Favorite Jewelry Pieces and My Jewelry Journey
Growing up, I’ve always had an up and down relationship with jewelry. Perhaps it’s a case of wanting to be like your mom, but from my earliest memory I knew I wanted my ears pierced. I still remembering going to the mall near my house and getting my ears pierced at one of the jewelry counters that offered free piercing with purchase of earrings. My mom was pretty smart because she had them pierce both ears at the same time because right after they went through, cue. all. the. crying. I have a vivid memory of my brother carrying me out of the mall 😂. Anywho - I did have some jewelry pieces I wore as a child for years on end. A silver bracelet with bells that stayed on my wrist at all times, a gold necklace with a jade bead on the chain, and some single stud earrings.
I thought I’d share my quick jewelry journey and how I got to my current style that I’m at today.
EARRINGS
While I did have a phase during middle school / early high school where I wore dangly beaded earrings (inspired by Lana Lang in Smallville), I definitely went bigger and bolder my late high school / early college years. Probably all of high school I wanted to get a second piercing but my parents said absolutely not. So of course, one of the first things I did when I was 18 was get spontaneous 2nd piercings with some friends. (I don’t think my dad noticed I had my second piercings in until about 2 years later LOL.) Anyways, my friends and I went to Claire’s because that’s all we knew, but these days I’d definitely go to a more professional piercer if I could do it again (even just for lobe piercings). Especially since I’d probably move up the ear a bit more into more delicate areas (sorry mom if you’re reading this, I still want to get more piercings).
I think late college I got a bit over earrings and actually went bare eared for a while. Post college I think I got back into dainty minimal earrings and that’s when I went for some small gold spheres and a thin gold bar for a simple earring stack.
As I’m getting older, I feel like I should try a bit harder with my earrings. When I went to all my wedding events this year, I was super boring and didn’t change out any of my earrings. I thought it was about time I picked up some new ones that I could mix in with everyday use as well as ones that I could dress up for special occasions. I ended up picking up some hoop varieties from Mejuri during their Black Friday sale and I am obsessed so far. In middle school I loved hoop earrings but actually got a bit terrified by some horror stories that my mom and others told me (i.e. the hoops catching on something and ripping through your ear). So when I saw these Editor Hoops, I knew they were perfect since they didn’t completely close. I think these will look perfect with one of my many Madewell button down shirts for work or casual weekend wear. (They’re currently backordered, hence I don’t have them yet). For a dressier pair, I decided to pick up these Loop Earrings which I am smitten with and can’t wait to wear to my holiday party next weekend. A while back, my mom was cleaning out her jewelry and I came across these mini gold hoops - they’re not perfect circles which I think gives them a bit of a unique look. And I just think of them as a bit vintage and that just makes me so excited.
I definitely am going to try to be better about switching out my earrings more regularly so once that happens, I’ll start investing in more earrings / upping my ear piercing game. Stay tuned!
NECKLACES & BRACELETS
Before this year, it has been nearly 5 years since I’ve purchased a necklace. I think I bought a gold tassel necklace sometimes in college and then bought a fine gold chain choker. I bought a few statement necklaces from J Crew / Stitch Fix but a lot of them broke bc #cheap or they’re too gaudy for me to wear now. As you can see from my little case, I have very minimal styles when it comes to jewelry and these “bigger” pieces are no exception.
Earlier this year I spotted the zodiac pieces from Mejuri and fell in love. I wasn’t sure I wanted one of the signet ring styles so I ended up getting their necklace (Cancer if you were wondering)! I’m still debating on getting the Cancer ring but for now, I think I’ll be content with what I have. And anyways, I have my eyes set on one ring in particular (hint hint nudge nudge T :B). Since I already had the chain from my zodiac necklace, I recently picked up the boyfriend pendant which I’ve been eyeing for a while. In fact, I probably first spotted Mejuri through Estee back when she had their evil eye ring. I think I’m good on necklaces for now, but I might want to try necklace layering soon. In particular, I have my eyes on this long sphere necklace.
Bracelet wise, I think it’s something I want to expand more into. The Daniel Wellington Classic Bracelet * was not something I expected to like but I actually really did. I ended up wearing it to at least 3 of the weddings I attended this year and even T was a fan of the style. I saw that they brought out a few colors and I’m actually eyeing up the Dusty Sand one they have. Ideally I would want something that I could leave on at all times because #lazy and also because I just find it so hard to do up chain clasps one handed. If you have any good recommendations, please let me know!
RINGS
Speaking of rings (lol), I am an absolute ring fiend. If I could have a huge collection, I would. I’m very much into growing a fine jewelry collection and would rather save and invest in pieces rather than buy some fast fashion pieces. Maybe it’s a bit snobby, but that’s what I choose to invest in. I have my set rings that I love to wear on the regular and they consist of some twisted rings and a dot cuff ring. This simple stack from Vrai & Oro is quite perfect and is a great “starter kit” for anyone that wants to get into ring stacking. One ring style I’ve been obsessed with for years is my olive leaf ring. I got mine from Mejuri a few years back but it looks like they don’t carry it anymore. It can be a bit finicky cause it can snag onto sweaters/items and stretch out of place. I decided to invest in a nicer one since my old ones would tarnish/rust/break quite easily and I probably went through 2-3 “cheap” ones. This one has lasted quite some time so I’m definitely pleased with it.
