Mother's day - gift ideas

Mother's Day is just around the corner [Sunday March 30th, in the UK] and jewellery is always a nice gift. So here are some things that I think would make the perfect token of your appreciation. 

To make things a little more interesting I'm putting my gift selections into categories; Splurge, pocket money, high street, personalised, and pre-loved. Remember, it's not the amount of money you spend on gifts, it's picking the one thing that you know will suit who you're buying for because you know that someone and you know what they will like. 

Let's go... 

SPLURGE: 

Goldoni Heart Earrings // Tiffany & Co // Paloma Picasso // £405 - I think these little stud earrings are just beautiful; made from 18k rose gold, I think they are the right balance between sophisticated and sweet. 

Slightly less of a splurge, but still very luxurious, here are the same earrings in sterling silver - £165. 

Astley Clarke Red spinel heart friendship bracelet // Liberty // Astley Clarke // £225 - Who better to give a friendship bracelet to than your mum?? This bracelet is perfect for stacking and is just beautifully thoughtful. 

POCKET MONEY: 

Budding Blossom sterling silver stud earrings // John Lewis // Kit Heath // £30. I think that these are an absolute steal at £30. They have the "two tone" look that I so often go for and they are very, very cute [yet grown up]. Aren't they fab??

Hugs and kisses [XO] sterling silver necklace // Accessories online // Dogeared // £42.95. Remind you Mum of all the love she has for you and you for her by gifting her a hugs and kisses necklace. Delicate, and subtle. 

HIGH STREET: 

Small heart daisy necklace // John Lewis // Alex Monroe // £135. If you leave your gift buying until the last minute & the high street is the only option for you, then John Lewis could be your saviour. This beautiful offering from Alex Monroe is the perfect gift, in my opinion. 

Sterling silver twisted drop earrings // Marks and Spencer // £19.50. I have seen these earrings myself [and purchased them as a gift] and they are very petite, and pretty and for £19.50 they are such good value, making them a perfect high street recommendation. 

PERSONALISED:

Milestone medium & tiny personalised necklace // Scarlett Jewellery // £79. Scarlett jewellery is one of my favourites. Her Mojo beads are personal and utterly charming. This necklace is made from actual cast pebbles and can be personalised with a message, name, initials, or even a date. Go on, give something uber special. As with most personalised items, things can be changed on this necklace; for example, the small pebble can be changed to a gold pebble. 

Silver initial heart charm bracelet // NOTHS.com // Hurley Burley // £29+ [additional charms cost more]. I need a representative from the bracelet club so here is a wonderful bangle from Not on the high street. You can add as many charms as you need, so why not add one for each of your siblings or your Dad? 

PRE-LOVED:

For pre-loved bargains you might get the best deal by scouring antique shops, charity shops, eBay, etc. However, these pieces are from my favourite Etsy seller, based in London - Addy. 

Vintage diamond and sapphire gold ring // £390. Such a beautiful example of what you can buy vintage. I would snap this up if it was in my size. The sapphire, the flower halo, the two tone metals... agh, utter perfection. 

Edwardian chalcedony drop earrings in yellow gold // £395. Just. Beautiful. 

These examples are both on the pricier side, so here is something more affordable but still amazing. 

Antique garnet and rose gold ring, circa 1880s // £125. 

There you have it, lots of lovely things to choose from - from higher cost, to lower cost, from new to old, from silver to gold. The latter items are pricey, but look at what you're getting - history, precious metals, gemstones, good quality products. 

So, what are you getting for your Mum for Mother's day? Let me know and comment. 

Thanks for reading, 

L. x

Sunday on Monday

Good evening. We had a beautiful day yesterday. It was 23 degrees in Sussex and everyone was out and about. We took a lovely trip into Lewes, East Sussex and had a look around the antique shops. We grabbed some lunch and listened to a man with a lute. Just when I thought it couldn't be more perfect, I stumbled across a stunning ring in an antique shop. I have what I refer to as sausage fingers. They are very long, but they are also big; I have big hands so even when I lose weight not much comes off my fingers [finger lipo, anyone?] so I was amazed to find something so close to what I've been looking for and in my size. I wanted to show you yesterday but with all the excitement my iPhone battery died and I was sans photographs until now. The guy in the shop thinks it's from the 1950s. It might not be that old, but I love it. I'm scared to get it appraised incase they say it's from 2001 or something, but it does have markings on the inside so I may do one day.

There were lots of lovely pieces of jewellery in the antique shops and I was recommended a jewellery auction which is held locally, which I'd love to check out one day. I also stopped off at Silverado which stocks lots of my favourite designers such as Alex Monroe, Alexis Dove, Dogeared, Dinny Hall, Monica Vinader, and more. Amazing stuff. I'd already bought my ring at this point otherwise I certainly could have been tempted by a new Alex Monroe necklace or bracelet! 

Here are some photos for you...

[Lunch]

[Lemon cake] 

[The Alexis Dove rings I went out wearing]

[The stunning 9 carat gold & Turquoise antique ring] 

[The ring on my jewellery stand]

[The windows at Silverado] 

[Lewes street art] 

Great, huh? The mezze and the Sicilian lemon cake were both amazing. The wild rose rings are from Alexis Dove and were a birthday present. The tiny one in yellow gold vermeil and the small in silver. Isn't my new ring amazing! And some fab displays from the windows in Silverado. 

