#in my four and a half years in retail at the same store this is only the second time anyone's ever given me what is meant to be a tip

[starlit-mansion]

I've decided that i want to disrupt the strightsized/midsized thriftblogger industrial complex for my fellow actually fat people. I havent been as small as a size 18 since senior year of highschool and my waistline is sitting comfortably at around 50 inches these days and i thrift but it's frequently humiliating. Here are my tips.

one: there isn't nothing. It might be slim pickings. It might be a single rack in a 2 story shop. It might be only 2 pairs of pants in the whole place. But you've been on the street and in the grocery store. You know there are other people your size in the world and their stuff ends up a thrift store too.

two: avoid trendy areas like the plague. do you live in a smaller town? do you have reason to go to one? go to a thrift store there. if you know there are more people your size in an area, then that's a good sign for your chances. you aren't looking for designer pieces at a steal; you are looking for some gently used lane bryant and this is where it lives.

three: it isnt all or nothing. you can get some things thrifted and some things you're probably going to have to buy at a plus sized store. Getting a few nice blouses for cheap can free up your budget for a pair of new pants from a plus sized retailer. For instance, I really cant thrift a pair of shoes for shit because i have extra wide feet and cankles for days, but my partner who is a similar weight has regular sized feet and could thrift shoes easily, and that's a lot of money that could be saved there.

four: if it only almost fits, put it back. if you're anything like me, the fact that you can button or zip it is going to feel like a miracle, but if it hurts or digs in any way, it'll sit in your closet for weeks while the things that don't hurt get worn many times in a row. we don't always have the luxury of everything in our wardrobes sparking joy but it can at least not spark pain.

five: be honest. if you aren't going to fix it or take it out, don't waste your money on a project piece that's going to sit around for the next 2 years and go back to the thrift store from whence it came.

five point five: be a little adventurous though. especially with shirts and dresses. maybe you've never tried that color before but it looks good in the store. this is a low stakes way to expand your style. you can always get rid of it if you decide against it, either within a return window, or donating it back. If your thrift store gives coupons for donating, taking a small grocery bag with a few pieces will get you the same discount as a car full of old furniture, so donate small amounts and often.

six: if you're thrifting online, thrift the brand you trust. like i hinted above, i trust lane bryant. i also trust torrid because i'm tall and torrid is for me and the transfems. search on shopgoodwill or depop or whatever by the brand you know the sizing of. hell, you can also seach the box store brand like time and tru or ava viv on there if you miss that one piece from a year or two ago that was cute and fit you perfectly. Speaking of...

seven: goodwill gets target overstock. you can find new overstock stuff from last season on the racks. i've seen many a thing go from clearance at my local target to on the shelves at the goodwill. keep it in mind if you're broke but used clothes yuck you out. you can find new with tag stuff in plus sizes, either from stores directly or people who just aren't fussed about money.

eight: you have to go a lot to find stuff. that's how the bloggers do it; they made it their side hustle in some way. i don't suggest doing it if you have no interest in it, but if you can put aside a half hour once a week or twice a month to check while you're running your errands, you can start finding stuff. Keep your trips and your budget small, and start looking for stuff for the next season months ahead of time to keep the pressure down.

nine: save a treat. either literally go for a treat afterward for being a big brave bestie and confronting the fact that you have a corporeal form and it needs clothes, or look through the fun thing that relaxes you. Looking for silly mugs? trying to find fine leather purses? want to look at ugly figurines and take pictures of them to text your friend and say "it's you'? Do that. Every time you go to the thrift store, add in the fun thing. If looking for work clothes can't motivate you, maybe looking through the children's paperbacks to try to rebuild your collection of animorphs books that you got rid of in 2005 will.

lastly: cut out the middle man. if you have a friend or relative of similar size to you: TRADE the pieces you're pruning from your wardrobe with each other before you donate them. It will give you the spark of newness that you both are looking for. Also you can reference the "those shoes... look familiar..." vine when you see them wearing something you gave them.

tl;dr: thrift often and in small doses, make it fun for yourself if you can, and also i just heard a tip where if you want to check a waistband size without trying it on, have the waistband fully closed and hold it to your hip. if the ends of the waistband reach your spine and bellybutton, it'll probably fit. So that's pretty handy.

[tiredelirium]

D.3

Working retail is a chore, the good and the bad.

Overbearing bosses. Challenging customers. Reluctant colleagues.

When the crowds are dead it really feels like you’re wasting your time. When the crowds are constant it feels like time doesn’t exist.

I found this all out in my first job. After a year of looking for jobs, I finally had a chance with my aims being so low as to look for temporary roles. A Christmas gig. The job was simple and complicated all in all. A learning process, but I was, at the very least, always a person who learned best by doing and was good with my hands.

Mistakes were made along the way as always, but they were few and far between. Whatever the case, the temporary role got turned into a call back, albeit ending rather unfortunately in the January.

To celebrate a successful Christmas sales period, our store as a top performing store got to go to a hotel for a meal and to receive an award from the top brass of the region. Despite being a Christmas temp I got invited to come along too and I did. After not drinking for about a year I ended up pretty drunk pretty quickly, but, I guess thankfully, I was more of a somber drunk than an over the top one.

We had rooms in the hotel, but went out for a few more drinks in town first, played some snooker, wandered a frigid night. I gave my jacket away to one of my colleagues who lacked a coat, and after a few hours we all returned to the hotel. Some had work in the morning, including the lad I was roomed with, who chose to get a taxi to his place rather than sleep at the hotel.

I stayed the night, and slept pretty soundly in my drunkeness, with a pretty decent room to myself.

I still wonder from time to time though. It might be all the romance literature and media I’ve slowly consumed all the years, but doesn’t that kind of night feel like the kind of night where someone single should’ve been up to no good? Yet there I was, room to myself sleeping the early morning away.

Come the next week I started to get sick. I’ve never really had hangovers, so I knew something was wrong a few days later when after work I’d lost all energy. I basically collapsed at home and was out like a light for an entire night into day. When I woke up every muscle in my body ached, my head screamed at me, I had no appetite at all, and could barely talk. It was like my throat had had a million tiny razors carved down it.

After four days of whatever the hell that was, the motionless me developed another issue, and I was forced to call in sick again, visiting the GP over the issue. Since I was a temp my manager let me have those days with holiday pay, as my contract was going to end soon anyway. I never got a ‘last day’ of temp work as a result.

After just shy of a month, I was finally more or leas back on my feet again, though the second issue i’d developed was still such. And around the same time my manager contacted me to offer me a permanent position, though it was only part time.

But that was better work offer than I’d had for over a year and a half, so, naturally, I agreed to take the job.

I guess that goes to show despite my own opinions of myself and my ineptitudes, others saw me as reliable. Or maybe they just wanted the extra staff.

I started working there full time, albeit only a handful of days a week, and got to learning more processes. The online training side of things was annoying, if only because it was poorly constructed and mandatory by the company. Unskippable powerpoints, poorly edited training videos, questionnaires with multiple answers yet no way to verify which questions had the multiple answers option or were just singular. Bad design all over the place.

Sorry. Critic in me.

Anyway, I got to know the staff there more. Saw some of the temps not get a call back, and hear reasons why for the most part. And that was it, my first job, and the one i’m still doing close to five years later at this point.

I still don’t know what sickness I got, but considering it was early 2020, end of January, and what would come later for us all, every one i’ve mentioned it to has said the same; “Probably a Covid variant.”

And so life went on. Though I moved through it a bit like a ghost. I don’t really interact with people outside work.

One of the unfortunate truths of going to a university so far from home, is that maintaining friendships from back home becomes that much harder. And I was never good at that to begin with.

If someone doesn’t reach out to you that just means they were never interested in staying friends to begin with.

Thats been the truth for me in the first third of my lifespan.

Work hasn’t changed, in fact, in a way it’s gotten worse. My desire to do other things only grows as the stagnation of the day to day maintains its course. Yet, my previous failings wane all ambition from me at the same time.

In a war of apathy and desire, which do you think should rightly win out?

[nonamefangirl]

hi i’m just gonna spill my guts under the cut don’t mind me

tomorrow is my last day of my current job. i’ve been with the company for eight & a half years, i’ve been at this store for four years, & i’ve been in my current position for two years. while i am so incredibly over the company & working in retail, i’m having the worst time coming to terms with the fact that i won’t be seeing my coworkers every day anymore.

i’ve been hugging people all week. yesterday was my last truck (i’m the operations supervisor & the main job is running the truck unloading process) & i told myself i wasn’t going to cry & i made it seven hours into my shift but one specific coworker was leaving for the day & she told me she wouldn’t be in the rest of the week & i lost it & i couldn’t stop crying. i made it through today until i was walking to my car bc i had hugged another friend goodbye.

i was talking to one coworker & she said “when they hired me, she said ‘we’re like a big family’ & i said ‘yeah sure 🙄’ but i can’t believe how true it is. we literally are a family & it’s hard to see someone leave”. i literally see these people more than i see my own family.

i know i’ll find new people to love & care about at my new job but it won’t be the same. leaving my old store hurt too but it feels like this is hitting harder. i know i’m doing what i need to do for me & my future but god does this part suck.

i’m going to be an absolute mess tomorrow.

