I spent the morning walking around Reykjavík with Bryan and Lani, a couple from Australia who have been staying with us for a couple of days. They recently came back from a 9 month drive around Africa and had a three day stopover in Reykjavík on their way to Boston, USA. Their plan is to drive across America in two months, trying to Coushsurf the whole way, and they have a blog to document the whole thing. You should check them out.
Lava earrings from Gullkúnst Helgu
When Lani travels, she collects jewellery from the places she visit. When she arrived, on Monday night, she told me she would really like to get a pair of lava earrings she knew were available in Reykjavík. Unfortunately, as it turns out, the lava jewellery that is geared towards tourists in Reykjavík is quite expensive (big surprise there) and due to their budget she didn’t think she would be able to get any.
I heart Reykjavík to the rescue
As you can see from the reflection Litir og Föndur is located in Skólavörðustígur across from the city jail
I am all for supporting Icelandic design but to be honest, super-gluing an earring stud to a lava rock isn’t exactly rocket science and the lava kind of designed itself. So I had no reserves about bringing Lani to Litir and Föndur in Skólavörðustígur (great store!) where they happen to sell lava and earring studs.
The Lava wall in Litir og Föndur and Bryan calculating how many beers he can buy for the money they saved
Litir og Föndur sell a wide variety of lava to make jewellery. They also sell everything else you would need such as chains, locks for the chains, earrings studs and so forth. The best part is that a whole bunch of lava costs only a fraction of the going rate for a touristy pair of lava earrings.
18 pieces of 6mm lava stones for 360 ISK – that’s 9 pairs of earrings
I have to say though that some of the lava jewellery that is sold around Reykjavík is really nice and you could probably never make it yourself. The Fold line from Aurum, for example, is made out of sterling silver and is quite beautiful. But if that is out of your budget and you enjoy making things yourself – Litir og Föndur might be your solution.
Fish and chicken feet leather
While you are there you might want to check out another thing quite unique to Iceland: Fish and chicken foot leather. If you visit the souvenir stores in Reykjavík you will find purses, bags and jewellery made out of this type of leather but in Litir og Föndur you can buy your own and see where you imagination takes you. Unfortunately I have no idea how you use it so your are on your own there.
Fish leather
The fish leather is available in many different colours
The Christmas present 2011: Home made fish leather wallet in hot pink
Hey, just wanted to say thanks, this was a really useful tip. I went in and bought some stones recently. Now that I am home I am going to sort out how to actually make necklaces out of them! And then come and get some more more next time.
I’ve always looked at the lava jewelry and thought it was quite expensive for what is is so this was a nice compromise and never would have thought of doing it without your blog.
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