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New Rings Galore: Daisies, Skulls and Punctuation

September 23, 2011 by WendyB

I designed my 18K gold and diamond Mia scent locket in 2006.

Mia scent locket. Click to shop.

A scent locket isn’t a new concept. (It’s designed so the wearer can put solid perfume in the locket; the openings in the locket allow the fragrance to waft out.) It’s easy to find vintage scent lockets as well as modern-day costume-jewelry versions. Some of them have floral themes. I did my version while I was having a Pop Art moment. I was desperate to do something with a ’60s-looking daisy. I figured the Pop daisies might be a new twist on a classic, floral, scent-locket design. Three years later, J. Crew had a similar thought about daisies and did a cute ring, though I don’t think theirs opened up. For all I know, a thousand designers have done a daisy scent locket. Sometimes it’s not about having the only one. It’s about having the most beautiful one!

Anyway, the daisies made me think of Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby character. Daisy Buchanan made me think of Mia Farrow, who played Daisy in the 1974 movie version of The Great Gatsby. Mia Farrow made me think of the iconic Vidal Sassoon haircut Mia got in 1967.

Mia Farrow. Click for source.

The date of Mia’s haircut brought me back to the era that inspired my daisies, and that’s why I named my locket “Mia.”

I put the same daisy on my Primavera ring and Dewdrop earrings.

Primavera ring. Click to shop.

Dewdrop earrings. Click to shop.

But what I really wanted was a Mia scent-locket ring. I thought about it all these years, but felt compelled to put my resources into fresh designs. When I went through inventory recently and realized I had two Mia locket necklaces, I decided to turn one into a ring. (Those of you who guessed that this sneak peek was a Mia ring can pat yourselves on the back.)

Mia scent-locket ring, shown closed. Photo by SquareMoose. Click to shop.

Mia scent-locket ring, shown open. Photo by SquareMoose. Click to shop.

The first time I wore it, I was amused to discover that my gorgeous friend Jen was wearing a complementary costume-jewelry bracelet. Different flowers but the effect was the same.

My ring gets to know Jen's bracelet.

What can I say? Clusters of tiny flowers aren’t the most original jewelry idea, but I still love my design.

While I was converting the Mia necklace to a ring,  I gave the same treatment to one of my Juana skull pendants. Here’s the original necklace.

Juana skull necklace. Click to shop.

And here is the new ring.

Juana skull ring. Click to shop.

While my Juana skull pieces were inspired by a 16th-century royal lady of Spain, their cartoonish look owes more to Mexico’s Day of the Dead sugar skulls.

Sugar skulls. Click for photo source.

I like to mash up my influences.

I’ve also made two more rings from the original four-ring swear ring set available for purchase on their own. (I’d already done the hashtag ring.) No one had ever requested the exclamation point rings, so I didn’t plan to sell them separately. But when I offered supermodel Gisele her pick of rings after she wore the whole set for a recent shoot, she took two exclamation points. A supermodel is never wrong, so now you can all have sterling-silver exclamation point rings. They’re $55, which is pretty inexpensive for my locally made, limited-edition pieces.

Exclamation point ring. Click to shop.

While I was at it, I made the “at” ring available on its own. It’s $115.

"At sign" ring. Click to shop.

You can browse my entire ring collection here. If you want to order a custom ring, holla at me at wbjewelry at hotmail dot com (but read this first so you know what to expect). I can create a new ring design from scratch or customize existing designs. As an example of the latter, my gorgeous friend Elizabeth Wurtzel recently requested a silver version of my 18K gold and lapis Nefertiti poison ring.

The Nefertiti poison ring, customized for Elizabeth. Click to see it on my website.

I think it looks good on her.

The custom Nefertiti on Elizabeth.

You can see more of my custom work here.

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Filed Under: Custom work, my designs, rings

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristin says

    September 23, 2011 at 12:07 am

    OMG, so much fabulosity, I don’t know where to look! I’m so in love with the Juana Skull Ring!

