You’ll look effortlessly chic wearing pieces from the Caroline Hill jewelry collection. Whether you want to make a statement or prefer to keep it simple, you’ll discover necklaces, bracelets and rings to suit your distinct style. And there’s more, from printed leggings to infinity scarves and quilted handbags.
Since 2010, Boston’s Dune Jewelry has been transforming favorite beach memories into timeless pieces that “make waves” anytime, anywhere! Send in sand from a beach you love or choose from Dune’s collection of sand from over 1,500 beaches around the world. The Dune team will incorporate it into a masterpiece. Holly Daniels Christensen, Dune’s founder, tells us about her company and the process.
Once you’ve read our interview with Holly, enter to win a Sandglobe™ Charm Bracelet ($100 value). To enter, comment below by answering the question: Where will your sand come from if you win this charm bracelet?
Zee Jewelry is giving away a splendid accessory for autumn, and all year, a necklace called “New York” (retail value: $1200). Three large Tahitian pearls, peridot, sliced and multi-colored tourmaline, moonstones, and black spinel are joined together in beautiful harmony, with an exquisite 18k- gold toggle clasp. 1 FOF will win.
To enter to win, comment below by answering the question: What outfit would you wear with this necklace?
P.S. Don’t forget to “like” Zee Jewelry’s Facebook page!
1 FOF will win. (See official rules, here.) Contest closes October 2, 2013 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.
FOF Bess Heitner wears many hats, but we wanted to showcase her jewelry business, Bess Heitner Jewelry Designs, which features stones and gems from around the world in colorful and distinctive pieces. Ranging from $58 earrings to necklaces for more than $2,000, Bess keeps FOFs in mind when designing her collection. Today, she’s giving away a ravishing red necklace, “Multi-Coral Torsade” (retail value: $300), which is made of coral “in every shade,” freshwater pearls, and lacquered bone toggle. To win this beautiful necklace, first visit Bess’ website, then comment below with the name of your favorite piece and why. 1 FOF will win!
How old are you?
68
How did you launch your business?
Even as a kid I tinkered with design. My mother was a millinery buyer at Bloomingdale’s in the days when no fashionable woman would be seen outside without a hat. Our home was filled with brightly colored ribbons, flowers, pins, felt shapes and all the fixings for elaborate bonnets. I discovered I had a flair for combining forms, textures, and colors. Before long I was helping my mother concoct her elaborate creations. After my husband died in June 2000, I began taking jewelry courses to help me figure out what to do next. I have never enjoyed anything as much as this. In my “second act,” I found my true passion that I love more than anything I’ve ever done.
What were you doing before?
I taught English in Japan and at the New School for Social Research in New York. I was a professional writer and worked with my husband, a Japanese TV producer, on documentaries. I also created costumes for several feature films.
Where are you based?
My studio is in Manhattan where I make each one-of-a-kind and limited edition piece by hand.
What is your typical workday like?
Designing and jewelry making take up a large part of each day. I also write blog posts and do other business and PR tasks. Some days I have private appointments with clients. And I always spend an hour or two studying fashion magazines and favorite websites for inspiration.
What jewelry do you sell?
I sell necklaces, earrings, pins, and bracelets in a wide variety of styles.
Where do the stones and gems come from?
I get my materials from a few trusted vendors. Most of my top quality gems and minerals, such as Peruvian Opal, Brazilian amethyst and tourmaline, rubies and other interesting stones come from Brazil, Australia, Africa and India. The pearls come from China and Australia.
What trends have you noticed with jewelry this year?
I like the bold statement pieces that are in now because I favor drama, bold shapes, and vivid color in my own work. Chains and ropes also are popular and have
South Sea Pearl Brazilian Citrine Collar
always been favorites of mine. Long before the Gatsby and Boho trends hit, I began offering many kinds of ropes with clasps that are versatile and can be doubled, tripled, worn as lariats, or wrapped around the wrist many times.
What are your best-selling items?
The multi-coral torsade I am offering is very popular because it looks great with bright white, picks up the colors in strong prints, and perks up almost every shade. Genuine coral is becoming extinct so people are glad to get this. A raw iridescent quartz collar I designed in several colors has been selling well because it makes a dramatic statement.
Why does your collection looks good on FOFs?
Women over fifty know who they are and aren’t afraid to make unique statements at work and in their personal lives. I design wearable artwork, pieces that are both contemporary and timeless, that echo the qualities of the women who wear them. I use stones, pearls, and tiny crystals that flatter the skin. And my pieces are versatile; easy to wear in a work setting, in casual surroundings or on a dressy occasion.
To win this necklace, first visit Bess’ website; then comment below with the name of your favorite piece and why. 1 FOF will win!
