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More About the Garnet Man Brooch

January 18, 2018 by WendyB

I already wrote about the garnet man brooch that is January’s Jewel of the Month on Monday, but here it is again! I can’t resist, because Monica Stephenson — ANZA Gems founder, garnet provider, and customer — shared the brooch on Instagram, and I’m amused by her caption.

Shhh! Can you keep a secret? We officially have our first @anzagems brooch, and it’s a #manbrooch! It was made for my husband @destephenson for a, er, significant birthday by @wendybrandesjewelry! @wendybrandes was a worthy conspirator, sneaking me texts of sketches, while I surreptitiously measured his @isaia lapels… The result is (I think) this ? design, made with love in #NYC: a little bit cosmic, a little vintage. It’s a huge rhodolite garnet in a custom pendeloque shape by @ptgems, backed in white gold, with 18k rays and rose cut diamonds. So, would you rock a manbrooch? I’ve maintained that the world could use awesome men’s brooches for years, and now I feel like we have the perfect example! You can read all about the story of its creation over at the sublime storyteller Wendy’s blog: http://wendybrandes.com/blog/2018/01/jewel-of-the-month-garnet-man-brooch-for-january. #garnet #redefiningrhodolite #rhodolitegarnet #garnetbrooch #mensbrooch #manbrooch #brobrooch #mensjewelry #handmade #18k #lovegold #mensfashion #mensdesign #gemsforchange #gemstones #gems #january #januarybirthstone #januarybaby #idazzle

A post shared by idazzle (@idazzle) on Jan 17, 2018 at 5:57pm PST

While I was the one who asked Monica to measure her husband Dave’s suit lapels to determine the size of the brooch, I hadn’t really imagined her in his closet, with a measuring tape, being all sneaky, like …

via GIPHY

… and now that I have that image in my mind, I can’t stop laughing about it. I do manage to get many of my clients acting stealthy!

via GIPHY

Separately, I’ve found a few more photos of the brooch as a work in progress. Here’s the sketch of the version that called for more spokes …

… a wax model of the final, streamlined design …

… and the 18K white gold plate that sits behind the garnet.

I also want to give a shout-out to Peter Torraca of Torraca Gemcutting — he’s the one that carved this beautiful faceted gem out a hunk of garnet rough.

Peter obviously didn’t get his hands on the small rough spinels and garnets used in my ANZA PURE x Wendy Brandes collaboration with Monica. (Sorry, Peter!) Monica shared a new photo of some of the single stud earrings from ANZA PURE today.

Be bold! Be vibrant! Live in color! And rock awesome jewelry like these earrings from our #ANZAPure collection from @wendybrandesjewelry! You'll also be giving back to mining communities. #everyonewins #liveincolor #gemsforchange #bebold #vibrant #jewelrywithapurpose #gemstonejewelry #garnet #grossular #green #greengarnet #spinel #pink #earrings #maasai #beadwork #tanzania #kenya #wendybrandes #anzagems

A post shared by ANZA Gems (@anzagems) on Jan 18, 2018 at 3:44pm PST

POW! She went for ALL the color there. More necklaces — including a lariat style — for ANZA Pure will be finished soon. Stay tuned!

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Filed Under: birthstone, Brooches, Custom work, gems, jewel of the month, Jewelry, my designs, works in progress Tagged With: anza gems

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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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Original jewelry designs, photos and text are © Wendy Brandes 2007-2016. All rights reserved.

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