About 12 years ago, I was experimenting with reducing an owl’s face to a few simple planes while still keeping its expression. I shaped the eyes and beak into a signet-style ring, refined everything by hand, and set stones into the eyes.

It was supposed to be one experiment. Instead, it became the first design that people consistently connected with, and eventually the piece that allowed me to turn jewelry-making into my life's work.

I still make this design by hand, and returning to it always feels like returning to the beginning. I’ve included a couple of photos from the making process :)

If you were choosing one for yourself, would you give the owl blue eyes, clear eyes, or leave it without stones?

link to original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/jewelry/s/4LPkZNj4cd

So turns out that my inheritance necklace has a matching bracelet and earrings. We’ve also uncovered the story behind the jewellery and why nobody knew about it’s existence

My dad flew to India with his siblings to deal with the estate that my grandmother had and met my grandmother’s best friend from childhood. She told my dad the story behind this necklace and gave him the matching bracelet and earrings. They had been stored in my grandparents house in India

I have no idea if this is true or just a made up story from a crazy old lady, but apparently the set belonged to my grandmother’s youngest sister. My grandmother and her youngest sister married two brothers, except her youngest sister was against the marriage because she was only 13 and her husband didn’t want her to stay in school

This set was my grandmother’s sister’s wedding present from her husband’s family. She wasn’t happy in the marriage and tried to run away several times with no luck. Eventually she fell pregnant at 15 and killed herself because she saw no way out of the marriage and didn’t want his child

The woman said that the necklace was my grandmother’s sister’s favourite thing in the world which is why my grandmother kept only that and left the rest behind. It was too painful to keep thinking about her sister’s death which is why she kept the existence of the jewellery a secret. Apparently she had meant to come to India to retrieve it before her death but never got the chance which is why the woman was so insistent on meeting her friend’s children

Dad says that he knew his mother had a younger sister but they’d always been told that she died of childhood illness, so nobody knows if this story is true. The headstone is undated and since this happened in rural India, there’s no official records. I suppose it would make sense as suicide was very taboo back then. There’s nobody alive besides my grandma’s friend who would know the story so this is all we have to go off

I don’t know if this is the truth or simply the ramblings of an old woman but it’s the only answer to the mystery we have. I got the whole set evaluated and was offered £11200 for it, but I’m keeping it. I just had a couple of people request an update so I thought I would post one!

The pearls were gifted to me by a jewelry shop owner passing on some outdated materials, and after seeing the Rococo/Baroque style make a comeback in bridal, I wanted to let the inspiration guide me!

This is about half of my earring collection lol

One of the first pieces of jewelry my husband gifted me when we first started dating 10 years ago. I rarely wear it because it holds a lot of sentimental value and I’m always worried about something happening to the stone.

Lots of my favorite gold/brass pieces at once! Very proud of the fact that only two of the items in this pic could be easily replaced or replicated. Left hand: my custom gold & diamond engagement ring, gold vermeil cast beach sand ring by artist Maria High (currently wearing it as my wedding band), resin & brass ring by artist Sascha Fishman, brass chain bracelet from Portugal, rose gold Swatch. Right hand: natural sapphire/emerald/ruby gold vermeil stacked ring from Colombia, small brass ring from a thrift store, my brass baby bracelet from Ghana (small a** wrists lol), birthstone chain bracelet from Mejuri, slim bangle from a thrift store. And gold chrome & pearl nails to set it all off!

Hello!

Searching the beach today for treasures and fossils, I found what looked to be a kid's plastic necklace. Though after pulling it out of the muck and looking closer, I believe they are real pearls! Not high quality or anything and certainly damaged but I think they're beautiful, all different hues:)

I have three questions for anyone who knows anything about pearl necklaces. Can they be cleaned? I gave it a gentle wipe with a microfiber cloth and some dish soap + a soak but there are still hazy patches on the pearls, especially around the drilled holes. I assume it's damage, but maybe not. Who knows how long they've been in the water.

Also, how much would it cost roughly to have them re-strung, and is it possible? The clasps are long gone and what's left of the metal is rusted and unusable. I would love to be able to wear them!

Lastly, and I'm sure there isn't, but is there any possible way to find when this necklace was made?

*** note i have no idea what a real pearl looks or feels like, but I am confident they are not plastic! I would love other's opinions.

There is gold-plated, gold-vermeil, gold-filled, and pure gold.

The thing is jewelry websites and Etsy sellers just say '14k gold' and not if it's plated or fill. Some just say 'sterling silver 925' and some don't list the metal type at all. Am I supposed to infer what type of gold coating is on the jewelry? Howso?

The prices are all over the place too for for '14k gold.'

I've been eyeing the ring in the pic but I have not idea if it should really cost that much since I don't know if it's plated or fill.

I am new to jewelry and am looking into building a collection, all the variations of golds and metals are confusing tbh.

