2015 Jewellery Trend Predictions

Clockwise from top left.... examples of - rainbow and geometric (multi sapphire earrings) , layered necklace (lapis, Peruvian amazonite & iolite necklace) , wrap bracelet (prehnite, rose quartz and pearl wrap bracelet), geometric (onyx frame earrings), coloured stone and slim rings (peridot ring),  multistrand necklace (hematite necklace), vintage inspired and geometric clasp on a multistrand red hued necklace (red coral and garnet necklace), geometric, yellow gold and pink hues (rose quartz earrings).

Professional jewellery organisations around the world have been full of chatter about what will be “in” in 2015….to save you the time, I’ve summarised the most  predicted trends for you…

Statement necklaces -   whilst earrings once again reigned supreme in 2014, necklaces will finally take back their spot as a statement piece for 2015.   Yay! Don’t be held back by fashion rules for necklaces … if you like it, wear it!

Necklaces that you can layer – either multistrand necklaces that give you the layered look instantly – or multiple single necklaces worn together.  

Wrap bracelets for that layered look – with an emphasis on charms, gemstone, metal and leather. 

Statement cuffs – particularly embellished metals.

Rings that stack – the layering look continues to the hand – particularly multiple slim styles creating a big ring look.

Coloured stones – whilst coloured diamonds are the province of the rich and famous, coloured gemstones of all type will appeal to those whose wallets aren’t quite that large!

Motifs from the 1960s and 70s.   With the runways heavily inspired by these two decades, accessories featuring geometric shapes (circles, squares, zigzags) and bohemian themes (owls, beads, feathers, fringes) will go with these fashions.

Rainbows – a personal favourite of mine, rainbows will continue to be popular this year with  colourful patterns, trios of hues and multiple colours with one particular colour brought to the forefront.

Vintage designs.  Whilst they don’t have to be vintage themselves, designs that are inspired by vintage themes and shapes will continue to be popular in new jewellery.

Yellow Gold – with a drop in price (somewhat!) making the metal more affordable over the last year or so, and a trend on the runways for yellow… this mellow metal is set to become more popular in 2015.  

Pantone’s colour of the year, Marsala, is a kind of soft wine gravy colour … not that inspiring for jewellery lol, however on the colour wheel, the colours surrounding Marsala are appealing – think soft pinks, lavenders, purples and reds.  

Are you looking forward to any of these trends making an appearance?

Jewels of the Golden Globes 2014

Award season has started and so I've started peering at the stars ... not at their dresses, hair, shoes or makeup.. but at their jewels!  

The usual penchant for earrings was evident again, as was a heavy reliance on diamonds.  Notably the earring size is reducing, smaller sized drops were far more evident this year.

Necklaces were few and far between, but when donned, they were statement pieces.    Case in point is Sophie Vergara (above).  Her bright blue carved turquoise and diamond Lorraine Schwartz necklace was certainly big and bright and noticeable.  People either love it with her plain black gown... or hate it.   It's certainly a startling contrast and definitely showcases the necklace beautifully... and yes, it made her stand out amongst a sea of diamonds!

So, in no particular order (actually it is alphabetical by first name!)  these ladies stood out in the jewel department for wearing something just a little different...

Allison Williams wore a mix of black and white with her smaller sized drop earrings.   Diamonds in white gold and a black gem hanging below.

Amy Adams chose diamonds but with a more daring persuasion - this large (30carat) diamond pendant by Lorraine Schwartz on an extra long chain matched her plunging neckline.  Can't see the pendant? ... keep scrolling... there it is... waaaay down there!

 Angela Bassett wore black tassel earrings that co-ordinated well with her dress.

Ariel Winter chose multicoloured gemstone hoop earrings by Brumani for an exotic touch.

 Aubrey Plaza wore a beautiful collar of multi coloured sapphires by Lorraine Schwartz.

Cate Blanchett chose diamonds to go with her black lace gown... but oh, what diamonds!   Apparently Chopard also supplied her with security guards.

Dianne Wiest sparkled in golden tones - possible topaz - that sparkled with every move she made - and she moved alot.

Emma Roberts decided to contrast her sleek black gown with very large chandelier style turquoise earrings  - perhaps she had the same stylist as Sophie Vergara wearing black and blue?

Heidi Klum had a definite boho flavour to her outfit, aided by the Lorraine Schwartz necklace of black and white diamonds.

Dame Helen Mirren sparkled ALOT.  A beaded aqua gown was complemented by Bulgari emerald and diamond earrings.

Jennifer Lawrence wore an interesting white dress with black trim which has received questionable reviews, however her jade, diamond, black spinel, onyx and coral earrings by Neil Lane are universally loved. 

Julia Roberts added some old world glamour to the evening with her classic hair and makeup and rather large diamond studs by Harry Winston.  Now if you're going to do diamond studs, THIS is the way to do them!

Julianna Margulies wore black enamel, diamond and gold earrings that went beautifully with her black and gold gown. 

