Eve pendant

This beauty was my special Christmas Eve present and I am so incredibly in love.  This Art Deco stickpin conversion was just what I was looking for to add to my growing yellow gold collection.  I hope everyone had a happy holiday with all those you love and have a wonderful New Year!  See you in 2016!

diamond dress ring

I literally gasped when I stumbled across this ring on Etsy!  Life goal: own a diamond dress ring at some point in my life.  This one is just absolute perfection!

star sapphire

As little girls often do, I frequently rifled through my mother's jewelry box, admiring all the beautiful shiny things that seemed oh so glamorous.  One piece that stands out in my memory particularly is a star sapphire ring she always had tucked away that, to this day, I have never actually seen her wear.  Despite my attempt at trying to make this ring mine from frequent "borrowing," she always requested it back, making it all the more alluring (also now leading me to believe it retained some kind of sentimental value that I am unaware of).  In my mind's eye, it was set in a very simple setting but I was beyond mesmerized  by the qualities of the stone.  I haven't thought about that ring in so very long, but now can't stop thinking about star sapphires.  Both the 8 prong vintage setting and Art Deco with side diamonds, featured above, are calling my name!

holiday 15 etsy wishlist

Happy Holidays!  I am beyond excited for this upcoming holiday season!  It was very hard to create a wishlist this year for myself, but the items I do want, I REALLY want.  And per usual, most of my wants are from etsy, so here is my annual etsy holiday wishlist:
1) Captain Wentworth Tshirt- My all time favorite Austen novel is Persuasion.  And of course one of the most heart stopping moments of the novel is when Captain Wentworth declares his love for Anne, "You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever."  With many more popular Austen novels out there, it is hard to find Persuasion merchandise, so I was incredibly excited when I stumbled upon this shirt!
2) Vintage yellow gold pendant- Probably the #1 item on my holiday wishlist.  I have been searching for just the right vintage/ antique yellow gold pendant and no matter how much searching I do, I keep coming back to this beauty.
3) Starburst earrings- Obsessing over starbursts lately, and these perfect little studs will work well with pretty much all of my jewelry.
4) Ear pins- So, so, so in love with this trend.  Problem is, most of the ones I have found are a little too long or big for my rather small ears.  These look like just the perfect length to fit my teeny, tiny ears!

for December babies

Happy Birthday December babies!  You may have to share your birthday with a very busy holiday month, but at least you have the beautiful birthstone, blue topaz, to adorn jewelry for your birthday or holiday gifts! Each of these stunning necklaces are for sale (from Etsy, Ruby Lane, and Nightingale Antiques).  Such a hard decision to make between the Art Deco lavalier, the Tricolored Gold Filigree necklace, and the Art Nouveau elongated pearl pendant!

boyfriend watch

'Tis the season!  As the holidays approach, I am starting to create my wishlist.  On the top of my list is a beautiful gold boyfriend watch to stack with my bracelets. I held out a long time with my chunky leather watches, until one day my watch battery stopped and I unintentionally phased out watch wearing.  And in the day and age when cell phones are like an extension of our hands, you would think watches would be obsolete, but I am craving one more than ever!  Above are my top two choices from MVMT and Fossil.

for November babies

Wow, look at this stunning beauty!  No offense to citrine, but what stone wouldn't look stunning in this Victorian/ Art Nouveau setting?!  But citrine is beautiful in its own right, with its beautiful warm yellow glow so perfect for the fall month of November.  Colors range from lemon yellow (from which the stone derives its name) to reddish brown, my favorite being the shade featured above.

threaded wire earrings

My studio has been sorely neglected lately.  But all of a sudden yesterday, I experienced a surge of motivation that made me feel like if I didn't make something new soon I was going to burst!  Although I had minimal time to complete said newness after feverishly completing my daughter's Halloween costume, I was able to bust these hammered wire GF thread earrings out before crashing into my bed for the night!  But my goal for this weekend is to create a much needed shopping list of jewelry supplies to make a whole lot of more newness in the upcoming weeks!

thread earrings

I am so unbelievably excited about the earring trends surfacing right now!  Ear jackets and ear climbers and thread earrings, oh my!  Thread earrings are subtly dramatic, most often simple in design but with a dramatic length.  The above earrings by AveryBlake on Etsy are right up my alley with their oxidized sterling silver, yellow gold detail and aquamarine combo!  Here are some additional glamorous options...

These yellow gold bullet thread earrings are the perfect edgy everyday wear option.

I am such a sucker for a starburst!  A diamond encrusted starburst thread earring?  Even better!!!

Oh my LORD!  Pure perfection with black diamonds!

for October babies

Happy October!  I can't believe I have been doing these birthstone posts for a year now!  Because my love of birthstones is endless, I thought I would continue with this monthly tradition but switch gears slightly.  So this year will be all about antique birthstone necklaces!

