A RARE Find
R
ARE Jewelry Design is a dream come to fruition of owner and manager, Denise O’Connor.
Denise is the third generation of her family to own and run her own jewelry business. Her grandfather, Thomas O’Connor, started a small jewelry manufacturing business in Dublin in 1938, which went on to become one of Ireland’s biggest manufacturers. Her father Cubby O’Connor, opened his own business in 1987. This business specialized in making Celtic and Claddagh pieces, and went on to specialize in fine diamond and gold jewelry, supplying retail stores all over Ireland, Europe and the United States. RARE has an extensive selection of ready to wear pieces, from silver earrings, necklaces, pendants, bracelets and bridal wear, to stunning diamond rings. Denise and her team at RARE particularly specialize in making beautiful bespoke ranges in 9ct and 18ct gold. They also work with individual customers who would like to contribute to the design alongside the design team allowing customers to have an input into their own lovely pieces of jewelry. As RARE goldsmiths work on site, they have great insight into what the customer really wants and what their needs are, with no job ever too big or too small. The RARE team also encourage customers to bring in their pre-loved gold which can then be melted down and put towards the creation of a beautiful new bespoke piece that the customer
has helped to design; golden memories from the past made into beautiful creations for the future – a novel and beautiful idea and for many, a dream come true.
RARE ART In September 2016, Denise expanded the creative vibe in RARE and opened RARE Art Gallery, on the 1st floor above RARE Jewellery Design. This is a beautiful calm space which exhibits stunning art work from a few well selected contemporary Irish Artists. The main contributing Artist is the well-known Christine Bowen, whose paintings grow directly from her experience of living and working in the breathtakingly scenic Kenmare, Co. Kerry. What sets her apart from so many other artists is her resistance to ‘cliché, preferring to distil a ‘sense of place’ by focusing on intimate subjects – a swarm of bees, a stray sheep, the glimmer of fish below the surface of the water, treating these with refreshing originality. Christine Bowen lives and practices from her home/studio in Kenmare Kerry with a regular yearly visit to family in Mombasa Kenya & Rwanda, the climate allowing outside work on large scale canvas. As in Ireland, South west influences from the environment resonate or directly feature in her imagery. Amidst the flora, fauna, fish, animal and figurative elements are marks and texts which are sourced from poetry by WB Yeats, Lorca or current political issues, these are drawn in graphite or simply scratched into the paint. Collections of Christine’s work can be found in many prominent homes and businesses including the Office of An Taoiseach. 239