Jewelry

[smoochy]

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@AuntMame wrote:

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@Kachina624 wrote:

I get out my older Carolyn Pollack jewelry and marvel at how much the quality of the new stuff has veered from the original.  I lose all enthusiasm for even watching it.

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I hear you @Kachina624 . I recently bought a Robert Tenorio bracelet off ebay. It was made in the aughts before the price of metals skyrocketed. I had wanted to buy it when it was on QVC but my size was always sold out. Spotted it on ebay in my size and at a good price so I couldn't resist. I was stunned when it arrived. Oh My Gosh. Freaking gorgeous. Heavy. Beautiful silver. Beautifully designed. Just a killer piece. 

Looking at the current crop of AW jewelry that's manufactured by QVC in India is painful to look at in comparison. 

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is the jewelry of lesser quality now? Are the designs less attractive? Curious 

[River Song]

I ended up purchasing the new big oval ring in rhodochrosite and the arrowhead earrings.  IMO, the quality of the jewelry made in India is very similar, if not identical, to the jewelry line made in New Mexico at the time they retired.  

Of course, the older pieces from years ago are different than the more recent pieces, probably due to the rise in cost of sterling silver and gemstones.  It's like comparing apples to oranges.  I still enjoy watching the AW shows.  I guess I'm not a snob about whether the line is made in New Mexico or India.  Let's face it, this line has always been a mass-produced jewelry line.  If you want one-of-a-kind pieces, then shop at a gallery or trading post.

[Jersey Born]

@River Song - I just ordered the One Time Only enhancer: the Butterfly & Dragonfly Enhancer in Chrysoprase - J436382.  I have been waiting to order that one. I also ordered the ring you did, but in Phosphosiderite to match the open cuff I ordered last time. The matching ring to that cuff had too small of a presence for me, but this large oval stone ring will do the trick for sure.

I hope you love your Rhodochrosite ring! 

 

[River Song]

@Jersey Born , I purchased the OTO enhancer, too, in turquoise, then the turquoise colored leather necklace.  Sheesh, I've spent too much money, lol.  I'm really tempted by the leopard jasper necklace and matching earrings, but, nope, had to put the brakes on!

[Jersey Born]

@River Song - Good for you, putting the brakes on!  I ordered the 17" new silver chain necklace with those spaced, silver native beads to go with the OTO enhancer.  I almost went for the turquoise one, but I love chrysoprase, rarely see it offered, and I have an old torsade/multistrand necklace in chyrsoprase from either AW or Jay King (cannot remember which), and I want to see how the OTO enhancer looks on that. I almost went for the turquoise leather necklace, as it looked sort of greenish-blue in hue, and I thought the OTO chrysoprase enhancer might actually work with that one. I did love how the OTO enhancer looked with the necklace I purchased, on Carolyn, so I know I will be happy with that choice. 

I would have been really tempted by that new butterly concha and naja necklace had it  been offered in deep phosphosiderite, bright orange spiny oyster, or in gorgeous green chysoprase. Perhaps my wish will come true in the future? I was also drawn to the double row gemstone cuffs in chrysoprase and phosphosiderite, but I had to sit on my hands.  

[River Song]

@Jersey Born , I went a little crazy at the last visit and bought a few pieces of the phospho stone, so I held off on the purple this time.  I hope you like them, the color looked really saturated on my TV.  I also got the charoite bead necklace at the last visit and I'm really pleased with the color.  I'm still debating about the clearance 17" rhodochrosite bead necklace.  I've always liked that peachy pink color and the quality looked great.  The night is still young, lol.

I liked the new chain necklace but can't justify it.  But, of course, I quickly justified the turquoise leather necklace since I already have brown and black.  I thought the concha squash blossom necklace was pretty and different from her usual designs.  I've always like concha belts.  One of these times I'm going to splurge and get a squash blossom necklace.  The last few she did had big, honking stones in them and I know I would feel overwhelmed in them.

[Jersey Born]

@River Song - I have 3 AW squash blossom necklaces that I purchased when she was shutting down her online website, or so I thought, due to her retirement. I got them at incredible prices, so I took the plunge after having denied myself one for years. (So much for restraint.)  Two are in rhodonite (different designs, of course), and one is in howlite. Nothing looks better on a plain black top, than one of those squash blossom babies, IMHO! I think I can carry the look off well, and I hope that is true. LOL. They do make a statement, and you feel almost like a warrior princess wearing one, but that is an empowering feeling, to be honest, and I kind of like that.    

I bought a v-neck tee shirt at Costco that was a color very similar to rhodonite, and the rhodonite squash blossom necklaces look really great paired with that particular shirt as they blend into it, in a sort of partially camouflaged way, if such a thing is possible.

I ordered both the malachite and the rhodochrosite necklaces months ago, only to not receive them. Then, a month (or two?) later, they arrived at my door, and I was shocked to see them.  I had to call customer service  to tell them I was sending them back to them (as there was too much variation in their stones at the front and center of the necklaces for my liking) so I could let them know not to give me a 2nd credit to my account for them upon their return to QVC (as they had already credited my account for their failure to arrive at my home). I was shocked that they arrived so extremely late. I had thought they were lost in the mail for good. I hope you receive a wonderful rhodochrosite necklace, if you order it.

[AuntMame]

Love the big concha enchancer!

There's an Isaac Mizrahi topper-jacket that's on clearance that's a perfect color of turquoise to coordinate with southwestern jewelry. 

https://www.qvc.com/isaac-mizrahi-live%21-elements-single-button-topper.product.A465895.html

The "pool" color is really more of a turquoise than a blue. 

I bought this a few months ago and I get a lot of wear out of it with my southwestern jewelry. It's a nice blank canvas. I wear it with a Mexican embroidered blouse to make it look more casual. 

The "orchid" color would go well with the phosphosiderite. 

[Marciirene]

@Kachina624 Not me lol! Nothing is made exactly the way it "used" to be. I love the fact she uses real gemstones and not composite turquoise like the line at JTV except for their Sleeping Beauty. I live in New Mexico.

[Marciirene]

I bought that ring in the green turquoise.