Fashion Costume Jewellery

Archive for the ‘Trends’ Category

I’ve been sitting watching some late night TV, the New York Fashion Week shows were distilled on FTV. Whereas I love all of the over the top fashions that will morph into the fashions we will see and buy in the stores I really have one pet peeve – why can’t the models look happy?

Great fashion clothing like great fashion costume jewellery is designed to make you feel good. The cut of the cloth, the feel of the fabric and the overall look make clothes intimately involved with the way we feel. When I make my jewellery I like to think that the recipient will love wearing it.

So why is it that all of the fashion shows have models with non changing faces, no expression, no joy? Come on people let us be honest do we enjoy our fashion or not?

Remember when a strand of pearls stood for class and high society? Well the pearl is still a fashion statement indicating sophistication and taste. There are so many more designs now available in pearls that it is also now a statement for originality and femininity.

Pearls are one of the birthstones for June. They are gifts from the sea and the only birthstone or in fact gemstone that is made from a living organism. Quite unique.

Pearls are made within oysters – the type of oyster reflects the type of pearl that is produced.

There are a number of different types of pearl.

Freshwater pearls are pearls grown in a mollusc. These oysters can produce for more than one season and can generate up to 15 pearls at one time. The longer the pearls are left in the oyster the larger the pearl. The average time a pearl is left in the shell is three years making freshwater pearls a cost effective option.

About 80% of the world’s freshwater pearl output comes from a region in China known as Zhuji. Yu and Shanghai boast pearl markets that are amongst the world’s largest. Every year over 1,500 metric tons of freshwater pearls are produced! It is great fun to tour the pearl markets and see sacks of these gorgeous freshwater pearls piled one on top of another.

Cultured pearls are a little more expensive as they are deliberately grown by irritating the oyster by putting a special round shell into the oyster.The oyster produces a substance called nacre with which it coats the irritant. Layer on layer is added until such time as the oyster is harvested. Unlike the freshwater pearl, once the oyster is harvested it cannot be used again to produce an oyster, but the shell is often used for other purposes as it is the “Mother of Pearl”. The nacre coats the pearl shell too. Most freshwater pearls are harvested after two to four years and produce a single pearl.

The South Sea Pearl is considered to be one of the most expensive and beautiful of this type of pearl, with the Black Tahitian pearl being most sought after.

About 80% of all South Sea pearls are grown in Australia.

Although oyster shells are usually discarded many interesting by products come from the shell. Mabe pearls for instance. These are blisters that form in the shell where coatings of nacre have been deposited. Cut from the shell Mabe pearls can be very valuable and of an interesting shape. Also made from the shells are carved cameos particularly from the Pinctata or Black Lipped Oyster Shell. Some of our signature range use these cameos. Carving requires a shell of superior size with a depth of nacre or mother of pearl deposit. Many of the cameos we use are hand carved.

Thicker deposits on the oyster shell are often cut into beads and there is also now a process where the shell – the “mother of pearl” – is separated and crushed. The crushed shell is then reconstituted and shell-pearls are created. Because these are man made, they are usually very regular in shape and can be almost perfectly round.

Cultured and freshwater pearls are rarely round – there is no way how the oyster deposits the nacre can be controlled. Round pearls are usually more expensive than other shapes for this reason. Large round pearls can command a very high price and take many seasons to create.

Matched pearls take years to find – producers scan their yearly production for pearls that are almost identical – they usually look for almost perfect pearls of a particular shade and size. It is not unusual for a single strand to take 8-10 years to complete!

Button pearls are squashed rounds – they are generally round in shape but less thick than a round. Rice pearls are likewise elongated like a grain of rice. Baroque pearls are those of an unusual and often unique shape. Coin pearls are round but flat, pearls shaped not unlike a coin.

There are a number of legends surrounding pearls, the most common of which is that pearls are the tears of joy of mermaids.

Pearls are often crushed and included in high end cosmetics, the pearl adding to the preservative powers of the cosmetic.

Pearls are a soft gem, as such they should be handled carefully. When wearing pearls, apply your cosmetics and perfumes before you put on your pearls. Perfumes can be particularly aggressive on pearls, eating away the precious nacre.

