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

March = Aquamarine

Happy Saturday. Boy I am happy the weekend is here. Let's get going... 

Birthstones. We've all got one. Mine is peridot. The birthstone for March [March, we are in you] is the beautiful Aquamarine. Aquamarine translates as "water of the sea" in Latin and is the blue variety of the gemstone beryl. Yes, beryl. Siblings with such other beauties as emerald and morganite [morganite = swoon].  

Here's a fact from good ol' Wikipedia >> 

Sadly I don't own any aquamarine jewellery [yet] so I can't show you any of mine. However, I will show you some lovely aquamarine pieces from around the t'internet. Where should we begin? Gemstones... hmm.. Astley Clarke, of course! Gemstone jewellery at its... finest?! Let the search begin! 

Of course AC has not let me down, look at this beauty - Aquamarine Cocktail ring by Astley Clarke Tearoom. £2,450. Not only does it have a halo [which of course I love*] but it has a beautiful basket and it gives a good amount of finger coverage. It is made from white gold and has 4.46 carats of aquamarine; what a great example of how beautiful this gemstone can be. 

* My engagement ring is a sapphire halo. 

For something much less showy, but even more beautiful, AC has this stunning milky aquamarine ring by Astley Clarke Couture. £2,750. This would be my pick from the aquamarine on the AC website. I think it's the bezel against the milky stone that does it for me. It's very low profile so it would be great for every day wear. 

We can't look at rings all day, can we? Let's see what else we can find to showcase this beautiful stone. Maybe Tiffany & Co can offer us something? 

I am not disappointed, folks. Look at these amazingly petite but beautiful Elsa Peretti, Colour by the yard, aquamarine stud earrings. Sterling silver, .12 total carat weight. £360. 

Up next we have these 'oui' earrings from Dior. They match their famous 'oui' ring, which also comes in aquamarine, but I thought these were a less obvious choice. I have searched and searched but I cannot find a price for these, sorry. They are white gold. The basket, holding the aquamarines, is made up of the word 'oui'. Very sweet! 

It's all been a bit pricey recently, so let me look for something a little more affordable...

This very pretty aquamarine birthstone bracelet from NOTHS.com, by Between you & I, is a lovely way to proudly wear your birthstone. It's £39, made from sterling silver, and is made with 4mm aquamarine beads. 

Of course it wouldn't be my blog without a mention of Alex Monroe. Here is his aquamarine 8mm Hoya ring in 18ct yellow gold. The Hoya is one of my favourite pieces from AM and one day I *will* own the 8mm morganite. £945. It is so refreshing to see some aquamarine set in yellow gold as it is almost always set in white gold or silver. I guess its icy tone lends itself well to the coolness of those metals. 

I was going to end it there but in my travels I found a lovely ring [sorry that there have been so many rings in this post] on net-a-porter and I couldn't not share it. 

I adore flower clusters, but at £4,000 this one is currently out of budget. 

22 karat gold, 6 carat total weight of aquamarine, the petals actually rotate, and it is just beautiful. Made by Munnu The Gem Palace. 

There's lots of lovely aquamarine out there, so go and take a look. Do you have a friend or relative with a birthday in March? Did you get married in March? Mother's Day is coming up. Or you could just celebrate that it's the weekend. 

Enjoy your Sunday & you might even hear from me again tomorrow. 

I ordered my first ever Birch Box today. Get me! If you don't know what a Birch Box is, please go and have a look - they send you various cosmetics samples each month as well as how-to guides and the such. I'll update you when I receive mine. My Erica Weiner wedding band was also dispatched today, so I'm hoping to have that within the next few weeks. 

I'm off to watch Life of Pi.

Thanks for reading, 

L. x