April’s birthstone is the diamond, so my procrastinating ass is going to squeeeeeeze in an April Jewel of the Month post at the last possible moment! Behold, the black-diamond version of my 2010 single-stone platinum Gravity band. This design was originally created as a unisex wedding ring, but I made the new ring as a…
platinum
Jewel of the Month: Inspired by Lil Nas X
In 2019, 19-year-old rapper Lil Nas X vaulted from TikTok meme maker lauded by Justin Bieber to record-breaking mainstream success with his country-rap song “Old Town Road,” and there are so many things I love about this story. First of all, this song appealed to every age group, from toddlers to their grandparents. If you…
Feeling Fancy at Wendy Brandes Jewelry
If you haven’t visited my online store in a minute, come on by! I’ve done a few renovations. My updated homepage now has a slideshow that explains each collection. The first slide is my gold collection. Gold always comes first with me — the first serious designs for my line were done in 18K yellow…
Jewel of the Month: Laura’s Tourmaline Ring
April’s Jewel of the Month is a custom ring I created for gorgeous client Laura in honor of her 50th birthday. Fun fact: This was the first time I ever took apart one of my existing designs to use a gem for a customer’s ring. Say goodbye to my original 18K gold Fulvia ring … ……
Wednesday’s Video: Wendy Brandes Platinum
Last week, I introduced the first two videos in a series about my new Wendy Brandes Gold, Wendy Brandes Platinum, and Wendy Brandes Silver collections. I’m adding to those with this week’s featured YouTube video about my platinum collection. If you prefer watching/hearing me talk about platinum while I’m outside, you can check out this…
Wednesday’s Video: Jewelry Design Playlist
It can be a challenge for still photography to do justice to ultra-luxe jewelry, no matter how talented the photographer is (and, trust me, I work with incredibly talented photographers). That’s because limited-edition, wearable-art designs — the type of jewelry I make for my Wendy Brandes Gold collection — are more than pretty accessories meant…
Jewel of the Month, Part II: Abigail’s Engagement Ring
Every day, I get three or four emails in which someone claims to be a “big fan” of my blog and offers me $50 to publish a guest post (which often includes the dreaded “infographic”). Of course, anyone who truly is a big fan of this blog might have noticed that I haven’t had a…
Jewel of the Month: Gold Safety Pin Earring
November’s Jewel of the Month is my long-awaited safety pin earring in 18K yellow gold, set with 27 diamonds. It’s sold on my website as a single earring. I introduced a platinum version of this earring in August 2016 as part of my Punk Platinum collection. As I said then, before I was in the…
Solar Eclipse Video: Moon-Inspired Jewelry
I’m sharing this week’s YouTube video a couple of days earlier than usual because it’s inspired by today’s solar eclipse. Sun- and moon-themed jewelry is quite common. In the sun category, I’ve had my Gloriana necklace style around for a long time. Usually I prefer the 18K yellow gold version, but white gold is nice…
Flashback Friday: Last August’s Platinum Video
Last August, I shot a video for Platinum Guild International about platinum jewelry, and the video recently went up on PGI’s site. Before I get to the video, some background: In the 1990s, I worked at CNN business news as a producer. In that role, I occasionally had to shoot those scene-setting B-roll moments that…