ring in the new year

i have a confession to make. it is probably pretty obvious. i am a terrible blogger. i constantly see jewelry i'd love to comment on when i'm out and about, or "browsing" / online shopping, or whatever... but i always forget to write about it or i just get lazy and don't. for example, in my head i had this exciting christmas post planned... but then christmas actually showed up and i had zero time to find pictures of things i liked and post them.

anyway, i am going to try to stop being such a terrible blogger and actually post every once in a while. we'll see what happens.

as has been well documented, even in the few entries i've done, i love rings. if i had to pick only one piece of jewelry to wear (which is a terrifying thought) it would probably be a ring. i think a good ring makes an outfit, whether or not it is "statement" or simple. such as...

the soixante neuf knuckle ring in rose gold. i love hammered metal - i think it can make pieces go from drab to fab. it is hard to get an idea of the size of this ring so here is another picture: 

i seriously love this ring. plus, not only is it an awesome ring in and of itself, but rose gold is apparently the "it" metal colour for spring. so there you go. personally i have always loved the look of rose gold but if you need another excuse to get new jewelry, you have one.

i am also loving the kenneth jay lane coil snake crystal eye ring. i would definitely save this as a statement piece to wear on its own or with simple turquoise or diamond studs. i think it would be such a cool piece to pair with a normally preppy or casual outfit... and then BAM you have this random snake on your finger which is a bit kitsch but also fun. 

i am cheating a bit by showing you this ring because i own it. but i think it is a good point of comparison with the two rings i showed earlier. the damiani damianissima collection anello ring in rose gold is probably one of my most cherished pieces of jewelry - my mom, sister and i all have one. the reason i love it so much is its beauty and versatility. there is one white gold D, so the ring goes with every metal you can think of - rose, white or yellow gold, and silver. the band is thick enough that it makes a statement on your finger, but it can still be worn with bracelets. basically the perfect (right hand) ring.

the reason i think this ring is a good comparison to the other ones is its timelessness (in my opinion). i love the first two rings, but they are definitely more on the fashion side of jewelry and are priced accordingly - both rings are around the $200 mark. anyone even vaguely following the price of gold should know they must not be solid gold to be priced like that, and they would be right. the first is gold vermeil, which is akin to gold leaf, and the second is electroplated. but if you're going to get a piece you'll wear for the rest of your life, no matter which colour of gold is in season, i would go with something like the damiani ring. it's a piece i always love to put on.

so there you have it... my first post of the new year. i will do my best to keep them coming!

christine mighion eternity collection

oh. my. god.

those of you who know me well know that i am a bit obsessed with christine mighion jewelry. i don't own one of her pieces (yet), but about five dozen are on my christmas list (okay, maybe three - you get the point). when i heard a few weeks ago that she was launching a new collection on november 1, i was so stoked it was unbelievable... which is a bit odd for someone who has always admired the jewelry from afar and never seen it in person, but i'm okay with being odd. i may or may not have been counting down the days.

anyway, the collection launched today and it is absolutely stunning. it is a wedding collection, but i can see these pieces being appropriate for any type of celebration - wedding, birthday, graduation... *cough*

my absolute favourite piece is the chocolate diamond stud earrings. they are just perfect in their imperfection. they would be great for everyday wear, especially in the fall and winter with the warm chocolatey colour. at $310, i actually think they are very reasonably priced for a piece you will wear over and over again, no matter what your age. you can dress them up or down. love love love!

there is also a new set of stacked rings in the collection, in both white and chocolate diamonds. christine mighion is known for her stacking rings, and i love the new ones as much as the classics. in particular i think the three stone chocolate diamond ring and the two stone white diamond ring would look beautiful stacked together:

she also shows each ring set stacked so you can see the full effect:

it is not even fair how much i love this collection. i plan to add pieces to my christmas list asap. what do you think?

elsa peretti does it again.

i know what you're thinking, seeing the title of this entry - she's at it again with the tiffany jewelry. can't she find something else to talk about?

i actually do have some other ideas fomenting in my brain right now. but when i saw tiffany tweet about the new elsa peretti cabochon rings earlier today, i obviously couldn't resist looking - and fell in love right away. they are absolutely beautiful, and done in the classic fluid lines of the rest of the elsa peretti collection. take a look:

this is the elsa peretti cabochon ring with lapis lazuli in sterling silver. there are several different stones and the ring is offered in gold and silver, as is typical of elsa peretti jewelry. there is a ring with turquoise set in gold which i LOVE, but i think blogging about it would make me even sadder that i will never own it. at least there is a vague chance i might one day own this ring... emphasis on vague...

