Happy Stories From our customers

Here’s some staggering facts about plastic use:

• 160,000 plastic bags are used globally every second!
• 5 trillion plastic bags are produced yearly. Side by side, they can encircle the world 7 times.
• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is a floating landfill of garbage in the Pacific twice the size of Texas, is mostly composed of plastic.
• In 2008, a sperm whale was found beached in California. It died due to the more than 22 kilos of plastic found in its stomach.
• Plastic will only start degrading after 700 years and will only fully degrade in 1000 years. This means that all the plastic that has ever been produced has not degraded yet.
• Plastic bags remain toxic even after it breaks down. It doesn’t biodegrade, it photo-degrades. It means that after it degrades, it breaks down into smaller and smaller toxic bits of itself – and bleeds and contaminates the environment.
• An average family will use 60 plastic bags on four visits to the supermarket.
• Only 1 to 3% of plastic bags are recycled worldwide.
• Plastic bags cause the death of many marine animals when they are mistaken for food.

Which is why we tip our hats off to Rachel Kippen who has created jewelry from “items she finds during cleanups and wants to keep out of a landfill including bread clips, straws, plastic monopoly game pieces, bingo chips and scotch tape rolls.” [Santa Cruz Sentinel]

According to Kippen:

“These are items that have no end of life cycle plan. They cannot be downcycled like other plastics and they end up either going straight to the landfill or are a persistent waste item on our beaches and in our oceans,” she said. “Unweaving and untangling it from the earth also made me think about weaving it back together and symbology around that,” she said.

Stacking rings has been trending for quite some time now. But what we’re seeing that’s equally fun–one ring that occupies more space on the finger and gives the illusion of stacking.

Often engagement rings are small, delicate. Sure, they may have a powerhouse gem (or if you’re lucky, many) but ultimately, most of the finger real estate is left wide open, right?

The beauty of a cluster band like the one below? Colored gemstones can work equally well when creating a cluster band (as opposed to simply diamonds).

Take a look at this recent custommade rings of ours. Considered a cluster band, the many rows and stones create a visual showstopper. Sure, it’s a lot of ring–but for some bling lovers, this is the perfect fit!

Combo of our Scroll shank and our 103321 prongs

I own a pair of gold hoop earrings I’ve come to realize go well with just about every outfit I own. From a black tie event (where I paired them with a simple yellow dress) to jeans and a crisp white t-shirt (which I paired with a beer and a vegan hot dog at a recent BBQ). Once I realized those golden hoops go with just about anything, it took the guesswork out of many fashion choices.

But what makes jewelry versatile? Well, the answer is both personal and practical. Practically, a versatile piece of jewelry tends to be simple (like my hoops). Simple jewelry tends to match nicely with just about any outfit (whereas louder jewelry often needs a little more finessing).

From a personal standpoint, versatile jewelry should be a beloved item. Why? Because if you’re getting really dressed up, that jewelry is grounding. You know it, trust it. Its like a fashion friend. It dependably looks good on you. You know what to expect from it.

Below, a solid example of versatile jewelry: the eternally fashionable stud earrings:

An interesting night at the Oscars, indeed. Considered more “fun-filled” than those in the past, the evening kept a leisurely pace while interjecting fun gags including a hot dog launcher (and avoiding topics like those who go by the initials D.T.).

The night was needlessly long, according to several critics, clocking in at 3 hours. But then again, that’s a common complaint of the Oscars.

Okay on to the jewelry (totaling more than 30 million!):

According to Forbes:

The 2018 Oscars were much more colorful than the blackout statement at the Golden Globes, except when it came to the jewels. Diamonds and white metals were the overwhelming favorite among the stars. The other major trend on the Oscars red carpet was sparkling drop earrings, particularly pear shaped gems or filigree designs. Necklaces were not as prevalent as in past years but those that did appear were sparkling diamond statements.

Looking at the sea o’ celebrities on the red carpet, it was easy to spot a good amount of Chopard jewels as well as De Beers Forevermark and Harry Winston diamonds. Fred Leighton (as per usual) could be seen frequently as well.

Frankly, it was nice to see less statement necklaces which helped shine the light on other types of jewelry.