Oh Cartier...

Just because I don't blog, doesn't mean I don't think about jewelry!

Check out this Cartier beaut!

Got $30,000 to spare? This can be yours. Click here. 

I've been seeing my jeweler a little lately. That sounded scandalous! It's not what you think! Just need some small repairs done before my next show September 2 in Anderson, SC. More info to come soon. I'm thinking of having a summer sale here in Baton Rouge. There's a lot of things I've been "thinking about." I hope to resume jewelry updates soon! 

A wedding charm

I was in the most beautiful wedding this weekend. What made it more beautiful were the hearts that were joined together. I love my sweet friend Lauren so much. She's the kind of person that's easy to love.

The weekend started off with the rehearsal dinner and a few people liked to refer to me as "Whiteney." 

Later that evening, I walked into a conversation that was so sweet. And it sort of had to do with me. I saw my friend Courtney give Lauren, the bride, a little wedding surprise. 

My fellow bridesmaid, Courtney, got a locket from my collection and gave it to the bride to use in her bouquet. The meaning behind it was special. Courtney thought it would be sweet if all of our friends getting married could have something meaningful and become a special, common thread in each wedding. What's so wonderful is that we can even pass this on to our daughters one day. 

Of course, that's the most wonderful thing about jewelry: the sentiment. 

The most important thing about a wedding is having a Godly, prepared heart for marriage. This locket simply added some sweetness to an already glorious celebration of marriage! 

My time in north Louisiana

Last weekend, we went to north Louisiana for a wedding. While the girls were brunching and the guys were on their way all the way up the state, I went antiquing. Junking. Whatever you want to call it is fine with me. 

I love stumbling upon silver plate. I'm pretty sure there was probably some sterling in the bunch if I had dug a little harder. 

I love this pink dish collection. I see it often in my treks. My mom's aunt, I believe, had a lot of this. I have a feeling if I am ever pregnant with a girl, I won't be able to resist this!

I love milk glass. I'm partial to the hob nail milk glass, but I am very particular about what I like in this collection. I haven't found the perfect piece, so I continue to wait. 

Love the retro, 70s gold glasses!

I did not purchase any of the above because my husband will surely have a cow if I bring another dish, glass, goblet, or tray home. Maybe once we get settled into a home one day, he'll let me have more of what I love! 

For some strange reason, this Spanish piece caught my eye, and I loved it. I surprise myself all the time. I strongly dislike Spanish or Italian influences in my personal style and decorating, but I loved the painting. I can't explain it. They asked $20 for it, so I thought it was a bargain. I, of course, had to talk them down. I got it for $18. I spent my remaining $2 on a coke. 

And it's made our way to the perfect place in our home. 

I love to go hunting. Even when it's not jewelry, it's still exciting, and I learn about antiques in general. I did get a few pieces of jewelry, though. I will reserve those pieces for another post!

Until then. 

Have I found a favorite?

I think I've finally figured it out! I've finally narrowed down the type of jewelry I love the most!

The winner is: Etruscan jewelry. 

I found these words on the development of this type of jewelry work:

"During the latter part of the Queen Victoria's reign, archaeological discoveries greatly influenced jewelry design. One such discovery was of Etruscan jewelry. These pieces had fine gold granulation, which the modern jeweler could not reproduce. It was the Italian jeweler Castellini who found a remote village in the mountains of northern Italy where the ancient art of gold granulation had been passed down for generations. Castellini took the process back to Rome and made his fortune reproducing Etruscan jewelry."

If my readings are correct, the Etruscan society (modern day Tuscany) was at it's peak from 700BC-300BC. This style of jewelry was revived, like the article above states, in Queen Victoria's reign. 

I love this stuff! Take a gander. These are images I got from the internet; they are not part of the Cherche collection. I will work on that, though.

But who am I kidding when I say that this is my favorite style? We all know I could never really narrow that down; I love it all. 

Older is better

I've often wondered where all the old jewelry is. I mean the really old stuff, like 15th century pieces and such. There probably in old family safe's where they belong. 

I occasionally read this blog for design ideas that I can't afford and I often covet the items so I often don't click on the link for that reason. She had a great article about old jewelry, and an earring (pictured below) that was over 2,000 years old. When I had been thinking about the 15th century pieces, this blew my mind! I should have thought bigger, better, and older. It's funny in my business, the older something is, the more valuable and sought-after it is. If our society only revered elderly people that way...

If interested, read article here.

