[Music]
my name is Bethany welcome to the
podcast
hi guys so today I'm excited to feature
five jewelry brands that I've really
been eyeing lately ones that I think
bring a lot of value and artisan ship to
you know standard jewelry making and so
it's nice to be able to think about that
from this perspective of the creators
who are making this so the companies
that I'm featuring today are ones that
you know our more small scale I would
say for the majority of it and also it's
just really fascinating to hear about
their I in their process and where they
came from and all of that those things
so I want to start with the fifth one
and I'm just going to work my way
through it
and the first one that I want to talk
about is Laura Lombardi Lombardi is a
sacred name in this household because
Zak is like a huge Packers fan but I
don't think that they're related at all
only the people who are fascinated by
the Packers will even probably know what
I'm talking about there but I digress
Laura Lombardi is somebody who creates
jewelry based off of her roots which
were based in New York City as well as
Italy and so in New York City she has
like more of a raw and industrial style
and then when she pairs that with her
Italian roots she also has more of a
classical art and sculptural feel to it
and you can really see that through some
of her pieces she creates a lot of
different gold hoops she designs that
with both earrings and with chain belts
and like just crazy stuff as well as
like necklaces and anklets I really like
her anklet like I haven't worn an anklet
in years but I think that moving into
spring and summer I think it would be a
really fun thing to do and a way to
class up an outfit as well her prices I
would say are around like 130 to 155 is
what I'm looking at right now with the
anklet so I know that sometimes people
are looking for things that are
less than $100 when it comes to jewelry
one thing to note with the ones that I
mentioned today some of them are below
hundred so I'll point that out later but
then others are more like heirloom
pieces or just things that will hold
their value so just keep that in mind it
might be something for me like for me
for instance when I've looked at jewelry
as I've updated my personal style I've
thought about jewelry as a way to to to
wear something several million times so
for necklaces I'm going to wear them
like these ones I've worn you know just
especially the Nakia one I probably worn
it a hundred times and so it's nice to
be able to just think of it as far as
like how many times you'll wear it or
how well it will maintain and you'll
keep it forever and you'll keep it as an
heirloom these are all just thought
processes that go into the price as well
as the artisan ship behind it so Laura
Lombardi uses raw and recycled materials
whenever she's making these things and
it comes a lot back to her interest in
things like fine art and sculpture
assemblage mixed-media so she was just
into all of these realms and she was
able to then make this fashion or this
jewelry line out of it which is so
amazing one pair in particular of her
gold hoop earrings that I think are
really fascinating are the aneema I'm
not sure I'm pronouncing that right but
what's really cool about them is like
she took what would essentially be a
gold hoop earring and it looks kind of
twisted like it was melted in fire and
just kind of like morphed into something
more sculptural and it's really
fascinating it would definitely catch
somebody's eye and just the fact that
it's also lightweight is really cool so
I never wear heavy earrings I just can't
like I've literally had one of my ears
repierced and like I won't go into the
details of that because it's not pretty
but I just am so averse to wearing heavy
earrings so something like this if it
truly is light weight like it's a hollow
hoop earring that would be a good option
for me so I'm definitely
keeping an eye out and I like the idea
of having something like this one which
is bigger I would say it's like the size
of a half dollar yeah I would say it's
definitely bigger than a quarter so this
is definitely something I would try
these and see if they were like too big
on me but having something that's a
little bit more of a statement piece
wouldn't be bad either especially
something as beautiful and as gold as
this one so I'll be sure to link
everything that I mentioned in the show
notes slash description bar whatever you
guys want to call it but I'll be sure to
just get every all my links together for
if you're interested in any of the
pieces that I mentioned but Laura
Lombardi is somebody that she's been
featured in several articles I liked the
ones by the cut by L and refinery29 they
all have featured her and it's just so
cool to see how you know whenever an
artisan is like lifted up and featured I
think it's just so empowering and really
goes back to the roots of the art behind
it in the Creator behind it number four
on my top 5 countdown would have to be
SoCo Sokka was a place that I have
shopped for before and I've been so
impressed with just the beauty and
uniqueness that I've had in the
bracelets that I've gotten in the past
so what's really neat about SoCo is that
they are trying to help artisans in
Africa mostly who are a lot of them this
is just like what they described it as
so a lot of people in Africa mainly use
their phone so on their mobile phone
they're able to connect with the SoCo
marketplace so people who have been
generationally making jewelry and these
trades have been passed down from
generation to generation are now able to
sell their jewelry worldwide through
SoCo so SoCo means marketplace and it's
really neat because then they just have
this warehouse so whenever you order
something from SoCo it won't take
forever to ship or anything like
everything's right there in their
warehouse and they just ship it out from
there
but it's sustaining a lot of these
artists who wouldn't be able to sell
this
at this global level and then also