[britswriting]

Devotion (18)

Devotion Masterlist

Read on wattpad

T/W: Self harm! - not graphic detail, just a little brief thought process explanation that can be triggering!

C/W: brief smut

*Leighton's POV*

The anxiety I felt as I waited at the restaurant table for Colby felt completely unknown.

I couldn't sit still for the life of me. I was convinced I looked like a crazy person as I fiddled with my straw, my leg constantly bouncing and my thumb endlessly scrolling through my phone.

What if I was making the wrong choice?

With us selling my parents house, I decided it was time to grow up and move back in with Colby; after all, if we were going to make this relationship work, and actually raise a family together, it would be extremely useful if we were under the same roof. The only thing is I had a few rules I wanted to enforce first; and the idea of telling Colby what those things were was honestly making my heart beat out of my chest.

On top of my feeling like I was running for my life, all whilst sitting at this booth, Colby was running late.

I resisted the urge I had to text him, by texting Aaliyah a few times, wanting to see when she was free to meet up, or even just open to a phone call, but it was complete radio silence on her end.

Half an hour later than we agreed on, I was starting to get fed up, hitting call on Colby's contact only for him to finally walk through the restaurant door.

"I'm so sorry" He immediately apologized, sliding into the booth across from me.

"You're half an hour late, Colby" I huffed, leaning back against the booth.

"I know, and I apologize. I left the house late and then I hit traffic, I'm sorry" he explained and I licked my lips, nodding as I reached for my drink, Colby wiggling a little in his seat, "You're mad" he sighed. "I didn't mean to be late, I swear"

"I'm not mad" I mumbled, setting my drink back down, "I'm just irritated. Waiting is one thing, waiting half an hour is another. Especially when you're anxious about what you want to discuss, and everyone at the restaurant is sending you pity looks because it looks like you're being stood up on on a date"

"I'm sorry" he repeated.

"It's fine. Let's just order" I replied softly, my foot tapping against the worn tile.

"You haven't ordered?" Colby asked, sounding surprised, and maybe even a little guilty, "Leighton, you didn't have to wait for me"

"I didn't know you were going to be half an hour late. It's fine, I wanted to eat with you anyway"

We both ordered our food, Colby asking how Gemma's been and if we've continued our preschool search to which I informed him that I put in a few applications but I wasn't sure if any of them were really going to work out.

I also mentioned that I had put in my two weeks notice at my fast food job since I landed a new position working at a retail store that had better pay; to which he congratulated me on.

"At least you're out of the shitty fast food field" he muttered quickly, glancing around causing me to giggle.

"It wasn't too bad. I mean, I wasn't dealing with all the costumers really anymore, it's just... the smell, and being pregnant.. it was rough. With the new job, sure I start a little lower on the totem pole, but I plan to keep this job whilst I go through my first few years of college" I started to explain, Colby's brow furrowing.

"Your first few years of college? You're finally doing that?" he asked and I nodded slowly, "Not to uh, sound unsupportive, but how do you plan to manage having a four year old, a newborn, a new career and go to school? You're going to get burnt out Leighton"

I felt my walls start to quickly build up as I took a deep breath, reminding myself to listen to him.

I understood where he was coming from, it was a lot.. but what, was I just supposed to put these things on hold because I have kids? Many people accomplish these goals with families, why couldn't I?

"I'll figure it out" I shrugged, Colby giving me a weird look.

"I understand that... but doesn't it seem just a little bit.. uh, out of reach? A little in over your head?" He asked, a frown tugging on my lips.

"I need to go school Colby. I want to go to school. I want to feel accomplished in that way"

"I understand. When do you plan on signing up?" he asked.

"Well, I was thinking not for a little bit. I mean, I don't want to miss a lot of school when I'm in labor, and I know the newborn days will be rough.. so I was thinking maybe when she's a few months old? Gemma was in hopefully preschool, or some sort of afternoon activity? I wasn't thinking like starting tomorrow, if that's your concern"

By the time our food arrived, Colby and I ate a little bit before he finally asked, "So what is it that has you're anxiety acting up? I didn't think I was that nerve racking to talk to"

"It's not that I'm nervous to talk to you" I chuckled, "It's just.. to be honest, I'm nervous of making the wrong decision. I don't necessarily have the most perfect track record" I stated, Colby snickering at me, slipping the pickle off of his plate and onto mine.

"Just tell me. We can figure it out together, but I can't help if I don't know what you're worried about"

I sighed, taking a deep breath, flicking the salt from the fries off of my fingers before letting my eyes find his, "So you know how my dad's decided to sell the house?" I started, Colby nodding, "Well, it got me thinking about how uh, um, I kinda.. need a place to sleep, ya know?" I nervously laughed, "So I was thinking.. maybe G and I could move back in?" I slowly got out, Colby's eyes widening a little as his lips parted.

"You're serious?"

"Well.. yeah. Is that... is that okay?"

"Leighton! That's more than okay! That's all I've wanted. Oh my god, you're not joking, right?" He had me reconfirm, my head shake making a boyish grin show up on his face, "When are you planning on moving back in? Do you need help? I'm willing to help" he quickly rattled, the 0 to 100 energy taking me by surprise.

"I don't know yet, I need to figure it all out. I was uh— Okay, listen to my full sentence before you get too excited" I started, Colby's eyes narrowing a little as he nodded. "I would like to start the process of looking into buying a house. Or lease is coming to an end of December, so instead of renewing.. I was thinking.. we could buy a house together? I want to test the waters a little bit when we first move back in before jumping into the deep end, but that's where my head has been at. I just.. I want to start building our life together properly. I want to start with a house. I mean, our apartment is getting quite cramped, Colby. The room that is currently your office would have to become the nursery, which isn't fair to you. We don't have space for if Sam wanted to come stay with us, or when Gemma starts having sleepovers. I just really want us to have more space. More area to live in. I want to start getting ready with a nursery, and putting together a real space to call our own. A space where we can paint the walls, and change our fixtures" I rambled, the grin never falling off of Colby's face as he nodded at what I was saying.

"You're nesting" he chimed in, my eyes rolling, even though I knew he was right. "So step one, you move back in, step two, we look for a house" He nodded, making me laugh.

"So you're on board?"

"Are you kidding? I'm more than on board, Leighton! I'm driving fucking ship! You're coming back home! Gemma's coming back home! I'm so—" he paused, his head shaking out of disbelief, my cheeks becoming tight from the smile on my face.

"Ah ah" I tsked, shaking my head, "Don't get too ahead of yourself. I have uh, rules, I want you and me to follow" I warned, Colby freezing.

"Rules?"

"Mhm" I hummed, "The first one I'm not willing to change my mind on" I continued, watching the apprehensiveness tense up his muscles.

"Okay..."

"I want a sober house." I stated, chewing on my lower lip as my leg bounced a little, waiting for his reaction.

"A sober house?" He repeated, myself nodding, "Like, drinking?"

"And drugs"

His forehead wrinkled, "I don't do drugs"

"But I do. I said you and me. Not just you. I want us both to agree to this"

"Okay... I uh, I can do that" He nodded, surprising me that there was no push back.

"Really? You're not gonna argue with me?"

"Leighton, you're worth more to me than alcohol. If anything, drinking has really ruined both of our lives. I want you, and Gemma, way more than I do a beer, or whiskey"

"A sober house means a sober house though, Colby" I repeated, "That means if Sam comes over, there is no drinking in our house"

I watched realization appear on his face, my stomach dropping.

Is this where we're going to have problems?

"Like.. forever?" He asked and I nodded slowly, afraid of everything crumbling beneath me.

"At least for now" I settled, feeling like I was walking on a rickety bridge with a few loose boards, really clutching onto my life with every inhale that Colby took.

"For now? What does that mean?"

"I don't want to limit you forever. I just, I don't want it in our house for now. For a while. I don't want the temptations or the reminders whilst I continue to work on becoming confident in my willpower of recovery. I want to say goodbye to the substances that have ruined my life. Plus, with your recent track record of a DUI, I just don't want it to be available under our roof. That doesn't mean you can't go out to the bar, or drink at someone else's house, I just.. well, if you do that, I'd really like you to confirm with someone who isn't going, even if that's just me, to come get you. I don't want you to have any chance to get another DUI, whether you think you're capable or not. I just worry, is all..." I sighed, Colby nodding, a guilty look in his eye as his shoulders slumped.

"I'm sorry I've caused you to worry. That was never intention"

"I know, I just.. I don't want the opportunity to drink alone, or on a whim to be available. Nothing good has come from it"

"I'm willing to try. It's kind of habit to buy alcohol just have on hand" He said and I nodded, understanding what he meant since he normally drank with his friends. "Is that your only rule? No substances?" He asked and I shrugged, playing around a little bit with my food.

"I want us to take our meds together"

His brow furrowed, "You don't trust me?"

"At this moment? No. But, then we both know. I know you took your anti depressant and you know I've taken my shit load of pregnancy vitamins and my own anxiety medication. It's not like I'm just standing there and making sure you've swallowed it" I giggled, "I just thought maybe, to ease both our mines, we make it a habit that we do it together each morning" I did a small shoulder shrug, Colby nodding slowly.

