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

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 

Howdy - Happy Thursday

Evening to all. I don't have long to go as it's only 45 minutes to bedtime but I thought it would be nice to say hello before I go. My day at work was cray-cray busy but I got through it and it's almost the weekend. 

I went for a classic look today by wearing my Tiffany & Co pearl stud earrings, and here is me today... 

And here is Lord Fox-a-lot, my fox necklace from Alex Monroe. 

This is what he looks like when not being photographed by an amateur on an iPhone... 

Isn't he gorgeous?! That reminds me. If you like foxy jewellery, which I do, then Alexis Dove makes an awesome fox ring which I am yet to get my hands on, but I hope to one day. 

What have I seen today that I like? A-ha, I did a search for "California necklace" earlier. I love California, it is special to me, so I would like to have that love hanging around my neck at some point. This is what Google came back with: 

The California necklace by Kris Nations. I was tempted to buy the silver one, but it says that it is "silver overlay". What does this mean? Silver plated brass, perhaps? No thank you. If it was solid sterling silver then I'd be very, very tempted. Anyway, it's a lovely design and comes in cute packaging - $42. 

I am watching a bit of Gossip Girl as I type. I'm really behind and only on season 4. The fiance is napping on the sofa, and the cat is napping on the armchair. In my head I'm swanning around like Blair in New York, buying up Louis Vuitton totes, Hermes scarves, and Tiffany & Co diamonds by the yard. Alas, I am here but I've got lots of online sparkly things to look at, so life is not bad at all. 

I guess that's it for tonight, it was only supposed to be a quickie. I'll come back soon with something more substantial. 

Thanks for reading, 

L. x

update: 

I forgot to add that this morning, on my way to work, I came across an amazing thing... the Chanel Candy necklace! I used to love these candy sweets as a kid, and I've never had the urge to buy anything Chanel monogrammed but this collection has me smitten. From what I can gather, it comes out in August, but here is a sneak-peak... 

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

Sunday spotlight… Citrine & gold.

It’s time for the Sunday spotlight and this week I’ll show you some beautiful ways to wear Citrine and gold. Citrine is a stunning stone from the quartz family that comes in many different shades. But less chatting and more showcasing! 

In the spotlight above I’m showing off the 22k gold vermeil necklace with a hand cut, faceted citrine. This is made by Dinny Hall and can be found here for £150. I think that the drop shape of this necklace gives the necklace a luxury look and the gold really shows off the deep colour of the citrine. I’m also going to quickly show you what the clasp looks like on this one because it’s a nice-looking feature. 

Dinny Hall also sells these citrine earrings (which can be found here). These earrings feature 7mm heart trillion cut gemstones with rose cut facets. 

Moving on I have to show you this ring from Tiffany & Co (here). It’s a bit out of range for a “pay-day treat” at £1,325, but it is Tiffany. 18k gold (not vermeil like above - not a bad thing but explains the price difference) Sparklers cocktail ring with an 8.5 carat, cushion cut citrine. Look at that colour saturation! The Tiffany & Co website only gives the bare minimum amount of information, sadly. So let’s just have a look... (look at that cushion cut - my favourite). 

Next there is a ring from Etsy (here). It is gold plated sterling silver and this time it’s a champagne citrine. Still beautiful, but more on the smokey side rather than bright. 10mm faceted round cut citrine. At 10mm this is going to be on the large side, but I have size 8.75 / R1/2 fingers so it would fit quite nicely. It can be yours for $62 from seller OhKuol. I’ve not purchased from this seller before, so I am not recommending, but they have some beautiful looking Druzy so it might not be too long. 

So there we have it. Some beautiful examples of citrine (at least I think so!). Let’s finish off with a “what I wore today” picture. These are my Alex Monroe Tiny Bird Loop earrings. Aren’t they wonderful? 

Bye for now folks. Keep checking back for updates. 

L. x