My Most-Worn Jewelry.

My Most-Worn Jewelry

I love jewelry. Always have, always will. As a child, my favorite thing was to raid my mother and grandmother’s jewelry box. As an adult, I’ve become a bit of a collector. Every year I buy myself a special piece. If it’s been a good year, sometimes there is a Christmas gift too. Today I wanted to round up my most-worn pieces in one easy place. We’ve broken them down into super splurgy fine jewelry pieces, affordable favs, and the in-between!

PS – two other posts you might enjoy: My advice for building a fine jewelry collection, and my Dorsey tennis necklace review!

My Most-Worn Jewelry

FINE JEWELRY

I didn’t really invest in fine jewelry until my late thirties. I didn’t have the money before that, and I worked at BaubleBar until I was 35 (I think, time is starting to blur, I can’t remember!) so was always representing the brand — for the four years I worked there I didn’t really wear any other jewelry, it would have felt disloyal! Now, my favorite fine jewelry comes from Sherman-Field (this is my newest favorite; the most perfect chains and classic pieces), Retrouvai, Irene Neuwirth, and Brent Neale.

Lab Grown

I would classify Dorsey’s lab grown jewelry as the in-between! Most of their pieces are under $1,000 but the quality is fantastic. These pieces are still technically fine jewelry. The labs engineer conditions that mimic the exact way that a stone would develop naturally (in the earth). The end result is a stone that has the exact same physical and chemical properties as a traditionally mined stone. The end result is an identical stone that is more sustainable and more affordable! More sustainable as no mining is required; more affordable as they aren’t rare. (More on that in this post!).

My latest Dorsey acquisition has been these .6 carat lab grown sapphire studs. I love them so much wear them more than my diamond studs as I find them to be sparklier! My other most-worn Dorsey piece is the gold Crawford earrings. I say this all the time but they really do look and feel like they could be a family heirloom! The emerald version is super fun too. The other piece I wear constantly is this band.

Affordable Favs Under $200

I wear a lot less costume jewelry than I used to but it still has its place! For example, take the Bottega drop earrings everyone went wild for last year. I loved the look but a) I felt a friend’s pair and the originals were really heavy for me and b) I didn’t want to spend nearly $1,350 on something so trendy, so I found a good dupe! I also just love anything that looks like candy (like this pair and this from Lele Sadoughi!) and these hoops are some of my most worn, despite being a cool $11.65.

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7 Comments

  1. Lauryl:

    I love love the locket (and could get on board with that price for an investment piece), but sadly adding the chain is just too much for my budget. It’s such a classic piece, though!

    1.29.24 Reply
  2. m:

    I am absolutely in love with the oval link studs you gifted yourself for Christmas. They are too far out of my budget (that’s like half a year of my mortgage payments) but absolutely stunning! Nice find! I know you will wear them forever.

    1.29.24 Reply
  3. Lynn:

    I am in love with the smaller Lollipop ring but now is not the time to buy it. So many other obligations. I have some beautiful jewelry gifted to me by my husband and also family heirlooms so I’m lucky to have them . I do love everything you bought .
    do
    Lynn

    2.2.24 Reply
  4. Avery:

    You sometimes wear a silver bracelet with a medallion, where did you find it and does it have a story??

    2.3.24 Reply
    • grace at the stripe:

      Are you sure that is me? I don’t think it is, just because I don’t really wear silver. The two bracelets I wear every day are my Dorsey tennis bracelet and my Sherman-Field oval links bracelet!

      2.3.24 Reply
      • Avery:

        Oh! Maybe it’s gold? You have it on in the OUTFIT DIARY, 9.20.23 post!

        3.1.24 Reply
        • grace at the stripe:

          Oh that is a charm bracelet – it was a collaboration between my friend Mally Goldman @mallykgoldman and Casita jewelry. I think it was a limited edition!

          3.2.24 Reply