Happy Jāņi to all you Latvians out there … especially my gorgeous client Sandra, who is also celebrating her wedding anniversary with her dashing husband. For the edification of my non-Latvian readers, Jāņi is a holiday linked to the summer solstice. The actual solstice was on Thursday, but the holiday is officially celebrated during the…
Custom work
Wednesday’s Videos: Mangagement Rings and More
A big thank you to jewelry writer Amy Elliott, who gave me a shout-out in this Yahoo! News story on “mangagement” rings. I happen to be very proud of a gorgeous brown-diamond mangagement ring I made last year. Man's 18K gold yellow ring with brown diamond, shown next to my own platinum thumb ring. Custom-made…
Wendy Brandes Wedding Jewelry on Engagement 101!
As you might guess from the name, Engagement 101 is the site for everything you need to know about engagement rings and proposals. EVERYTHING! There are different proposal ideas for different seasons, a checklist, a schedule — damn! This is thorough! I’ve walked quite a few men (and women) through the proposal process, but from…
More About the Garnet Man Brooch
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…
Jewel of the Month: Garnet Man Brooch for January
January’s birthstone is the garnet, so this is the perfect time to unveil my latest creation for ANZA Gems: a 20.36-carat rhodolite garnet “man brooch” accented with seven rose-cut diamonds and set in 18K yellow gold. All of my ANZA designs are special because I get to work with ethically mined gemstones that give back…
Year in Review: Jewels of the Month for 2017
At the end of the year, I tend to feel like I didn’t do as many new designs as I wanted to … via GIPHY … so it’s good to take a look back and appreciate everything that has been accomplished! While my Jewel of the Month posts usually feature my newest designs, I also…
Throwback Thursday: Eryn Wearing Something Borrowed
My right-hand woman Eryn got engaged in this February and married in September. I previously mentioned that Eryn had her eyes on my opal lariat necklace for her big “something borrowed” jewelry, but wound up selecting a different design. Here’s a belated photo of her mom helping her with my one-of-a-kind Selene moonstone necklace. When…
Jewels of the Month: Your Own Opal Designs
September’s Jewels of the Month post featured one of October’s birthstones, the opal. Because the ring, necklace and earring designs I was showing have to be made to order, I figured I’d give people shopping for an October birthday a little bit of a head start. While I was working on that post, I kept…
Flashback Friday: Pearls From the Past
The last day of June is a good excuse for one more post about the month’s birthstone, the pearl. I made this one-of-a-kind pair of pearl earrings in 2008. The pearls are set in 18K yellow gold and accented by 83 points of black diamonds (there are 100 points in a carat). It’s a much…
Talking Custom Jewelry With JCK Magazine
Thanks to Kathy Henderson for including me in JCK Magazine’s recent story about custom jewelry. The “Custom Relations” article starts on page 92 of the March/April issue. I love the subtitle: “No jewelry request is too big, too small, or too outrageous for these visionary designers and retailers.” I also love the first 14 words…