Kaley Cuoco wore a nice pair of ruby and diamond drop earrings

Kyra Sedgwick chose Irene Neuwirth amazonite and emerald earrings that complemented her coral coloured dress without overwhelming it.

Leslie Mann wore simple smoky quartz and gold drops

Mayim Bialik had black stone and diamond earrings... I'll take an educated guess and say they're by Kimberly McDonald - but I haven't been able to obtain confirmation yet.

Melissa Rauch also has my stamp of approval with diamond studded gold drops - diamonds but different to the standard.

Paula Patton wore some big rocks on her ears... I would assume white topaz or rock crystal quartz going by the size!

Rashida Jones chose a pearl vine style earring that climbed up her ears.

Sarah Paulson glowed in white opal and diamond earrings by Irene Neuwirth.

 Shaun Robinson chose the extra large size in earrings...

 

Tatiana Maslany chose to wear her long chain earrings from the top of and then behind her ears. An effective shortening technique!

Taylor Swift  chose ruby and diamond earrings by Lorraine Schwartz.

Uma Thurman may have had mixed reviews about her gown, but its hard to complain about her Chopard diamond earrings.

Zooey Deschanel was whimsical in Neil Lane flower shaped drop earrings featuring pearls.

So what was your favourite jewel down the red carpet?

Spring jewellery, shopping and entertaining!

Can you believe it’s spring! We’ve had a couple of beautiful warm days when the when the jumper came off, leaving me in a short sleeved shirt and all the doors in the house were open with a lovely warm breeze flowing through. Bliss. Then the next day it turned Cold (with a capital ‘C’!) and then the rain started. Again. Now as I’m married to a farmer, I can’t complain about the rain at all – but it’s staggering how much we’ve had this year in comparison to the last decade! I’ve even slid sideways down my dirt road to the front gate. Please imagine a look of intense concentration as this was happening LOL. Luckily it dries out fast so we're back to cool but sunny weather and driving down the track is just fine!

I’ve been incredibly busy on the jewellery front thus my absence from the blogging world. I’ve finished the spring-summer collection and have been loading it onto the website, so if anyone was checking in on the site, there’s been lots of new things to look at every day. I’m close to finishing now, just in time for my first spring outing at Quirindi Show this weekend on 11 and 12 September. The following week is Merriwa Show on 17-18 September – so a very busy fortnight in store.

Apart from jewellery I’ve also been a ‘gardening fairy’! I was the recipient of this gardening goodness recently having three wonderful girls come and help me prune roses, weed and plant white agapanthus at the front of the house (which has been kept very bare due to the lack of my gardening talent).

Last week it was time to return the favour – three of us attacked one of the other girl’s gardens, digging up and planting a huge circle of agapanthus (purple this time!), pruning lavender and chopping down and removing the debris from four large (15 foot high) shrubs. We did have her husband’s help with the chopping down part though! It’s amazing how much work you can get done in a few hours with a few of you. Another stint as a garden fairy in a couple of week’s time – the rush is on now spring is here.

We had the pleasure of a wonderful lunch with friends on the weekend. It's been so long since we entertained, I had forgotten what a great time we have getting together. I'm almost considering hosting a Christmas or New Years party, but well, we'll see about that when it all gets a bit closer.

I've also enjoyed the pleasure of quite a bit of online shopping in the past week. With both a beach holiday and wedding to attend in the near future and a lack of suitable clothes available in town (I looked!), I took the plunge and must say I'm happy with my purchases. I can see why people love to buy from me too - the buzz when the mailman delivers and then finally trying the goodies on that you were trying to picture and measure if they'd be right is immensely satisfying!!! And all without going to town. It's times like that when it hits home how the WWW has changed our lifestyle.

Today's pic is from the new Under the Sea range, with soothing colours reminiscent of the seashore or with corals and pearls from a mermaid's treasure box! This necklace is made with faceted aqua amazonite and lots of sterling silver - perfect to make a summer statement!

Spring and amazonite

Spring has sprung downunder and so of course it has turned cold. Can’t win, eh!? Nevertheless it really isn’t too chilly and if we got a bit more rain I’m sure things would look lovely and green.

I have the first of my spring shows this weekend – at a private girl’s school a few hours drive away. It is going to necessitate leaving home at 4.30am (EEEK!!!!) and a late night too by the time we drive back. Grandma is on child minding duties and I’m so grateful that she lives nearby and that the children love to stay there!

I’ve been busy making some spring-like creations in preparation for the show – and particularly since I got rather behind in this department with all that reading I was doing last week! Thankfully the muse came and stayed for a decent visit and things went well!

The photo above is a new piece – isn’t the colour just glorious? It’s bright and breezy and to me just says hot, summer days. The wonderful teal-blue gemstone is Peruvian Amazonite. Amazonite varies in colour depending on its source – the stone just called ‘Amazonite’ is a much paler version and the Russian Amazonite is more green. I read a great origin story on Peruvian Amazonite that says the stone was considered a gift from Copacati the Inca goddess of the lake.

