Catch up - the one with the vintage milk glass necklace.

Good morning everyone. 

I am so, so very sorry that it has taken me so long to update you all. All my focus has been on crazy wedding planning and doing silly hours at work. But here I am, on a Saturday morning, wanting to say hello. 

My obsession with jewellery has not lessened in the past few months, if anything it is stronger than ever. I can't wait to share my wedding jewellery with you, but the wedding is still in the future so I'll keep that to myself for a while longer. 

Since my Sean Leane splurge I've not spent too much on jewellery, I've had to spend every spare penny on the wedding and wedding-related things, but I did buy a beautiful 1930s milk-glass necklace this week that I am desperate to share with you... 

Isn't it precious? It has a lovely weight to it and the glass makes a lovely noise at it clinks together. It also warms really quickly, which is comforting. It needs a bit of love and might need to be restrung sooner rather than later, but it's from the 1930s, so that's pretty good-going. 

I'm really into vintage at the moment, a phase which I hope never ends. Actually, if it never ends then I suppose it's not a phase... anyway, let's not ramble.

My future husband has finally picked and purchased his wedding ring, which is quite exciting. I'll share that with you post-wedding, because it's AWESOME. 

What else has been happening with me? Oh yes, my little sister had a baby! You might be asking why this is jewellery related, well... of course I bought her some baby related jewellery! 

I bought her the Duchess necklace from Merci Maman. I picked this out the second I found out that she was pregnant and I ordered it the day that my gorgeous nephew was born. It has the initial of the Dad on the little heart, the baby's name on one side of the disc and the baby's date of birth on the other side, and then you can have a little boy or little girl charm. It's available on a variety of chain lengths and in sterling silver, or sterling silver with gold plate. The writing is hand engraved, which is quite important to me - I'm not too keen on the uniformity of typical "font" engraving. I didn't take a picture of the final piece, because I was too excited, so you'll have to make-do with some of the photos from Merci Maman's website. 

I think I bought my wedding nail polish yesterday. I think it's an unusual choice, but I like it a lot. It's my first Essie (I'm an OPI lover) and it is in the colour Rock the boat. Here is a really dodgy photo of the bottle, which I think is awesome at the same time (you can see my blog behind the over-exposed hand). 

Are you interested in what's featured on my Pinterest lately? Yes? Well, let's go then... 

I am loving this necklace by Kenneth Jay Lane, currently on sale at The Outnet. It's a bargain at £128 (was £320) but I just can't justify it at the moment. It is made with black resin beads and I think it's just so glamorous. I love the catch, even if they are just faux pearls! 

These Liberty print jewellery rolls by Dana Levy are amazingly beautiful. They have a beautiful ribbon to tie them up, they come in different fabrics, and they have the sweetest little charms on each of the zips. £110. My choice would be the brown and pink because the metal (zips and charms) are gold-coloured instead of silver. 

Finally, this 1970s faux turquoise bracelet, sold by vintage jewellery seller Susan Caplan. Isn't it perfect? 

There you have it. I'm going to leave you now because this post is far too long, but I hope you've had a good time and I will update you all again soon. I'm hoping my updates will be more regular after the wedding. 

Thanks folks. 

L. 

Happy Bank Holiday

Good morning, folk. It's a bank holiday in England today and as usual it is raining. How sad is that?! As a result, I've got the time to have a look on the internet and do some virtual jewellery shopping [yay, me!]. 

Why am I only virtual shopping? Well.. yesterday I made a rather exciting purchase. I got a pair of the talon earrings that I've been obsessing over. YES! I know, I know, I'm not supposed to be spending any money pre-wedding but I went to just "have a look" and I couldn't leave without them. This doesn't happen too often, so I know that when it does it's the right thing to do. 

So, I guess you want photos? Here you go... 

Here is the lovely grey box. I wasn't expecting something so nice. I didn't get the rest of the packaging because I was trying to be green. But it would have come with a nice bag and some fancy tissue paper. 