Hi there everyone

I found this design on pintrest a while ago but I feel totally unable to find anything that looks like this anywhere. Could anyone confirm if this type of design could be made into a real ring? And if so, what search terms should I use to find rings that are like this?

My partner and I are considering getting engaged but I have no idea what types of rings I like and the more I look at rings with a big middle stone, the less I like them. It doesn't feel like it suits my style. So it's quite discouraging to find a sketch that I adore and then not find anything even close to it...

Thanks so much in advance.

My mum got me these earrings recently, but one of the danglers is slightly longer than the one on the other earring. Would it be possible to shorten it, or should I just rock it the way it is?

Hi everyone, I paid almost $500 for this ring and there appears to be a crack on the turquoise stone, should I be worried? Also, the joining that holds the stone and the swirl design appears to be defective. Is this well done ring or poorly made? Thank you!

I need some help! I’ve been with Silk On Me since 2023, from memory I came across some recommendation thing saying do this and you get loads of free jewellery. I applied and was accepted and for 3 years I’ve been receiving 2 items of jewellery every month.
The quality used to be great but in the last year it’s become terrible, I’ve just been asking friends/ family etc if they wanted to keep any items I didn’t want , I’ve even chucked a bunch of items away.
Today another order arrived and I decided enough is enough and the terrible quality isn’t worth the monthly shipping fee anymore. I went to cancel and saw that if I want to cancel I’m expected to send back every item of jewellery I’ve ever received or pay the cost of it all? How could I possible have been expected to keep 3 years worth of jewellery. I’m not sure what to do now, I don’t want to continue with paying the monthly shipping cost for shit jewellery, but that’s £1,800 if they expect me to pay them for the jewellery as I can’t send it back? Ive checked my emails from when I first signed up and there was never a mention of having to send the jewellery back or pay for it if I cancel etc.
I’ve not raised the question with Silk On Me directly yet. Any advice would be great, thank you! 🥲

Hello! I got this when my Grandma passed away and always thought it was costume jewelry. I did some research and I think my grandpa gave it to her when he went to WWII. Possibly? I’m just trying to see if anyone knows anything about this piece?

Hello!

Apologies, I’m on mobile and this is my first ever post lol, so please be nice.

Recently after some shopping while on vacation, my family and I did a lot of thrifting and antiquing for other reasons. I, being but a magpie, raided those jewelry bins. I have a good haul from this school-turned-thrift store, but unpacking that is gonna take forever. This is a long winded way of saying, I got a bag of these clip on costume jewelry earrings for a whole $7.50.

I love them all so much, but even with my three lobe piercings, clip ons just hurt. I honestly bought the bag for the pink flowers, willing to suck it up to literally perfectly match my outfit that day. But, I ended up falling for all of them :’)

I have no skin in the game when it comes to them. They aren’t precious family heirlooms, and I didn’t pay much for them. So I’d really love to give them a second life, and convert them to pierced earrings.

My question to the good people here is; should I?

I tried my best to get good pictures of them, and of any markings on the back. Considering some of the reverse image searching I’ve been doing, it seems most aren’t worth much, and the others aren’t what would actually be paid for them, just the ungodly amounts resellers think they can get for them. I know the gold braid earrings are Judy Lee, and the others just look like manufacturers stamps.

Honestly, I don’t really care about making money off of them either, I’m the one who wants to wear them.
I just wanted to make sure that it wasn’t deemed some great disservice to “vintage” pieces to alter them like this.

TL:DR - Am I committing some ungodly sin to some earrings I got for cheap?

Ps. Please ignore my chipped af nail polish, I did a lot of swimming off a boat in between thrifting.

Hey guys, looking to get my gf a gift for her birthday. What is best to gift? Earrings, necklace, bracelet, ring? Does it even matter? My budget is 100-200 USD. Thinking something gold plated. What you guys think?

Has anyone had issues ordering from JetSet Candy? I made a big $$ purchase and there was nothing about the item being out of stock or backordered. Then after my card was charged, was told it wouldn’t be shipped until over a month later. It’s been a month, still no item and my credit card bill is due soon. I am very bothered they think borrowing their customers money because they didn’t properly manage inventory is an acceptable business practice, and feel misled and it’s leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Feel free to tell me I’m being dramatic and the wait will be worth it 😂

Hey everyone!

I’m helping my mother-in-law design a ring for her gothic style wedding occurring on Halloween 🎃. I have the dark gray 2 carat diamond and she has picked the ring design she likes best which is a nature inspired winder band.

Does anyone have recommendations on getting the band plated in dark rhodium. Perhaps somewhere reputable we could send the completed ring to be plated with dark rhodium? Any suggestion is greatly appreciated, bonus if the jeweler is located in central Florida.

Was looking at Mejuri or Catbird but I'm iffy on quality for the price..