Looking for a birthday gift … for yourself, maybe? My customers and I are all about self-gifting! For August birthday wimmins, I’ve got a stunning example of the month’s birthstone, peridot, in the form of diamond chandelier earrings on sale on 1stdibs. And let’s not forget birth signs. What Leo wouldn’t love this lion pendant?…
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Jewel of the Month: Black Diamond for Purrkoy
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…
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…
Throwback Thursday: Arrowhead Jewelry on 1stDibs
Remember when I used to blog about jewelry? Those were the days! I used to create new designs on the regular too. Here is evidence: The wax model of an arrowhead ring I never made. This ring would have been part of my mini-collection of arrowhead designs, all cast from an arrowhead found in my backyard…
Easter-Egg-Gagement-Versary
Ten years ago, to celebrate Easter, somebunny named John Muggenborg gave his gorgeous girlfriend Olivia an egg-gagement ring. I love the egg-hunt story, which John shared in a comment on an Instagram post I did last year. Happy egg-gagement-versary, John and Olivia! By the way, this the only time I agreed to do a temporary…
Follow Me on Instagram for a Silver Surprise
Follow my business Instagram, Wendy Brandes Jewelry, because I’ll be giving away some sterling-silver statement rings via IG stories! I started doing this last week with the remnants of my silver collection. I figured people need some cheering up during the coronavirus quarantine, and if somehow my jewelry business — and the jewelry industry in…
Take Off Your Rings and Wash Your Hands
In December, when actress Emma Stone showed off the pearl engagement ring given to her by writer/director Dave McCary, my first thought was, “I have to write that ‘Pearl engagement rings are bad‘ blog post AGAIN? Nah … I’m not gonna.” A few weeks later, actress Michelle Williams was spotted wearing what looked like a…
Jewel of the Month: Padparadscha & Paraiba for ANZA
I wanted to save this ring’s blog debut until I had its official portrait taken, but the piece was whisked off to the Kristen Farrell Gallery before I could get it to a photographer! So here is a casual snapshot of my latest creation for ANZA Gems. This one-of-a-kind 18K rose gold ring features a…
Jewels of the Month, Part 2: October Birthstone
Tourmaline and opal are October’s two birthstones. I’ve shared the double-tourmaline ring that I created for ANZA Gems before, but ANZA’s recent Instagram post of it has inspired me to feature the ring again. I love how this post shows the different phases the gems went through: uncut rough; faceted but loose gems; and finally…
Recommended Reading: Anne Thériault’s Queens of Infamy
I’ve been scolding myself for nearly a decade (seriously!) for giving up my Thursday Book Club posts, most of which focused on the bad-ass historical women who inspire my jewelry designs. The last book-club post was the finale of my three-parter on A Distant Mirror, Barbara Tuchman’s book about the 14th century, which I posted…