anyway, let's talk about the reasons i love it. one: i am a ring fanatic. i absolutely love them. i like how this ring looks big enough to be worn on its own, almost as a cocktail ring, but because of the simple design you could still wear it with other jewelry and not feel like you've over-done the accessories department. because it's elsa peretti, if you had anything else from her line, especially with stones in it, the colours would likely match perfectly. because i'm back in school / business mode, i've been thinking a lot about jewelry appropriate for wearing with suits, and i think this would look fabulous. it would definitely be noticed if you were wearing it while giving a presentation (especially if you talk with your hands like yours truly), but in a good way. it looks like it would suit almost anyone's hand - not too big to look awkward on small fingers, but not too small to be too dainty on larger fingers. 

second, i love love love the colour of the stones. so far there are four in silver - rock crystal, onyx, lapis lazuli and jade. they are actually the same stones as the elsa peretti round pendants... and for those of you who actually read this blog (thanks for that btw!) you may recall i featured the round pendant with rhodonite as my first entry. (rhodonite = pink if you are too lazy to go back.) can you imagine this ring with a rhodonite stone? i am actually a little disappointed it's not already available! it was the first stone i looked for when i clicked on the link... but no dice. oh well. i will be patient, and the minute it comes out it will be on my christmas list. even if it is january - no lie. 

this ring has almost displaced my obsession with the christine mighion holley lavender chalcedony ring (which i plan to blog about later... it is beautiful!), but not quite because it is so much pricier. it is definitely on my radar screen though. luckily graduation is just around the corner! my ring size is 7, in case you were wondering. i know you were. 

oh, and one last thing - i'm going to try my best to make this blog a weekly endeavour, probably updating on fridays. so stay tuned for a series on jewelry essentials... coming soon! thanks for reading!

my long-term relationship with Swarovski

i have had a love for swarovski probably since i was born. my aunt collects swarovski figurines, and ever since i was little i have been obsessed with "little things" (which has now progressed to jewelry) - so naturally i was completely captivated by her crystal figurines. i received the classic swarovski starter set when i was 9 or 10, and have been a relatively avid collector ever since.

in my teens, before i knew about the wonders of tiffany, i was all about swarovski jewelry. i have so many pieces from the early 2000s - and actually looking back on them, i'm kind of impressed that my style and taste in jewelry has remained relatively consistent, since i would (and still do) wear all of the pieces... perhaps aside from the mickey mouse collection, which i still love, just don't wear as often because i'm, um, you know, older.

but i discovered tiffany at about age 15 and since then, haven't really asked for or purchased any swarovski jewelry - it just hasn't been on my mind. that is, until my 21st birthday earlier this year, when my two roommates bought me a pair of swarovski earrings. they are gorgeous. then my bf and i were at the mall yesterday and we popped into swarovski briefly, and i was really impressed with what i saw in the jewelry collection. as such i decided it would be an appropriate blog entry, as there are definitely some pieces i would love to own:

i think the helios desert glow pendant is just beautiful. the colour pretty much perfectly matches the earrings my roommates gave me, and i would love to add this necklace to my collection to wear with them. it looks like it sits at about 18" on the model, which would be a nice length for a pendant of this size. swarovski jewelry is what i like to call classy costume jewelry if done right - as long as you're not trying to fool someone into thinking your swarovski tennis bracelet is a real tennis bracelet (you won't), i think it looks really nice with the right outfit. i've also found that for whatever reason, the metal swarovski uses in their jewelry doesn't irritate my skin, as long as i don't wear it all day every day. anyway...

and this is the matching bracelet. love love love. i think the three pieces would look fabulous with an LBD, or even with a black skirt suit and a white collared blouse. 

my sister wore the swarovski fidelity necklace to her grade 12 grad, and it was BEAUTIFUL. it was absolutely perfect with her sapphire blue dress. another classy costume jewelry piece in my books. i saw this in the store, and even a year and a half after her grad, i still love it.

and lastly, the swarovski chic white ring. swarovski has done rings in this type of style for a long time, and i have always loved them - except i really don't think i could pull it off, which is sad. my fingers aren't long enough i don't think. but i think this ring would be stunning if it was the only thing you wore with a cocktail dress or an otherwise fabulously fashionable outfit. the clear crystals match pretty much everything, and they speak for themselves enough that you don't have to wear anything else. it also comes in blue and pink if you prefer a bit of colour. 

and so my love affair with swarovski has begun again. funny how things turn full circle sometimes.

a trend i can actually wear: leather wrap bracelets

alright! so i guess i survived my first blog entry and now we're on to number two. things are looking good.

today's story begins a few months ago, when my sister and i took a trip to italy. throughout our vacation (we were in rome, capri and florence) i saw leather bracelets everywhere. i actually quite liked them, but by the time we got to florence where i was thinking of getting one (you know, being a city of leather and all that) i had spent way too much money and decided it was unnecessary. that was a really dumb decision and i knew even as i made it that i would regret it later - oh well.

