The highlight of 2019 for Wendy Brandes Jewelry was a gem of a person! I am still madly in love with the photo shoot I did with Judith Boyd, aka Style Crone, because I’m always trying to show that jewelry is for everyone.
Judith is wearing my entire Queen of Scots snake collection.
When I did appearances this year, I decorated my booth/case with photos of Judith and she was literally stopping people in their tracks. And I had a LOT to say about this brand campaign. I did a video about why I wanted to work with my 76-year-old model … I mean, besides the fact that she’s gorgeous.
I had six (!) blog posts rolling out key images.
- Style Crone, Part 1: Skull cufflinks and a white mullet
- Style Crone, Part 2: Turquoise skull ring with rubies
- Style Crone, Part 3: The queen of snakes
- Style Crone, Part 4: Rihanna gets on on age inclusivity
- Style Crone, Part 5: We have the power
- Style Crone, Part 6: Carpe Diem
In a second video, I contemplated the reaction to the Style Crone shoot.
And you can hear from Judith herself by reading her blog post here and watching her interview on CBS.
Of course, I also wrote about literal gems in 2019. In January, it was a made-to-order “No Class” signet ring. If you ever want to have the image of a dog smoking a cigar on a piece of jewelry, I’m your woman.
Click for original post.
Another unusual custom piece represented February, the month of romance: A “widow’s ring” for Phala.
I debuted March’s mini-collection of fancy-cut black-diamond skull jewelry a little early. I couldn’t wait!
I am a huge fan of redesigning old jewelry. In April, I shared the custom ring I created for gorgeous client Laura using a tourmaline I plucked from one of my own designs. Interesting fact: I recut the tourmaline to give it even better color.
I’m all about customer service even if you aren’t the original customer, as I proved in May, when a “vintage” necklace surprised me.
I waved goodbye to my silver emoji stud earrings in June. Anyone who owns those now officially has collector’s items.
The Eleanor lion necklace got the jump on Leo season and was the Jewel of the Month for July, thanks to author Anne Thériault, who shares my love for bad-ass queens.
Art is worth more than the sum of its parts. With that in mind, I revisited my Maneater ring collection in August.
I skipped the Jewel of the Month post for September because I knew I would have at least two in October. I mean, you gotta do October birthstones and skulls for Halloween. But then I ended up with three posts in October, because how could I resist highlighting a little (actually, very big) diamond-studded something for the whistleblower in your life?
Look how closely my ruby locket (and November jewel) resembles a real empress’s jewelry!
Finally, this month, I had the pleasure of again working with the responsibly sourced and brilliantly colored stones available at ANZA Gems.
First project for 2020 will be a custom ring, which I hope will be followed quickly by a long-awaited design for my line.