On Showtime’s excellent Homeland, a team of CIA agents attempt to determine how a terrorist cell is moving money around on U.S. soil. When their observation of digital banking transactions goes nowhere, their attention turns to a physical object: An extraordinarily expensive necklace stolen in a suspicious robbery. “A nomadic culture has always known,” says the senior analyst, “that jewelry is the easiest way to move wealth.”
The usage of jewelry as currency rather than mere ornamentation is an interesting one, and RP-happy designer Michiel Cornelissen (we’ve covered his work before here and here) toys with this concept with his E 5.55 Necklace. Precious gemstones are replaced by more literal (if lower-value) counterparts: 5-cent Euro coins. Explains Cornelissen,
I’m always intrigued by the beauty of some of the things we take for granted; like coins—little industrial gems.
This project makes use of the intricate geometries and flexible behavior that are possible with 3d-printing—holding 111 five-eurocent coins firmly in place to create a stunning necklace.
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