Jewellery Chat and Organisation Tips

Like many of us out there, if I was a bird I would definitely be a magpie! As my friends and family will tell you, I am obsessed with jewellery and accessories…….. (or basically just anything sparkly lol).  If you are like me, you will have a collection of jewellery that includes the odd designer piece, a few mid-range pieces and a massive selection of high street jewellery.

Whilst all of my jewellery may not be super expensive, I love it regardless and cannot bare having it unorganised! Whether it’s a pair of Chanel earrings or a stack of rings from Topshop it must have a home! There is nothing worse than rummaging through a pile of jewellery, finding the thing you want to wear and then realising it is tangled up with about five other bracelets or necklaces!  On days like that I just have to go without jewellery.  Trying to sort out that mess can ruin my day! (dramatic ….but true!) so I thought I would share with you a few of my favourite brands, and show you how I like to organise my jewellery in a way that avoids those horrible tangled messes.

Designer Jewellery…….

I can’t say that I have a MASSIVE collection of designer jewellery items, but over the years I have collected a few nice pieces, mainly as Christmas or birthday presents.  Chanel are definitely up there as one of those designer brands that do absolutely beautiful and classic pieces of jewellery.  I was lucky enough to get a pair of classic Chanel stud earrings for Christmas last year and I LOVE them! So I thought I would share my experience of choosing these with you…….. Dan and I headed off to Chanel’s flagship store in the Fashion Avenue of Dubai Mall.  I was so incredibly excited at the thought of going to the store and picking out the earrings which I wanted.  However, I must admit, the whole process was quite underwhelming and a bit disappointing.  I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but when we got inside the store it was incredibly busy and it was a struggle to get the attention of a member of staff (to be fair it was a Saturday afternoon in Dubai Mall….. but still).  Once we finally got served I spent quite a while agonising over the many beautiful options.  With a decision made, I left the store carrying that little classic black and white Chanel shopping bag with a gorgeous pair of earrings inside.  Whilst the shopping experience wasn’t exactly everything I had hoped for, I absolutely love the earrings and that’s the main thing.

Tiffany is another obvious classic designer brand, and almost everyone I know these days has at least one Tiffany item.  As much as I love the Tiffany pieces I am lucky enough to own, I can’t help but feel like Tiffany is becoming a bit overshadowed by newer and trendier brands. Brands like Monica Vinader or even Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs are producing really nice pieces of jewellery at a far more competitive price than Tiffany.  For me, Tiffany needs to up it’s game a bit to retain it’s reputation in such a competitive market.  I will always be a fan of those little green bags though!

High End High Street…….

The high end high street jewellery brands are my favourites.  I feel like they are a good middle ground between designer and high street.   Brands like Kate Spade, Monica Vinader, Pandora and even Ted Baker all do really nice Jewellery which are quite reasonable priced and still great quality!  I think these are the best value for money. I own a little Kate Spade pendant which says ‘mom said so’.  Even though I am not a ‘mom’ myself, this necklace reminds me of my own mom and I absolutely love it! It is so simple and pretty and goes with everything.

These days my bracelet collection includes a few different pieces from Pandora. I know that Pandora bracelets are very popular these days, but for good reason……. They have really branched out in recent years and now offer a selection of dainty chain bracelets and bangles on top of their original charm bracelets.

Whilst it seems that every second person (or more) has a Pandora bracelet, everyone’s is personal and unique to them.  That’s the beauty of charm bracelets in general.  Nobody is ever going to have exactly the same one which I think is really nice.  I received my first Pandora bracelet almost nine years ago!  It was a gift from my sisters when I moved to London and they put a little suitcase charm on it as my first one.  It was such a lovely surprise and I have been adding to it over the years.  This made Christmas and birthday present decisions very easy for Dan and my friends and my bracelet quickly filled up.  As there were still so many charms that I loved, I ended up getting a second bracelet to start over :).  Dan even used a Pandora charm to propose to me (as he knew I wanted to pick my own ring) so my Pandora bracelet will always be very special to me.

The bracelet I get the most wear out of is probably my little Marc Jacobs Enamel Logo Disc bracelet.  I received this as a gift from Dan years ago.  I love to either wear this alone or pair it with a watch – it is dainty enough to do either.

