Love & Lockets

Lockets were a much-loved jewelry piece during my favorite jewelry era, the Victorian era (1837-1910). They were made of every type of material including rose gold and yellow gold, and many were set with stones like opal or garnet. These pieces were sometimes worn under clothing to protect the sentimental keepsakes from public eyes. This fall, my sister and I picked up some vintage lockets for the store and I started noticing that they might be gaining popularity.

Maria Sharapova loves her vintage locket:



Katie Holmes wearing a locket:



Rihanna shows that lockets can complement funkier styles too:




Here are some pictures of the antique Victorian-era lockets we purchased.

This locket is a classic heart shape with engraving on the front. Inside there is plenty of room for pictures of loved ones.



This oval locket is unique and is hand-engraved with a monogram. It's beautifully done, though we've been debating what letters are engraved on it. Nevertheless, it's a very special piece.



This circle-shaped locket has old pictures of someone's children inside. It could be used as a charm for a bracelet as well as a necklace.

The Creative Process

Happy New Year!

One of the problems with designing is that you end up with lots of materials that may look like they are going to be incredible materials to work with but once you start laying things out, they don't look right. Over the years we have gotten better with this but I have a ton of crystals I thought would be great glued to flowers....Yeah, that didn't work. I have porcelain flowers that I tried to attach to a clasp once....yeah, that also was a bad idea. This was the also the case with these African Glass Beads. They are beautiful but they were sitting patiently in our studio for at least 4 years along with some of the other "great ideas." We specially imported them from a guy who worked in a CO-OP that helps local villagers organize and produce them. We had emailed with him for months - choosing the colors and sizes that we needed. After a 2 months, they arrived in a box that looked like it had hardly survived the difficult journey from Africa. Moria and I were so excited to get them. These beads were the answer to our next collection and they had finally arrived. But wait, the holes are big...but wait the colors were a bit off and eventually we concluded that everything we had planned would need be postponed until we figured out how to work with the beads.

Well, Moria finally did it! I am so happy to finally use clean them off the shelf and use these beautiful beads. Here's a look at what's coming!

Seven Days of Gift Giving!

We've decided to list some of our favorite pieces and lines we have in store and in stock this week for those last-minute gift grabs.

Kicking off this series is one of our favorite non-M.Flynn lines-- Alexis Bittar-- who we regularly stock in our retail store.

Hailing from Brooklyn, Bittar crafts his line mostly out of lucite, metal and crystal. His pieces are like wearing transparent, delicious and sparkly candy on your ears, wrists and decolletage. The perfect pairing for a festive holiday look!


Medium Gold Crystal Encrusted Liquid Link Earrings. $175

Ugly Christmas Sweaters?

Bundle up, grab a hot cocoa and come down to the South End this weekend! There's lots going on!

You can sport an 'ugly' Christmas sweater or you can visit M. Flynn for your holiday shopping, where you can find this Moss Mills Reindeer skinny belt-- festive and fashionable! We love these belts so much we also have them with owls, birds, fish and bows!

While you're here, come to the Seventh Annual SOWA Holiday Market, located at 74 Union Park Street in the Cathedral HS Gymnasium. The market features 80 unique artists and designers!

See you this weekend!

Bostonians - Save the Date

Shop Local, Dine Local Night

December 8th from 4-8 p.m.

Come to the South End to visit over 50 businesses, all offering 15-20 percent off for 4 hours only! It's a fun night to grab some friends, get some holiday shopping done and finish off with dinner specials at a fun participating restaurant.

Free parking available. For More information and a list of the businesses participating this year:

www.southenders.com

Kate Middleton's Ring

It’s very touching to see a piece of jewelry reused and passed along to another generation. Prince William’s decision to propose to Kate Middleton with his mother’s ring was very appropriate and moving to many who loved his mother. Many men would have chosen to change the setting or made the ring new in some way to make thee piece about the new future the groom will share with his bride. While I usually really like the idea of some change or just using the stones in another setting, with such an iconic ring or a ring that has unique workmanship, it would be a shame to change anything. It will be interesting to see what they choose for the wedding band. We have many women who come in with oval-shaped engagement rings and it's always hard to find a band style they like that will also sit under the engagement ring. I say that they should get the band that they like and wear it on the opposite hand or wear it solo on the left hand without the engagement ring. With approximately 25 Total Carat Weight in her ring, the modern Kate Middleton may want to give her finger a break sometimes.

I have always loved ‘used’ jewelry or estate jewelry. Jewelry is usually given on a joyous occasion and while some may be resold because of a divorce or death, I choose to think about the positive energy that the pieces possessed when they were purchased out of love. Many of these pieces are also made by hand (if you go to a big store to buy your jewelry, this is usually not the case) and even using methods or stone cuts not used today. While Kate Middleton’s ring is not an estate piece, it’s a fine piece of jewelry from the 1980s with a 18 CT Sapphire center. The 14 surrounding diamonds are probably .50 CT each. There’s no getting around that it’s an impressive ring made by Royal Jeweler, Garrard Jewellry. I am sure that this will be a very popular style moving forward…I have read that the orders have already started to come in and many jewelers are creating replicas. Obviously, there will be people who will miss the point by buying a copy, but there will be many who will find their own family treasures to reuse or pick jewelry from a local artisan that perhaps holds a little more meaning.

Speaking of Estate jewelry and classic workmanship, Stay tuned for a picture of my latest purchase, a Victorian Slide bracelet.

Beat the Chills in One of Our Tolani Scarves!

This just in: Cold weather and cool scarves from Tolani! We love the look of these fun, colorful scarves, all handmade in India by local artisans. They are perfect for brightening up a cold-weather outfit, or updating a neutral wardrobe. Since the weather has gotten chillier this week and winter seems to be just around the corner, we think these scarves are a great pop of color to bundle up with a heavy jacket!