"I can try. You'll have to remind me"

"Okay, I can do that. One more thing" I held up my finger, Colby's head tilting. "I want us to start our mornings off together with Gemma, and finish our evenings together. I want her to see us as a unit. A family. I understand we have work, and it's easier said than done, but whether it's a quick phone call, or whatever.. I just want us to figure it out. I really want us both to be there for her; especially since we have another little one on the way. I don't want it to be Leighton Fox and Colby Brock. I want Leigh and Colby. Does that make sense?"

"That's harder for me to agree to due to how long some of our nights can get, especially with us traveling out of town. I think we need to reconsider the whole morning and night thing if I'm gone. That's a lot harder to swing when I'm working" His lips pursed, my own rolling into a thin line.

"I just don't want Gemma, or myself to feel forgotten about when you're working. We've gone so long without each other that I don't want to continue to walk in our old habits. I can tell you right now I'm going to need a lot of help with this baby, and Gemma. You can't work as much when the baby is born. Gemma was hard. I mean, you know that" I pointed out, remembering when he had babysat her for me when I went back to rehab, "But it's going to be a lot harder now that she'll be going to school and becoming more of a real person and less of a little blob attached to my hip, plus having a new baby. I just want us to be on the same page"

"Why do you think I don't want to be a part of this family?" He suddenly asked, catching me off guard.

"What? Is that a rhetorical question?" I asked, Colby shaking his head, "What do you mean?"

"Everything you're saying, you're saying it like I'm joining the family. Not creating the family. I feel like I'm your friend whose helping out with Gemma again, rather than your fiancé who is biologically the father of your unborn child"

"I apologize if that's how it sounded. I just wanted us to be on the same page considering we haven't been under the same roof in a while, and the last time we were didn't go to well"

Colby agreed to do his best, the two of us finishing our lunch as we discussed when I would move back in, Colby hesitantly agreed with me when I told him I wanted to help my dad with packing and cleaning up the house so it was able to be listed on the market.

~

"Put that down!" I shrieked, Colby going through my old school projects my mom had tossed in a box under the stairs.

"What? It's cute" He laughed, shaking the kindergarten art project that was a paper plate with googley eyes and pipe cleaners.

"I can't believe she kept that" I huffed, setting my box of old school papers to the side.

"You're telling me you want to throw this out? Look at it's eyes!" He shook the plate.

"No!"

"Look into it's eyes and tell it you don't want it" He moved the plate closer to me, my nose wrinkling.

"I don't want it!"

"Leigh, we can't just throw away your entire childhood" He chuckled, tossing the old art project into one of the trash bags.

"Well we can't keep everything. Where are we going to put it in the apartment?" I asked, trying to hold back my smug smile.

"We can put them in a storage locker, you know?" he mentioned, "If we're buying a house, there is going to be room for your sentimental things. You don't have to throw them all out. Do you plan on just getting rid of all these memories?" he asked, grabbing another art project.

"I just figured they'd be taking up space. Do you have your old projects?" I asked, moving onto another bin.

"I think my mom has them" he chuckled, my lips pursing as I glanced up at him.

"And you're giving me shit?"

"I wasn't giving you shit, you're just getting rid of like everything"

"Well I don't know what I want to keep, so might as well" I shrugged, shoving another bin out of the way once I realized it was Logan's shit.

"What are you doing?" Gemma's tiny slightly slurred voice asks, her little body peering over my shoulder.

"We're going through mommy's childhood stuff, want to help?" I asked, Gemma shaking her head making me laugh.

"What do you think of mommy's old project?" Colby asked, holding up yet another art project I didn't remember.

"Looks silly" she giggled, Colby handing it to her, "Momma make dis?"

"Mhm"

"Mommy's gotten better" She giggled, my jaw dropping in offense.

"You don't think this is good? I was like eight when I made this!" I fake shrieked, swiping the paper of dried water colored paint from her.

"Messy!" she giggled, pointing at my work, my jaw still dropped but I stayed quiet, shaking my head as her and Colby conversed about another art project.

Gemma stayed with us for a little bit before running off when Harper got here, Logan having come over to go through his own bins of shit.

"Think Lexi will come do hers?" He asked, a few containers of her stuff getting shoved towards the stairs.

"I don't fucking know. For all I know she's never speaking to me again" I huffed, sliding my now gone through bin over to Colby.

"I guess Landon has heard from her? I don't know much more than that" He informed, speaking again when I stayed quiet, "Leighton? You alright?"

I swallowed the emotions that were building in my throat, nodding, "It just sucks, that's all" I replied quietly, pulling out a folder of old tests that had all sorts of different grades on them, tossing the entire folder into the trash pile.

"Woah, what was all that?" Colby asked, the loud thud catching his attention.

"My old tests, I don't know why she kept those" I snickered, "I mean, a lot of them were from like middle, high school"

"Oh I need to see these. What kind of student was Leighton Fox?" Colby rhetorically asked, picking up the worn red folder that had faded edged due to it being a $2 cardboard folder from a decade ago.

"B....B plus... C minus... d plus?" His eyebrow raised at me, pulling out one of my math sheets to show Logan and I the bright red D- written on the top with a circle around it.

"Shut up, I wasn't good at math, leave me alone!" I defended, Colby chuckling as he continued to dig through the papers, reading off all of my different grades, "A plus in science?" his eyebrow raised.

"And?"

"You're a science nerd, huh?"

"Why? Because one paper from the seventh grade has an A plus? I probably cheated on it anyway" I snickered, Logan tsking. "Shut up! You cheated all the time! None of us have math genes and you got all A's all the fucking time" I rolled my eyes, Logan faking offense, "I did not"

"You did too! You were too busy tryna get into Miranda's pants"

"She was hot and a cheerleader!" He defended himself, my eyes rolling as Colby snickered.

"You thought all cheerleaders were hot, but didn't dare look at the other jock kids. You were shallow in high school. Glad Cynthia changed your ways" I teased, Logan's eyes rolling.

"What's this?" Colby asked, stopping our augmented banter.

"What's what?"

"This" Colby turned a piece of paper around.

"Oh" I stated, my eyes locked on the photo in front of me.

"That's Lex and Leigh" Logan answered for me, Colby's brow furrowed as he turned the photo back around.

"That's Leighton?" he confirmed, Logan nodding.

"Mom had us get professional photos done when the twins were babies. They made a whole day out of it and Leighton was so crabby the entire car ride because she skipped her nap" Logan snickered, "And I remember having to feed her some of my snacks so she'd stop crying and waking the babies. She never paid me back" He cocked an eyebrow, turning to look at me.

"Whatever" my eyes rolled, "You were just as annoying"

"Oh yeah? I bet you don't even remember that day" he shot back, my eyes narrowing.

"You were these ugly blue suspenders that you threw a fit about because mom wanted you to wear the gray ones so you'd match; but your blue ones had Batman on them"

"Do you have more photos of you as a toddler?" Colby asked, glancing around the mess we had created.

"Mom has a few photo albums, why?" I asked.

"I just, I never realized how much you look like Gemma"

My head shook, "Really? I don't see it"

"You had blonde hair as a toddler, so does she. Granted, it's started to darken a little bit" he turned the photo back around, "But you guys look very similar"

"She has a lot of Gabe's features though" I shrugged, hoping Logan doesn't go dig out the family albums considering he also has embarrassing photos in there.

Colby got quiet, the silence lingering as I shoved a box titled "Logan's High School CDs" towards him, pulling out another that was labeled "Leighton + Lexi baby clothes" piquing my interest as I lifted the lid, Colby's throat cleared; "Do you think our baby will look like you? You and Gem?" He asked, my hands pulling out different articles of clothes.

"Hm?" I hummed, looking up at him.

"I asked if you thought our baby will look like you girls"

I shrugged, "I mean, I think G looks like her dad, so maybe our baby will look like you. Just take my genes out of the equation completely" I snickered, Colby shaking his head.

"I want my baby to look just like you. I want all your genes, even the crazy ones" he grinned, my jaw dropping.

"Hey!"

"You're beautiful, Leighton. Our girls would be lucky to look like you. I honestly want our littlest one to have your beautiful eyes and smile"

"Yours are just as pretty, she's lucky either way" I complimented back, Logan fake gagging making us laugh. "Was this mine or Lexi's? Do you remember?" I asked Logan, pulling out an old baby dress.

"Was probably both of yours"

"I'm keeping this for the little one" I murmured, setting it aside and pulling out another, "Oh my god look at these little overalls"

"That has you written all over it" Logan laughed, my smile widening as I stared down at it, wishing I had found this box sooner when Gemma was a baby.

"I can't wait to dress our baby in cute things" I sighed, Colby grabbing my accumulating pile of clothes and putting them into one of our keep bags.

"Have you guys thought any more about baby names? Cynthia said it was quite the hot topic lately"

"Gemma suggested the name Rosie, and I agreed to humor her, but that isn't happening" I chuckled, grunting as I pushed myself up onto my knees; Colby grabbing my hand to help steady me.

"We like the name Zoe and Riley. We've tossed around Parker and Collette" Colby said, Logan nodding along.

"I don't like the way Collette sounds with Brock. That's our problem" I began, "Colby's got such an annoying last name that making names sound good is a struggle"

"Leighton's just overly picky is the real problem"

"Oh whatever, you hated my name ideas. Don't act like you're easy to please either" I scoffed.

"We thought about naming Harper, Melanie" Logan chimed in, surprising me.

"Really? Why?"