Never place your pearls in with other jewellery without first wrapping it carefully. The other jewellery can act as an abrasive and again wear away the nacre.

Pearls should definitely be worn – the body oils that the pearl will collect while being worn will assist in it keeping its shape and not drying out. So please don’t just keep them for a special occasion! Pearls are considered to be trendy and quite sexy, so use them with your other outfits too.

Many jewellers insist that pearls should be knotted. The cord used should last at least five years and then replaced. The advantage of the knotting is that the most that could ever be lost from a broken string of pearls is one pearl. The knots also prevent the pearls from rubbing against each other often creating damage within the strand. The pearl cords are also soft and will not abrade the pearl from within the way wire can. Knotted strands are entirely hand strung so do tend to be a little more expensive.

On a last environmental note, natural and beautiful, growing pearls is not damaging to the environment and pearls are an entirely renewable resource!

Cartier the famous jeweller has a unique and somewhat different place in pearl jewellery history. Their flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York was purchased in 1917 for the paltry sum of $100 cash – but the deal did include a double strand of matched pearls that was valued in 1917 at one million US dollars!

The pearls are usually harvested after one year for akoya, 2-4 years for Tahitian and South Sea, and 2-7 years for freshwater

On the continuum of pearl values, the natural pearl is the most highly valued basically because of its rarity. Then comes the cultured salt water pearl and finally the freshwater pearl. It is also possible to purchase glass pearls that look remarkably like the real thing, but do not have the same feel or weight as the real thing. A simple test to differentiate the two is to gently rub the pearl on your teeth – a genuine pearl will feel gritty as compared to the glass pearl.

Just because Pearls are the birthstone for June certainly does not mean that those of us not born in June should not wear them. We can all celebrate their rich colours and beautiful textures.

Shop by Retailer, pearl jewellery can be viewed in these online stores:

Rayclif pearl jewellery accessories

Jewellery Web

Nordstrom

The cameo is starting to be seen in fashion magazines and on fashionistas again. For some time, the Cameo went out of vogue, consigned to Granny’s jewellery drawer. Now, Cameos are seeing a re-birth with a vast array of different styles being produced in jewellery pieces as diverse as rings, brooches and pendants.

Cameos are traditionally an oval or round background with a raised design often of a woman but possibly an insect, bird or animal that are in a contrasting colour to the background. Cameos that are carved into a background are technically known as intaglio, but are often described as cameos too.

A Cameo can be made of a huge variety of materials from acrylic to shell, gemstone to resin. Shell cameos usually have the same foreground as background as they are carved from a single piece of shell and rarely mounted on another surface.

Shell cameos usually have the same foreground as background as they are carved from a single piece of shell and rarely mounted on another surface. It was shell cameos where the whole trend started. Italian shell cameos in particular, are prized for their workmanship and artistry. It has been said that Cameos originated in the Naples region with  craftsmen hand carving the local shells.

Cameos are traditionally a design often of a woman but possibly an insect, bird or animal that are often in a contrasting colour to the background.

Shell cameos are all hand carved because of the uneven nature of the shell surface, it is just not possible to design a machine that can create this type of work on an uneven background.

At Rayclif we stock handmade jewellery made from a variety of cameo types including hand carved shell cameos, hand carved opals, glass and resin. Our crafts people create the glass cameos with the hand carved shell and opal cameos being imported. This raw material is then lovingly transformed into beautiful contemporary jewellery in alloy, sterling silver or 14K Gold filled finishes.

One of our specialities in our Cameo Creations are mother and child cameos depicting a mother and her baby – ideal gifts for your Mum perhaps for Mothers’ Day and a fantastic gift for new Mothers.

Check out our current range of cameos right here at rayclif.com.

What about the pant suit?

The pant suit is a perennial favourite for business attire. There are heaps of reasons for this, not the least of which is the comfort factor. When you need to look good from breakfast meeting to drinks after work, the pant suit looks great – not just professional but also offering an aura of authority! Of course, it is also easy to wear from morning to night.

The New York Magazine offered some great photos of pant suit outfits, check them out.

