Liberty, oh Liberty

I'm going to just put this out there. I love Liberty. I do, I love it. Here's a little history of the shop for those of you who are not familiar… (shamelessly stolen from Wiki). 

Liberty: 

Liberty is a department store on Regent Street, based in the West End shopping district of Central London. The department store sells a wide range of luxury goods including women’s, men’s and children’s fashion, cosmetics and fragrances, jewellery, accessories, homeware, furniture, stationery and gifts. Liberty is known for its floral and graphic prints.

Liberty’s third and fourth floors showcase innovative designs from famous gifting and homeware brands such as Ibride, Moorcroft, Emma Bridgewater, Mason Cash, Rob Ryan, House of Hackney, Rory Dobner and Tom Dixon. The third floor’s central atrium is home to the Liberty Haberdashery department and is dedicated to the Liberty Art Fabrics collection, which introduces new designs and reused updated prints each season.

It looks like this: 

They sell all sorts of wonderful things in Liberty; scarves, handbags, stationery (oh the stationery), fabric, much, much more, and… jewellery! 

When in store they have some more unique one-off antique pieces, which they don't have on their website, but these pics are from the website as I don't get to visit much in person. They stock some of my favourite designers, so you'll hopefully recognise some of them along the way… 

You'll notice that they carry the more unusual pieces, and this is one of the things I love about Liberty. 

1. Gold plated fine baroque double front ring by Alex Monroe. £150. 

This ring is just stunning. It is made from 22ct gold plated (silver, I assume?) with a green cabochon green tourmaline with seed pearls. It is a part of Alex Monroe's Banquet collection which came out only recently and this particular piece is exclusive to Liberty; lucky Liberty! Sadly it won't be adorning my finger as I'd need to get it re-sized, but it really is just beautiful. 

2. Silver oculus cuff by Pamela Love. £180. 

I've only recently discovered Pamela Love recently, so this cuff is brand new to me. I can't tell you much about it, but I do love a cuff. It's sterling silver and has an amazing double eye feature. There's a place in my heart for "evil eye" jewellery, so this is why this cuff made it on the list. I also like the extra "tear" detail on the right-hand eye. Nice touch. Here it is: 

3. Silver evol fire opal stud earrings by Anna Sheffield. £165. 

There are two things I like about these earrings. Number one: The amazing, amazing fire opals (set in sterling silver). Just look at that colour saturation; fire opal is certainly the correct name for them. I might have even called them lava opals. The second thing you don't spot until you see the side view. Look at how these fantastic opals are mounted… backwards! Who does this?! It gives them an extra edge which moves them from "they are pretty" to "oh my goodness, how will I live my life without them?". Here are both views for you to enjoy: 

4. Here comes the big one… 18ct gold, sapphire, and diamond ring by Kojis. £8,500. 

Seriously folks, look at this bad-ass ring! It features lots of good stuff - a cabochon moonstone, some oval sapphires, and then a gazillion brilliant cut white diamonds. I would be planning cocktail parties every week just so I had an excuse to wear it! 

There are a million and one pieces that I'd love to own by Kojis, and I'll save those for another day. Their catalogues just make me speechless. 

5. Gold nectar jasmine droplet necklace by Annoushka. £950. 

I like that this necklace has stones in the chain and then there are also droplets. I'm a sucker for droplet necklaces, especially "dew" type ones. These droplets are made from white sapphires. 

6. Last one (before the honourable mention). Yellow gold garnet and diamond ring by Ruth Tomlinson. £1,065. 

I'm enjoying ovals turned side-ways at the moment, which I think is why this one makes the cut. I also love the rustic/Roman-esque styling of the metal. It looks ancient! 

It's made up of red garnet and two diamonds. It doesn't say what colour the diamonds are, but they are obviously not white. So, so pretty, and very unique. 

That's it for tonight folks. I've got a chilli chicken in the oven and I've had a lovely weekend. I was also gifted a new Pandora bracelet today. It's one of the new bangles (Moments charm bangle) and here is a stock picture from their website: 

Oh, and before I go… Liberty are offering £30 off when you spend £150 online when you enter 30LIBERTY at checkout.

Bye for now. 

I just remembered my promise of an honourable mention! This necklace is the Blue resin key necklace by Isabel Marant. The reason it's getting an honourable mention is that I LOVE it, and I think the enamelling is just amazingly unique and perfect, but the necklace is made from brass and I don't know how long-lived that makes it, and at £115 that's a shame. I would have paid  bit more to get it in a precious metal. Isn't it beautiful?! It's actually in my top three from today's lot! 

Bye again! 

Today I wore...

Amongst other things, today I wore my Alexis Dove Belle Hook Earrings. These were a birthday present from my fiancé this year. They are so delicate and pretty. Made from gold vermeil with seed pearls inside, they are an unusual design for dangly earrings, but that just adds to the appeal for me. 

They also come in silver and with different stones/beads in the middle. At the moment they are being offered in ivory seed pearls (as pictured/mine), pink garnet, and labradorite. 