1 FOF will win. (See official rules, here.) Contest closes July 24, 2013 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.
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FOF Lisa Hoffman is giving away one of her brilliant fragrance bracelets. You choose the scent. Use Lisa’s iScentify Scent Finder to find your best fragrance, then enter to win by answering in the comments below: Which Lisa Hoffman fragrance bracelet would you most want to try?
FOF Lisa Hoffman, wife of A-lister Dustin Hoffman spent her child-rearing years traveling the globe with her celeb husband, loving her role as a full-time mother and wife. But once the kids were grown, she longed to indulge a new passion and start a fragrance and beauty line. This time, she’d have to make her own way. “Dustin’s very supportive and would help me in any way that I asked,” said Lisa in an interview with FOF last year. “But really, the beauty business is very much a woman’s world.”
In 2007 she launched her fragrance line, Lisa Hoffman Beauty. Lisa’s perfumes are all inspired by exotic destinations she’s visited, and each scent comes in four variations for different times of day: morning, day, evening and bedtime. Immediately upon its release, her fragrances were welcomed with accolades–the “Newcomer of the Year” award in 2008 by Women’s Wear Daily, two consecutive Allure Best of Beauty awards in 2008 and 2009 and her fragrances “Madagascar Orchid” and “Japanese Agarwood” were nominated for FiFi awards alongside Acqua di Parma, Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel, and Tom Ford.
But, Lisa didn’t rest on her laurels–instead, the FOF got to work on her next product–fragrance jewelry, “a new way to wear perfume that puts you in control,” says Lisa. “On when you want and off just as easily.” The fragrance jewelry, launched at the end of 2011, is comprised of earrings, pendants and bracelets featuring a round charm “featuring a proprietary delivery system that slowly releases perfume as…exposed to air,” according to Lisa’s press materials. The design for the fragrance-emitting charm was inspired by a pair of Victorian era earrings given to Lisa by her husband, Dustin. Already, the fragrance jewelry has been picked up by HSN and nominated for a FiFi award. Lisa says fragrance jewelry will particularly appear to women over 50. “As we age, we are more apt to develop sensitivities and allergies,” she says. “I can’t tell you how many times women approach me and are so thankful they can actually wear fragrance without it touching their skin.”
So, what’s Lisa’s favorite scent a la mode? “My daughter was just married and I’m still reeling in the romance of the occasion–Madagascar Orchid, my current favorite just smells like love.”
Enter to win a Lisa Hoffman fragrance bracelet. Use the iScentify Scent Finder to find your best fragrance, then enter to win by answering this question in the comments below: Which Lisa Hoffman fragrance bracelet would you most want to try?
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One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes June 14, 2012 at midnight E.S.T.
Thank you for entering. This contest is now closed.
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FOF Brenda Cline is giving away this gorgeous copper and turquoise collar. Enter to win by answering in the comments below: What’s the best beach you’ve been to?
Brenda Cline, an FOF from Satellite Beach, Florida, comes from a family of avid surfers–her husband, daughter, son and grandson all love riding the waves. Brenda too, enjoyed surfing until she had a run in with a shark in 1982.
“I couldn’t handle it, I was hyperventilating,” she says. Brenda stopped surfing, but continued accompanying her family members on their surf trips. Looking for something to occupy herself while they hit the waves, Brenda started combing the beach for sea glass and stones. When she returned home, she’d experiment, turning her findings into jewelry.
Brenda started with silver and sea glass, but then, a friend gave her a piece of recycled copper. “That began my love for copper,” says Brenda whose bestsellers are her signature copper collars. “Recently I reflected, asking myself, ‘why do I love working with metals so much?’ My dad was an ironworker. I think that’s a big part of it.”
More recently, Brenda has begun experimenting with aluminum. She crafts each piece from her Satellite Beach studio and sells at art shows and on Etsy. Each piece is a one-of-a-kind creation using recycled and repurposed metals from hardware stores and natural elements from her family surf trips. On her last trip to Nicaragua, she filled her suitcase with over 16 pounds of stones, for her new “Surf Safari” line. “I sacrificed packing my clothes to bring back stones,” says Brenda. “I have so much passion. Everything I look at, I think: ‘how can I make art out of it?’”
You can see more of Brenda’s pieces in her Etsy shop, Metal Souls.
Enter to win a gorgeous copper collar designed by FOF artist Brenda Cline by answering in the comments below: What’s the best beach you’ve been to?
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One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes May 31, 2012 at midnight E.S.T.
Images courtesy of Brenda Cline
Thank you for entering. This contest is now closed.
Marie Myers is giving away three stackable rings to one lucky FOF. Enter to win by answering in the comments below: Do you like to stack your rings, or wear one per finger?