I love October and the fall season... the cooler weather, the changing color of leaves.  And with all the remarkable colors that come with the fall season, I find it slightly surprising that pink is the color to represent this month.  But the rich deep hues of pink tourmaline do conjure a feeling of fall, with the usually vibrant pink deepening and darkening with the changing season.  This Victorian pink tourmaline and seed pearl necklace holds the most beautiful tourmalines, with just the perfect shade of pink for the fall season.

and again and again

And he does it again!  Todd Reed's pieces are like no other.  He has a signature style yet his designs continue to evolve, something I am trying to tune into myself as a jewelry designer.  This brown pear-shaped diamond eternity band is exquisite!  The east west setting in combo with the varying shades of brown diamonds is just pure perfection!

yellow gold lovelies

With wearing much more yellow gold now, I have pondered what kind of engagement ring I would have gravitated towards if my love of yellow gold was stronger at the time when I got engaged.  There is no doubt I would have looked for an antique ring and I have so fallen in love with box set engagement rings, I can't imagine not having one at this point.  This ring is like a yellow gold sibling of my actual platinum engagement ring!  But here are some other strong contenders...

This filigree beauty from Erie Basin would have been right up my alley when I first started searching for rings and before I was frightened away from delicate filigree for everyday wear!

This stunning beauty is very similar in feeling, with it's leafy scalloped embellishments, to the first ring I picked out to be my own!

And the design of this Victorian beauty would have been hard to resist!

for September babies

Hands down my favorite birthstone!!!  One of the many reasons I got married in September is so I could incorporate this gorgeous stone into my wedding rings.  One of my all time favorite looks is a classic diamond and sapphire Art Deco ring.  Nothing says classic Art Deco like a lovely geometric design with diamonds and sapphire detail and I could have posted about a million different rings to represent.  But I wanted to make this birthstone post all about sapphires and making sure that stone took center stage.  This lovely Art Nouveau ring represents the true beauty of a sapphire, with a lovely warm green gold filigree setting and a rich blue ceylon sapphire.

Villette Jewelry + Instagram = LOVE

Villette Jewelry is now on Instagram!  If you have appreciated reading this little blog of mine, please follow me on Instagram.  I am so excited to be a part of another vehicle to share my love of jewelry!

yellow snake

I am essentially migrating over to a pretty much yellow gold dominated jewelry wardrobe.  I still have a lot of my first loves in white metal, but all I ever seem to want to wear anymore is yellow gold.  So I am slowly adding yellow gold options to my jewelry collection and am very excited about my outfitting options.  Next on the list is a yellow gold snake ring.  I love this simple one I found on ebay.  Much more of a fashion option, instead of a true investment, but I see endless combo options with this mixed in with some of my other yellow gold rings.  And turquoise has been a long time summer time favorite of mine!

for august babies

Nothing is like the color of August's birthstone, peridot!  It is one of the most easily recognizable gemstones because it's color is like no other.  Peridot is also one of the only gemstones that comes in only one color.  With shades ranging from yellowish green to olive, no matter the shade, the color is vibrant and breathtaking.  This beautiful Art Deco ring design highlights this stunning lime green peridot perfectly, letting the stone take center stage!

Villette Jewelry ebay listings

Come one, come all... Villette Jewelry is now on Ebay!  I just listed 12 pieces from my own personal collection for sale.  I need to clear out some space in my jewelry box, and as hard as it is to say goodbye to these pieces, I dearly would love for them to go to good homes where they will get much more wear.  All priced to sell, with free shipping, so please check them out!

four squared

Really interested in square rings lately.  I have developed a love of wearing a combination of modern and antique rings together to contrast, yet compliment, one another.  This ring by Larissa Landinez is stunning and would be a perfect addition to my ring wardrobe!  I absolutely adore the hand wrought square gold bands grouped together with a non-fixed pave diamond bar.  Mixed metals= check!  Handcrafted details= check!  Oh so sparkly diamonds= check!  Yep, perfect!

starburst

I love stacking my rings and finding favorite combinations.  There are many different aspects to take into consideration when ring stacking, one of which is how rings fit or sit together.  In fact, part of my ring wardrobe are rings I have purchased or made specifically to fit together with others to create just the right balance.  I am especially loving rings that are sold to fit together, like this starburst duo.

for July babies... and me!