Here they are (images taken from the Alexis Dove website):

Aren't they just so pretty?

My Monsoon/Accessorize picks

Although I don't buy a lot of costume jewellery, I do love to look at it. I think the reason I don't buy much anymore is that in the past I've purchased costume jewellery, become really attached to it, and then I've become sad when it wears away and I have to retire it to the big Velveteen Box in the sky. 

But like I said, before I became all misty eyed and dramatic, I do still look at it more than I probably should. Monsoon/Accessorize is a good place on the high street to enable me to look, and they have some rather lovely pieces at the moment. For those of you from places other than England, Monsoon and Accessorize are the same company; Monsoon does clothes, shoes, and the occasional home accessory, and Accessorize sells jewellery, handbags, scarves, gloves, hats, stationery, etc. To confuse matters, and the reason for Monsoon being mentioned at all, Monsoon also sells Accessorize jewellery and sometimes has things that Accessorize does not… yep, very confusing! 

I've rambled tons and there are still no pictures of lovely sparkly things, so here goes… here are my top ten items from Monsoon/Accessorize. 

1. Box chain and teardrop collar necklace. £15. 

What I like: It's a statement necklace. I like statement necklaces. 

What I love: The colour of the "stones". Paired with the "gold", this collar necklace gives off a luxurious vibe. 

2. Monte Carlo statement ring. £15. 

What I like: The halo reminds me of a lion's mane. 

What I love: That stone in the middle. Dreamy. 

3. Natalie statement necklace. £15. 

What I like: The regal feel that it has going on. 

What I love: Those pear-shaped red stones. 

4. Katy jewelled Montana necklace. £25. 

What I like: The way it reminds me of a bird of paradise. 

What I love: The extra/double chain across the top. This is a really pretty feature. 

5. Laverne earrings. £59. This is a piece from their Swarovski elements range, hence the higher price. 

What I like: Onyx is one of my favourite, favourite stones, and these remind me of onyx. 

What I love: Being Swarovski, they will be super sparkly. 

6. Sterling silver triple ball bracelet. £8. 

What I like: I love cord bracelets. 

What I love: The sterling silver elements. 

7. Sleek stone ring. £8. 

What I like: It's huge! 

What I love: That shade of green. 

8. Ellie flower ring. £8. 

What I like: It's a flower. 

What I love: Look at it!

What I dislike: 1. It's not sterling silver. 2. It's not mine. 

9. Mesh belt buckle cuff. £12. 

What I like: It's sleek and modern. 

What I love: The double belt loop. 

10. Baroque stone long pendant. £12. 

What I like: The styling. 

What I love: The pearls. 

So there you have it folks, my top ten picks! 

Pink stones.

I am going to point out that I'm not a girly girl. Well, I like handbags, and nail polish, and blusher, and scarves… (this isn't helping my point, is it?) but I'm not a pink and fuzzy kind of girl. I do, however, like a pink stone. This is a recent development and I'll show you the ring that turned me… 

Alexis Dove's bespoke India ruby ring. 

Just look at its beauty. That's a ruby! It's cloudy, and gold, and beaded, and hammered, and…and… *breathe* bespoke… and locally made. Could it be more perfect? I think this is a rose cut, as that's the cut that Alexis seems to favour. And this is more than okay by me. It's an unusual but stunning cut and I would wear one proudly. She features some beautiful grey stones on her website, but this post is about pink stones, so I'll save those for another time… 

What to look at next? Well, I guess I should mention the pink diamond, which falls in the "fancy colour" category of diamonds. It's not my favourite of the pink stones, but it is certainly worth a mention. Coincidentally, this week, the most expensive diamond in the world sold for £52million at auction. This was a pink diamond and you can read all about it here. It is called Pink Star and is a huge 1.06 inches x 0.81 inches and a whopping 60 carats. It is mounted on a ring, and here is a photograph of that ring… look at those tiny claws holding in that massive stone! I'd quite like to see it on a finger. 

The next items all come from Astley Clarke, one of my favourite online jewellery retailers. I have spent far too many hours on their website, I'm surprised they've not noticed! 

A slightly more modest pink diamond, featured on a ring by Hilier. Yours for £295. 

A more subtle shade of pink can be found in the stone Chalcedony. This pink Chalcedony ring is a part of Astley Clarke's Colour collection and costs £135. You'll come to notice that I like milky stones, I think they are so very pretty. 

Marian Maurer's micro stud earrings show off these pink sapphires rather well, I think. £260. I'll feature Marian Maurer soon because she is one of my favourite designers. 

Next up is pink tourmaline, found in these lovely drop earrings by Pippa Small. A little on the high side at £625, but stunning all the same. Look at those crackles, and bursts of pink colour within the stone. These in particular are a lovely natural shape, and dangly earrings are a weakness of mine! 

There are of course other pink stones, but if I told you all about all of them now then we would have nothing to chat about in the future. 

Enjoy!

Sunday spotlight… Citrine & gold.