One of the reasons I love to read other people’s blogs (yes, I’m slightly addicted) is to see not just what people think, but to get an insight into their world – particularly if they are located far away from me.

One blog I’ve recently found is Yana, who is a decoupage artist in Greece. She recently mentioned a case of varnishing small quantities of items and leaving them on her verandah to dry. Her neighbours are understandably curious and had to ask what she was doing. Fortunately the enquiry led to a sale and Yana is now somewhat disappointed she doesn’t have more nosy neighbours that can see her patio!

A few weeks ago I mentioned Rae Ann’s blog Critical Mass – I just had to laugh at her most recent entry when she relates the story of hanging a shade blind in her house. She sounds a very capable woman, but oh my, things weren’t going her way on this occasion!

I also like to check out what other artisans get up to. There’s something about this piece made by Joella of Always Wired that struck a chord with me – I think it is the almost ‘princess’ nature, sparkly and colourful - something my 8 year old girls would adore … not that they’d be getting close to this valuable item!

OK, better get back to preparing for this show – I seem rather disorganized at the moment!

Till next
Annette

Caveat emptor (and on a lighter note, Mother's Day)

Can you believe Mother's Day is this coming weekend? Yes, it has crept up on me too! My children are taking full advantage of it and are making things left, right and centre... and all for me. They are also planning to give me breakfast in bed which will certainly be a change since I am the one that usually waits on them! But that's one of the best things about Mother's Day - having your children make you feel special! I was looking at the Small Business Diva's blog where she made mention of the origins of Mother's Day, which apparently date back to the 17th century. Mother's Day as we know was established in 1908 - so its a century of tradition already.

On a completely different note I must express my concern at the amount of misinformation about gemstone identification - particularly as used in jewellery. I recently purchased some "spectrolite" from one of my suppliers. Their spelling is often incorrect, but they usually label their gems correctly. Now spectrolite is another term for labradorite and whilst the stone I received was similar in colouring, it definitely wasn't labradorite. Around the same time someone sent me a stone which they identified as glaucophane. Interestingly the so-called "spectrolite" was the same stone. Then I purchased a stone called larvikite from another supplier and lo and behold this was the same stone AGAIN. So I have three stones, all the same, that are supposedly larvikite, glaucophane and spectrolite, depending on where you get it from! This is a typical example of the misinformation that abounds with a large number of resellers in the marketplace. These resellers believe what they are told, or make assumptions on limited knowledge and this false information goes along down the chain and the the end result is a person buying jewellery that is incorrectly identified. This is an old gripe of mine, and one I can't help feeling strongly about as a gemmologist! With regard to the glaucophane/spectrolite/larvikite debate - well I am still researching but early results indicate that they are all larvikite. And a very pretty stone too! So a word for the wise, if you are buying from someone you don't know is honest, or you don't know their knowledge level / qualifications, then "Caveat emptor" (buyer beware)!

Well, enough complaining! Now onto a new piece that I made just before Ironfest....this is a big, bold, opulent and yes, even decadent, necklace that is really long and really enormous! I can't actually put the whole picture up here so here is a detail shot of the gorgeous amazonite, the sparkling rock crystal, the glowing freshwater pearls and the shining silver that go into making this necklace very special!

I've been SHOPPING :)

Ahhh, shopping, don't you LOVE it. The highs of finding something new, hearing that little angel on your shoulder going "goodie goodie" and then the expectaction of waiting for the items to arrive (since I only ever seem to shop online, the whole shopping experience is somewhat extended!). Then when the goodies DO arrive, the anticipation has built and you rip open the box to see the treasure inside! Ahhhh, bliss.

OK, well, maybe I'm a shopaholic? But I KNOW there are many of you out there that are the same. Nod your head .... that's right ;)

So, what have YOU been shopping for? I've been shopping for stones and pearls - I told you I needed more last week! I've revisited some of my favourite suppliers and even found a new one that I am sure will keep me salivating for years.

Someone sent me an email the other day saying there was only 51 days left to Christmas! EEEK. Its even less than that now! I really will have to think about gifts soon. I've just had to have a look at my favourite gift store, Tonic Gifts, and found the Action Hero's Handbook - now I know my son would love it as he has always aspired to be Indiana Jones and I can see my hubby sneaking the odd peek too ;) Michelle from Tonic Gifts also has a great article on her blog about christmas shopping which is well worth a look before we plunge headlong into the fray!

The pic for today is a necklace of huge amazonite balls (they really are big!) separated by white freshwater pearls. The toggle closure, although you can't see it in the pic, is also made of amazonite - how cool is that! I call this my "Wilma" necklace - as in the Flintstones ;) . The amazonite is a beautiful aqua blue colour and really quite magnificent, especially in such a size! Meaning "from the Amazon", this sodium feldspar has been used for ornamentation for thousands of years, with articles of amazonite being found in treasure hoards from ancient Egypt. Metaphysically it is considered a soothing stone, calming thoughts and the nervous system and protecting against electromagnetic pollution.