Fine Jewellery Autumn Winter 2010

This season is set to be very exciting in terms of fine jewellery. With autumn and winter just around the corner, some beautiful jewellery can really improve your mood in the colder weather.

In terms of colours to look out for, the best thing to do is look at the fashion trends in terms of clothes, because these are what you’ll
be accessorising with the jewellery you choose.

Fine Jewellery from Compton & Woodhouse A/ W 2010/11 Collection

Beige looks set to be a huge trend this autumn and winter; gold and amber jewellery really compliment this colour and make a very
sophisticated look.  Look for gold jewellery featuring amber stones to match a beige outfit.  A colour which compliments both amber and beige is purple, so amethyst can add another layer to this look.

Blue is another key colour for the season, so stones like topaz or aquamarine combined with silver are a beautiful addition to any
outfit.  If you have a pale complexion and feel a blue dress looks a little cold, you could warm it up by choosing gold instead of silver.

Black is a classic winter colour in the fashion world, and this season will be no different.  Luckily any colour goes with it black terms of
accessories, giving you a great deal of choice.  You can make a black outfit really unique with colourful jewellery and accessories.

Taking a look at the catwalks, black jewellery appears popular, following on from the trend for black in autumn and winter styles, and
goes well with any other colour.  If you’re looking for a stunning black stone, consider black diamonds or onyx.

The best thing in terms of colour when it comes to fine jewellery is to choose your favourite colours, and find a fashion trend you like
that matches them well.  If you’re wearing jewellery in colours you like, you’ll feel confident and look great.

Christmas Jewellery

So this year I opted for a new type of gift for my number one niece. I know I shouldn’t have favourites but let us be honest with our selves we all have them, so why not spend accordingly.

My niece is 8, she is at that age where she is not as easily impressed as she used to be. You actually have to buy her something relatively impressive to get the praise, cuddles and appreciation that she used to give out at the site of anything shiny. So this year I wanted to also get her something that would last, and maybe even that would make her remember her generous auntie from time to time.

I eventually decided that I wanted to purchase her some jewellery. A few searches later I came across a girl’s jewellery site called Molly Brow that had a vast collection of jewellery specially designed and targeted at young girls. It was difficult to  settle on just one item as there were so many lovely pieces many of which would have been ideal.

In the end I choose this lovely pink fairy necklace from their ‘Aurora Collection’, which comes on a sterling silver chain and features a fresh water pearl – and the lovely little legs even move also! Super cute!

My Niece was absolutely delighted with the necklace, and I took great pleasure in seeing her staring in awe of it over the Christmas period.

I would highly recommend Molly Brown for presents and will certainly be them again in the future. The necklace came with lovely wrapping free of charge, which added to the pleasure of buying from the company and meant less time and money spent on wrapping also.

Mix and Match Your Jewellery

Which would you rather have – 100 cheap fashion jewellery items or one or two expensive items of fine jewellery?  The answer to this question varies depending on your own personal preferences of course but I’ll give my own opinions as a lover of all things jewellery related.

If you’re actually choosing your jewellery based solely on current trends and fashion then the answer is of course (unless you are very rich) to have many cheaper pieces because fashion changes so quickly and you’ll be replacing your jewellery often.  You’ll always be able to keep up to date with trends as the high street will normally stock fashionable items, and magazines and the internet will help you stay right on the cutting edge of what’s in.

However if you choose your jewellery as more of a personal statement than a fashion statement you probably don’t have quite such a “throwaway” attitude to your jewellery items.  In fact, going to the
other extreme you might only own a handful of pieces but those pieces will be classic fine jewellery items that you wear very often, almost as a personal “signature” look.  I think this is something I might consider when I’m about 50 or older as I think fine jewellery can look very elegant particularly on older women.