Last year, Tamira Jarrel had a collaboration with Mejuri and to this date it’s still probably one of my favorite collections and I wish so much that I had picked up some of the earrings. I ended up snagging one of the dual rings and always love wearing it stacked against my dot cuff ring. I always think investing in pieces slowly over time gives you the chance to figure out how to style your rings and give them the wear they deserve without “moving on” too quickly.
The last ring I added to my collection was a little signet pinky ring from Mejuri which I had engraved with ‘T’ for my boyfriend. I got it for myself (lol) but I loved the idea of carrying around a piece of him with me always ☺️❤️.
TRAVEL CASE
Probably the main reason why I was inspired to write this post HAS to be because of my new travel case from Mejuri. I follow a lot of fab gals over on Instagram that happen to be part of the Mejuri Fine Crew (#idream) and I spotted this on many of their pages. I thought it was genius and while I’m sure other brands have similar concepts, I just swooned over it and couldn’t get it out of my head. Now that I am wearing more jewelry, I do want to take options with me when I travel. Probably the biggest nightmare is bringing rings and a necklace and throwing it in a little pouch, only to have it all be nightmarishly tangled up. This pouch is a good quick solution and lets you even throw it into your purse so you can change it up from day to night. I have heard the case is limited edition so be sure to snag your own soon! (Hopefully this was just a trial period and they’ll be bringing it back full-time and in various materials/colors/with monogramming possibilities.) // EDIT: As of January 2019, I am part of The Fine Crew at Mejuri! What does this mean? If you shop through my referral link, you get 10% off your order and I make a small commission off your order! As a little thank you for shopping me I get to offer you a Mejuri discount. So it’s a win-win for both of us :) Feel free to read more in my disclaimer.
WATCHES
I think my earliest memory of watches had to be my light blue Baby G watch (I found a link to the exact one on Poshmark but it’s not me selling it - just FYI) in 6th grade that I wore to death. I remember I had THE worst watch tan and it got to the point where watches stopped being cool. I think I abandoned watches from 7th grade all the way through my junior year in college. Anywho, phones became a lot more prominent when I was in middle school/high school and you could look at your cellphone or iPod mini (do you guys remember these??). I think my senior year in college I came across some wrap watches from La Mer Collections and it sent me in a watch craze. Around my senior year in college, I then came across a gold Casio watch that was a digital/analog duo watch which I actually really liked and thought was fun since it reminded me of dad watches but more chic.
Post college is probably when I started growing my watch collection and it’s definitely something I still like to invest in. For my college graduation gift / birthday gift, my parents got me Michael Kors Mini Bradshaw watch in rose gold (bc MK and rose gold were all the craze back then) and I absolutely loved how chunky and busy” it was. These days I rarely reach for it, but I still keep it because #sentimental. I then started getting new watches as a sort of “treat” to myself for new jobs and up to this day, I still do just that. For any OG CHY readers, you might remember this post I wrote way back in 2015 about my watch history which actually re-iterates much of what I said above lol. I went with a Kate Spade watch for a chic but still minimal look and then dove headfirst into my first leather band watch from Daniel Wellington. It’s crazy to me to see how much DW has grown as a brand over the last few years. I still have some *pinch me* moments because I had the opportunity to partner up with DW on a few occasions this year - along with some other brands. As such, my watch collection has grown immensely and I really need to kick myself into wearing my watches more frequently. Most days I’m just sitting at work writing long support letters and I tend to take off my watch since it’s not as comfortable. But when I go out, I still love the look and feel of watches and using them to avoid draining my phone battery / getting distracted. Some other watch brands that I’ve added to my collection are from MVMT*, Abbott Lyon*, and Nicole Vienna.
Daniel Wellington watches are still at the top of my favorites list because of their simplicity and their versatility. I love how easy it is to pop on and off the watch straps for a quick way to mix up your watch game. I’ve armed myself with some white and black watch faces with a variety of straps. These days I quite love the Classic Petite* with either Melrose* or Durham* bands with either the white or black face, although sometimes I throw in the Ashfield* band because an all black watch makes me feel super badass. Daniel Wellington has been super kind to give me a discount code ‘ CHYISM ‘ which gives you 15% on top of any promotion/deal they’re running. Right now DW is running a promotion where will receive 10% off any 2 or more products, free gift wrapping, and free worldwide shipping! So the 10% + 15% off is quite a deal. Also, I don’t make anything off you using my discount - it’s just for you guys to benefit!
Some watches that I have on my list to try soon would be Larsson & Jennings (still - after several years of lusting after their watches) and Rosefield Watches (which have the most gorgeous squared/rectangle faces). Fingers crossed I’ll add at least one of them into my collection in 2019. I actually applied to be part of Rosefield’s ambassador program - it’s great and they don’t really discriminate against smaller influencers who may have a smaller following - they just want those who are passionate about creating great content! If you want to join, please do so through my link :)
That’s a wrap! I hope you guys liked this rather long delve into my collection and journey with jewelry over the last decade + of my life. What are your top favorites / must have pieces in your collection? Any favorite brands to shop at?
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Products marked with (*) were gifted to me, but all opinions remain my own. This post also contains affiliate links.
Feel free to read more on my disclaimer.