Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog

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Jewel of the Month: Pearl Cufflinks for MrB’s Birthday

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Today is MrB’s birthday: He’s turned the big Seven-Oh! A 70th birthday requires serious celebration, so over the weekend I organized a surprise dinner attended by his four children and two grandchildren. (Thanks to the peeps who flew from California and Florida for it.) I held it a few days before his birthday to throw him off. He was amazed.

I saved his gift for the actual birthday. The cufflinks I made him have been in the works for a long time. I got the pair of silvery pearls in 2010, when I was making pearl dragon cufflinks for my designing friend Zang Toi. I didn’t decide what I wanted to do with them until last year, when I redesigned a silvery pearl pendant that MrB gave me in 1998.

My own pearl pendant, post-redesign. Click for more information.

The tsavorite (green garnet) that I used in the pendant is one of my favorite gems. I’ve used it in my Marie Antoinette ring and the onyx skull ring you see in my blog’s header. As I was working on the pendant, I realized I could do a pair of cufflinks to match. Here they are — August’s Jewel of the Month.

Photo by SquareMoose.

The 179 tsavorites and two pearls are set in 18K gold wire. All the work was done by hand. No mold was made so the design can never be reproduced exactly as pictured here, but you can custom order your own special version. You get to choose the color of the pearls and the gem, so the price depends on the material. (For more information about the costs and process of custom work, click here.) There’s got to be a superstar athlete who will want these in platinum with black pearls and diamonds, don’t you think?

Here’s another shot of the cufflinks.

Photo by SquareMoose.

I’m looking forward to seeing these on MrB at his second birthday dinner tonight.  Of course, there’s another dinner! When you’re planning a surprise party, it’s a good idea to schedule an official celebration with your target so s/he isn’t suspicious. Oh, I have all the surprise-party tricks. This is the third time I’ve surprised MrB. I keep changing my technique so he doesn’t catch on. Mwah ha ha ha.

Happy birthday, MrB!

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Comments

  1. Wow, Wendy, those are freakin’ amazing! I love the root-like way the gold twists – it goes so well with the talon-ish green bits.

    You are so talented! Mr. B will love those. Happy 7-Oh, Mr B.

  3. I do believe those are the most beautiful cufflinks I have ever seen – obviously a labour of love. Happy Birthday to Mr. B. May he wear these in health and happiness.

  10. Mr. B & I are birthday twins! And those cufflinks are amazing. I think it’s very cute how you keep surprising him and he doesn’t catch on. I can’t keep surprises a secret that well.

  14. Incredibly awesome gift. Happy birthday to Mr.B! And congrats on throwing him a surprise party. I can’t even get my own party planned when I plan it to the teeth, I couldn’t imagine a surprise party.

  19. I love your absolutely gorgeous and unique jewelry line Wendy!

    I will definitely keep an eye out on your line, I might just have to splurge one of these days 😉

    Keep up the great work!

    Xo, Ada