"Family name for Cynthia"

"Ah" I turned to face Colby, "Do you have any good family names?"

"I mean, my mom would die if we named our baby after her, but uh.. I don't really want to do that" he chuckled, his cheeks tinting pink.

"To be fair, Lesa is hard to use for a middle name — Oh! Speaking of your parents!"

"Oh god" Colby groaned.

"Your dad is trying to talk me into moving to Arizona"

"What?" Colby asked, his face scrunching up, "Why?"

"They want us to be closer for their grandbaby"

He was quiet for a moment before asking, "Do you want to?"

"What? Move to Arizona?" I questioned, Colby nodding, "God no, but I didn't know how to tell him that. I kind of just shrugged and moved on..."

"I don't want to move to Arizona either. If they want to be closer to the grandkids, they gotta come our way" Colby chuckles, "You'd murder me if I dragged you somewhere even hotter"

"You guys are moving?" Logan asked, looking between Colby and I.

"We were talking about it" I informed my brother, Colby nodding.

"Out of state?"

"Uh.. no? I don't know. I don't really want to leave mom"

"Well whatever you decide to do, factor in how long it takes for you to visit because I can't live without my niece"

"What about me?!"

"I've had you around my neck for 20 years" He teased, Colby snickering when I scoffed.

"You're both mean" I huffed, making an attempt to get up off the floor, pushing away the helpful hands before finally giving in, groaning and glaring at Colby as I tried to walk away, his hand keeping hold of mine as he pulled me back into him; "I could never get enough of you Leighton Rae" he murmured, pulling me in for a kiss, groaning when I turned my face so his lips met my cheek instead.

"Daaamn! Someone's in the dog house!" Logan laughed, my hand going behind my back to flip him off, wiggling out of Colby's hold and walking off.

I flicked on the bathroom light, jumping when I saw Colby standing behind me in the mirror.

"You've got to stop meeting me in the bathroom" I panted, my heart beating out of my chest.

He laughed, moving to wrap his arms under my own, clasping around my stomach, "Are you mad at me?" he hummed against my ear, resting his chin on my shoulder as we watched each other in the mirror.

"No"

"Why'd you walk off?"

"I've been sitting for over an hour. Shit hurts. You try carrying the baby next time" I sighed, leaning back to rest my head against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry you're in pain, I wish I could make it better; but it'll all be worth it, I promise"

"Can I ask you something?" I asked softly, chewing on my lower lip, watching the way his eyes flickered between one of my nervous habits and the wary settling in my eyes.

"Always"

"Did you think I'd be a good mother?"

I watched the way his lips pursed slightly, his brows pulling inwards as he took a breath through his nose; "What makes you ask that?" he asked, the pit forming in my stomach.

"Well, you didn't like me... and then you found out I was pregnant.. and you kinda.. came to my rescue? Did you worry? That I was like.. a bad person or something? I just... sometimes I feel like I don't deserve this. Like I don't deserve her, and maybe she would be happier with a different family. Maybe I don't love her enough. Maybe I'm not enough, ya know? I'm quite fucked up, ya know?" I slightly joked, my eyes filling with tears, causing them to flutter shut in hopes he didn't notice the waterfall that was threatening to cascade down my quivering chin.

"Baby, you're more than enough. You can't sit here asking what if. Gemma smiles and laughs all day long. She has a roof over her head. A warm dinner on the table every night. She gets a goodnight kiss and her blankets tucked in around her, keeping her safe from all the monsters that you swear aren't there, every night. Just because you have a past, that doesn't mean you can't change and grow. You're a wonderful mother in your own way, just like everyone else. There is no perfect mother, but you're perfect to me"

"That's nice and all, but that didn't answer my question" I chuckled, a tear rolling down my face, my hand quickly swiping it away, Colby frowning.

"Why are you crying?"

"Because that's what I know how to do best" I joked again, sniffling as my eyes squeezed shut, wanting it to stop.

"Talk to me baby" He urged softly, turning me around so we were face to face, his hands coming up to cradle my face, causing me to keep my eyes on him.

The longer the thoughts whirled around in my head, the more my eyes begin to sting as a struggled sob escaped past my lips, the tightness in my throat becoming too much to handle as I wobbled out, "Sometimes I think I'm not the reason people stick around" the tears falling quick, the heat of them causing warmth to spread around my red cheeks; the glistening streaks bringing a frown to Colby's face.

"Is this about the joke Logan made earlier? — Leighton, you know he was kidding. You guys are siblings. You love each other more than I can even understand"

"But what if the words hold more weight than I know?" I worried, my insecurity beginning to spread like a mental pandemic as I started to question everyone's place in my life.

"Leigh" he sighed, "You are loved. You are wanted. You're enough. I want you. Logan wants you. Your dad wants you. Your mom wants you. Your daughters want you—"

"But what about Kat, huh? Or Aaliyah? What about them? What about Lexi? What if my parents are letting me in because of Gemma? What if they still think I'm this fucked up kid who's ruining their life, but they want Gemma to have a good life, so they're keeping her shitty mother around" Colby's eyes showed confusion as I continue to ramble; "What if I fuck up again, and again, and again, and again? Then what? It's bound to happen, Colby! I'm going to lose my daughter one day and I just.." my face scrunched up as a sound of agony filled the bathroom.

"You're not going to lose her, Leighton. You're doing everything in your power to keep her. You are worthy of her Leighton. I don't care what your mind is telling you. It's not true. — Wait, is this why you want a sober house?" he asked, my head shaking.

"I can't get her into preschool, Colby" my hoarse voice spoke out, "I'm already failing her"

"You're not failing her, Leighton. She doesn't need to go to preschool. Everything she learns at preschool, she can learn at home" he tried to reassure me as my head shook in disagreement.

"I'm scared" I quietly confessed, sniffling again, my nose turning pink as my hand wiped across it.

"Of what?"

"This baby"

I watched his body tense, before falling as his eyes flickered with worry.

"The baby? Why?"

"I don't want to repeat history, Colby"

"Repeat history, how?"

My eyes squeezed shut as the burn began to get warmer; "I hate myself for this" I spoke through a clenched jaw.

"Leighton?"

"Maybe you're right" I started, opening my eyes but keeping them away from his blue ones.

"About?"

"About... about.. about me being in over my head"

"Leighton" he sighed, my head starting to shake again.

"Do you think I'm selfish?" I asked softly, Aaliyah's words ringing through my ears louder than ever.

Colby stayed quiet for a second too long, my lips forming into a tight line as I nodded, my finger wiping under my water line as I pushed past him, biting my lip to prevent the sound of my cries from escaping.

I scurried down to the basement, softly closing the door, crawling into my bed as I stared at the ceiling, tears rolling down my cheeks.

My hands rested over my bump, a larger lump forming in my throat as my mind began to spiral.

Would we still be together if I wasn't pregnant?

Would Colby's family like me if I wasn't having his baby?

Did I even deserve to have this baby?

Flashes of Gemma as a newborn flickered through my brain like an old movie; Gabriel's harsh words as I poured my breast milk down the drain. Gemma's constant crying and my lack of bonding with her feels like a heavy weight on my chest.

I knew Gabe's mother was right.

I would always be a fuck up. I mean, you can't exactly never be an addict ever again. One drink always turns into two; one blow one time turning into a lifetime of dependency to the point that I can't even properly care for my children.

I've always had the thought in the back of my head that Katrina only stuck around me because I was having Gemma... but what about everyone else? What about Colby?

Colby didn't even like me until he learned I was pregnant.

Did his instincts kick in like Sam? Like Kat? The need to protect this baby from its own mother?

Do people only stick around to catch my children when I fall?

Am I a forever fucked up mess like I've been made out to be? Am I truly so selfish that I can ruin lives? Lose friends? Relationships? Become dependent on substances?

How often do I say "I" instead of, "You" or "We"?

The feeling of a sharp warm sting caught my attention, my eyes frantically looking towards where the feeling came from, watching blood trickle down my arm.

My thumb swiped the blood away, my fingers adding pressure to the wound as I winced, cursing myself out for mindlessly causing myself harm when the bedroom door opened, Colby walking in and shutting it behind him.

It didn't take long for his eyes to find my wrist, his shoulders falling, "Leighton" he whispered, "What happened?"

"I don't mean to be self absorbed, I'm sorry" I whimpered, the bed dipping as Colby kneeled on it, moving his thighs to rest against my knees.

"Baby, you're not self absorbed. You're just scared, and that's okay. Why did you hurt yourself?"

"I didn't know it was happening until there was already blood" I shamefully confessed, "Felt like I deserved it though" I mumbled, my eyes squeezing shut as shame raced through my veins.

Just another one of Leighton's self absorbed, attention seeking episodes...