    • WendyB says

      September 23, 2011 at 12:08 am

      I can do it in silver too!

  2. Bethany says

    September 23, 2011 at 12:10 am

    SO weird! As a I was reading about the scent locket before even have scrolled down the page, I was thinking of the creepy one that the elderly neighbor gives to Mia Farrow’s character in Rosemary’s Baby. (Remember? The stinky ‘devil’ one?) As I read on, low and behold there is a pic of her for an entirely different reason! Odd. Beautiful things, per usual…

    • WendyB says

      September 23, 2011 at 12:11 am

      Totally forgot about that! Shame on me!

  3. Katie, Interrobangs Anonymous says

    September 23, 2011 at 12:30 am

    If you ever do an “interrobang” ring, I would be sorely tempted to give up my no-rings policy. But only for you.

    • WendyB says

      September 23, 2011 at 12:32 am

      Hmmm! Interesting idea!

  4. Susu Paris Chic says

    September 23, 2011 at 4:29 am

    That daisies necklace with some Marc Jacobs perfume… I’d love the feeling of uber modern glam!

  5. Pearl Westwood says

    September 23, 2011 at 6:11 am

    I think all your designs are wonderful, but I like them even more when I know the stories behind them x

  6. Patti @ NotDeadYet Style says

    September 23, 2011 at 8:12 am

    Love them all, but the Dewdrop earrings are crying out for me . . . Is it sexist to email this post to my husband?

    • WendyB says

      September 23, 2011 at 8:14 am

      No, just smart!

  7. Mallika says

    September 23, 2011 at 8:44 am

    Ohh love the necklace!

    BTW thanks for your comment on my old blog, please check out my new blog!

    x Mallika
    http://fashionscript.net

  8. creativefashionglee.com says

    September 23, 2011 at 10:33 am

    I love the scent locket because not only is it a grat adornment, it´s also multi-functional. 🙂

  9. mystyle says

    September 23, 2011 at 10:48 am

    Hi there!! Oh I so love the Juana skull ring, its my favourite here- the Mia locket scent ring is just so pretty and intricate, a real stunning piece too, very well done xxx

  10. Susan Tiner says

    September 23, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    Lead us not into temptation, or was that supposed to be lead us *into* temptation? So many beauties. I love the @ ring and the dew drop earrings are the stuff of dreams.

  11. Amanda says

    September 23, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    Love!! I put in the two exclamation points in honor Giselle being smart enough to take two of your pieces. Your designs are beautiful as always.

  12. Sophia says

    September 23, 2011 at 5:31 pm

    Thanks for passing by my blog. Im kinda in awe of how you make these pieces. I would love to design jewelry, but wouldnt know where to start! I make things out of recycled materials. I also like how the secret anti spam word was LADYGAGA. bahaha.

    Sophia
    http://lasophialasophia.blogspot.com

  13. Miss Janey says

    September 23, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    Miss J LOVES the new Juana ring.

    Mia Farrow had a scent locket given to her by Ruth Gordon in Rosemary’s Baby. It held (methinks) Tannis Root, a fictitious and devilish herb.

  14. K-Line says

    September 23, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    I had this moment, when I looked at that awesome flower scent locket ring, where I really wished I were rich 🙂 I LOVE IT.

  15. stacy says

    September 24, 2011 at 12:48 am

    All of these pieces are sooo great!

  16. The Style Crone says

    September 24, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    The Primavera ring is my favorite! I will start visualizing.

  17. Bridget says

    September 25, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    Wow! The daisy locket is absolutely beautiful. I have never seen anything like it. Adding perfume in the locket is a nice touch. I have to say that the Primavera ring is my fav.

  18. lisa says

    September 27, 2011 at 2:25 am

    I need to wear my swear rings individually more often!

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MEET WENDY BRANDES

Award-winning designer of fine jewelry inspired by women's history and pop culture. A former journalist who writes about jewelry, fashion, medieval history, news, feminism, dogs, cats and whatever else is on her mind. Blogging since 2007.
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