Happy Birthday July babies!  I, too, fall under this category!  It is no secret that I am not the biggest fan of my birthstone (especially when there are so many other stunning options out there!) but I have started to embrace my birthstone.  I shied away from this stone for a long time because of its pink-ish undertones and even today I tend to favor the more deep garnet-like or blood red rubies.  But I have to admit there is something to these red rubies set with seed pearls in a yellow gold mount that is definitely my style!

art nouveau love

While looking for my own Art Nouveau pendant, I stumbled across this stunning Art Nouveau ring created by Georges Fouquet!  The design and details on this ring is absolutely magnificent.  This led me down an internet rabbit hole of looking at his other works as well as the work of his father.  Such magnificent examples of Art Nouveau jewels!

in mourning

Very much in love with mourning rings lately and newly added to my wishlist!  I have been searching hard for one to buy that is my size (they usually cannot be resized based on the enamel design around the ring) and within my price range but am having a hard time finding ones without hair in the design (hair from the deceased beloved was often woven and used in the design of these rings).  Confession time... hair art completely creeps me out!  I am so in love with these enamel designs though, that I will continue to hunt for just the right piece!  (Above are two examples of mourning ring designs that I am head over heels in love with, from here and here.)

for June babies

June babies probably have the most hypnotic of birthstones out there, as well as the most to choose from, from Alexandrite to Moonstone to Pearl!  Alexandrite, an extremely rare and valuable stone, can shift from green or bluish-green in daylight, and turns a soft shade of red, purplish-red or raspberry red in incandescent light.  The ring featured above features a purple to teal green color change!
                          
Moonstone has its play of light called adularescence, shimmering pale blue on an almost translucent background.  This antique ring, dubbed the Man in the Moon, plays on this shimmer beautifully.

                         
And last, but not least, the pearl, who boosts its own iridescent qualities.  The shimmer of the pearl in this antique ring certainly doesn't take second stage to the rose cut diamonds in this setting!

growing collection

This year I have aspired to grow my antique ring collection.  I have been very busy feverishly checking everywhere I can think and continuously searching sites to find just the right rings for just the right price.  It has become a slight obsession but the hunt and the eventual find is thrilling.  I have successfully found and added these stunning rings to my collection... Art Nouveau sapphire and seed pearl rose gold ring, Antique turquoise and seed pearl navette gold ring, Edwardian sapphire and diamond scroll shank gold ring, Antique diamond buttercup rose gold ring, Antique engraved signet gold ring, and, hopefully soon to be added to the collection, Victorian garnet gold ring!

beloved

Happy belated Mama's Day to all the mothers out there!  As a treat to myself for Mother's Day, I gave myself some time in my studio to make this lovely ring.  This hammered oxidized ring has Beloved stamped on one side, with my daughter's name stamped on the other.  This ring works wonderfully as a stacking ring with it's narrow top and I have been pairing it with a thin diamond band to represent my daughter's birthstone.  I love the rough, hand wrought texture of this band in contrast with the refined dainty nature of the diamond band.  This is my first attempt at making a ring that sits higher than it is wide, so there were a lot of learns, but overall I am very happy with the outcome.  And of course I love commemorating special days with jewelry!

for May babies

Look at this knockout!  I honestly feel like every emerald stone induces a feeling of sheer awe.  The color is unmatched and absolutely stunning. Particularly in the more translucent varieties, it looks like a light is glowing from inside the stone.  Truly magical for all those lucky May babies out there!

ring crush

Hardcore crushing on this double tourmaline ring!  Sadly it appears the vendor is closing down her etsy shop.  Hoping to convince her to make one last revival of this beautiful ring for me!

up, up and away!

My April baby just turned 3 this past weekend.  She had a very specific list of things she wanted for her birthday, "cake, candles, balloons, presents."  So a hot air balloon-themed party it was!  I can't believe my itty bitty baby has grown up into such a little lady!

for April babies

I asked myself, when thinking about writing this post, how does one choose just ONE diamond ring to showcase for an April birthstone post?!  It was an almost impossible task... until I saw this posted by my jewelry soul sister Diamonds in the Library.  This exquisite Art Deco dinner ring is epic.  And this, my friends, is how you CAN pick just one diamond ring to showcase.  Oh April babies, you are very lucky indeed!

meet the artist

Here are a few pictures from the Meet the Artist event at Arts Plus two weekends ago. Unfortunately, the rainy weather kept a lot of patrons away but I loved having the chance to talk to those that made it out, especially connecting with people within my own neighborhood.  It was also a great opportunity to talk with people about custom work!  I love working with customers on custom pieces... not only does it push me to create and work with different mediums and designs but it also is extremely inspiring to me to make a truly special, one-of-a-kind piece for my clients!

second Saturday

Villette Jewelry will be holding a "Meet the Artist" event for Second Saturday at Arts Plus in Collingswood, NJ this Saturday March 14th.  If you are local, stop on by, and enjoy the Second Saturday festivities.  I love meeting my readers and followers on social media and I love nothing more than talking jewelry! Hope to see you there!

for March babies

Oh, you lucky March babies!  Aquamarine is such a beautiful stone and one of my favorites.  I love the varying shades of blue, all beautiful in their own right.  It was absolutely impossible to narrow down to my one favorite antique aqua ring.  (I could no sooner pick a favorite star in the heavens!)  SO I have decided to include each of my favorites in different cuts of aquamarine! (Emerald, Oval, Round, Marquise, Hexagonal, and Cushion!)