so you can imagine how excited / dismayed i was to see that leather wrap bracelets are popping up in relatively mainstream retail locations this fall. excited because i can get my hands on one, dismayed because probably every single girl at my school will have one that is exactly like mine when i could have had a unique one from italy. le sigh. anyway, the first one that caught my eye is the gorjana graham leather studded wrap in gold:

they are available in pretty much every colour ever, but i love the "grey" one, which to me looks more like brown, but whatever. i love the little studs - i think i could actually pull them off even though my wardrobe is 95% cardigans aka prep city. i also like that the studs are gold - you can get them in silver, but 95% of my jewelry wardrobe is silver so i like to branch out sometimes. this bracelet is $55USD and i am really hoping i can snag one at neiman marcus while i'm in san francisco, because apparently neiman carries gorjana. i'll keep you posted.

the second version i like, and which i actually saw a couple of weekends ago in florida but didn't buy and now regret that decision (hmm...) is the flat stud double-wrap bracelet from j. crew:

this one is available in tuscan olive (pictured) and black. i like tuscan olive - the black seems too extreme with the gold studs, and as discussed above that probably wouldn't go well with my preppy wardrobe. it's also nice that the length is adjustable. the j. crew in san francisco (where i am right now) didn't have this bracelet, but it did have another wrap leather bracelet sans studs with a belt-like closure. apparently i do learn from my mistakes sometimes, because i got that one - it's kind of dark brown / mauve-y and sparkly, and therefore awesome. i can't seem to find it online though, so you i guess you'll just have to imagine it. :) i can't remember how much mine was, but the one above is $26.50USD and i know mine wasn't much more than that. personally that seems like a pretty reasonable price for a piece of jewelry that is pretty much costume, but that will last a while because it's leather. 

a final thought about this leather wrap bracelet situation. i generally shy away from costume jewelry because my skin is super sensitive, especially on my hands, and metals other than silver and gold leave a lovely (hideous) greenish brownish tinge on my skin. but since leather is not a metal (i know, shocking) it shouldn't leave a mark. even if you're worried about the metal clasps, they can be arranged so they're on top of the other "layer" of leather and don't touch your skin. it's not very often that i find "costume" / cheaper jewelry which i actually like, so i am pretty excited!

a welcome of sorts - and the first (of many, most probably) tiffany pieces

hello everyone!

so begins my foray into blogdom. i came up with this idea randomly one day at work - these things happen - and decided it was a good one for the following reasons:

1. i love jewelry.
2. i have yet to find a blog out there (although i'm sure one, or ten dozen, exist) that focuses solely on jewelry.
3. i am picky about my taste in jewelry and i find that sometimes general fashion blogs talk about pieces that are too trendy for my tastes. maybe that is the point of blogging, to keep up with trends... clearly i do not care.
4. i like good grammar. lots of blogs (not all, but lots) have bad grammar. therefore. i will write my own.
5. i talk about jewelry a lot. jewelry is also the first thing i notice on another person. true story.

you might also discover in the relatively near future that i like lists.

anyway, i guess i should also include some sort of review in this post, so i can actually call myself a blogger and not a rando who rants to herself in cyber space. after some strenuous internal debate (ha), i have decided to start classic and talk about a tiffany piece. specifically, the elsa peretti round pendant with rhodonite in sterling silver.

isn't it lovely? i love the pink, although realistically i could do with any of the colours. i have this pendant on a tiffany charm bracelet in onyx and it is quite nice as well. i like this piece because it doesn't scream "TIFFANY" to me - i mean, obviously if you are a walking tiffany box (ahem) then you will know this is both tiffany and elsa peretti, which i hear a lot of chirping about because it's so "common." everyone has elsa peretti jewelry (open heart, i'm looking at you), it's not a novelty any more, blah blah blah. but i don't know if all this chirping is necessarily a bad thing. it is basically a weird way of acknowledging you have good taste and you are willing to invest in nicer casual jewelry (i consider silver to be casual jewelry for the most part, but that's just me) - both of which are good things, at least to me. at $295 (usd), it is a bit pricey for elsa peretti pendants, but i think that is also pretty self-explanatory considering there are gems involved and not just silver. i think that is very reasonable for, say, a christmas gift (not that i have already started my list or anything). 

i also like tiffany silver pendants because they are so consistent. the chain is always dependable, always 16", and always coordinated so the clasp goes in your right hand and the eye goes in your left hand when you do it up (which is weirdly important to me because i suck at doing anything with my left hand). as any good tiffany salesperson will tell you, the 16" length is absolutely perfect because it sits above a crew neck tee and basically works with any article of clothing you could wear. i have a couple of necklaces in 18" just to mix things up, but for the most part 16" is classic.

what do you think? am i being way too predictable for talking about a tiffany piece first, or do you like this one? (do you think it's annoying that i constantly write side-notes in brackets?)