Andreas Eberharter jewelry line AND_i offers an adventurous and sculptural approach to accessories design. The Vienna-based artist’s collections boast pieces ranging from necklaces with enormous apple-sized beads to wristlets with spikes for knuckles. Much of the jewelry is tough for good reason: Eberharter intends for his clients to have “the feeling of protection, and also self-confidence,” when they’re wearing his pieces.

Other pieces from AND_i collections range from the demure to the brassy. A necklace could pass for a string of blue paint-dipped penne pasta; ear jewelry contains a simple crystal at the end of a short chain; recent works combine leather and studs to create belts, necklaces and headpieces.

Eberharter started his career studying goldsmithing, before later moving on to sculpture. During this time his materials of choice were “wood, big stones, clay and metal,” he explains. After finishing his education, Eberharter began to work on his now-signature sculptural jewelry, acquiring his affinity for aluminum somewhere along the way.

A peek at his latest couture collection suggests an even more audacious stance on making accessories, including leather masks that obstruct either the mouth or the eyes. Eberharter acknowledges that there might be certain misunderstandings of his work, admitting: “The funny thing is, for many people it is a kind of sadomasochism, but that is not my aim. I find it very interesting to cloak a part of the face.”

Pieces are available for purchase through the AND_i website and will run you anywhere from around $50 for a simple acrylic glass crystal necklace to $4,167 for a specialty (read: daring) horn and crystal headpiece.

—Alison Baitz