Digby & Iona - my favourites

Happy Sunday! The weekend is here, the daffodils are starting to show their faces, and the sun is trying to peek out from behind the clouds. We went rummaging around antique shops yesterday to find goods for my new Etsy shop - The Velveteen Box [Trinket Box], we also had a hot chocolate and a sausage roll and it was a lovely day. 

But enough about all of that, I am here today to share one of my favourite jewellery houses with you [I did mention them back in 201]... Digby and Iona. One of my wedding rings is from D&I and I just love their quirky style. Here are some of my favourite pieces... 

The Ambro .70ct. 
This stunning example of a watermelon tourmaline speaks directly to my heart. I am hoping that 2015 is the year that I own a watermelon tourmaline and it may be in the shape of this ring, who knows? This ring is made from 18k rose gold and has D&I's wonderful wave engraving on the band. Perfection. $1330. 

Here's a sneaky picture of another one of D&I's watermelon tourmalines, this time an aqua coloured version...

Convict love token necklace. This charming necklace is exactly that - charming. It can be personalised with your and your partner's initials, which I think is just lovely. It is made from oxidised bronze and comes on a rope [I'm not too keen on the rope - I'd put it on a chain]. As with most of D&I's designs, there's a lovely history to accompany it. $190 with initials, $150 without. 

Ouroboros signet ring. Anyone who knows me knows that mixed metals are my thing. I've been mixing my metals since a time when it was not considered the done thing and items like this signet ring make me happy. The snake also helps. Snake jewellery is wonderful. The signet ring is made from sterling silver and the snake is solid 14k rose gold that has been inset. It's a pretty big, statement piece, but I think it's beautiful. $280. 

Mens wave band. We discovered, when shopping for The Husband's wedding ring, that it is surprisingly difficult to find interesting bands for men. There are trays upon trays of plain bands, with absolutely no character and seeing something like this band from D&I makes me smile. I think it would make a perfect wedding band. $920. 

Battle diagram ring. Another one for the men; the battle diagram ring. I think it's very interesting and again, would make a lovely wedding band. Sterling silver. $150. 

Boat wave studs. These lovely little studs match the above rings perfectly. $360. 

There we have it, some beautiful pieces from this lovely brand. Perfect if you're looking for that vintage sailor look. 

Until next time, folks... 

L. x

2015! I'm back...

Hello all and a Happy New Year to you. I'm sorry that I've been AWOL for some time. We ran way to get married and we've had a pretty tough time of it in the months following, and then of course... Christmas! So I can only apologise and hope that you can forgive the huge gap. 

Our wedding day was perfect. In every possible way (well, I wasn't blown away by my dress, but that happens) and we had an amazing time. We got married in San Francisco and I wouldn't change a thing; we smiled and laughed so much. I will share my wedding jewellery with you later in this post [I've realised that I'm missing photos, so I will show you another time]. 

What else has happened? I think my little sister had just had little R when I was last here; he's now 6 months old and the most beautiful little person. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are here from Aus at the moment with their little people - T1 who is 3 years and T2 who is 7 months. They are a joy to be around and Christmas was fun because they were around. 

Anyway, none of that is jewellery related, so I must move on. One of my resolutions for 2015 is to sell at least ONE vintage ring this year. I hope that I can do that. The amount of things that I need to concentrate on this year is a little overwhelming, but I hope I can make it through. As I type I should be essay writing, but that'll have to wait! 

Look, I've come all this way and still no lovely pictures of jewellery... I'm still as obsessed as ever. I ordered a ring on Friday night that I will show you when it arrives. There's every chance that it won't fit, as it comes in limited sizes, but I'm hoping that if that's the case then it will make the perfect midi-ring. Here's hoping! 

SALES! They've been everywhere. I've had my eye on a few jewellery sales, mostly the Astley Clarke one, of course. I have been oh-so-tempted on a number of occasions, but we had such a heavy Christmas that I've had to hold back. 

Here are some of the things to have tempted me... 

Dinny Hall's Tear drop earrings in sterling silver. £85, now £45. These are sadly sold out, otherwise I think I would have bought these. I don't own any DH but I'd love to correct that in 2015. 

DH's Tear drop necklace in rose gold. £130, now £90. This piece was exclusive to AC. There's something quite lovely about these drops, they are a really nice size/shape. 

AC's hematite Symphony ring. £165, now £95. I love hematite. I've loved it since I was a kid. The cut on this stone is also my favourite. So what's not to love?! 

Alex Monroe's Pomegranate necklace. £180, now £125. This is one of my favourite AM necklaces and I was hoping to find it in my Christmas stocking this year [I didn't]. If I could afford it right now, I'd love to bag it at this reduced price. Alas, it's not meant to be at the moment. I love the garnets; nothing else could look more like pomegranate seeds. Just look at them! Beautiful. 

Marian Maurer's 18 carat cold and champagne diamond Orpheus ring. £1, 795, now £1, 250. There are so many things right about this ring. I love MM, I love rose gold, I am obsessed with champagne diamonds, and I love these bubble-style diamond rings. I think I'd rather they were different shades of champagne diamond, rather than champagne and white, but this ring is still utterly beautiful. 

There are lots of other lovely things to be had but I don't want to swamp you with my first post, there are other things to look at! 

Alexis Dove is also having a sale. Here are some of my favourites... 

This is an absolute bargain at £85, down from £250. I would have bought it in a heartbeat, but it's not in my size. Helios ring. One of my favourite bits about Alexis' designs is her beading and this ring shows that off really well. 

I have two of AD's wild rose rings and I adore them. I'm wearing them right now in fact. The large one is in the sale [I have tiny and small]. They vary in price depending on finish, but they start at £75. 

Here are mine... 

Up next is the love potion necklace. I'd not seen this before the sale, so it might be a limited piece? It's very sweet and something else that I'd have bought if I had funds. The hand engraved 'love' is quite lovely. £75 from £125. 

Finally, the stacking ring set. £60 from £100. I make it no secret that mixed metals are my thing. These flowers are very simple and three of Alexis' rings for £60 is an absolute bargain. 

I was going to show you my wedding jewellery, but I realise that I am missing decent photos of the two things that my husband gave me on our wedding day, so I'll take photos of those and show you next time. 

I didn't get any jewellery for Christmas this year (!!!) and I didn't buy myself any, which I usually would, but I did buy a necklace for my Ma. I got her a Merci Maman necklace in sterling silver [the only photo I could find of it was the gold one] and I got my two brothers' initials put on the circle charm, mine and my sister's two initials on the star charm, and my dad's initial and a 'x' put on the heart charm. The quality of these products is so good. I was impressed with the one I got my sister and this one too. The engraving is done by hand, which is what made me purchase both necklaces. It's hard to find places that don't all use standard fonts, which I guess are engraved by machine. The hand writing detail is very sweet. It also helps that the packaging is lovely. 

I think that'll do for today. I hope you've forgiven me for my absence. I'll keep you updated on the e-shop, as and when it comes, and various other things that I hope will happen this year. 

Thanks for reading! 

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

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