Stories for Two

What's really nice about my job is that I can spend 45 minutes taking pictures of rings at my desk and nobody even looks twice. I'm not sure if people looked once.

Today is Friday which means several things:

1. I have a half day. (Another really nice thing about my job.)
2. Half days make me both antsy and lazy.
3. That combo will probably force me to write several short posts.

This morning I rushed in so I could post two of my favorite rings, one of which I am wearing, the other which I want to wear every second but cannnot figure out what to wear it with. (Again, the photography is iffy, but I think I am getting better!

The first ring was my grandma's. (Was ie she is still kicking but passed it on because I coveted it so dearly.) My mom and I occasionally fish through my grandma's giant jewelry box. It's a little callous, I think, but my mom calls stuff. "Mom, I get the yellow diamond right?" I mean, yes, okay, totally callous, but these diamonds are ridiculous so I guess I get where she's coming from. I might take pictures this weekend and post them, but you all must promise not to show up at my grandma's house claiming to be a long lost family member.

Anyhow, one day we dug up this ring and it fit me perfectly--like made for my hand perfectly. At that time, it looked like a dark turquoise. Now it looks like adventurine. I've no idea why! My grandpa got it for her in Nevada--they were visiting a friend's gold mine. This woman still has the gold mine by the way, and once offered me the job of walking around the property every day to make sure nobody tried to mine there. I have not yet taken her up on this job.


I am aware that it sorty of looks like something you could get at a street fair in the city, but every time I look at it, I am so struck by gorgeous lacy design and the setting and therefore think of it as something very special.

In May, the fella and I went to Seattle and let me tell you: Seattle is pretty amazing. The jewelry was nice, though not often spectacular. (The Internet has a tendency to even the playing field, you know? Before, any local jeweler was lucky to get their wares into stores a couple of states away; now they all have a website and are selling in every quiant little town. Which is both a great thing and an awful thing: I saw so many repeats in Seattle and Cape Cod!)

We took a ferry to Bainbridge Island, which is about 25 minutes off the coast and that's where I finally found the thing I wouldn't leave without:



It's citrine with a gold band and gold wire wrap. It was moderately priced, so I think it's gold-painted or gold-polished, but that's okay because I really like that. The matte makes me swoon. The had a quartz/ silver combo, but I was afraid it might look CZ. (Ooh these pictures are so dark! Sorry.)

But I love it and have no CLUE what to wear it with. It's only slightly showy, but showy enough (in it's way) that I don't want to overwhelm it with a million other things. Right now I wear it with only a pair of brown pearl earrings. (And clothing of some sort, usually. Most of the time.)

More later...

Going Natural with Alex Monroe

I want to say that lately there's been a rash of nature themed jewelry, but that's not true. It's not recent: nature has inspired jewelry since the very beginning. But lately, nature has been pared down and the jewelry that results from this minimalism is really spare, and very pretty. Sort of Scandanavian, I think. Also, I don't think I'm the only who is sick and tired of birds, but I understand how hard it is to let the little winged things go: they make for ridiculously delicate silhouettes on all forms of jewelry.

Here's some pieces by Alex Monroe (linked to the right); a few from several collections. The prices are a bit high--for me, anyhow--but they seem worth the investment. (At first, you are lulled into dreams of ownership. Only 95 you say? I could do that! But then you see it is British Pounds and you cry. And begin your Christmas list in July.)

Anyhow, the collections are all chock full of birds, butterflies and flowers, and breathtaking, as you can see. They also come in silver.

(My personal favorite is the achingly fragile tiny butterfy ring)







More au naturale upcoming, but Mr. Monroe really deserved his own post.