because everything's just roan run
through a mobile phone it's cutting out
like the middleman that is that would
take away money from the artisan so all
of this is like much more direct to
consumer and it's just like this hub
this warehouse that then sends out the
products so I am really fascinated by
the whole idea and in the past like I
said like I've loved my SoCo bracelets
in fact I've got a little bag here that
says SoCo and I just love it so much
because I just keep that little bag and
that's like where I put all my bracelets
and and so whenever I look for a
bracelet in my dresser then I know that
that's where like my bracelets are and
it's just something I've kept forever
another really cool thing about their
products is that everything has more of
a classic and timeless feel that I think
would be universal like wherever SoCo
sells their products I think that it
would be something that would meet what
people are expecting for jewelry so this
one that I'm looking at is a mini bold
hoop earring so it's again you're gonna
get a lot of hoop earrings in this video
because I'm really in the market for
that but what's great about them is that
they're small so if you don't want
something that's over like overstated or
anything it's it's something that would
be tasteful and unique and still very
like sophisticated and classy and so it
comes in a couple colors both brass and
silver so yeah it just really needs to
see that but then if you wanted
something that was a little bit more on
trend I would say they have something
that looks more tortoiseshell and that
ones it's a hoop earring that is made
out of Hornets it ethically made out of
horn so it says here it's handcrafted
and ethically sourced horn by artisans
in Kenya so again it's a lot of the same
trades that people have done for
generations and then it's just adapting
the culture to meet that need and also a
lot of the artisans are you know
generally speaking like they're a lot of
women who are making the jewelry that
you're then like directly impacting
their income so
I just like that model it's not like
every single brand that I find meets all
of these standards but whenever I find a
brand like SoCo I just love it I want to
tell everybody about it okay so number
three is Wolfe circus and I was really
fascinated by this one line about them
which is a line of deme fine jewelry and
that means like you know not ultra luxe
expensive but more affordable but the
word dummy find just kind of made me
chuckle because I'm like what if like
after a date you know you're asked like
you know how was it it was like Demi
fine sorry I don't know what it is about
this mic but it just allows me to tell
all of the worst jokes
okay so what's really cool about
werewolf Circus is that it's just a team
that all women which they said was like
not an intentional decision but just
something that happened organically and
so they really just have a great time
working together and it's fun to be able
to you know I'm gonna keep going back to
this but it's fun to be able to be a
part of whenever there's artisans or
when there's a small team like your
purchase goes so much further in that
small team so the ways that wolf circus
really keeps down prices I would say is
it's a lot more about you know having
gold plating so you might have something
that's 14 karat gold but it is gold
plated so that'll keep the cost down
because gold is super expensive but at
the same time it is something that
they're using like it's something that
is going to be more affordable and then
also if they're not using that then
they've also got like recycled bronze
recycled sterling silver and so they're
really keeping the cost down as much as
they can so for example some studs that
they have they're so gorgeous they're
gold baby dune studs is what they're
called
and so there's $65 for gold stud
earrings so there's still like they're
dummy fine you know like they are not
like forever 21 cheap like that's not
what I'm going for with this video this
is something that still is not going to
make your ears like get all itchy and
stuff this is
something that's quality and I just love
it so much
I love it because - I'm a real fan of
The Dresden I find a lot of like these
artisans are featured over there so
definitely look over there if you want
to see like just brands you've never
heard of a small-scale that type of
thing she also has a gold pendant
necklace that has a little shell on it
and I just love that it's called Marcel
for anybody out there who's seen the
Marcel the shell videos on YouTube I
think there's like the top video is like
30 million views but I watched those
when they first came out and I was just
obsessed because it's just this cute
adorable little shell and his name is
Marcel and I don't know you'll have to
watch it it's not everybody's humor but
I just thought it was the funniest
little thing I think another perk to
having the shell necklace besides the
fact that it's called Marcel is that
there are a lot of articles out there
that are featuring heavily shell jewelry
and so this is a way to wear shell
necklaces without it being like the
coral necklaces from yonder past but I
do like the fact to that she also has
some jewelry with pearls so she has some
gorgeous earrings they're called the
small pearl hoops and gold and I'm just
like I really like those a lot because
it's got just a giant pearl on the end
of a hoop and so it's got not only the
hoop but then the pearl and it's just
like the combination is just so
beautiful that's really cool it was neat
to hear about the owner of that company
Fiona I believe yeah Fiona let me go to
her Instagram real quick so wolf circus
on instagram is wolf underscore circus
and it's really cool to see like how
she's styling a lot of these pieces I
think that's really beautiful too like
those pearl earrings looks so amazing on
here and it's also neat to just see how
people are wearing them with everyday
outfits and everything so anyways I
digress I think that it's just so