"Leighton, look at me" Colby's stern voice pulled my eyes open, his face blurred, "You feel this?" he asked, his hand moving to twist my engagement ring slightly on my finger, my head nodding, "I put this here, because I love you. Not because I want to save you. Not because I think you're destined to doom. I asked you to marry me, because I love you. I want you. I want a life with you. I want you to have my children and be their mom. I want you to be my spouse. Be my rock. Be someone who can keep me in line and hold me accountable. You feel this?" His hand moved down to my bump, softly caressing the skin, my head nodding again, "This beautiful bump that keeps our precious baby safe was put there out of love. Out of want. She may have been a surprise, but she will never be a mistake. Gemma isn't a mistake. You are not a mistake. You make mistakes but you are not one. No one is waiting to watch you fall. No one is sticking around only because of your children. This time, can I ask you something?" he asked, my head nodding slowly. "Are your tattoos hiding your secrets?" He asked, his hands moving to hold my wrists above my hand, his thumbs running over my wrists; my lip quivering as my eyes widened, telling him everything he needed to know; "You, Leighton Rae, are beautiful, perfect, the love of my life, a wonderful mother, the strongest person I know; Your trauma does not define you. Your past doesn't control you and your mind? It's just trying to protect you. I can't wait to buy a house with you, and continue to grow our family" his nose brushed against mine before his lips enclosed on my own, my tears falling against his own cheeks.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done. I'm sorry for being selfish and yelling at you to communicate, when I haven't properly done so myself-"

"Hey. Life's hard. We both know it. It's okay. We can't control what other people do, but I want you to know that I chose you. I wanted you and I'm doing my fucking best to pull my own shit together. I'm sorry for everything I've put you through these past few months"

"Do you think I can stay sober?" I asked quietly.

"I think you're capable of it"

"So you aren't sticking around because I'm carrying your baby?"

"No," he chuckled, "That's just a bonus. I can't wait to expand our family and watch you be a beautiful mother to our children" His lips moved down my tear stained jaw as he murmured words of affirmation and compliments against my skin, kissing down my collarbones before moving to my left wrist, kissing down my arm, stopping at my inner elbow before switching to the next.

"I've always loved your tattoos" he admitted quietly, "I love how they make you stand out. I love how I can get lost in them when your arms are wrapped around me in your sleep. I love trying to find hidden meanings in them, or wondering what some of the more random ones are for. I love how it blends together so nicely. the way the rose on your hand stands out. I love your ribcage tattoo; perfectly imperfect, and how it perfectly describes you. I love the cascading tattoo behind your ear that trails perfectly down your neck; one of my favorite places to kiss when you're asleep. I love your matching tattoos on your finger, and how you left a space for me to fill. I love the curve of your waist" his hands moved down to trail down my ribcage, settling on my hips, "And your beautiful markings down your thighs" his hands moved to spread against the side of my thighs, moving to rest on top of them. "I love all your little freckles and moles. The little imperfections on your skin make me love you a thousand times more" My legs spread for him, welcoming him to rest in-between my thighs, my arousal starting to dampen my underwear the lower his hands went, "May I?" he asked, my head quickly nodding as I hummed in approval, lifting my lips as his thumbs hooked the waistband of my pants, pulling them down my thighs, "I love your beautiful pussy and how incredible it is that you're going to push our baby out of it. Watching you do that with Gemma only made me appreciate it more. Want to.." he lowered on the bed, his breath against my wet folds making my breath hitch, "love on it more" he pressed a gentle kiss against my opening, my center clenching around nothing as I groaned, Colby matching me when his tongue came out to flick against my clenching center.

"Sex deprived?" he teased, my hips bucking up to meet his mouth.

"Don't be a tease, please" I begged, desperately wanting to feel my hormonal sex drive for the first time whilst being pregnant.

"I'm sorry, baby" he hummed, his mouth thankfully meeting my center as he began to work me towards the pleasure I was chasing.

The feeling of his tongue against my clit, or softly licking against my sensitive nerves had my back arching in no time as my hand came down, finding his hair.

"Come on baby" he hummed against me, bringing my clit into his mouth as his fingers teased my center; a loud moan rumbling my vocal cords as he slid two fingers in, pumping them slowly.

His fingertips brushed against my g-spot, my hips bucking, wanting more, but he refused. Keeping his fingers just out if reach from my sweet spot.

"You're clenching so hard around my fingers, Leignton" he chuckled, a groan leaving my lips when Colby moved onto his knees, leaving his fingers in me to toy with me some more as his mouth found my sensitive nipples.

That was one thing that never changed each time I was pregnant; my nipples were almost too sensitive.

A few kitten licks and kisses to my erect nipples and my world turned white as my want and need slid down my thighs; a loud moan getting cut off with a kiss from Colby. My eyes were squeezed shut as pleasure rippled through me. Desperately wanting to open my eyes and see Colby's became not a want, but a need.

Fighting against my own instincts, I finally got my green eyes to open, the look of Colby looking down at me with so much love and admiration made my chest thump quicker as I panted, his fingers slipping out of me, bringing them to his mouth to clean them off.

"Good god" I panted, a smile tugging on his lips.

"Been a while, hm?" He grinned, shimmying lower between my legs.

"What are you- oh" I moaned, Colby's tongue delicately cleaning me up.

"You came so hard" he noted, his finger easily slipping into me, a gasp leaving my lips due to how sensitive I was; Colby showing me his finger that was completely drenched in my cum.

By the time he was done, I was withering on the bed, unsure if I wanted him to stop, or keep going.

"It's been so long" I exhaled, Colby moving up my body, his erection against my thigh as he leaned down to kiss me.

"I love you, Leignton Rae. You're perfect for me. For our girls" he murmured tiredly.

Colby rolled over to the side, his head on the pillow next to mine, causing me to shift so I could view him.

"You're not going to fuck me?" I asked, confused why he'd stop, considering how hard he appeared to be.

"Tonights about you, baby. I'll be fine" he shot me a look, a frown appearing on my face.

"I can help you out too, ya know? Want my hand? My mouth? You could slide between my folds if you didn't lick me dry" I teased, carefully sitting up so I could try and straddle him, confusion making my stomach clench when he stopped me.

"I'm alright, baby"

Oh.

"Uh.. okay" I stumbled, embarrassment flooding through me.

Why'd he turn me down?

I couldn't help it as I began to think of all the reasons why.

Why would he bring me to an orgasm, and not want it returned? I'm more than willing....

"Leighton" he sighed, "I can hear your thoughts from here"

"Well" I snapped, pushing myself out of bed, stumbling slightly.

"Hey! Please be careful" he begged, quickly leaning across the bed to catch my arm, steadying me.

"Blame your bowling ball of a daughter" I grumbled, snatching my arm back as he groaned, flopping back into his previous position.

"Leighton" he sighed again, "Why are you mad?"

"I'm not mad"

"Leighton" his voice dragged out, a knowing tone telling me my bullshit was wearing thin on him.

Ditto.

"What?" I snapped, turning to face him.

"Are you seriously mad that I won't let you blow me?" He asked, moving to lean up on his elbows.

My eyes rolled as I stayed quiet, Colby's chest deflating.

"Baby, I'd love for you too.. but.. but I just.."

"Just what, Colby? You just what? Spit it out already! — Was it pity? Is that what just happened? You found the mother of your child crying and you decided 'You know what will fix this? A good orgasm'" I scoffed, "Screw you!" I yelled, his eyes widening.

"Leighton, stop self-destructing! That's not true and you know it" he argued back, surprising me, but I kept my face stoic.

"What's your fucking problem?! One second you're overly affectionate and the next you act like my touch is going to burn you! Am I not attractive to you anymore?" I asked, my breathing becoming shallow, "Because if you don't like me anymore, you can leave. Don't stay here with me if you're unhappy. If... if.. if there's someone.. someone else, I.. I understand" I struggled, hating how deep those words cut, making it impossible to keep my I don't give a fuck voice.

The way he froze didn't go unnoticed, in fact, it cracked my heart.

"Wait" I whimpered, "There's.... there's someone else?" I asked, feeling my entire world shatter around me. "I just.. I was just.. I was just saying that" my voice wobbled. "I-" my breathing became more rapid and something switched in Colby; his eyes widening as what appeared to be realization hitting of what was happening.

"No! No. There isn't anyone else. Oh my god, please don't cry! I know I was quiet, it was shock! Leighton, wait" he panicked, quickly scurrying off the bed over to me, his hands reaching out for me.

I quickly took a few steps back, betrayal pumping through my veins.

"Who is she? Is she pretty?" I asked. "Does she have less baggage?"

"There is no other girl baby" he tried to console me which only made my anger front quicker.

"YOU CHEATER! DON'T TOUCH ME!" I yelled, his eyes wide.

"Leighton-"

"NO! You don't get to have your cake and eat it too!"

"Leighton!" His hands grabbed my arms, forcing me to look at him, "There. Is. No. Other. Girl. If you need to look through my phone to trust me, fine. But there is no other girl. It's just you, babe. I didn't want any sexual favors in return because you were just crying. What I did was all for you, about you. To love on you. I don't want tonight to be about me. I'm perfectly fine taking a cold shower"

"No.. no. It's uh, it's okay" I back peddled, "I don't need to see your phone. I trust you. I'm sorry I.. I'm sorry I accused you of cheating. It's just.. god, I'm sorry" i exhaled, my head hanging low.

I can believe I just embarrassed myself like that.

"It's okay. I'm sorry I didn't immediately say anything. I was just shocked" he explained again, my head nodding.

I glanced down forwards his crotch, seeing the area a lot smaller now.

Colby followed my gaze, a light chuckle leaving his lips; "It's hard to be hard when your fiance is screaming and crying that you cheated on her"

"God" I groaned, "I'm so embarrassed. I just... I just thought that if you didn't want me, there had to be a reason. Oh my god I sound psychotic!" I rubbed my hand over my eye, wishing we could just forget everything that just happened. "I'm so sorry" I apologized, Colby pulling me into his muscular arms.