Most people, in my experience are somewhere in the middle and this writer is definitely one of those.  For example, you will probably remember there was recently a trend for stars: star patterned fabric on clothes and particularly star themed jewellery were being worn by many celebrities.  All the top designers were coming out with star jewellery to keep up with the current fashion and the high streets were following this theme with cheaper plastic or glass fashion jewellery items.  Now, I have always loved stars, and already had a lot of star pendants and jewellery before this trend, but when they became really popular for a short time I was able to buy many more items of jewellery to add into my star theme and for a little while my jewellery was the height of fashion.  Because I genuinely love stars, however, I’ll be wearing star jewellery for years, just because it’s a statement about me and I don’t care whether it’s fashionable or not. However I’ll mix them with more trendy items and also with some of my more expensive fine jewellery depending on the occasion because I like to create unique looks, while also being influenced by what’s fashionable at the time.

I think most people sit somewhere around this view but it’s important to choose jewellery you like the look of and not just items because they are fashionable, and above all there are no hard and fast rules that say you can choose EITHER fine jewellery or cheap fashion jewellery – in fact you can have a lot of fun mixing and matching the two!

Fine Jewellery Heirlooms

When my granddad retired from Uniroyal, he was presented with a neat rectangular leather case with a small push button to the front. Inside was delicately lined in silk and underneath the little paper receipt from an Edinburgh Princess Street jeweller was his retirement gift.

Some people receive a carriage clock when they retire, but in my grandfather’s case it was a beautiful Tudor Rolex watch encased in a hand finished Dennison case. The back was inscribed with a personal message for his loyal service of 40 years.  The face was oyster coloured adorned with stunning roman numerals and gold hands that, rather than tick, swept effortlessly around its face.

(Photo by: BudaKedrova)

It was wound manually by a little gold Rolex crown winder, that just felt perfect between your fingers and although you would have to listen very closely, the ticking was seemed to be more precise and half the beat of any other that I have ever heard. The sweeping ticks just seemed to blend into one.

The dark brown leather crocodile strap complimented the gold Rolex buckle and its face wafer thin against the wrist, nestling warmly into the fold of your hand.

Only brought out at special occasions, his Rolex lay unattended in a box for the majority of the year. It was never serviced as fine watches should, but simply brought out, wound and worn, for the good part of another thirty years until grandfather passed away. It never failed, never let him down and his time keeping was always precise and punctual, he was not a man that could ever be late.

I dint know him particularly well, which is something that I regret deeply, however he left my own father nothing other than his watch as they shared the same first name. In fairness to both of them he did have another elder son and three daughters to consider in his will, but his watch came to my dad.

He wore it once, but dad’s fat wrists compared to my granddads skinny ones, he could hardly get the pin in the last hole of the leather strap.

My dad, complete opposites from my granddad believed that watches or indeed any jewellery for that matter should be worn and enjoyed and not hidden away from the sunlight.

So after a week or so, scared to lose it, scared to break it, he gave it to me, still in its original red leather case. Dad is more at home with hammers than he is with delicate items.

It wasn’t a special occasion, a birthday or a Christmas; it was just a spontaneous passing between father and son.

I have owned many watches over the years, sun and moon faced dials, digital watches, diver’s watches and watches that glow in the dark.  But, realistically this will be the only watch that I will ever really own, care for, wear with pride, be able to talk about passionately and someday bestow it on someone that will hopefully treat it with the same care and respect.

It has been my daily watch during some periods of my life and other times it sits waiting in its case due to various fads and hobbies requiring something more robust.

I do concede that  I have had it cleaned, serviced and have gone through a few straps over the years, and sometimes its timekeeping can lose a minute or so over the course of a day, but these are all minor details that I can live with.

Fine jewellery will last a lifetime and often the lifetime of others.

Accessories, Accessories, Accessories

Designer shoes and bags dress an outfit up rather than look out of place.

Providing the dress is tactful, designer shoes and handbags add that extra something to an otherwise average outfit. If a person cannot afford to buy all designer items then having one signature item can make the outfit different to other peoples and stand out a lot more.

They can also make the whole outfit seem more expensive, a designer dress will not always be that obvious that it is in fact designer whereas shoes and handbags tend to be more obvious as to whether they are designer or not.

This could cause people to assume that in fact your entire outfit is designer.

I suppose at the end of the day we have to ask us, does it really matter?