beautiful she was featured in Teen Vogue
and also primary NY and B we collect
actually switching between her Instagram
and then referencing this old article
that I read
on Teen Vogue she says she's inspired by
her grandma's old jewelry which is like
oh that's exactly me I so relate to that
there's just something about like
vintage jewelry and how your grandmother
wore it there's just something to that
also street-style she says inspires her
as well as her friends confident women
painters sculptors and architects I
would say that a lot of artisans that
I've been reading about like this they
all say that their whole goal about
making jewelry is to inspire confidence
and I would say that that's so true like
the times where I'm not wearing my
jewelry and I'm outside like my house I
just feel a little bit like different I
can't really describe it it's just I
don't know I think jewelry does give you
a confidence boost that you otherwise
didn't have and it's also just I always
go back to it's a form of manners when
you dress well and accessories are a
great way to do that going back to
confidence that is something that I love
to speak about on this channel I find
that it's the one thing that determines
whether I do wear something or not
because something could look amazing on
me but if I feel like embarrassed or
awkward about it you know and people
have actually written make like can you
talk about this so let me just take a
moment and talk about confidence because
it is something that is elusive I think
that even people who who like say that
they're super confident they they have
they're probably not that confident that
you they're probably just like puffing
themselves up as armor so that there
there's self-esteem issues aren't there
but I would say that it is really nice
to be able to wear something that you're
confident in because like I was saying
earlier if you're wearing something that
doesn't bring you 100% confidence no
matter how amazing you look it's gonna
take a lot to bring you out of that
she'll going back to the Marcel the
shell okay sorry to bring you out of
that she'll and just make you excited
for your day and like you have you're on
the right foot if that makes sense I
feel like whenever I go in for a
handshake to somebody I'm just meeting
for the first time and I feel confident
not arrogant but just like confident my
own skin
I feel like I can win that day like I
can I can do whatever I set out to do I
can make a new friend like there's just
so much if you're confident in your own
skin I feel like making new friends is a
lot easier because you're not like
heckling yourself in the back of your
mind like you're just going in for it
you know like when you don't put up
walls it's it's just an amazing thing
and then that's just going to inspire
you more to be more confident the more
that your own footing on stepping out in
your own manners and just respecting
yourself as well as the other person
that's going to give you confidence and
to heck with anybody who wants to put
you down for whatever you chose to wear
that day whatever brings you the most
confidence so in that way yeah like I've
lost a lot of my insecurities just
because I just stopped caring so much
about what the other person thought and
putting myself down for the things that
I really like so when you even that
scale like you're gonna be just fine and
there's no such thing as someone who's
always confident all the time it's a
mindset and any little thing any little
edge that you can give yourself if it's
wearing a nice necklace out and you feel
like so much better by wearing that
necklace then yeah I would say that
jewelry and clothes and like superficial
things to a degree can bring you
confidence and that's why I'm talking
about this today okay moving on to
number two of my top five brian oro has
been a brand that I have worn every day
almost since my last birthday which was
in April if you wanted to know Zak
bought me some amazing diamond stud
earrings they are very simple half the
time I don't realize that I'm wearing
them until I look in the mirror and I'm
like oh yeah that's awesome and so it's
nice to be able to wear something very
comfortable that I wear like in the
shower I wear it to bed I never have to
take out my earrings and it's just nice
to be able to always have my earrings
life settled like I don't have to think
about it it's just there and the rest of
my outfit can shine I noticed some
people earrings might be where you
your statement essence and that's fine
but what's really great about vrai and
Oro is that it's understated I think
they call it subtle and elegance
when they were featured in Forbes they
called it subtle elegance another thing
about brand Oro is it's not going to be
Demi fine like this is something where
you're not buying anything gold plated
plated this is something that you're
actually buying solid gold and the
Diamonds are high quality diamonds so
you might not have huge diamonds when
you buy from rain or oh but it's it's
quality and so that's what's really
great like these little studs you won't
even see them half the time but because
they're they're like it's just nice and
it was a really lovely gift so if you're
looking to buy someone a piece of
jewelry as a gift then Brae and Oro
would be your friend like somewhat
someone very special to your life like
your mother or something like that like
this is this is quality and it's
timeless and also they have very high
ethical standards as far as their
diamonds are concerned in particular and
then everything's made in downtown LA
which also comes with a price tag
because they're not going to like
they're able to assure that everything
is happening at a very like high
standard and when they're making their
jewelry so a note about pricing and the
pieces that I really like these ones are
pricier so just know that but I do like
their thick stacking ring so that's two
hundred and twenty dollars but it's you
know it's a sizable band kind of like