I am also a massive fan of my Monica Vinader Fiji Chain bracelet and i get a lot of wear out of this one too. Monica Vinader offer complementary engraving on their jewellery which I think is a really nice touch.  I got a CB embossed on my rose gold fiji bracelet and I love it.

I find that high end high street stores are particularly good for watches.  Brands like Olivia Burton, Daniel Wellington and Larsson and Jennings all have a great selection of beautiful watches which won’t break the bank.  My current favourites are my gold and black Larsson and Jennings watches.  This is such a cool brand of watches – they don’t have a massive selection but all of their pieces are interchangeable with different straps and faces, so you can mix them up for different looks.  I feel like this gives me a lot of options without having to buy a whole new watch.  I can either just buy a new strap or face and feel like I have a completely new watch.

High Street…….

l absolutely love jewellery from high street stores like Topshop, River Island, H&M…… the list goes on.  I know sometimes the quality of these products is not amazing but I find it hard to walk out of any of those stores without at least one accessory.  The problem with this sort of jewellery is that because it is less expensive, I try to justify buying 10 things at once (and suddenly forget about the 10 things I bought last time). This is how I end up with too much ‘crap’.

Most of the chains and necklaces I have are from high street stores.  I get tired of the same necklaces very quickly so I tend to buy more inexpensive ones and replace them regularly.  However, one chain that I absolutely love and go back to time after time is a little gold double coin chain (which I think I first got in River Island) but I have seen these everywhere and I keep repurchasing the same one as I always want to have one.  As they are not very expensive, however, the quality isn’t great so it’s always nice to have a backup.

I find that if I keep everything somewhat organised then I am less likely to forget about the things which I bought previously and might actually use them!

Onto the Organising Bit…….

When it comes to organising my jewellery, there is one product which I repurchase over and over! That’s the Muji acrylic storage boxes.  They are sooooo good! They are a little bit on the pricey side for what is technically a plastic box, but I think they are totally worth the money.  They are such good quality, so easy to use and come in an array of shapes and sizes.  The boxes can also be stacked neatly on top of each other to save space.  I am currently using:

• One  5 drawer box 
• Two Flip Top Box – 2 Drawers – Wide
• One 3 drawer box
• One 2 drawer box – narrow 

Two Drawer Acrylic Boxes…….

I use one of the two drawer boxes to store my watches.   Like with all of my jewellery, I have one or two more expensive watches and then the rest are just ones that I picked up in high street stores over time, but I love those just as much.

I use a second two-drawer box to store my bracelets and bangles.  I like how easy it is to find what I am looking for when they are arranged like this.

Five Drawer Box…….

I use a five-drawer box to store most of my statement necklaces and chains.  I like to keep the smaller chains on top and keep chunkier necklaces in the drawers below.  It was really difficult to get a good picture of this because there are so many drawers.

Two Drawer Box – Narrow

I use a narrow 2 drawer box for my earrings.  For this one I have bought the velour partition to insert into the box, which keeps each pair of earrings separated in their own compartment.  This stops all of my earrings from getting mixed up and makes it so easy for me to find the ones I want to wear each day.

I have even managed to convince Dan to use the same system for his cuff-links! He uses the second drawer for his watches (all two of them!).

In addition to the Muji acrylic boxes, I have a selection of other little individual bits and pieces which I use to keep some other items of jewellery which I have.

I have quite a large wooden jewellery box which I bought in Zara Home when I first moved to Abu Dhabi.  Once this had filled up I discovered the Muji boxes and that’s all I have purchased ever since.

I use a little mirrored box to store odd little bits and bobs like pins and brooches.  I have had this little box for absolutely years and I honestly have no idea where I got it, but I have definitely seen similar things in shops and online.

Last but not least, I use this cute little Oliver Bonas Marble and Copper Trinket Pot to store extra special things like my wedding rings and other favourite pieces.  This pot was a gift from Dan’s Mum and Dad at Christmas and I absolute love it!

 

I hope this post was helpful to any of you who are trying to find a way to organise your jewellery.  If you have any tips for me please also share those below.  I love discovering new ways to organise things in my home.

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