The beauty of bakelite

It's great to see designers use alternative materials when making their new designs. I came across one designer, Raffaella Mannelli, that is using bakelite with 18k gold and diamonds!

I love the diamond pave' stackables!

I mention this piece because of the vintage, alternative material used, bakelite. 

Most antique stores have "Antique Weekly" or "Antique Lynx" publications, and I usually pick one up. The January issue of Antique Lynx featured an article on "The beauty of bakelite jewelry."

"Ironically one of the world's first true plastics, invited almost by accident, rose to glory as perhaps the most endearing type of costume jewelry of the 20th century."

It was a truly interesting article discussing the accidental invention around 1907 by Dr. Bakeland combining elements including formaldehyde. That's why when you rub this plastic, true bakelite will give off the slight smell of just that, formaldehyde. I should have paid more attention in chemistry class; maybe I could have actually benefitted from learning about different elements. 

Bakelite isn't one of my favorite vintage pieces, but when you add diamonds and 18k gold, it could quickly become appealing. 

Here's some cool vintage bakelite pieces that I found on the internet. 

I've never gotten any for the Cherche' collection. Maybe it's something I should look into. 

I'm dedicated

Yesterday morning, I woke up at 4:30 am. I woke up on purpose because I wanted to go to a market in The Most Random City, SC.

The market opens at 4 am and closes around 2 pm. I had to work at the jewelry store yesterday, so I had to get there early, then truck it to work.

I had the best time. I listened to old hymns on those old country roads. There wasn't too much fog. My GPS got me there just fine. I parked and as I got out of my car, I heard crickets. I realized how early it really was. And the weather was so cool! Almost cold for me. Right away wished I had an oversized sweatshirt on. Maybe like the LSU one that I want for my birthday. I started to walk in my black patent leather flip flops, and I immediately realized that I was overdressed. The {6 am} dew was too wet for flip flops, anyway. You needed tennis shoes! Rule #1 when going to markets, antique shows, antique malls: underdress; you don't want them marking up the price because you look like you can afford more.

While trekking through the wet grass, I found some stuff. I found 2 orange lamps with bulbs and shades for a price you wouldn't believe. I told the man that I really liked them; they were unexpected. Really unexpected for me. I said, "My husband won't believe what I'm coming home with; I'm not exactly the orange-lamp-buying-kinda- girl."

Those huge orange lamps came home with me along with a few other steals. On my drive out of the parking lot, I saw a burly, old man. He had a thick, white beard and was wearing overalls. He had a leash and was walking his black cat. A cat. Another man was literally walking in one direction with his eyes starring back at the scene in the opposite direction. I got a little chuckle...by myself, of course. You'd be crazy to think that A.Lee would get up at 4:30 for anything but hunting or a flight.

I enjoyed my time by myself. I hope this becomes sort of a Wednesday {early} morning ritual. I just have to remember how early.

Our refrigerator

I've never seen such elegant magnets!

We put these on our fridge last night to photograph for Cherche'. {These can be on your fridge, too, at a wonderfully low price!}

But I feel like I should be honest with you and show you what was really on our fridge. Among the wedding invitations and parties coming up, we had a magazine article for a daily laugh, of sorts. We received the article in the mail several weeks ago from my {future} sister-in-law, Lindsey.

Hmm. I wonder why Lindsey would think to send The Lee's an article on streaking....

Andrew....

Anyway, it's something to laugh about. But I couldn't let this "elegant cameo post" mislead you.

On that {streaking} note, Happy Thursday!

Geaux chic!

For LSU tailgating, "geaux" chic with these vintage doilies! I have a total of 5!

Jumping the gun

Today, I stumbled across the most adorable mink cape {with pockets!}, but it was too damn hot to purchase. If you're anything like me, you're looking for cooler days ahead.

Let me know if you're a weirdo like me and find yourself purchasing swim suits in February and mink capes in July! 

Dare to be different: Asian edition

I usually don't gravitate to Asian influence in my decorating or jewelry accessories. Typically, I like French or English inspired antiques with a hint of modern flair. But as I've been setting up for Cherche' parties, I've noticed all of the accessories I carry are Asian inspired! You may remember this onyx piece and this Chinese shoe scrapper. (Please note: To be politically correct, I should probably be using the term "Indian" instead of Asian, right? Hope you're not offended. All this PC stuff is so ridiculous anyway.)

Moving on. I find the more I shop, the more eclectic my taste becomes. It's interesting that way. Just like antiques are: interesting. I like primitive and modern. French and Asian. I like to mix it all up.

