If you have ever had the opportunity to meet Wendy Brandes you know she sees the world from a different viewpoint. There are volumes of knowledge packed in among all the wacky fun that you never expect from this tiny bundle of energy that, by the way, looks to be in her early twenties!
I met Wendy at the Pricescope Soiree during Jewelry Week in Las Vegas where I was introduced to her New York Taxi Cab Ring the latest (at the time) from her Maneater series…
Wendy explains the concept behind her Maneater Series:
“The rings are inspired by my lifelong interest in powerful women. My signature Wendy Brandes jewelry line started with pieces that were named after real-life bad-ass women, including the warrior queen Xenobia and the 12th-century Empress Matilda. A lot of these strong women have been called “dragon lady” or “man eater” in pejorative ways. A tough man is just a guy doing his job, but there always has to be some kind of mean-sounding name for a tough woman, right? I got to thinking that some of these wimmins might have relished being called these names. I’m sure 7th-century Empress Wu would have been like, “Ha ha ha! Dragon lady! YOU’RE RIGHT!” before she executed the guy who spoke those words. Accordingly, each Maneater ring has a triumphant animal on top and a man tucked away inside the band.”
This week Wendy introduced the latest member of this esteemed assemblage – the “Pink Elephant and Tipsy Writer” ring. Now I’m with you – how will Wendy give Pink Elephants an historical provenance? well she did it!
“Novelist and journalist Jack London (1876 – 1916) was the first person to write about pink elephants as a hallucination suffered by a certain type of heavy drinker. My elephant is made of 18K rose gold and covered with 262 tiny pink sapphires totaling 2 carats. (She also has white diamond eyes.) The 18K-yellow-gold shank of the ring — representing a wooden bar — is set with 174 brown diamonds weighing 2.15 carats.
You can peek inside the ring to see the too-drunk, 18K-white-gold writer, slumped between a wine bottle and a glass that’s adorned with another small white diamond – The look of the writer isn’t based on Jack London. Instead, it was loosely inspired by this photo of Cary Grant.
But Cary Grant looks a lot more dapper than my guy, who is really hurting.”
Just reading the stories of these rings will bring a smile to your face – so – I am going to introduce you to the entire Maneater series as daily posting as #DailyJewels next week!
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