Occulter: dark objects for the sophisticated other

I lose jewelry far faster than I can afford to buy it. One night of drunken dancing and goodbye, expensive thingy on a chain. Occulter fans probably don’t have this problem, though. Looking through their wares is like browsing some marvelous antique museum curated by Gareth Pugh‘s sinister taxidermist brother, exquisite chunks of strange beauty that you’d never let slip away. The shop, located in the LES of New York City, places a heavy emphasis on magick, the planets, and, for some reason, bees. Each piece is lovingly detailed and uses simple materials like bronze, leather and horsehair to create items for wearing and living. Take, for example, their book collection. Classics like Phillip K. Dick‘s Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? are repackaged for the modern reader concerned about the advantages of the physical word versus the digital. Behold:

“Each book is a rubber-sealed flexible paperback with embossed titling. To read one, the binding must be ripped by pulling the attached metal-ended cord. Once open, frayed binding tape may be folded into to the inside of the cover to create a clean edge or left in shreds as physical evidence of first contact. The rip-cord may be used as a bookmark.”

Neat. Aside from jewelry and books, the store also offers such eclectic items as soap, salt, tea, and honey (all black, of course) you can also buy records that store creator Derrick R. Cruz (whose Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons jewelry fills the store) say are an inspiration to his work. I’m particularly pumped (and rather unsurprised) to see personal favorites like US Girls, Heavy Winged, and Iannis Xenakis. I’m looking forward to dumping some money on any one of these needful things. I’ll try not to lose them.

Published August 24, 2011.