There are other advantages – a pant suit can look fabulous with both high heels and with flats. If you are going from business meeting to out for the evening, a quick change of shoes perhaps a blouse with a frill (great contrast – very playful and sexy!).

Let’s face it the pant suit is every woman’s friend, that long lean look of solid vertical colour enhances our body image and feels great.

New Fashions in the Pant Suit

Through the last 50 years the pant suit has performed well, but don’t think about dreary suits that drab you out -  a heap of photographs on the designer side of the pant suit can be found at Style.com, these pant suit photographs cover the styles we  have seen on the catwalk.

What Jewellery to wear with the Pant Suit

Think carefully about the effect that you want to make. You are powerful with an aura of authority. Time to show this in your jewellery. Think gold – that richest of metals offering warmth and comfort along with richness and a hint of “old money”.

The comments that follow also apply to all business attire, but notably to the pant suit.

The pant suit needs to be set off by classic jewellery.  Please, no Pandora bracelets or jangling bangles. A single classy bracelet or bangle is very acceptable. We do not want you to clank through the corridors of pwer!

Necklaces should be businesslike and sit around the collar bone, not too long – we don’t want them to get tangled in your ipod cords. Pearls or gemstones (or both) work really well. Freshwater pearls are relatively inexpensive and look wonderful brightened up by clear gems.

Always wear earrings, this shows your adoring public that no detail is too small to be overlooked. The earrings to wear with a pant suit are discrete, large enough to be seen but not large enough to dominate. We suggest no more than about 3cm in length.

Depending on your jacket, a brooch can add to the vision. If you work in a creative sphere this works particularly well. Select a pin or brooch with geometric or abstract patterning, alternatively a cameo can work well (just not one of the plastic varieties, there are some really nice agate or opal cameos available).

Your watch should again be a classic time piece, worn with a simple band. There is nothing wrong with a man style watch of female size proportions. The watch will tell people you are aware of the importance of their time as well as your own. There is nothing worse than a business person checking their phone to see what the time is – fussy and fiddly.

As always, the jewellery you wear should dictate your own style, preferences and colours. Wear a piece of jewellery because you feel good doing so. It is always an advantage when it matches your outfit, but ultimately wearing it should enhance the outfit and your mood.

Why not check out the business attire jewellery at rayclif.com.

Being Fashion Conscious does not mean that you need to break your budget. Obviously your outfits make a massive difference to whether you feel not only in or out of fashion, but also comfortable! We suggest selecting quality pieces that suit your style and you feel comfortable, this includes statement pieces but also pieces that will reflect but transcend the vagaries of fashion itself.

Statement jewellery is often a little more adventurous than your day to day selection, but it does allow you to revel in colours, shapes and perhaps a level of bling that you would not usually go for. Do not overdo the statement jewellery. If you drape it over every part of you that can hold jewellery chances are you will feel uncomfortable and perhaps like one of the mall ads for 26 jewellery outlets in one cool destination! By limiting the statements to a single piece you will attract attention to it and create comments and fashion envy easily. If you wear a lot of statement jewellery the effect will be difused.

The easiest statement jewellery are chandelier earrings – do they ever go out of style? We don’t think so. Not only can you purchase statement earrings at a relatively small price, but they instantly bring with them a glamourous, feminine feeling that you just can’t compare. Think how you feel when your earrings are swaying reflecting your walking motion.

Chandelier earrings are great for both day and night time wear – consider those with a little bling for the evening. Lets be honest – earrings have to be one of the easiest of the jewellery pieces to pop on – you can even do it on the bus or train!

Now that it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere (and Autumn down under!) the colours of the season will be showing themselves all over the fashion walk ways. Softer, more muted colours seem to be the order of the day – I heard someone explaining that this is due to a gradual improvement in the world’s financial markets – nothing too dramatic! I guess it could explain it!

Watch out too for the off the shoulder fashions. Necklaces are notoriously hard to pair with these types of necklines, so use your earrings to your best advantage.

A last comment – don’t hide your jewellery until it is evening, wear it proudly during the warm light of day, jeans and heels can be brought to life with a single (not necessarily expensive) piece of jewellery.