If you like to mix it all up too, here's some ideas for you:

This is a brilliant jade pendant. My cousin's sweet, wonderful gorgeous fiancee', Nicola, told me a little about jade that her grandmother taught her. She told me that jade is thought to bring good luck to those who wear it. Supposedly, if the jade breaks, a bad accident was supposed to happen to you, but the jade protected you. I think that's so interesting to know about, but I take these theories with a grain of salt. I already know where my protection and help come from.

I just love these wooden, Asian-inspired carvings. An interesting way to decorate!

There's plenty more accessories that I have to share with you. Maybe I'll start looking for French antiques next.

Show #2 :: Complete

I just glued my fingers together. Seriously. It hurts. Bad.

On that note, I decided to stop torturing my myself with repairs and type on my blog using my sandpapered finger tips.

Last night I had the Anderson Holiday Market, and it went quite well! I enjoyed the fact that my "booth" was different from all the rest. Customers seemed to like my niche. (I say "booth" because I was given a 5 x 2 table as my "booth." That's it. Please note when viewing the photos.)

I made tons of contacts and realized that Anderson isn't quite as bad as I perceived. I never see any of those "cute" people at Wal-Mart, Target, Dillard's, or the dry cleaners! I wondered if they existed, and come to find out, they do! Lucky for me, those "cute" people invited me to host a Cherche' show in December at their home!

Here are some of the photo's from last night's show:

Cherche' was on the projector! (Really not a big deal; everyone was!)

Me and Mom in our "Cherche" aprons she made.

The final display.

So I'm having a great day so far; I booked two shows in one day! I'll post the flier for the other exciting show as soon as we get the design finalized.

Now I have to go "cherche" for more jewelry! Off to the mountains tomorrow!

Dare to be different: Gold Edition.

"In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different."

Coco Chanel

Oh, the words of the great fashion designer. I couldn't agree more with these words of wisdom. I think most women would; after all, it's on countless facebook quotes. But I dare to point out that most young women I know act in a completely different way than Ms. Coco Chanel indicates. We need to have the David Yurman bracelet, Tiffany & Co. necklace, or John Hardy ring. We must be like everyone else.

Well I dare to be different. Don't let me mislead you; I do like some of these great current designs. I may even wear them occasionally (stacked and mixed with antiques of course!) I find more intrigue, though, in old findings. It's different. It's what we say we want to be.

Disclaimer: It's always okay to copy your momma.

There are a few vintage designers that I would like to tell you about. Of course there's the great Coco Chanel. She needs no introduction. But Chanel has peers that you may not be familiar with. I would like to introduce you to them.

Next time you're out antiquing, look on the backs of jewelry. You may recognize these designers after learning about them as I have. It's embarrassing how excited I get when shopping; it's like finding a little treasure when I recognize the designer. Shopping this way is certainly more fun than walking into Tiffany's and buying something with mindless pursuit. Okay maybe not. But you get my point.

Coco Chanel: the most chic in haute couture. Authentic 1980s gold earrings. These were clip ons, but made into posts. I saw a documentary on Chanel not too long ago. I encourage you to read about her life and success. It's very inspiring.

A little treasure chest of vintage findings.

Sarah Coventry: one of my favorites. In my mountain birthday post, you may remember the gorgeous bangle by this great designer.

Florentine jewelry box: Make sure it reads "Made in Italy" when antiquing as this one does.

Art designs: I look forward to finding more of these Art pieces! Pretty and dainty.

Florenza: Made in the 1930s and ceased operation in the 1980s. Most pieces have a Victorian look. This is a gorgeous brooch can also be worn as a show-stopping necklace because of the well-made pendant.

Miriam Haskell: Maybe my favorite designer. She made pieces in the 1920s-1950s. Even Joan Crawford and Lucille Ball wore her designs for professional and personal use!

"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous." Coco Chanel

Found

I'm proud to show some of my "findings!" Here is a set of black crystals that looks great with all black or jewel-tones or anything really. The necklace clasp is made of vintage rhinestones.

So here is the collection of sterling silver bangle bracelets. Some of them go as a set but can be purchased separately. Note: the bangle to the far left has 3 sapphires in the etching, the 4th bangle holds a turquoise stone, and the small hammered bangle contains an amethyst. Click for a larger view!

Also note, this jewelry display is actually an old Chinese boot scraper which is also up for purchase!

I'll be posting a few stories on these items later today. I hope you care to know more about my search!