The BEST Joyas Magazine – Jewellery Trends – November 2008

The latest issue arrived this morning, time for another glance at what the luxury jewellers are up to, as usual I turn to the “Tendencias” section or “Trends”. This issue has five main areas: Broches/Brooches, Anillos Cabochón/Cabochon Rings, Oro Rosa/Pink Gold, Corazones/Hearts and Mariposas y Libélulas/Butterflies and Dragonflies.

Broches/Brooches

This lovely creation is by Isidoro Hernández and in the Novias/Brides collection.

Anillos Cabochón/Cabochon Rings

Now then, I understand “cabochon” to mean the following:

A cabochon or cabachon, from the Middle French caboche (head), is a gemstone which has been shaped and polished as opposed to facetted. The resulting form is usually a convex top with a flat bottom.

Perhaps it can mean something slightly different in Spanish, or perhaps the authors of this section were just delicately trying to avoid the more obvious term for the shape of these rings, take a look:

None of the rings appear to even include a cabochon and are, in my humble opinion, mushroom-shaped! But perhaps a ring encrusted with that many precious stones shies away from the word “mushroom”… Ah well, I’m afraid to say that I myself would shy 100 miles away from any of these expensive creations, let’s just say they’re not my bag…

BTW They’re by Rabat, Chanel and Moragen.

Oro Rosa/Pink Gold

Pink gold makes an appearance again, and here’s a sweet and unassuming little ring by Mont Blanc:

Corazones/Hearts

This lovely thing by Nanis has featured before in the Trends section, but here it is again because of it’s undeniable prettiness!

And given how black is making a large appearance this season, here’s a black-hearted pair of earrings by Manoel Bernardes:

With my own jewellery I use hearts fairly often, like in my Blake collection:

A new addition is Aila, fun little earrings to add a splash of colour and sparkle:

I love Bali filigree pieces, and I have one in a heart shape:

Susan is one of my favourite ranges:

Finally, there’s Briony, perfect for wedding day jewellery:

Mariposas y Libélulas/Butterflies and Dragonflies

I usually reserve my flower and especially butterfly jewellery for Spring and Summer, but who am I to argue with these guys? Here is a pair of pretty drop earrings from Italian firm NuoveGioe:

And after my recent Bali trip I just love seeing dragonflies, like this sweet little charm on this champagne topaz bracelet by Casato:

With my own jewellery I only have a couple of things to show right now:

I hope you liked this peek into the world of jewellery, next I’ll be showing some of the new pieces I made after inspiration from a recent trip to Indonesia.

Black is the New Black Part II

Hearts is one of those jewellery trends that is so easy to wear, so when I got some beautiful little faceted black onyx hearts I just had to transform them into some earrings… and then some more… and then a bracelet too!

And that’s it for now, we’re off to Bali tomorrow for three weeks! It’s highly unlikely that I’ll have the time and equipment to keep blogging so BFN until October 20.

“Blake” Bracelet Sterling wrapped hearts and Swarovski crystals

“Blake” Short Earrings

“Blake” Long Earrings

Black is the new…black!

Fabulous! First day of Autumn and I have some newly designed gemstones jewellery to show off! I recently took delivery of some new black onyx stones since black is the new…black! You can’t go wrong with classic black. It’s always a good choice for almost every wardrobe favourite and it never goes out of style. Over the next few days I’ll be adding new collections to my shop and telling you all about them here.

First I’d like to introduce you to “Blake”, this range uses only gemstones and solid silver in a polished finish. I thought this range might benefit from a patina to antique the silver, but more on that another time. Here is the first necklace, bracelet and earrings:

“Blake”: Black Onyx with Sterling silver

The necklace is a simple chain with clusters of beads, it hangs beautifully and I’m very pleased with it.

“Blake” Necklace 45cm Sterling chain with clusters of beads

The bracelet is just a mini version of the necklace, this one is about 18cm, but I can custom fit them to just about any length.

