Rust and Regret’s Nautical Adventure

As Melbourne starts to roll into another steamy summer season, you start to think of days at the ocean with a wardrobe to match.

Melbourne jewellery label Rust and Regret has embraced the call of the ocean in a new collaboration with internationally renowned artist Derek Nobbs (USA).

Paying homage to the perils of the ocean, this first‐time partnership has resulted in a limited edition solid sterling silver signet ring, titled Ahoy. Not only is the ring part of a limited edition run of 40 but will arrive nestled in a hand-painted, engraved wooden box with a hand‐stamped swing-tag.

Despite living on opposite sides of the world, Nobbs and Rust and Regret’s Simon O’Keefe struck up a friendship through a mutual admiration of each other’s work.

“I’d been a long‐time fan of Derek because I find his work incredibly detailed and intriguing. One piece in particular called Sea Bound for Death caught my eye and I thought it would look great as a ring, so I bit the bullet and got in touch. Derek was incredibly responsive and from there it’s been a great ride and learning curve,” explains O’Keefe.

Ahoy is a reflection of the pair’s common interests, style and tastes and proof that the fact they’ve never met was only ever a minor detail.

“I guess you could say we see eye to eye even though we’ve never met or spoken. A collaboration done entirely over email without ever seeing or speaking to the other person sounds like it should be quite difficult. It’s definitely had its challenges but on the whole has been a fairly organic process. We’ve been lucky in that our style, tastes and ideas on the designs have been well‐aligned.”

This is the first collaborative project for Rust and Regret, who also have several more joint ventures in the pipeline for 2013.

Their current range of new sterling silver pieces featuring the Creature of the Night ring, the Leonem lion ring and pendant can all be found at rustandregret.com now.