the one I'm wearing right now which is
brass but this one's actually 14 karat
yellow gold you can also choose white
gold or rose gold and then the size
range is absolutely amazing I it's
really hard to find rings like I don't
know about you but like I have I have
like a stick for a pinkie and so like
they go down to a size two and so if you
have a similar issue then that would be
really great they also go up to size 11
so they're really like size friendly and
then they also have some skinny stacking
that are a trio which is so cool so that
one's pricier as well that one's 186 and
you can buy that again in 14 yellow gold
14 karat yellow gold sorry and white
gold and rose gold so this is quality
that you're paying for like this is not
joking around this is not getting your
fingers green when you go to wash the
dishes like this is something you will
invest in and it will never like get all
green or anything like that so that's
really cool as well as the fact that
they're not plated like you can wash
your hands and it's still going to be
gold like nothing happens it's not going
to just rub off or anything so you get
what you pay for
Gold is super expensive right now and
that's just kind of the way that it is
okay drum roll please the number one
brand that I am iron
eyeing this season is J Hannah so
there's a few reasons for this something
that I've purchased from but but not
really I've bought her nail polishes
which are absolutely amazing I've got
him in Himalayan salt and then there's
also one that is like a glitter shimmer
like gold I don't remember the name of
it but it's absolutely amazing and I
just love my nails whenever I I do her
nail polish so that was amazing but also
in my research about Johanna whose name
is really Jess it's really cool to find
out her passion and like what inspired
her what got her started so her
grandmother's vintage pieces she
inherited and it just kind of took off
from there it inspired her from there so
that's just again like with the
grandmother thing like you can tell that
there's a theme to all of these is that
they're timeless they're not necessarily
from this era and that's what I look for
with jewelry is something maybe it's a
little bit on trend like I wear a lot of
coin necklaces for instance that's
really on trend but it's not something
that feels like it's from this time and
so that's what's so cool is to find out
where people find their passion like
their inspiration and then how they
transform it into a new work of art
through jewelry I don't know if I say
jewelry I think I say
Jewellery really weird but I also think
Zach says it weird he always says it
like jewelry and I don't know there's a
debate there in our family but anyway
it's back to J Hanna I think that it's
really cool that you can't really define
her jewelry like where it's from and I
also think it's cool how like whenever
you'd see someone wearing her pieces it
would look like oh my gosh where did you
get those like what where is that that
necklace from you know what I mean it's
that type of conversation that would
happen over her pieces so that's what I
love about him she's got a whole
collection that I love so much that's
made out of quartz rock crystals and so
this is okay the glaze collection I
believe I'm probably still butchering
that I'm trying you guys but I think
that it's so beautiful it's like got all
of this gold and these these drop
earrings just look like they're drops of
ice is what it looks like so they're not
sparkly like a diamond or anything it's
quartz but it has just an old-world feel
to it that's so beautiful
I just love it so much so that the
earrings are amazing she's got a ring
that's amazing same same collection and
then she also has an oval pinky signet
ring so I'm really excited about that
because it goes all the way down to size
1.5 which means I can wear it on my
pinky so it says here in the description
that signet jewelry is more where you
would put your mark your identity you
know you would you would pour the wax
and then you stamp your signature into
it so that's kind of the idea it's an
overall feel again but something that
you could definitely pass down as well
so yeah pricey but heirloom and quality
so these are things to weigh for
yourself and see where where you align
with your jewelry needs and go from
there but I'm I'm really I'm really
obsessed with J Hannah stuff like and I
don't use the word obsessed lightly like
I know everybody says that they're you
know obsessed with hamburgers it rips us
with you know whatever is I don't know I
don't know where I'm going with this
just that like I mean it like J Hannah
stuff
is amazing every single piece that she
has is something that I am attracted to
and I would buy if I had millions of
dollars but I do really love her pieces
so the signet ring it's a range
depending on the type of metal that you
go with and you know as well as the size
it goes from 268 to 665 so you might not
wear it on your pinky if it's on the
pricier range you might get you know a
size 9 you might get it in silver you
know there's different aspects to
something like that so guys I hope that
you liked this video just know that none
of this was sponsored but there's
definitely brands in the future that I
would love to work with obviously and so
this just know like this was all just
stuff that I spent hours researching on
my own behalf and ones that I am like I
said obsessed with but anyways I will
let you guys go my screen is getting
brighter than the Sun outside so I must
end this now and say farewell I hope
that you liked this if you did on
youtube give it a thumbs up or wherever
you're listening to this which this will
be like one of the first things that I
post on my actual podcast for audio use
I would definitely say to give it a five
star rating or whatever you guys do out
there I'm still learning I'm bringing
you guys along with this journey but it
really means so much that you're
following along and I will see you guys
next time bye
[Music]