Growing jewellery

A jewellery designer has come up with the ultimate 'green' collection - rings with live plants growing inside them instead of precious stones.

Featuring tiny Icelandic moss plants sprouting in their stainless steel bases, the pieces are said to be a 'clash of jewellery and gardening'.They need watering like any other plant and if looked after, designer Hafsteinn Juliusson claims they can last up to six months.

But they don't need to be pruned because, according to Mr Juliusson, the moss grows 'so slowly that you cant even see it. "The owner must water it regularly and nurture it like any other plant. It's up to them to make sure that the jewellery is at it's best.""The collection is designed for people in metropolitan cities and is an experiment in drawing nature toward man, as nature being the presupposition of life."The rings in the striking collection are available to buy with the moss already growing inside. Mr Juliusson, from Reykjavik, Iceland, says each ring will to cost around 485 pounds.