Thank you for entering. This contest is now closed.
Twelve years ago, almost-FOF Marie Myers, a finance executive, started a side business making jewelry. “I was always interested in fashion–my grandmother and mother were both dressmakers but encouraged me to do something more lucrative, which is why I went into finance. For my corporate job I traveled often and collected new jewelry wherever I went,” says Marie. “When I started creating my own pieces, my friends encouraged me to sell them.” Marie began selling jewelry from her home in Texas–at first, she received mostly bridal orders, and eventually her line got picked up by a local Saks.
But, as many FOFs would attest, life didn’t follow an uninterrupted. The birth of her first child put her jewelry business on hold for a few years. (“I couldn’t keep beads and small pieces around my home with an infant,” she says.) In the meantime, Marie got a masters in business (her fourth degree), wrote a formal business plan for her jewelery company and redefined her market as the economy tanked. In 2010 she relaunched her business as Marie Bruns Jewelry (Bruns is her married name). She sells her pieces online and through trunk shows.
Marie says her line is based on the “eclectic layered look” with signature pieces such as her multi-strand “messy” pearl necklace and stackable rings made from real gemstones set in gold Vermeil. “My line is for professional women who want to be able to buy new pieces every year to add to their jewelry wardrobe at an affordable price,” says Marie.
Her jewelry business’s second coming is already seeing success. Marie was named a 2011 “Texas’ Next Top Designer” and her pieces will be featured in InStyle magazine this spring. Meanwhile she still holds her finance position, and this February, 43-year-old Marie is expecting twins. Move over Sarah Jessica Parker–we don’t know how she Marie does it.
Enter to win three stackable rings from Marie Bruns Jewelry by answering in the comments below: Do you like to stack your rings, or wear one per finger?
One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes January 12, 2012 at midnight E.S.T.
Jennifer Shingelo is giving away a locket embroidered with a letter of your choice from her Etsy shop, Stella Saves the Day. Enter to win by answering in the comments below: Whose picture would you keep in a locket?
Lockets, all the rage during the Victorian era, haven’t quite fallen out of style, but they’ve fallen out of style. Let us explain. A recent search for “locket” on Google, turned up a most uninspiring collection of trinkets. That is, until we found Jennifer Shingelo’s Etsy shop, Stella Saves the Day. After we stopped oohing and ahhing of the hand-stitched designs, we wondered just who is Stella? And how does Jennifer craft these gorgeous, one-of-a-kind pieces?
Her collection is named after her great grandmother, Stella. Jenn was inspired to create lockets after years of adoring her grandmother’s jewelry box. “I opened my Etsy shop in 2009 and sold my first piece in 2011,” says Jenn, a trained sculptor. “In sculpting, you also make items that hold memory. I did that for a ten years but wanted to do something where I’d be interacting with people more. This business has been very touching and personal.” Jenn says her customers often share their personal stories. “A man just sent me pictures of his baby twin sons,” she says. “He wants them represented by two embroidered acorns in a locket for his wife.”
An advisor at the Pratt Institute of Design by day, Jennifer crafts the jewelry in her Brooklyn kitchen at night. (“Some day I’ll have a studio,” she says.) Her lockets are sourced from a small, father-daughter owned company in New England (“I actually have to pick up the phone and call them to place orders!” she says.) Jenn hand-embroiders inserts for the lockets using patterns she finds in antique Victorian books about locket making. “For me, it’s all about the history,” she explains.
Enter to win a locket embroidered with a letter of your choice by answering in the comments below: Whose picture would you keep in a locket?
Thank you for entering. This contest is now closed.
One FOF will win.
(See all our past winners, here.)
(See official rules, here.)
Contest closes December 1, 2011 at midnight E.S.T.
We’re not sure why Ramona Singer, 54, is considered a “real housewife.” Since appearing on Real Housewives of New York, she’s launched her own skincare line, her own Pinot Grigio, and this week she’s debuting her second line of wildly popular art deco jewelry for HSN.
In true FOF style, she’s also a “real” perfectionist, sourcing her own pinot grapes (the wine is imported from Veneto, Italy) and designing each piece of jewelry with husband Mario Singer, a fourth generation jeweler. A longtime collector of art deco estate pieces, Ramona created the jewelry line to bring her fave high-design baubles to the rest of us. (Prices range from $219 – $1599)
Check out the latest pieces from her new collection, above, and tune in to HSN on July 8 from 1-3pm to watch this real “housewife” work overtime.
Pictured: Quartz and Diamond Sterling Silver and Sea Glass Cuff Bracelet, Prasiolite and Diamond Sterling Silver Ring, London Blue Topaz and Diamond Sterling Silver Ring, Diamond and Sea Glass Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings
