A Look Inside my Jewellery Box... What's in Yours? Part 1.

I find it fascinating when artists, designers and various other public figures open up and show a little bit of insight into their daily life, their personal taste and their day to day routine. I find these little glimpses to be a huge source of inspiration and will often spend ages searching online for photos of anything from workspaces to wardrobes to get ideas for things I could do to spruce up my own! It's also interesting to see what people collect and how their personalities are reflected and represented by the objects they surround themselves with. So, with that in mind, I thought it would be appropriate for me to open up and share some of my treasures with you all!

As a jewellery designer, what would be more appropriate for me to start with than my own personal jewellery collection? Here, take a look...

Above is what I affectionately refer to as my 'uniform'! The only time I take any of the above items off is when I'm having a bath or shower... or, y'know, taking pictures of them for my blog. Along the top, left to right: my studded leather band, Diesel mens watch, obsidian bead bracelet from Serre Poncon in Provence, France. Below those are 2 very delicate 24k gold bracelets from Iran, given to my mother by my fathers family which she then passed on to me, 3 diamond and gold/white gold rings all from Iran. The one of the far left was my grandmothers eternity ring. It has quite a spooky story attached to it... ask me if you want to hear it! Finally, along the bottom, left to right: Gold Catholic medallion given to me by my Irish grandmother, Trollbeads bracelet with various beads given to me by friends and family, sterling silver skull pendant with articulated jaw and compartment in the back and miniature raven skull pendant from Moon Raven Designs. And here it all is in action!

Next up, a few other bits and pieces I have collected along the way that I only wear occasionally...

Above are some pieces I have made for myself. Top left to right: Silver tone rosary necklace, fox bone inverted cross pendant, cord necklace with a little glass container holding one of my own teeth, another silver tone rosary necklace, inverted cross cameo from my own collection available here and a talisman necklace, a few of which are for sale on my Etsy shop. Beneath the necklaces are a charm kilt pin with bone tusk, Victorian cabinet key, watch parts and cameo charms and a brass bracelet with religious charms and mini locket. Here are some closer pictures of a couple of my favourites...

For the record, the tooth was pulled 15 years ago when I had my brace fitted. I still have the other 3 that came out at the same time in a vial in my cabinet of curiosities (which my well show up in a later post!).

Above: A selection of pieces that hold specific sentimental value or remind me of people and places. Up at the top is my little floral bracelet which was given to me by one of the sweetest women I ever had the pleasure of meeting. To the right of that is a heart pendant sent to me by one of my best friends. I haven't seen her since our graduation in 2009 and she just had a baby yesterday! Congratulations Ellen! Below, left to right: Horse tooth pendant, obsidian and silver handmade pendant from a (very handsome) street vendor in Madrid, a beautiful little steampunk pendant bought for me by my dear friend Catherine (check her out, she's amazing: Catherine Day Photography & Retouching), antique glass flower beaded necklace from an ex, within that is my little spark plug pendant... it's obscure but I love it! Next is a genuine WWII military working pocket watch bought for me by another ex boyfriend. Attached is a sterling silver watch chain with real cats paw preserved by the great Sarina Brewer (she only uses animals that have either died naturally or are road casualties), and finally, my Alice in Wonderland charm bracelet. Here are some closer pics of some of them...

The horse tooth, spark plug and charm bracelet were all bought by me for myself but they each remind me of different good times, hence their inclusion here!

Above: Last but not least, a few of my favourite purchases and finds from the past 7 or 8 years! Left to right: Key and chandelier crystal necklace from Louise Black, Vivienne Westwood bone choker, Mikey crystal padlock chain, raccoon paw necklace, again by Sarina Brewer, cameo locket containing aniseed solid perfume, my beautiful rat skull and mink jaw necklace by Bonnie Wood of Amore de Mori, gold wedding band (another story... I found this on the floor of a street in Paris. I tried to hand it in to the Hotel I was staying at that I found it outside of and also to the police but they all laughed at me and said they would throw it away as it was probably left by gypsies trying to scam people... that made me sad so I decided to keep it and give it pride of place in my cabinet), sterling silver skull pendant, black cut glass pendant, 2 grouse foot brooches- the older looking one is an antique with sterling silver and an amethyst gem (traditional Scottish jewellery... I'm not scottish at all but I can't resist anything that involves bird feet), sharks tooth pendant, bullet pin (had to mail this to myself after forgetting it was on my coat when trying to pass through airport security!) and finally, my favourite rosary. Here are a couple more close ups!

And that concludes part one of my foray into my jewellery box! Now that you've seen the items themselves, in part two I will be sharing with you the ways in which I store it all and maybe even how I wear some of it. What do you think? Is there anything else you'd like to see in part two? I'd love to see what you keep in your own jewellery boxes! Do you have any pieces with stories behind them? I'd love to hear your thoughts on what I have shown you!

In fact, if any of you have any photos of your own jewellery collections, send them to me! I'd like to do a feature on other peoples jewellery collections soon as this was really good fun and I think it'd be nice to see what you guys have too! Email any submissions for inclusion to tea@sacre-coeur.co.uk and if I get enough I will put up a post including them all soon! Don't forget to include your name and any info about the pieces you're submitting so I can tell everyone who sent it in and what it all is!

Take care for now :) x