“Blake” Bracelet: 18cm Sterling chain with clusters of beads

And finally the earrings, I like the little mini-tassels, it’s my first foray into tassels so I haven’t gone overboard with the length, but I think there’s enough length to create some interest and movement:

“Blake” Earrings: Sterling with clusters of beads and chain tassles

THE BEST Joyas Magazine September 2008

Another two months have passed which means…another fresh new copy of this magazine! As always I skip straight to the Tendencias/Trends section. This issue highlights:

• Pendientes Aro/Hoop Earrings
• Amuletos/Talismans
• Pendientes Tira/Long Earrings
• Animalitos/Animal Figurines
• Medallones/Medallions

Pendientes Aro/Hoop Earrings

Ah yes I remember hoop earrings… Back in high school there was a sudden craze and it seemed like there was an unofficial competition to see who could wear the biggest hoops before the teachers banned them. I stopped at a modest 3cm diameter, but ever since them I have tended to avoid them. Until now, that is. I have been experimenting with pretty 2.5cm diameter Sterling hoops, see some of my latest creations below:

“Corsage”: Freshwater pearl with Swarovski crystal.

“Patsy”: Gemstone Earrings with Jade, Aquamarine, Amazonite, Pearl and Moonstone.

And now a peek from the luxury end of the market:

	Steel hoops in a minimalist design by Breil
	From the “Nubiana” collection by La Pepita.
	Stacks of hoops with pearls and diamonds, in a romantic design by Espelt.

Amuletos/Talismans

	A pretty charm by H.Stern from  their Talisman collection.
	Cute! If only slightly OTT with encrusted diamonds and amethysts by Piaget. The ultimate high-roller good luck charm?

Pendientes Tira/Dangling Drop Earrings

	I love the colours of these gemstones in the earrings by Marco Bicego.
	The gemstones in these earrings by Comete look like a fabulous shade of green. I have green eyes, perhaps I need more green earrings in my life!
	Chocolaty pearls with white gold, diamonds and gemstones, by Giovanni Ferarris.

Animalitos/Animal Figurines

	Oh dear, well I can’t be nice about everything can I? Here is an object which, IMHO has very little merit being neither beautiful nor useful, except of course as a display of wealth. Vulgar. But then that’s the thing about good taste- everyone thinks that they have it!
	And then just when I was getting all cross, here comes some little hopping frogs! OK so they’re diamond encrusted white gold froggies, but I love them! By Dada Arrigoni.

Medallones/Medallions

	Fear not, I believe “Medallion Man” with his Speedos and hairy chest are not in this section, rather it is a more feminine interpretation of the Medieval mainstay. Like this one by Loris.
	I particularly like this one by Espelt with its multi-stranded necklace.

27 Dresses, 27 Necklaces?

Yay! Little sister Lisa got married last month. Even though I was really busy (as bridesmaid, photographer and hairdresser) it was a lot of fun, especially the ceilidh part (we’re Scottish- check out the kilt) I’m ithe bridesmaid 3rd from left.

From Wedding Day

Thanks to that and whole load more visitors staying at “Hotel Virtude” I haven’t had much time to blog. But that’s all changing with the approach of Autumn- possibly my favourite season…Autumn brings beautiful colours, earthy scents, the boots out of my wardrobe and less crowded surfing!

But first the wedding- Lisa gifted her scarlet bridesmaids a set of jewellery which just so happened to be made by me! She wanted something very classic-looking and something that would go well with the Alfred Angelo scarlet dresses finished with cream organza ribbon. She chose a range from my Pride and Prejudice series called “Jane“:

For her own jewellery she wanted all natural stones so I suggested “Lauren” as these pieces are made from rock crystal and freshwater pearl:

And Virtude didn’t stop there, oh no- the bride’s mother was wearing a set of “Susan” jewellery to match her own scarlet dress:

Now that’s keeping it in the family!

Wild West-wards…

My goodness it seems my little family and I are off on another mini-break. Tomorrow is a public holiday here in San Sebastian (San Ignacio de Loyola) and so we’re taking Friday off plus the weekend and heading westwards along the Atlantic coast. The plan is surfing, running on the beach and eating fabulous food…

In terms of jewellery…not a huge deal planned, I expect I’ll take some work to do that requires very little tools, I’ll definitely take something though, it’s lovely to have something to concentrate on when cosied up the camper van, parked on a beach somewhere with tired muscles and a full tummy.

I’m closing my shop for the very first time as, when I get back on Sunday, I’ll be heading straight to the UK for my sister’s wedding! I anticipate that I’ll just have too much to do while I’m there to be able to faithfully monitor e-mails and dispatch parcels promptly. Next time I’ll show you which of the bridal ranges she chose…

Briony: Freshwater pearls and Swarovski Champagne Crystal

Briony: Sparkling Faceted Swarovski Champagne Crystal

Kate: Pure Simplicity of Crystal Pearls and Faceted Round Champagne Crystal

Callie: Clusters of Aurora Borealis and White Opal Crystal

Jane: Simple, Understated, Lovely

Charlotte: Subtle shimmering crystals in flawless Swarovski Ivory Pearls

Icicles: Clear Crystals, simply strung

Brigitte: Faceted Briolette Champagne Crystals

Hotel Virtude

These past few weeks I have been extra busy with friends and family visiting and our home has been more of a hotel than a jewellery studio! Still, I’m back now and although I have a family wedding and plenty of other engagements coming up, I have more time to dedicate to my blog.