"We're both a little crazy" he snickered, his hand coming up to filt my chin upwards, leaning down to softly kiss me. "We'd be boring if we didn't have a little ounce of crazy here and there. Gotta keep things interesting" he smirked, kissing me again.

"We have more than just an ounce of crazy" I laughed, "Me, by myself could probably keep the business running"

"And yet I still put a ring on your finger" he grinned.

"Hey! I'm not the one marrying the crazy! — You know what's worse than marrying the crazy?"

"Hm?"

"Putting a baby in the crazy. That's a life long commitment ya know" I joked, Colby's eyes twinkling making my stomach flutter.

"And I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat"

* * * *

I'm still trying to figure out how I want to add smut into fanfics cus I tend to add too many details due to writing one shot smut fics... so uh, if this one sucks, I apologize lol.

Sorry for the lack of Gemma, she'll be back! lol

This was supposed to be out two weeks ago....

Written on: July 10th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 30th, 31st , August 2nd 2023

Published on: August 2nd 2023

Word Count: 7909

Part Nineteen

[gracelight052]

Jewelry's Independent Women

This year marks Solange Azagury-Partridges 25th anniversary as a designer. Known for her colorful gems and playful, conceptual approach, the London jeweler celebrated the occasion with the Everything collection, which she describes as a little bit more of everything Ive ever done.From spinning diamond cogs and fantastical creatures to rings that tell a story in precious stones and colored enamel, Ms. Azagury-Partridges jewelry is not mere decoration but wearable art that provokes thought, and frequently a smile.The former Boucheron creative director is a veteran among a growing group of independent female designers who have turned their passion for jewelry into successful businesses, creating the heirlooms of tomorrow.Unlike their male counterparts who until recently dominated the independent market, these female jewelers have the advantage of understanding from personal experience what women want to wear.Lisa Hubbard, chairman of North and South America for Sothebys international jewelry division, says that their progress coincides with more female jewelry buyers than ever before. Given that more and more women today have independent means and are vying for jewelry for themselves, it makes sense that women would successfully design jewels that other women want to wear, she said.Ms. Azagury-Partridge, after being burnt in the past by investment partnerships gone awry, is determined to develop her business on her own terms. I want to get as small as I can, and I want to work in my own way. With independence comes freedom, she said.Aside from her exuberantly decorated Mayfair flagship store, which the designer and friend Tom Dixon describes as a magic kingdom, she has just two other stores now, one in New York and one in Paris. She has closed several other stores and is looking for alternative ways to expand, without the expense of new stores.In October, she released her second collaboration with Amazons British website. The e-commerce giant is offering an exclusive sterling silver and lacquered version of her signature Hotlips ring design for 69 pounds, or about $104. The original gold and enamel version, first designed in 2005, and which sells for more than $2,300, is one of the jewelers best sellers.The designer said the Amazon version, available in six colors, is selling well and may soon appear on Amazons American site. The seasonal changes demanded by online jewelry sales are at odds with the long lead time needed for her precious jewelry collection, so the rings sales are a way for me to do wholesaling and to make my jewelry available to a much wider audience, she said.Carolina Bucci is another jewelry designer experimenting with ways to expand her business. Fifteen years after starting her self-named 18-karat gold collection, the jeweler, who was raised in Italy and is based in London, is planning to introduce Caro, a silver jewelry brand, in the latter half of 2016.Catering to a younger, fashion-focused customer, it will have seasonal collections and is expected to sell for prices between $150 and $2,500. (Her fine jewelry ranges from $950 to $100,000).Caro, which uses Ms. Buccis nickname, will have the same spirit as her original brand but will be built on a different business model. I dont want more than four or five Carolina Bucci stores, as I want to retain that sense of exclusivity, but Caro is a brand I envisage having lots of different stores and retailers, she said.Wearability will remain the key issue, though. Born into a family of Florentine jewelers, Ms. Bucci says she was never allowed to wear costume jewelry growing up, and found that the fine jewelry she could wear was too traditional for her tastes. I wanted to make fine jewelry that was true to my family heritage, yet also fun and relevant to my own life, she said.For her, designing jewelry is a personal endeavor. Unlike the elaborate jewels she remembers her mother wearing when she was a child, her concept is to create easy but luxury pieces that can be worn all day, whether dealing with work, children or an evening out. Our lives are so different these days, she said.A turning point for the designer came when she opened her own store in the Belgravia area of London in 2007. Until that point Id never actually met my clients really, she said. The business definitely grew after opening the store.The store allowed her to display her entire range, and she became inspired by the women who came in and became loyal customers who are now evolving with me, she said.Irene Neuwirth agrees that opening her own store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles last year has been pivotal to her companys development. Our business has increased everywhere because of the store. Its an incredible branding tool, she said.Having been among Barney New Yorks top-selling jewelry designers since introducing her colorful, feminine collection in 2003, Ms. Neuwirth says it is her relationships with the store owners who sell her jewels, and with the female customers who collect them, that has fueled her success.Ive built my business by building amazing friendships, she said. I feel thats a very specific way women have of doing business, which, in the personal world of jewelry, gives them an advantage.Ms. Neuwirths clients frequently buy a piece after seeing the designer wearing it. Acting as a billboard for ones own jewelry is not something so easily achieved by a male designer, and Suzanne Syz believes that female designers also have the advantage of understanding what feels good.We know what fits. I wear my designs to see if theyre comfortable. Weve all had jewelry in the past that was too heavy, the Swiss designer said.Ms. Syzs colorful, one-of-a-kind haute jewelry is frequently inspired by art and marries fine craftsmanship with whimsy. Her tiny atelier in Geneva only produces around 25 pieces a year, and in New York last month, she announced her first watch.Called Her Ben, this limited-edition, bejeweled mystery watch was inspired by Big Ben in London, and took two years to complete. The watch has two faces, both realized in diamonds and a choice of rose or white gold or black titanium. Time literally stands still on the outside cover face, while the one inside is the real watch. The inscription opposite reminds the wearer: You may delay, but time will not.Ms. Syz says her select clients, primarily in Europe and the United States, many of whom are art collectors like herself, find traditional jewelry too staid and appreciate her mix of haute jewelry and tongue-in-cheek style.Cindy Chao also approaches jewelry as art, and the wonders of nature are her chief inspiration. She carves her miniature sculptures in wax, then has them realized in gold, titanium and precious stones at her workshops in Geneva, Paris and Lyon, France. She produces only 12 to 20 pieces a year.Her Black Label Masterpiece No. II Fish brooch took three years to complete. It is a large, glowing emerald representing the cheek of a puffer fish, and the surface is covered with more than 5,000 diamonds and sapphires. (Some pieces from the collection sell for $10 million.)The Taiwanese designer says her business now is roughly 65 percent in Asia, 20 percent in the Middle East and 15 percent in the United States and Europe. She opened a luxurious Hong Kong showroom this past spring, and is transferring her headquarters there from Taipei in an effort to establish herself in an international finance center with a more promising customer base.Despite the continued downturn in the Chinese economy, which has led many international luxury brands to close stores in the city, she believes serious jewelry collectors passing through Hong Kong are always looking for something unique. There is still great demand from the real collectors if they see investment value, she said.For Ms. Chao, the first Taiwanese jeweler to have her work become part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History, growing her business is important but should not come at the expense of creating the perfect jewel: Product is key. Scale doesnt matter.I sometimes ask myself: Is this a business? Is this art? Is it for myself? Ms. Chao said. I need to focus on making the best jewelry I can, on surprising people and making them see how jewelry can be art.THE DESIGNERSSOLANGE AZAGURY-PARTRIDGELondonSolange Azagury-Partridge was working at a 20th century antique dealer in London when, disappointed by the engagement ring choices available, she designed her own. The resulting ring was so admired by friends and acquaintances that she introduced her own brand in 1990. In 2002 she was selected by Tom Ford to become creative director at Boucheron in Paris, an experience she describes as like attending the Oxbridge of jewelry design. Known for her jewelrys combination of color, sensuality and wit, she is in discussions with a London museum to curate a 2017 exhibition that will raise jewelrys profile as a serious art form.CAROLINA BUCCILondonIn 1885, Carolina Buccis great-grandfather opened a store repairing pocket watches in Florence. The family business evolved to become a manufacturer of fine gold jewelry, and now its workshops produce all of Ms. Buccis collections. Mixing traditional techniques with modern designs such as her signature woven-gold and silk thread friendship bracelets, the designer spends her time in London, Italy and New York, where her mother was born and where she started her business. With celebrity clients such as Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow, she has developed an international following for luxurious jewels that are distinctive yet easy to layer with other pieces.CINDY CHAOHong KongCindy Chao grew up in Taiwan surrounded by creativity, the daughter of a sculptor and granddaughter of a famous architect. She launched Cindy Chao The Art Jewel in 2004 and has always approached her jewelry as miniature 3-D sculptures with minuscule detailing and a sense of light and balance. With a less-is-more philosophy of production, she only creates one of her signature butterflies every year and they have quickly become collectors items. The Ballerina Butterfly brooch, designed with Sarah Jessica Parker, was sold at Sothebys in October 2014 for $1.2 million, with $300,000 of the proceeds benefiting the New York City Ballet.IRENE NEUWIRTHLos AngelesIrene Neuwirths bold, luxurious statement pieces in a rainbow of gems including opal, turquoise and tourmaline are a red carpet favorite, worn by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts and Lena Dunham. Known for the interior design of her home in the Venice section and her store at Melrose Place in Los Angeles, she has been approached to become a lifestyle brand but is determined to focus on jewelry. I want to be a household name, and to have my jewelry passed down from generation to generation, said Ms. Neuwirth, who won the 2014 CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessory Design. As her boyfriend, the Lego Movie director Phil Lord, decamping to London in 2016 for his next project, Ms. Neuwirth said she is looking forward to an opportunity to grow her international profile.SUZANNE SYZGenevaSuzanne Syz started creating her own pieces after finding traditional haute jewelry too outdated for her tastes. An avid modern art collector, her work was influenced by her friends Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, whom she met while living in New York in the 1980s. Now based in Geneva, her perfectionist approach to her creations meant it took five years to complete her first collection and she continues to produce a very limited number of pieces. Her latest creation and first watch, Her Ben, took two years to complete and, unusually for a jewelry watch (they are normally quartz-powered), it has a mechanical movement from by Vaucher, one of haute horlogeries finest manufacturers.

