £36 of that will not be appreciated. Last year, eBay saw two million unwanted Christmas gifts listed, but a huge number are discarded and end up in landfill. 

It is predicted that Londoners will be given £86 million of unwanted gifts this Christmas. Don’t be one of them. Buy well, buy quality… don’t buy crap.

Source: Western Union via Evening Standard

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Modern Gentry combines three of the most respected and sought after menswear brands in London: E. Tautz menswear, Hannah Martin jewellery, and Lodger bespoke footwear. For one week only, they are taking over Alma’s Grade 1 listed Albany townhouse in central Mayfair and offering up their wares to the capital’s finest gentry.

The Modern Gentry, open 30th November-5th December 2009

ALMA

8 Vigo Street, London W1S 3HJ (020 7439 0925)

By virtue of its location at the foot of London’s traditional bespoke tailoring street, Savile Row, the event eloquently references the past whilst fully embracing the looks and desires of today’s modern gentlemen.

The event’s centre piece as you enter is the Electric Angel light installation by Yorgo Lykouria, which was designed and built especially for the event. Circular layers of perspex are lined with LED lights to illuminate Hannah Martin’s jewellery that is suspended within the structure.

The event is open to the public and the perfect place to have a personal consultation from one of the three brand owners. And ladies, this is the place to sort out Christmas pressies for your demanding other half! Everything is for sale.

Photos courtesy of The Modern Gentry. Copyright: Mark Cocksedge