Favourite Recent Jewelry Purchases

Judging from many of the blogs and social media accounts I follow, 2020 seems to be the year of the No Buy. So many people are talking about cutting back their consumption, paring down their closets, embracing minimalism.

I … am not.

I am not intentionally bucking the trend, I swear. Well, OK, there is a little part of me that enjoys being contrary. Mostly, I’m just going with the thrifting flow. And the thrift gods have brought me a steady trickle of little treasures since January. I try to be selective, I really do. But I am also an acquisitive magpie at heart; there are limits to my restraint.

I’ll be writing more about this in a future post, but I’ve been on the opposite of a no-buy so far this year. With the exception of the some of the items I’ll be showing you in this post, all of my purchases so far have been thrifted (or otherwise secondhand). And a lot of what I’ve been buying has been accessories and books. So many books. I am in book heaven right now (and working on plans to expand my home library).

But that’s not what I want to talk about today. Today, let’s look at some pretty jewelry pieces I’ve picked up in the last couple of months.

This cultured pearl necklace was a Winners impulse buy, but I loved the unusual, modern design – especially the paper clip-like links. I plan to wear this in the summer with some of my more, ahem, plunging necklines.

I love Warren Scott Steven earrings. They are fun and distinctive, and they elevate every outfit instantly. I also love being able to support independent, Indigenous artists so this is one retail purchase I don’t mind making.

Labradorite is my favourite stone, so I tend to pick up reasonably-priced pieces whenever I can. I found this Argento Vivo ring (on the left) at Nordstrom Rack and was impressed by its size and apparent quality relative to the price. It’s large enough to make a statement, but classic and minimalist enough to be quite versatile for everyday wear. It’s become one of my go-to right-hand rings.

Speaking of daily wears, this ring stack is my favourite engagement ring/wedding ring alternative. I still adore my original set, but 10 years later, I want some variety. I also don’t want to invest a lot of money into the alternatives, at least not immediately. I’ve been “testing” a few combinations using inexpensive rings from Amazon over the years, and this is my hands-down fave so far. Both rings were under $25 but have been holding up well over the last month or so. The band is gold-filled, and the ring is sterling silver – at least according to the product listing. I’ve had no adverse reactions to either piece, and they haven’t turned my fingers green. I really like the style and dimensions of each ring (the band could be a little bit thicker) and the colour of the centre stone. If I were to upgrade, I’d be looking for something similar in a lab-created gemstone, with real gold.

At the other end of the ring spectrum, there is this humongous agate slice ring. It looks handmade, and I thrifted it for something like $4. I’ve been looking for something like this for a while, mostly on eBay, but hadn’t found something I liked until I saw this. I wish the stone was a different colour, as I don’t wear brown a lot, but it’s still a fabulous piece and thrifters can’t be choosers, I suppose.

I’ve been finding a lot of Stella & Dot pieces at the thrift store lately, which is just fine by me. I don’t believe in supporting MLMs directly, but I will pick up Stella & Dot pieces secondhand because, in my experience, they are quite well-made for (non-high end) costume jewelry. This necklace is a good example – the centerpieces are stone, not plastic, and the gold tone finish is intact (even though this is an older piece).

Initially, I thought this might also be a Stella & Dot piece, but it doesn’t have the usual tag nor any other markings. It looks and feels like department-store quality costume jewelry – comparable to J. Crew and the like. Mostly, I bought it for the style – it has that modernist vibe I really like, and I love the swampy green colour of the stones.

And that’s it for fun new (to me) jewelry. Stay tuned for a post on some of my favourite recent thrifted clothing finds. Yes, there are a couple of thrifting Hall of Famers in there 😉