As you can see from my photo here, I went for the yellow gold. I know, right?! These were not on my wish list, but when I saw them I just couldn't resist. I'll also get the rose gold small ones at some point because they were also lovely. These ones were £175. 

Please excuse my dodgy photos, but I wasn't expecting to make this purchase but I was desperate to take some photos. Don't they look awesome!? I think they are beautiful and I can't wait to wear them over the summer. 

So, what else happened yesterday? I started my day with a Nespresso [I love my Nespresso] and then we went for an early dinner at Bill's, where we both had a burger and fries. I had sweet potato fries and they were lovely. Oh, and we started with some chips and dip. Food photos...

Looks good, right? Yes. Link to Bill's here >> BILL'S. 

What else is going on in the world of jewellery? Let's see... 

I'm very much enjoying the wares of TALON at the moment. Here are some of my favourite pieces >> 

Perfume Amulettes $178 in bronze $250 in sterling silver. They contain perfume which soaks through the cork at the top and makes you smell all lovely. They come with special fragrances, made by Talon and they are so, so pretty. I have a perfume locket and this sort of thing really does work. The warmth from your body against the metal does magical things. 

They also have a glass amulette for $250. 

Feathers and flowers ring $438 [available in other metals and stones]. Made with Australian opal and recycled metals. I'd love this as a pinkie ring. 

American Beauty cuff $148. Recycled silver. You guys know that I'm a sucker for floral engravings. 

No other posy ring $189. Same goes with this one, look at the lovely detailing. Beautiful. 

Here is some info about TALON. They seem like a nice company. 

I BOUGHT: I think I told you that last week we went to Brighton to find a wedding ring for the future MrTVB? Well, during that trip I found two lovely pieces which I will now show you [yes, the wedding ring was also found and I'll share that with you after the big day]. Brighton is a hotspot for vintage wares and jewellery & I wanted these two gems the minute I tried them on. There's a double headed snake bangle, and a snake ring [which would fit as a normal ring on a person with normal-sized hands!] which I love to wear as a knuckle/mid-finger ring. Aren't they just amazing? 

KNUCKLE RINGS: One of my latest obsessions is knuckle rings, so I hope to add some to my collection very soon. I'll keep you updated on my progress. 

TABS: During the week when I don't have time to blog every day, I keep tabs open in my browser so that I can show you what I'm looking at. So let's go through some of those tabs now... 

Gold arch ring by Michele Varian, NYC $282. I really like the unusual shape of this one. It reminds me of a rainbow, but in a stylish way. Solid 14k gold only. 

Gold and turquoise bar necklace by Michele Varian, NYC $415. Y'all know that this is right up my alley. I love it. 

Intrecciato silver bracelet by Bottega Veneta £430. I like most of the silver bracelets from Bottega. They are works of art. 

Antique silver £225. 

Silver bracelet £355. 

ILA & I turquoise diamond eternity ring $1,610. Isn't it fabulous? I love it. 

Gold plate psychic ring $171 by ManiaMania @ Bona Drag. Smoked quartz on top of a gold plate band. I really like the unusual design. Also available in Sterling Silver for the same price. 

I should stop there because I've inundated you with pictures and information. I hope you've seen something that you like. 

SHOPS TO WATCH: These are some shops that I've stumbled across this week, I'm keeping the links here so I can blog about them in the future. 

Child of Wild

MILLE

Dry Goods NYC

Asprey

I hope you enjoy the rest of the bank holiday weekend. 

Thanks for reading, 

L. x

Catch up - Shaun Leane talons and hooks from the Tusk collection.

Hey guys, I hope you're all well. 

I've been really busy with wedding planning and working far too much, so I'm sorry that I've neglected the blog somewhat. I've not been neglecting jewellery though, so I've got some bits and bobs to share with you at some point. I've made a few jewellery purchases for the wedding, as well as a couple of costume pieces for everyday. I've not bought anything high-end though as funds are having to be spent wisely at the moment. 