[stagelight0721]

Jewelry's Independent Women

This year marks Solange Azagury-Partridges 25th anniversary as a designer. Known for her colorful gems and playful, conceptual approach, the London jeweler celebrated the occasion with the Everything collection, which she describes as a little bit more of everything Ive ever done.From spinning diamond cogs and fantastical creatures to rings that tell a story in precious stones and colored enamel, Ms. Azagury-Partridges jewelry is not mere decoration but wearable art that provokes thought, and frequently a smile.The former Boucheron creative director is a veteran among a growing group of independent female designers who have turned their passion for jewelry into successful businesses, creating the heirlooms of tomorrow.Unlike their male counterparts who until recently dominated the independent market, these female jewelers have the advantage of understanding from personal experience what women want to wear.Lisa Hubbard, chairman of North and South America for Sothebys international jewelry division, says that their progress coincides with more female jewelry buyers than ever before. Given that more and more women today have independent means and are vying for jewelry for themselves, it makes sense that women would successfully design jewels that other women want to wear, she said.Ms. Azagury-Partridge, after being burnt in the past by investment partnerships gone awry, is determined to develop her business on her own terms. I want to get as small as I can, and I want to work in my own way. With independence comes freedom, she said.Aside from her exuberantly decorated Mayfair flagship store, which the designer and friend Tom Dixon describes as a magic kingdom, she has just two other stores now, one in New York and one in Paris. She has closed several other stores and is looking for alternative ways to expand, without the expense of new stores.In October, she released her second collaboration with Amazons British website. The e-commerce giant is offering an exclusive sterling silver and lacquered version of her signature Hotlips ring design for 69 pounds, or about $104. The original gold and enamel version, first designed in 2005, and which sells for more than $2,300, is one of the jewelers best sellers.The designer said the Amazon version, available in six colors, is selling well and may soon appear on Amazons American site. The seasonal changes demanded by online jewelry sales are at odds with the long lead time needed for her precious jewelry collection, so the rings sales are a way for me to do wholesaling and to make my jewelry available to a much wider audience, she said.Carolina Bucci is another jewelry designer experimenting with ways to expand her business. Fifteen years after starting her self-named 18-karat gold collection, the jeweler, who was raised in Italy and is based in London, is planning to introduce Caro, a silver jewelry brand, in the latter half of 2016.Catering to a younger, fashion-focused customer, it will have seasonal collections and is expected to sell for prices between $150 and $2,500. (Her fine jewelry ranges from $950 to $100,000).Caro, which uses Ms. Buccis nickname, will have the same spirit as her original brand but will be built on a different business model. I dont want more than four or five Carolina Bucci stores, as I want to retain that sense of exclusivity, but Caro is a brand I envisage having lots of different stores and retailers, she said.Wearability will remain the key issue, though. Born into a family of Florentine jewelers, Ms. Bucci says she was never allowed to wear costume jewelry growing up, and found that the fine jewelry she could wear was too traditional for her tastes. I wanted to make fine jewelry that was true to my family heritage, yet also fun and relevant to my own life, she said.For her, designing jewelry is a personal endeavor. Unlike the elaborate jewels she remembers her mother wearing when she was a child, her concept is to create easy but luxury pieces that can be worn all day, whether dealing with work, children or an evening out. Our lives are so different these days, she said.A turning point for the designer came when she opened her own store in the Belgravia area of London in 2007. Until that point Id never actually met my clients really, she said. The business definitely grew after opening the store.The store allowed her to display her entire range, and she became inspired by the women who came in and became loyal customers who are now evolving with me, she said.Irene Neuwirth agrees that opening her own store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles last year has been pivotal to her companys development. Our business has increased everywhere because of the store. Its an incredible branding tool, she said.Having been among Barney New Yorks top-selling jewelry designers since introducing her colorful, feminine collection in 2003, Ms. Neuwirth says it is her relationships with the store owners who sell her jewels, and with the female customers who collect them, that has fueled her success.Ive built my business by building amazing friendships, she said. I feel thats a very specific way women have of doing business, which, in the personal world of jewelry, gives them an advantage.Ms. Neuwirths clients frequently buy a piece after seeing the designer wearing it. Acting as a billboard for ones own jewelry is not something so easily achieved by a male designer, and Suzanne Syz believes that female designers also have the advantage of understanding what feels good.We know what fits. I wear my designs to see if theyre comfortable. Weve all had jewelry in the past that was too heavy, the Swiss designer said.Ms. Syzs colorful, one-of-a-kind haute jewelry is frequently inspired by art and marries fine craftsmanship with whimsy. Her tiny atelier in Geneva only produces around 25 pieces a year, and in New York last month, she announced her first watch.Called Her Ben, this limited-edition, bejeweled mystery watch was inspired by Big Ben in London, and took two years to complete. The watch has two faces, both realized in diamonds and a choice of rose or white gold or black titanium. Time literally stands still on the outside cover face, while the one inside is the real watch. The inscription opposite reminds the wearer: You may delay, but time will not.Ms. Syz says her select clients, primarily in Europe and the United States, many of whom are art collectors like herself, find traditional jewelry too staid and appreciate her mix of haute jewelry and tongue-in-cheek style.Cindy Chao also approaches jewelry as art, and the wonders of nature are her chief inspiration. She carves her miniature sculptures in wax, then has them realized in gold, titanium and precious stones at her workshops in Geneva, Paris and Lyon, France. She produces only 12 to 20 pieces a year.Her Black Label Masterpiece No. II Fish brooch took three years to complete. It is a large, glowing emerald representing the cheek of a puffer fish, and the surface is covered with more than 5,000 diamonds and sapphires. (Some pieces from the collection sell for $10 million.)The Taiwanese designer says her business now is roughly 65 percent in Asia, 20 percent in the Middle East and 15 percent in the United States and Europe. She opened a luxurious Hong Kong showroom this past spring, and is transferring her headquarters there from Taipei in an effort to establish herself in an international finance center with a more promising customer base.Despite the continued downturn in the Chinese economy, which has led many international luxury brands to close stores in the city, she believes serious jewelry collectors passing through Hong Kong are always looking for something unique. There is still great demand from the real collectors if they see investment value, she said.For Ms. Chao, the first Taiwanese jeweler to have her work become part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History, growing her business is important but should not come at the expense of creating the perfect jewel: Product is key. Scale doesnt matter.I sometimes ask myself: Is this a business? Is this art? Is it for myself? Ms. Chao said. I need to focus on making the best jewelry I can, on surprising people and making them see how jewelry can be art.THE DESIGNERSSOLANGE AZAGURY-PARTRIDGELondonSolange Azagury-Partridge was working at a 20th century antique dealer in London when, disappointed by the engagement ring choices available, she designed her own. The resulting ring was so admired by friends and acquaintances that she introduced her own brand in 1990. In 2002 she was selected by Tom Ford to become creative director at Boucheron in Paris, an experience she describes as like attending the Oxbridge of jewelry design. Known for her jewelrys combination of color, sensuality and wit, she is in discussions with a London museum to curate a 2017 exhibition that will raise jewelrys profile as a serious art form.CAROLINA BUCCILondonIn 1885, Carolina Buccis great-grandfather opened a store repairing pocket watches in Florence. The family business evolved to become a manufacturer of fine gold jewelry, and now its workshops produce all of Ms. Buccis collections. Mixing traditional techniques with modern designs such as her signature woven-gold and silk thread friendship bracelets, the designer spends her time in London, Italy and New York, where her mother was born and where she started her business. With celebrity clients such as Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow, she has developed an international following for luxurious jewels that are distinctive yet easy to layer with other pieces.CINDY CHAOHong KongCindy Chao grew up in Taiwan surrounded by creativity, the daughter of a sculptor and granddaughter of a famous architect. She launched Cindy Chao The Art Jewel in 2004 and has always approached her jewelry as miniature 3-D sculptures with minuscule detailing and a sense of light and balance. With a less-is-more philosophy of production, she only creates one of her signature butterflies every year and they have quickly become collectors items. The Ballerina Butterfly brooch, designed with Sarah Jessica Parker, was sold at Sothebys in October 2014 for $1.2 million, with $300,000 of the proceeds benefiting the New York City Ballet.IRENE NEUWIRTHLos AngelesIrene Neuwirths bold, luxurious statement pieces in a rainbow of gems including opal, turquoise and tourmaline are a red carpet favorite, worn by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts and Lena Dunham. Known for the interior design of her home in the Venice section and her store at Melrose Place in Los Angeles, she has been approached to become a lifestyle brand but is determined to focus on jewelry. I want to be a household name, and to have my jewelry passed down from generation to generation, said Ms. Neuwirth, who won the 2014 CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessory Design. As her boyfriend, the Lego Movie director Phil Lord, decamping to London in 2016 for his next project, Ms. Neuwirth said she is looking forward to an opportunity to grow her international profile.SUZANNE SYZGenevaSuzanne Syz started creating her own pieces after finding traditional haute jewelry too outdated for her tastes. An avid modern art collector, her work was influenced by her friends Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, whom she met while living in New York in the 1980s. Now based in Geneva, her perfectionist approach to her creations meant it took five years to complete her first collection and she continues to produce a very limited number of pieces. Her latest creation and first watch, Her Ben, took two years to complete and, unusually for a jewelry watch (they are normally quartz-powered), it has a mechanical movement from by Vaucher, one of haute horlogeries finest manufacturers.

