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. 

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

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!