I cannot stop thinking about a pair of earrings that I saw a sales assistant wearing in a shop in Brighton and I can't wait until I can freely spend my money again because I need them in my life. I want both of these pairs to wear for different occasions. They actually sell the smaller ones in a jewellers not too far from me, so I can go and drool over them when I fancy. They will make it on to my birthday wish list later in the year if I've not managed to get them by then (and with the wedding fast approaching I don't think I will have managed before then). 

1. Shaun Leane silver talon earrings. 

2. Shaun Leane silver and rose gold vermeil hook earrings size 1

What else has happened? I've received my wedding present, which I'll show you after the wedding. We've bought my Groom's wedding ring. I'll show you my new snake collection when I've got good enough light to be able to take some photos. 

So, sadly, I think that's it for now. I'm working hard on putting things in place for an exciting future endeavour, which I'll share with you all one day. Fingers crossed for now. 

Have a great evening and I'll write again soon. 

Thanks for reading, 

L. x

Sunday spotlight - Mociun

Happy Sunday! I wish I could say it was a "sunny Sunday" but nope, we've had a visit from the April showers today. But hey-ho, it has meant that I have been able to obsessively research things for the wedding & cook a lovely roast pork dinner. I'd love to take credit for the roast pork dinner, but the ingredients came from Waitrose and I don't think anyone could cook a bad meal from Waitrose ingredients! 

Anyway, back to the jewels. An email from YLANG23 reminded me that I've not shared one of my favourite designers with you yet - Mociun [pronounced motion]. 

One of my favourite things about Mociun is Caitlin's use of turquoise. I love the stuff; it's vibrant & eye-catching and pairs so very well with gold and diamonds, and Mociun uses a lot of all three of these things. 

As it was inspiration from YLANG23 that encouraged me to write this blog entry, it's only fair that I start with my favourite items from their website.

Mociun's mismatched stud earrings are delightful. I adore mismatched jewellery, and these are a great balance between being fun and not cheap! 

Squares: 14 karat yellow gold; turquoise and two baguette diamonds; £542.47. 

Triangles: 14 karat yellow gold; turquoise and diamonds; £246. 

[There are also oblongs and circles, and triangles in black onyx and lapis] - black onyx and lapis are another two of my favourite stones. 

Peach sapphire mix ring: One of a kind; 14 karat yellow gold; peach sapphires; £2,031.11. 

Now on to the Mociun website... 

I discovered Mociun when I was shopping for my wedding rings. The following ring was in my top two and lost out only to the one I finally ordered. I am at peace with this as I think I'll still buy it one day. 

Single band moon and stars ring: $734. 

Turquoise and diamond ring: $1,587. 

Etched lines band: $345. 

Stacked sapphire ring [with red diamonds]: $874. 

Moon and stars ring: $2,277.

 Turquoise and diamond square circle triangle necklace: $1,898. 

There we have it, some of my favourite pieces [not all, I need to save some for another time]. I hope you've seen many things that you like. 

What else have I been looking at today? Well... 

This beautiful running fox locket from Heather Scott. It's hand engraved and just perfect, in my opinion. It even has a lovely heart on the catch. 

I've also been eyeing up some vintage Chanel pieces. I need to have at least one piece in my life pretty soon. Here's a gorgeous bracelet for us to look at for now. Don't even get me started on all the lovely earrings and necklaces. 

Finally, from Anthropologie, I cannot stop popping by to look at this Azolla bib necklace. I'd love to team this up with a black maxi skirt and black vest. 

 

And I was going to treat myself to these bracelets, but the website says they run small at only 6.5 inches. My wrists struggle with a 7 inch, so it's a no go for me, which is sad. 

We've also spent part of today looking at vintage watches and tie pins for my Groom to wear for our wedding. I'd give up new before I gave up vintage. There are so many lovely pieces already out there for us to enjoy. 

Anyway, I've rambled enough. I'll be back soon...

Thanks for reading, 

L. x