My Jewel of the Month posts highlight my newest — or newsiest — jewelry designs. Here are 2015’s hot jewels from both my luxe signature line and my social-media-inspired WENDYB by Wendy Brandes diffusion line. Click the photos to read the original posts. Most of the engagement/wedding jewelry I do is customized to the clients’…
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Throwback Thursday: Vegas Memories From Adornmentality
I feel like the big jewelry trade shows in Las Vegas were just yesterday, but they were the end of May/beginning of June. I always have a great time with my Vegas Gems — a group of female jewelry professionals who bonded through social media. Gorgeous jewelry designer/blogger Shamila Jiwa is our organizer, and gorgeous…
The Financial Times on Consignment Practices
Big thanks to a gorgeous jewelry-industry friend for sharing a Financial Times article by Elisa Anniss called, “Retailers seem happy to let designers take the financial strain.” (You may need to create an FT ID in Twitter to read this.) The article, which explains the retail practice of selling fine jewelry on consignment, came out…
Wanderlust 2014: The Biennale de Paris
The French newspaper Le Monde is celebrating its 70th anniversary, and MrB was invited to the Le Monde Festival to speak on a panel about the future of journalism. After MrB did his journalism-related work, I had a little business to do. The Biennale de Paris is a show of antiques, artwork and jewelry, and…
How to Wear Wendy Brandes Jewelry With Your BFF
You know those “best friends” heart-shaped necklaces that you’re supposed to split with your closest gal pal? If you and your BFF like the idea of a jewelry connection but crave an edgier design, Jennifer Gandia of Greenwich Jewelers has a sassy solution. She split a pair of my middle finger emoji stud earrings with…
What Wendy Wore: Platinum and Bricks at JCK Las Vegas
Last weekend, I attended JCK Las Vegas, the ginormous jewelry trade show, for the second time. In 2013, I was there to speak about the next-generation customer, alongside jewelry expert Cheryl Kremkow. This year, I was invited by Platinum Guild International, so, naturally, I wore a lot of platinum! The first thing I did was…
The High Price of Oscar Jewelry
In my paean to Elizabeth Taylor’s relationship with jewelry, written after the star’s death in 2011, I mentioned that celebrities today are sometimes paid to wear jewelry, unlike Dame Elizabeth, who owned her own diamonds. March’s Vanity Fair — the Hollywood issue — has more information on the price of red-carpet representation. Here is a…
What Wendy Wore: Zang Toi to FGI’s Rising Star Awards
Fashion Group International’s Rising Star Awards lunch was held on Tuesday at Cipriani (the home of delicious Bellinis). I won the Rising Star Award for fine jewelry in 2012. This year, I nominated jewelry-designing sisters Yolanda and Amaia Torrubia of Torrubia & Torrubia for the same category, so I went to the lunch to show support….
What Wendy Wore: Stacy Lomman to FGI’s Rising Star Awards
Fashion Group International held its annual Rising Star Awards luncheon yesterday at Cipriani. Last year, I won the Rising Star Award for fine jewelry, and designer/blogger/stylist Stacy Lomman was a finalist in the women’s apparel category. (To give you an idea of how prestigious the apparel category is: A past Rising Star winner in the apparel…
Great Minds Think Alike (in Some Ways) … About Tiger Jewelry
Animal-motif jewelry has been around since ancient times. Big cats are an enduring theme. When it comes to a universal concept like this, “‘Tain’t what you do (it’s the way that you do it),” as the song goes. Everyone can interpret the same idea differently. For instance, I made a tiger ring for my gorgeous…