Check out our range of jewellery at rayclif.com.

Fashion Jewellery is by name designed to work with the current fashions or trends of the moment, often inspired by catwalk creations, it is often seen to be transitory. In not too distant times, Fashion Jewellery was known as Costume Jewellery – that is jewellery to match your outfit (or costume).

If you see jewellery as transitory, it does not mean that you will wear something that is not well designed or constructed. Quality still matters. A piece of jewellery purchased to enhance an outfit can of course become a firm favourite and stay forever in your jewellery box, particularly in these times where fashions tend to be far more eclectic without the obvious fashion fads we have seen in the past.

Catwalk designers are also seeing a change in buying patterns and we are seeing far more bridging jewellery because of it. Bridging jewellery is where commercial fashion jewellery and the fine jewellery houses meet. Many catwalk designers who are already producing precious metal and gemstone jewellery are also now producing jewellery from acrylic and plated metals. The market for this type of jewellery is growing, even though the jewellery is seen as transitory and even though the jewellery is priced well above a High Street alternative simply because of the brand name attached.

Colour me stupid if you like, it is a New Year and a New Decade but – reading a fashion magazine about the twenty-tens I thought it was a polite way of saying thirty something! Let’s face it, I’d rather be called a forty-ten than 50+. Still… The article was supposed to be about a new approach to glamour this decade. Harpers Bazaar was suggesting “less flesh, a little sparkle and always more black”. Stunning, I thought, what 30+ doesn’t want a little more glamour and sparkle? Black and Bling are an unbeatable duo and add glamour for the perfect trifecta. Hence my mind (which always has jewellery on it) turned naturally to jewellery (surprise, surprise).

Let’s face it the noughties were a nothing decade – there were no real true and deep fashion trends almost anything went. Unlike the 1960′s and 1970′s we will not look back with fond recollections of tie-dyes and flares! Although we saw both of these last decade so we will look back on the reinvention.

About fashion jewellery then, the return of the cocktail ring created a stir – one that is still creating waves. Big knuckle dusters with bling, bling, bling! Making cocktail rings glamourous does involve the use of cubic zirconia – sparkle and pazzazz.

The price of gold went through the roof (who hasn’t got a gold buy back stall in their local mall?), so we turned to gold plate and rhodium plate for the silver substitute. These at least avoid the tarnish – who needs it? – and a substantially lower price comes with plate jewellery – unless you can put an haute label on it – a lot less painful to the pocket.

Another noughties fashion jewellery trend I can see travelling into the 2010s is the use of pearls – renewable, beautiful pearls. We are using one or many often with butterflies or bows or gemstones. My prediction is to look out for dramatic settings with a single huge pearl – we have already started to see this and I think it can only continue.

The next trend we saw in the noughties is the event bracelet -  you know – special day, buy a bead – I suspect we are almost at the end of this one. Let’s face it, how unique can you feel when everyone around the dinner table is wearing one? Baa! The one thing I can see progressing in this line is more use of colour – we experimented with colour around our wrist so now I think we will extend that to elsewhere.

So for the next little while I believe we will be glamourising everything. Let’s dress to go out (and I mean DRESS!) who needs an excuse? Why be a dowd at work? Stop the stodge and brighten up your corporate uniform with just a little bling, tasteful but bright. Glamour off duty too; who said jeans and t-shirt can’t live harmoniously with femininity – add heels and some casual but blingy jewellery and wow!

It’s all about us and how we feel, so lets make the 2010s worth remembering.

Harpers Bazaar this month (here in Australia) tell us that Amethyst is the current colour for eyes at the runway shows. This of course has been strengthened by the use of purple in the design collections themselves.

Here at Rayclif, we have found that the colour purple never goes out of fashion. In fact purple jewellery has always been one of our best selling colours. We think it is because purple makes you feel good – and isn’t that what it is all about? Obviously the fashion designer giants of Versace and Michael Kors agree with us.

Of course, your jewellery selection should not be solely based on the colour of your eyes, but it is one factor. Fashion colours are like fashion jewellery, designed to fit one season and change the next.

Check out our range of purple fashion jewellery at rayclif.com.