As well as making jewellery I also surf… badly!

I made good progress in my first year of surfing but this last year, although I’m getting physically stronger and reading the waves better, my confidence feels lower than it did this time last year. So what’s a girl to do?

A. Hire an expert!

My expert is Emmanuelle Joly, six times European Champion turned personal surf coach and based just over the border on the French Basque coast. I have my first session with her tomorrow morning up in Les Landes with a wave height prediction of 1.3 metres, yikes!

Anyway getting back to the point, I’m implementing a new policy of giving gifts to new acquaintances based on an idea I liked from a Deepak Chopra book. For Ms Joly I thought that something related to the sea would be good, or something bright pink! (check out her surf boards).

I happened to have a few 20mm Swarovski starfish pendants so I made a simple pendant necklace by wire-wrapping the pendant and including a bicone crystal, also with the AB finish.

Here it is, I hope she likes it and I’m sure it’ll get us off to a good start!

The BEST Joyas Magazine – July 2008

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The latest edition arrived this morning, it’s always nice to see what the high-end jewellers are up to and for this I head to the “Tendencias” section or “Trends”. This issue has five main areas: Joyas Ultra-Light/Ultra Light Jewels, Oro Mate/Matt Gold, Esmaltes/Enamels, Joyas para niños/Jewellery for Children and Links.

Joyas Ultra-Light/Ultra Light Jewels

Pieces of extraordinary design and beauty, using high technology. Characterised by curves and lightness like this necklace by Nanis

or this pendant by Vendorafa:

Of course the creation of light jewellery is nothing new, and it certainly doesn’t require new technology; filigree is an technique of combining filaments of metal that has been practiced for thousands of years.

Oro Mate/Matt Gold

Gold is back, but with a new matt finish. I liked the Celtic crosses in these pieces by H.Stern.

Esmaltes/Enamels

Hmmm I’m never all that sure about enamels, at best the shiny bright colours look like icing on a cake, and at worst gaudy! However I quite like these rings by Nouvelle bague.

Joyas para niños/Jewellery for Children

Hmmm again. I grew up in Scotland and jewellery for us was exclusively a grown-up’s domain for many years. We didn’t have much exposure to other cultures and I remember how shocked my sister and I were the first time we saw an Asian baby with pierced ears! Times have changed for some however, with designers now including children in their target audience. Take a look at these tiny shoe necklaces by Aaron Basha:

Links

I didn’t like the big chunky links of recent season, but these new ones using different textures and shapes are easier to live with. I like this one using hammered gold and blue gemstones by Comete:

Wedding Jewellery – What to Wear With Ivory II

Continuing in the bridal theme from last time, I made a pendant necklace to go with the earrings and bracelet. I continued with the heart theme and used the same Crystal Silver Shade crystals combined with ivory freshwater pearls.

“Briony” Crystal Silver Shade with Freshwater Pearl

The main pendant is 18mm so big enough to make an impact but not too large. This weekend I was at a christening and I wore a cream dress, pity I didn’t think about making myself one of these as it would have been just the thing!

Wedding Jewellery – What to Wear With Ivory

Yesterday and today the weather has been pretty bad here in the north of Spain, Bilbao had the worst flooding in living memory. Here in San Sebastian it wasn’t quite as bad as all that, but still, the rain was enough to ensure that I stayed tucked away in my studio with plenty of cups of tea!

Apparently I was in a rather romantic mood because I made a set of bridal jewellery! I have a range called “Briony” which up until now has only been earrings made of a single heart and crystal. Yesterday I decided to throw some ivory freshwater pearls in the mix:

“Briony” Crystal Silver Shade with Freshwater Pearl

“Briony” Crystal Moonlight with Freshwater Pearl

I really liked the combination of Crystal Silver Shade with the pearls, so I decided to make a matching bracelet:

“Briony” Crystal Silver Shade with Freshwater Pearl

Today I made a new set using the Swarovski Avant Garde shape crystal, but more on that next time…!