Jewels of the Month: Arrowhead Y-Necklaces

I’m happy to see that jewelry guru Cindy Edelstein’s latest TrendTracker post for National Jeweler is about Y-necklaces. Cindy writes:

“You knew it had to have a comeback soon … the Y-neck of the 1990s is back en vogue now and enough time has passed so that we’re actually enjoying it. This time around they’re quite long and really do dress up a button-downed look.”

What timing! If you follow me on Instagram, you know that, in July, I gave everyone a sneak peek of the silver sample for my new arrowhead Y-necklace.

Now I’ve got the platinum and gold versions done. I decided to do these pieces a few months ago, while I was toying with an actual arrowhead that I found in my backyard when I was about eight. I thought, “Man, I’ve held onto this thing for a long time. There must be a reason for that.”

The real thing.

Then I realized, “It’s been waiting to be turned into jewelry!” And I immediately got to work. There’s a lot of arrowhead jewelry out in the world already, so I needed to try to find a style and material that might be a tiny bit different. That’s why I decided a Y-necklace with two arrowheads would be perfect to add to my Punk Platinum collection. I started that collection with barbed wire designs, but I never planned to stop with those designs. I want to turn all kinds of pointy objects into platinum jewelry.

Of course, I couldn’t do only a platinum piece, because a lot of my customers prefer yellow gold. Here are the four styles I have right now, accompanied by the original artifact.

From left: small platinum necklace; small gold necklace; large gold necklace; large silver necklace.

If you look closely, you can see that I took some artistic license because the real arrowhead is quite asymmetrical. I didn’t think an exact replica would look good in jewelry, so I softened the angles a little. I also increased the length of the chain for the platinum and gold versions. The silver necklace looked good at its original length, but an extra inch of chain is even better.

I’m glad Cindy went with “Y-necklace.” Some people refer to this style as a lariat necklace, which I don’t mind, but that term is more accurately applied to necklaces with adjustable chains. This summer, the industry was trying to make the term “bikini necklace” happen. I did mind that (though I grudgingly used the hashtag anyway). I know sex sells, and that sometimes, all you need is the right name to get a style to take off (see: pegged/rolled-up jeans vs. boyfriend jeans). But “bikini necklace” sounds like something you throw out at the end of the summer. These necklaces look good all year round, as well as when you’re fully dressed. You don’t need a plunging neckline, like the one I wore with the silver necklace. A Y-necklace works with a button-front shirt, a crew neck and even a mock turtleneck top. It looks good even when you don’t see the second arrowhead; that peekaboo effect is always subtly sex-ay.

You can layer Y-necklaces with other necklaces too. Try it, you’ll like it, as the old commercial said (but you won’t need Alka-Seltzer after).

These necklaces are so new that they aren’t on my website yet — they’re having their photos taken next week. If you’re interested in buying one of the originals, holla at me at info at wendybrandes dot com, and I’ll send it to you right after the photoshoot. Prices start at $219 for the silver necklace. The rest are all over $1,000.