It’s time for the Sunday spotlight and this week I’ll show you some beautiful ways to wear Citrine and gold. Citrine is a stunning stone from the quartz family that comes in many different shades. But less chatting and more showcasing! 

In the spotlight above I’m showing off the 22k gold vermeil necklace with a hand cut, faceted citrine. This is made by Dinny Hall and can be found here for £150. I think that the drop shape of this necklace gives the necklace a luxury look and the gold really shows off the deep colour of the citrine. I’m also going to quickly show you what the clasp looks like on this one because it’s a nice-looking feature. 

Dinny Hall also sells these citrine earrings (which can be found here). These earrings feature 7mm heart trillion cut gemstones with rose cut facets. 

Moving on I have to show you this ring from Tiffany & Co (here). It’s a bit out of range for a “pay-day treat” at £1,325, but it is Tiffany. 18k gold (not vermeil like above - not a bad thing but explains the price difference) Sparklers cocktail ring with an 8.5 carat, cushion cut citrine. Look at that colour saturation! The Tiffany & Co website only gives the bare minimum amount of information, sadly. So let’s just have a look... (look at that cushion cut - my favourite). 

Next there is a ring from Etsy (here). It is gold plated sterling silver and this time it’s a champagne citrine. Still beautiful, but more on the smokey side rather than bright. 10mm faceted round cut citrine. At 10mm this is going to be on the large side, but I have size 8.75 / R1/2 fingers so it would fit quite nicely. It can be yours for $62 from seller OhKuol. I’ve not purchased from this seller before, so I am not recommending, but they have some beautiful looking Druzy so it might not be too long. 

So there we have it. Some beautiful examples of citrine (at least I think so!). Let’s finish off with a “what I wore today” picture. These are my Alex Monroe Tiny Bird Loop earrings. Aren’t they wonderful? 

Bye for now folks. Keep checking back for updates. 

L. x

A blog is born (and I buy cat ring)...

>> This is cat ring. Made of sterling silver with a 1.5mm band. Cat ears included. Can be found HERE at Silverado.

So, what’s been happening? Well. On the 1st of June, 2013 (today) I started this awesome new website and blog. I also purchased a new piece of jewellery. Oh yes. Today managed to find a piece of jewellery to combine two of the things I love - jewellery and cats. Introducing THE CAT RING. When, where, how? And the story begins... 

We went to Lewes today for lunch (which actually turned into an early dinner) and I can’t go to Lewes without a visit to Silverado. I looked at lots of lovely things whilst there including pieces by my favourite jewellery designer Alex Monroe (you’ll see a lot about this brand on this blog). I also looked at and tried on rings by Monica Vinader, all of which were stunning. I can’t find pictures of all the rings I tried on but I’ll post pictures of some of them (images taken from Monica Vinader website).

This is the Siren Cocktail Ring. It’s big, it’s beautiful and it’s only £190. It is made from 18ct Gold plated vermeil on sterling silver with an organic shaped multifaceted Aqua Chalcedony. It milkiness of the stone was just beautiful and the ring had a lovely feel to it. Check out the website to have a look at it from different angles - I’m super fussy about settings and this one has a beautiful back. The band is approximately 3mm and comes in sizes K-T. 

This beauty is the Medina Facet Ring. Also made from 18ct Gold plated vermeil on sterling silver but this time set with a green gold quartz. £145. This setting has a closed back which makes the colour look more saturated. The gem stone comes out quite far which makes this ring quite a statement piece. They also had it in black onyx, but I can’t get that selection on the website - possibly sold out? The actual ring is has a nice hammered texture. 

Introducing... the stacking rings. These rings come in various sizes, shapes, and colours and are designed to be worn together in a stack. I held a few of these today (the ones pictured) and they are very delicate and so very sparkly. From left to right we have the Siren stacking set with citrine, then the Siren small stacking with white topaz, and another Siren stacking in Amethyst. Finally there is a stacked set - this particular set doesn’t do it for me, but only because I’m not a fan of wide bands. I also like a combination of metals when stacking. I can’t wait to add one of these to my collection. Here’s a link to the stacking ring collection. 

Whilst in Silverado I also checked out Alexis Dove’s latest pieces. There were four pieces that I actually held/tried on and they were all of a lovely weight and fantastic quality. As a result I’ve actually e-mailed Alexis to ask if she would consider making me a bespoke ring - I’ll keep you updated. Here are the things I looked at... 1) Foxy Ring. 2) Little Owl Ribbon Pendant. 3) Wild Rose Tiny Ring. 4) Wild Rose Large Ring. 

After our lunch/dinner we took a stroll around some of the antique shops in Lewes. I went in to look at some of the jewellery and I was pleasantly surprised. There were beautiful vintage cameos and art deco style rings, ranging from £6 to £165. The owner didn’t know what any of the stones were, which is a shame; I’ll just have to start learning my gems! 

I think that’s enough for my first entry, I don’t want to scare you all off. Come back soon for another entry! 

L. x