Antique shops will be scoured more thoroughly from now. I've eagerly looked before but I now have the bug. Please comment and tell me about your antique shop finds. 

I'm going to say g'night, I think. I've had a tough day at work and no chance to discover anything new. I need to get on with doing some research this week into jewellery making / silversmithing courses.

Thanks for reading,

L. x

Edited to add: my new ring has some beautiful heart engravings down the arms but it's too dark to take such detailed pictures so I'll have to add those later. Coming soon! 

Pearl earrings

Morning to all and to all a good morning. It's Sunday. I've woken with a killer headache [nothing that a good cup of tea and a chocolate digestive won't fix] and the sun is trying to come out from behind a cloud. We went out for dinner last night [fillet steak and chocolate fondant, thank you very much] and today we are just relaxing. 

What has happened since the last entry? Let's see... 

On the 11th of February I found the perfect pair of wedding shoes. After months of searching [with a substantial budget, I might add] I just couldn't find something that did it for me. Then along came the perfect pair from an unusual source... Dorothy Perkins of all places. They were 1/2 price, making them £9 and I'm smitten [the patterned background is a jumper that I bought at the same time]. So that's one less thing to worry about. What else?... 

Ah yes, Valentines Day. The title of this entry somewhat gives away what the boyfriend gave me this v-day; pearl earrings. They are my first pair of pearl studs and they came from Tiffany & Co. I believe they are 8-9mm with sterling silver posts, and the post back is a unique flower shape, which I was not expecting; such a pretty little detail and just for the wearer as no-one can see the back when you're wearing them. Here are some photographs, the one with the pearls is quite dark because we exchanged gifts on v-day evening. I'm sure there will be better photographs in time. Also, note the red ribbon as a nice change from the white! Another nice touch from T&Co. 

One of my wedding rings arrived on the 21st of Feb. I think I'm going to save these photographs for when they are all here, or even for after the wedding. Yes, I'll wait until after the wedding, sorry to keep you waiting folks, but they might not all make the final cut. All will become clear in time. This particular one has a very cute story as the person who made it for me has made other rings for me, so it's very special. 

I've been struggling this week with wedding hair. I'm doing it myself so I want something easy but elegant, fun and boho... ah, it's so hard. Anyway, the look I finally went for, the boyfriend doesn't like, so it was back to the drawing board. I have now reverted back to my original plans [which involve a floral crown - hooray] and I've actually got one ordered, finally, after hundreds of hours searching. Photos to follow once it arrives. I'm doing a lot of shopping in the US [how does one plan a wedding without Etsy??] so there has been a lot of waiting. 

And here we are today, the 2nd of March [where is time going??] and another of my rings arrived yesterday, all the way from Brooklyn, NYC and made by Digby & Iona. As this is primarily a "jewellery blog" I'll show you some of my favourite pieces... [most of their stuff is a bit out there for me, but I do adore their rings]. 

1. Petite pave arrows band - $640 in rose gold with black diamonds, but comes in various precious metals and also with white diamonds. A mere 1.5mm wide, which is perfect for stacking. It's one of my favourites. 

2. Petite Ambro ring - $1330 in 18k rose gold with blue and pink tourmaline and their beautiful wave band [you can buy this as a plain band, without a stone and it's lovely]. This one also comes in various colours, but this particular tourmaline speaks to me, it's just beautiful. These rings are one-offs [I imagine because of the uniqueness of the tourmaline] so once they're gone, they're gone. The cut on these stones is just amazing. The band is 1.5mm thick and the stone is .70ct in weight. If you like stones as much as I do, check out the others in the collection; the colours will blow you away [to tease you, I've included the thumbnails from the website in my image - there are more than these ones though]. 

3. Arrows bangle - $90. Does what it says on the tin! Oxidised sterling silver. 

4. The rakish hand - $360. It's an unusual one this one, and I mean unusual in a good way. It's slightly creepy, but again, in a good way. It's made from sterling silver [oxidised] and is on a 26" sterling chain [I like long necklaces] and I think it's the perfect choice for this particular piece. The hand is wearing an 18k yellow gold diamond ring on its little finger, which is hinged so that it sparkles as it moves. See, I warned you that it was a tad creepy, but the fact that the hand is wearing jewellery itself is amazing. So here it is, the rakish hand...

In my search for wedding rings and wedding jewellery I've come across some amazing companies and designers, all of which I will share with you over time, whether I end up buying from them or not. Designers such as Erica Weiner, Les Nereides and Alison Macleod are all too good to not share, so more from them coming soon. 

I'm still undecided on my wedding jewels - earrings, necklace, bracelet/s. I'm quite keen to wear this though, whatever else I end up wearing [to add a pop of colour and because I'm a stacker through and through]  - make a wish lucky horseshoe bracelet on mint, from Dogeared. I was going to buy direct but their postage was crazy steep to England, so I'm on the look-out of a reputable UK stockist. I've bought dogeared before, and will blog about them some day - I could spend a £1,000 there easily. 

For now I think that's me done. I don't want to bore you and this post has gone on a bit. I'm still aiming to be blogging more regularly, but time is being sucked up at the moment. I'll try and write something again next week. Keep smiling folks, and share some of your favourite designers with me via the comments. 

Thanks for reading, 

L. x