Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog

Never Is the Next New Thing

Jewels of the Month: New Swear Rings for Pre-Order

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Due to popular demand, I’ve created two new swear-ring sets. The “OMG” and “LOLZ” rings are August’s Jewels of the Month and you can pre-order them for fall delivery now.

Click to pre-order.

Click to pre-order.

Just like my original “F@#!” swear rings and their asterisk sidekick, the new rings are solid sterling silver — these aren’t bubblegum-machine rings that are hollow, plated brass destined to turn your fingers green.  They have adjustable bands so that you can size them to your fingers (one size fits most) and they give you that hot multifinger ring look without paralyzing your fingers like some one-piece, knuckle-duster style rings do. You have full range of motion with my rings; you can even type all day with them on. I’ve done it. Comfort is important to me.

The LOLZ rings on my fingers. Photo by Jennine Jacob. Click for more photos.

Here’s the deal with the pre-ordering. The OMG and LOLZ ring sets in the photos above are samples I made in New York. Due to the high costs of production here, if I were to make these locally, they’d have to retail for  $1,000 to $1,200 a set. Instead, I want these to retail for $300 (OMG) and $400 (LOLZ) a set, in line with the $375 that the original swear-rings set cost. To do that,  I need to produce the rings overseas. But remember my January post explaining economies of scale and how the lower the price is, the more product needs to be produced? If not, you can read it here. Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you!

For these rings,  the factory’s minimum production requirement will cost me more than $7,000. In order the meet that production requirement, I’m giving you a chance to pre-order your rings on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. I wrote about Kickstarter for Independent Fashion Bloggers after gorgeous blogger Stacy Lomman of taffetadarlings used it to raise seed money for her first namesake clothing collection. As I researched my IFB post, I found plenty of examples of music fans pre-ordering albums with those advance sales paying for production of the album. A little light bulb went on above my head, because I’d trying to figure out how in the world I was going to make these rings.

Wearing the OMG rings.

All I need to do is pre-sell 10 sets of OMG and 10 sets of LOLZ to hit my target. In case you’re not a swear-ring lover but want to help me out, I put other designs on Kickstarter as well, and am including free shipping on all of them: the Little Woolf ($50); the Vampire Stake necklace and the Asterisk ring ($95); the silver Squirrel necklace ($125);  the original F@#! swear-ring set ($375); and the silver Isabella wolf-fang necklace ($550). The proceeds from any of those sales made through Kickstarter will go towards funding the new designs.

Remember, Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing funding option. I have to hit my financial goal by the target date or no one gets anything! I don’t get money and you don’t get your rings. So tell your friends and family to place their orders now. You’ll be using an Amazon account and you won’t be charged until my project wraps on Sunday, September 12, which gives you time to save up some money. The existing designs will be sent out as soon as the payments clear, around the end of September. The OMG and LOLZ rings will be delivered before the holidays. The sooner I am 100% funded, the sooner I can place my order with the factory, and the sooner you get your rings.

Meanwhile, here’s one recent buyer of the original swear rings: gorgeous blogger Sal of Already Pretty. Her husband took this fabulous photo.

Click Sal for more pictures as well her thoughts about swearing.

Sal told me, “The blurry photo is one of my husband’s patented shots from his wedding photographer days. He’d have brides do that with their bouquets.” She added, “Also I wear the rings on my right hand, but realized that for the shot I’d need to switch to my left. Otherwise they’d be upside down. Husband Mike asked if these rings were like Irish Claddagh rings where if the words faced the wearer it meant ‘fuck me’ and if they faced the observer it mean ‘fuck you.’ Good question, eh?”

It is a good question, Sal, but I’m not the one to answer it. Back in the day, I always forgot which side my second ear-piercing had to be on to prove that I wasn’t a gay man, and I shudder to think what that lavender bandana in my right back jeans pocket was telling people. I’ll just offer this bit of helpful jewelry advice: if any of you with the F@#! rings get the OMG set, you’ll be able to spell OMFG.  How can you resist?

CLICK HERE TO GIVE MY NEW RING DESIGNS A KICKSTART!

UPDATED TO ADD: If you get the original F@#! swear rings AND the OMG swear rings AND the LOLZ swear rings, you can wear this combo.

Order!

UPDATED AGAIN: I’ve added a pre-order for the NYC swear rings to the Kickstarter page. You can get them for $315, including shipping anywhere in the world. I wore this style to the Lady Gaga concert I went to in July. (The GaGa rings aren’t for sale.)

Click to see the rest of my Gaga outfit.

UPDATED TO ADD: For more about how the quantity of goods ordered affects costs, read this.

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Comments

  2. Oh oh oh! I don’t know what to do! I was supposed to be saving for a stake necklace, but now I want a LOLZ set. And the more I see the swear rings the more I love them. But I haven’t got nice fingernails, so perhaps I should stick to neckwear?

    Stop tempting me woman!

    • I don’t have nice fingernails either but people are too hypnotized by my rings to notice them. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!

  3. Wendy!! This is so funny!! Not really the post though, I’m talking about the following – when I first saw your new rings on the Eat Sleep Denim’s post on you I was 10000% sure the rings read “Z.Toi”!!! I have absolutely no idea where I got that from, but I never for a second doubted that… And now I realize they’re “LOLZ”, now this is LOLZ! 🙂

    Also, will you forgive me if I make a suggestion… I think it’d be cool if you made “xoxo” rings! That stuff is so popular I wish people would stop adding that in the end of their messages and just wear rings instead, OMG!! LOLZ
    XOXO

    P.S. And now my vivid imagination is fantasizing about the Wendy Brandes alphabet collection – just imagine a huge box with the rings for each letter of the good ol’ ABC… So much to spell!!

    😉

  6. Gah! The new sets are FANTASTIC! And thanks for posting that photo and the associated story … I wonder if we’ll ever know the answer to HM’s question.

  7. V. exciting! I think your new ring sets are only months away from being in brick and mortar shops nationwide!!!

  10. My anti-spam word was ‘ikea’ – not a good word for rings! But I love these new sets, awww pray I get the new job I applied for so I can get some!!

  13. I’m in! You had me at “if any of you with the F@#! rings get the OMG set, you’ll be able to spell OMFG. How can you resist?”

    I can’t resist and am pre-ording OMG set now!
    thanks Wendy,
    Love your jewels 😉

    • Oh, no! now I want the LOLZ so I can say FML. I could change my message daily. So much fun. I love when I wear my swear rings and people are like do your rings mean F*UCK and I am like YEA, ha.

  17. Hi there-am soo tempted to get the asterisk ring, am taking the boys away for a few days this week, maybe if any pennies left, I’ll sign up to kickstarter xxx

  20. Haha YESSSSS I remember you giving me a cheeky Twitter clue about these!
    They literally have my name written all over them, but I have no money. Aarrgh!
    Maybe I will force my boyfriend to propose to me and they can be my wedding ring(s).
    Good work Wendy, you are surely going to sell a heap of these!
    xo

  22. i love these rings, wendy! sigh…i wish i could get a set! perhaps one day:) i love sal’s pic above. her husband’s comment made me LOL:)

    TheOwlsCloset.blogspot.com

  23. OMG, Wendy! How have I not seen these before?! I just stumbled on the on Solo Lisa’s blog and am loveeee!!! Must save next paycheck for these. Cath and I love all your stuff and will buy it all once we are rich and famous, but for the time being thank you, thank you for having other awesomeness in our (almost) price range 😉