Looking for a birthday gift … for yourself, maybe? My customers and I are all about self-gifting! For August birthday wimmins, I’ve got a stunning example of the month’s birthstone, peridot, in the form of diamond chandelier earrings on sale on 1stdibs. And let’s not forget birth signs. What Leo wouldn’t love this lion pendant?…
jewelry designer
Jewel of the Month: Stars on Your Ears
When I like a style, I like it … Joan Jett released “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” in 1981, and I’m wearing a version of her haircut FORTY YEARS LATER. Designer Stephen Sprouse put DayGlo colors on the runway in 1984, and I’m still obsessed. And I’ve wanted Freddie Mercury’s cool star sunglasses since Queen’s…
Bastille Day Jewelry Blues
Bonne Fête Nationale! It’s le quatorze juillet — or what we non-French people call “Bastille Day,” which we do because we’re horribly plouc. Back in the day, I was lucky enough to be in Paris on July 14 three years in a row, so I have fond memories of the Eiffel Tower’s fireworks and wearing…
Jewel of the Month: Queen Min Earrings
I’m extra excited to share June’s Jewel of the Month here, albeit at the last possible minute, because this is the first significant new gold design that I’ve created since 2019. Last year was a washout for jewelry design, but the pandemic wasn’t to blame. My manufacturers actually masked up and went back to work…
Specially Priced Wendy Brandes Jewelry on 1stdibs
Photographer George De Castro Day and designer/stylist/model Stacy Lomman — my dream team — have been helping me take some fresh “as seen on” jewelry photos over the past week. I’ve been wanting to do this for ages! I’m so excited that I put all the freshly photographed designs on sale on 1stdibs for the…
Wendy Brandes Jewelry in Story Magazine
In my previous post, I thanked stylist and fashion journalist Marian Kwei for putting my Queen of Scots tiara on model/DJ Tolula Adeyemi for an Oscar party AND writing it all up for Story Magazine. Marian is a full-service operation! After the Oscars, Marian did so much more for me and turned my jewelry into…
Jewels of the Month: Tolula in a Tiara and More
In 1985, I listened to British singer Belouis Some‘s song “Imagination” on repeat. Kids these days don’t appreciate the dedication it took to play a song obsessively back then! It was a delicate operation, what with lifting the turntable needle up from the vinyl record and moving it to that flat, grooveless space in between…
Happy New Ears!
My big self-care moments during the shitshow of 2020 involved new ear piercings by my favorite piercer, Cassi Lopez-March of So Gold Studios in Brooklyn. Cassi has been piercing my ears since 2015 — she’s done 11 piercings out of the 15 that I have. Believe it or not, I have small ears, but Cassi…
Feeling Fancy at Wendy Brandes Jewelry
If you haven’t visited my online store in a minute, come on by! I’ve done a few renovations. My updated homepage now has a slideshow that explains each collection. The first slide is my gold collection. Gold always comes first with me — the first serious designs for my line were done in 18K yellow…
Throwback Thursday: Arrowhead Jewelry on 1stDibs
Remember when I used to blog about jewelry? Those were the days! I used to create new designs on the regular too. Here is evidence: The wax model of an arrowhead ring I never made. This ring would have been part of my mini-collection of arrowhead designs, all cast from an arrowhead found in my backyard…