LEGO Jewellery
Posted by Huw,
I am indebted to member David Q in Australia who reminded me about an article we published back in the summer about LEGO jewellery. He points out that the range is now available from Selfridges in the UK and you can see most of it in their online store.
Now, unless I'm missing something, the prices of these would seem to be astronomical. £16 for 2 pieces of LEGO? No doubt they come in a fancy box but even so... Clearly the rings come with a functional jewellery element: the ring, which is silver, which might justify the £50 asking price but the rest just seem to be charms that you can 'Attach to your favourite necklace for a playful addition to your look this season' so how they differ from something you or I could make with a few parts is not clear!
Googling the designer's name (Lisa Taylor) I found her website which has a few more pictures, but no more details to justify their asking price. There is however a competition that might be worth entering!
Would your wife or girlfriend be pleased to receive one of these at Christmas? Or would she be just as happy with something you'd made yourself?
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29 comments on this article
I'm wondering whether the LEGO pieces aren't LEGO at all, but painted metal copies of the pieces. That might help justify the price.
Metal pieces or not, my other half probably wouldn't be particularly impressed......!
They look plastic to me: in some of the close ups you can see where they appear to be glued and minor damage to the edges.
How much?!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ... ... ... Ha ha ... ... ... Ha
They look so cheap and nasty to me, like something a child would make. Silver is really cheap, so that doesn't justify the price. The word "designer" does.
I went to a Christmas craft fair the other day at the William Morris Gallery in London E17. The first stall facing the front door had a range of Lego Jewellery (incl cufflinks) a lot better looking than the Selfridge bunch. My son insisted I buy a bracelet of minifig heads for my wife this Christmas. Fine, I thought, If she doesn't like it, at least it can be deconstructed and added to our Lego set. If anyone is interested go to http://thebotheredowl.com/ and click on Lego Jewellery. It will cost a lot less than 50 quid!
Wow! Thats ridiculous! Looks like a 3 year old kid designed it to me.
@richselby - thanks for posting that link, some of those are pretty creative. What are the prices like?
As for this stuff by Lisa Taylor, yes ridiculously overpriced. Plus, some of it is just impractical. For example, I don't understand how someone could actually wear that 4x4 flower garden without worrying about it falling off or falling apart or something.
I do see a big business opportunity for TLG here, however. I know they've done jewelry in the past, but a more grown up line that uses metalic mounts and chains and such would seem to be an untapped market with big potential. And for sure they could sell them for much less than 50 pounds.
Yikes! That's pricey. And the rings are so simple, and silver isn't really expensive. Doesn't matter though... I live in the US!
I am a grown up woman. I love Lego. However, I will not wear anything like this ! I prefer the real diamonds and gold. I'll be more happy if I got a Death Star or London Bridge than this pink or red rings. Even if the rings and studs were made out of real gold Lego pieces, I wouldn't wear it. Its like when somebody loves cats, and they wear a sweater with pictures of cats, a shirt and a purse shaped like a cat, etc. It is too much.
Why, Lego, why?
@mkoesel - the head bracelet cost a tenner. I see from her website she will be at various craft fairs in South London over the next few weekends. Not a lot of help to those of you in the US
£16 for 3 pieces? That is just stupid
Even if it was metal £16 would be just, well ok, your average price for a lego product but still...RIP OFF!
Now theres £50 for the ring, which too is a MAJOR rip off, silver might be precious, but i think thats matching the price of a gold ring with some plastic attached which is probably only worth a couple of pennies.
This will cause alot of dissapointment in kids and parents if someone decides to put this under the christmas tree-oh well.
I think this was cool..If you watched American Music Awards couple weeks ago, then you've noticed . Please check the link and a small article http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2010/11/22/black-eyed-peas-lego-hat/
All of the sets that have been designed by outsiders are ultra-expensive. The Architecture series, for example, with the exception of the White house (and for a bit more, Fallingwater) have an awful price per piece (54 pieces for 20 parts is about as bad as it gets-a total ripoff). I'm guessing this is for the same reason. I don't know what kind of premium LEGO pays for these, but they I'm amazed that any of this could possibly sell.
sweet - these are going to go great with my eyes.
Ugh, the Clikits are back, and more expensive to boot
Stupidest thing done with LEGO pieces in a long time. These don't look like anything near professional.
Is this some kind of joke!!! >.<
If you are going to propose to someone you truly love, do not give a Lego engagement ring!!!! You will be back a the single bar ASAP.
Maybe if the LEGO brick was made of solid gold with diamond studs. Then we can talk about the price :)
I happen to be a woman and I don't really "get" the "nipple charm"....did the designer really call it that?
If you search www.etsy.com for "Lego" you will see some jewelry items for far less that makes more sense to me.
Like here: http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=lego&search_type=handmade
I just read in a magazine that LEGO is the fourth highest selling toys for boys in Australia this Christmas, just behind the Nintendo DS, Ben 10 and Toy Story, two of which are also LEGO themes, so that may include sales of LEGO sets from those themes too. Why do they need this extra, overpriced extension?
@Tiny...: It's from a designer, not TLC itself.
Why didn't anyone else think of this sooner? Snap two little pieces of LEGO together, put them on a ring, and sell it for a ridiculous price. This lady is a genius!
I've heard of making money from Lego but this is just taking the P. 22 quid for a "sixteen piece lego charm". She could of at least put the pieces on straight! Get a job Lisa!
Its way to expensive.....I make my own and sell it on ebay......at a fraction of the price.
I was inspired by the original posting on here, a friend of mine was a jeweller and I got the bricks...so we designed a whole range during the summer holidays (if I use the word designer can I charge more) check them out if you like.....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Custom-Lego-Jewellery-Adjustable-Ring-Elements-Kitsch-/300500658157?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item45f73c27ed
One thing David says may set these apart from other LEGO jewellery is the way they are made: "It is interesting to note the way the metal rings have been fused to the primary Lego piece which allows attaching of other Lego 'charms'. For example, the round 1x1 clear piece on the "tiny square ring" design, and the white 2x2 on "multi round ring" design. These pieces cannot be removed but have been well fused -- I have seen many other attempts on cufflinks/rings sold on etsy and at craft markets locally, but they're normally quite poorly made."
Hi Huw....this is mostly likely done with plastic welding which would make them very strong. Its something I,m testing now, a friend of mine was a prototype engineer for flymo and his department used to make most of the prototypes from chopped up mower parts (plastic bits). If you chop up a lego brick and put it in a container with acetate the ABS melts, if you then use this in open air the acetate evaporates and your left with set ABS, you can make your own Lego glue.......well I,m still testing but I,m nearly there (also a great way for a damaged brick to finish it life)
I agree wih lovelyuba's comment about being too 'cat lady'. I won't wear LEGO. Play with them, certainly, but actually wearing one... ughhh, give me diamonds anytime. Plus, they look cheap and certainly not worth the price quoted.
I question who would pay 50 bucks for 1 to 16 peices, when i can just build it myself! Also. nipple charm?