[underspotlight8]

Jewelry's Independent Women

This year marks Solange Azagury-Partridges 25th anniversary as a designer. Known for her colorful gems and playful, conceptual approach, the London jeweler celebrated the occasion with the Everything collection, which she describes as a little bit more of everything Ive ever done.From spinning diamond cogs and fantastical creatures to rings that tell a story in precious stones and colored enamel, Ms. Azagury-Partridges jewelry is not mere decoration but wearable art that provokes thought, and frequently a smile.The former Boucheron creative director is a veteran among a growing group of independent female designers who have turned their passion for jewelry into successful businesses, creating the heirlooms of tomorrow.Unlike their male counterparts who until recently dominated the independent market, these female jewelers have the advantage of understanding from personal experience what women want to wear.Lisa Hubbard, chairman of North and South America for Sothebys international jewelry division, says that their progress coincides with more female jewelry buyers than ever before. Given that more and more women today have independent means and are vying for jewelry for themselves, it makes sense that women would successfully design jewels that other women want to wear, she said.Ms. Azagury-Partridge, after being burnt in the past by investment partnerships gone awry, is determined to develop her business on her own terms. I want to get as small as I can, and I want to work in my own way. With independence comes freedom, she said.Aside from her exuberantly decorated Mayfair flagship store, which the designer and friend Tom Dixon describes as a magic kingdom, she has just two other stores now, one in New York and one in Paris. She has closed several other stores and is looking for alternative ways to expand, without the expense of new stores.In October, she released her second collaboration with Amazons British website. The e-commerce giant is offering an exclusive sterling silver and lacquered version of her signature Hotlips ring design for 69 pounds, or about $104. The original gold and enamel version, first designed in 2005, and which sells for more than $2,300, is one of the jewelers best sellers.The designer said the Amazon version, available in six colors, is selling well and may soon appear on Amazons American site. The seasonal changes demanded by online jewelry sales are at odds with the long lead time needed for her precious jewelry collection, so the rings sales are a way for me to do wholesaling and to make my jewelry available to a much wider audience, she said.Carolina Bucci is another jewelry designer experimenting with ways to expand her business. Fifteen years after starting her self-named 18-karat gold collection, the jeweler, who was raised in Italy and is based in London, is planning to introduce Caro, a silver jewelry brand, in the latter half of 2016.Catering to a younger, fashion-focused customer, it will have seasonal collections and is expected to sell for prices between $150 and $2,500. (Her fine jewelry ranges from $950 to $100,000).Caro, which uses Ms. Buccis nickname, will have the same spirit as her original brand but will be built on a different business model. I dont want more than four or five Carolina Bucci stores, as I want to retain that sense of exclusivity, but Caro is a brand I envisage having lots of different stores and retailers, she said.Wearability will remain the key issue, though. Born into a family of Florentine jewelers, Ms. Bucci says she was never allowed to wear costume jewelry growing up, and found that the fine jewelry she could wear was too traditional for her tastes. I wanted to make fine jewelry that was true to my family heritage, yet also fun and relevant to my own life, she said.For her, designing jewelry is a personal endeavor. Unlike the elaborate jewels she remembers her mother wearing when she was a child, her concept is to create easy but luxury pieces that can be worn all day, whether dealing with work, children or an evening out. Our lives are so different these days, she said.A turning point for the designer came when she opened her own store in the Belgravia area of London in 2007. Until that point Id never actually met my clients really, she said. The business definitely grew after opening the store.The store allowed her to display her entire range, and she became inspired by the women who came in and became loyal customers who are now evolving with me, she said.Irene Neuwirth agrees that opening her own store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles last year has been pivotal to her companys development. Our business has increased everywhere because of the store. Its an incredible branding tool, she said.Having been among Barney New Yorks top-selling jewelry designers since introducing her colorful, feminine collection in 2003, Ms. Neuwirth says it is her relationships with the store owners who sell her jewels, and with the female customers who collect them, that has fueled her success.Ive built my business by building amazing friendships, she said. I feel thats a very specific way women have of doing business, which, in the personal world of jewelry, gives them an advantage.Ms. Neuwirths clients frequently buy a piece after seeing the designer wearing it. Acting as a billboard for ones own jewelry is not something so easily achieved by a male designer, and Suzanne Syz believes that female designers also have the advantage of understanding what feels good.We know what fits. I wear my designs to see if theyre comfortable. Weve all had jewelry in the past that was too heavy, the Swiss designer said.Ms. Syzs colorful, one-of-a-kind haute jewelry is frequently inspired by art and marries fine craftsmanship with whimsy. Her tiny atelier in Geneva only produces around 25 pieces a year, and in New York last month, she announced her first watch.Called Her Ben, this limited-edition, bejeweled mystery watch was inspired by Big Ben in London, and took two years to complete. The watch has two faces, both realized in diamonds and a choice of rose or white gold or black titanium. Time literally stands still on the outside cover face, while the one inside is the real watch. The inscription opposite reminds the wearer: You may delay, but time will not.Ms. Syz says her select clients, primarily in Europe and the United States, many of whom are art collectors like herself, find traditional jewelry too staid and appreciate her mix of haute jewelry and tongue-in-cheek style.Cindy Chao also approaches jewelry as art, and the wonders of nature are her chief inspiration. She carves her miniature sculptures in wax, then has them realized in gold, titanium and precious stones at her workshops in Geneva, Paris and Lyon, France. She produces only 12 to 20 pieces a year.Her Black Label Masterpiece No. II Fish brooch took three years to complete. It is a large, glowing emerald representing the cheek of a puffer fish, and the surface is covered with more than 5,000 diamonds and sapphires. (Some pieces from the collection sell for $10 million.)The Taiwanese designer says her business now is roughly 65 percent in Asia, 20 percent in the Middle East and 15 percent in the United States and Europe. She opened a luxurious Hong Kong showroom this past spring, and is transferring her headquarters there from Taipei in an effort to establish herself in an international finance center with a more promising customer base.Despite the continued downturn in the Chinese economy, which has led many international luxury brands to close stores in the city, she believes serious jewelry collectors passing through Hong Kong are always looking for something unique. There is still great demand from the real collectors if they see investment value, she said.For Ms. Chao, the first Taiwanese jeweler to have her work become part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History, growing her business is important but should not come at the expense of creating the perfect jewel: Product is key. Scale doesnt matter.I sometimes ask myself: Is this a business? Is this art? Is it for myself? Ms. Chao said. I need to focus on making the best jewelry I can, on surprising people and making them see how jewelry can be art.THE DESIGNERSSOLANGE AZAGURY-PARTRIDGELondonSolange Azagury-Partridge was working at a 20th century antique dealer in London when, disappointed by the engagement ring choices available, she designed her own. The resulting ring was so admired by friends and acquaintances that she introduced her own brand in 1990. In 2002 she was selected by Tom Ford to become creative director at Boucheron in Paris, an experience she describes as like attending the Oxbridge of jewelry design. Known for her jewelrys combination of color, sensuality and wit, she is in discussions with a London museum to curate a 2017 exhibition that will raise jewelrys profile as a serious art form.CAROLINA BUCCILondonIn 1885, Carolina Buccis great-grandfather opened a store repairing pocket watches in Florence. The family business evolved to become a manufacturer of fine gold jewelry, and now its workshops produce all of Ms. Buccis collections. Mixing traditional techniques with modern designs such as her signature woven-gold and silk thread friendship bracelets, the designer spends her time in London, Italy and New York, where her mother was born and where she started her business. With celebrity clients such as Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow, she has developed an international following for luxurious jewels that are distinctive yet easy to layer with other pieces.CINDY CHAOHong KongCindy Chao grew up in Taiwan surrounded by creativity, the daughter of a sculptor and granddaughter of a famous architect. She launched Cindy Chao The Art Jewel in 2004 and has always approached her jewelry as miniature 3-D sculptures with minuscule detailing and a sense of light and balance. With a less-is-more philosophy of production, she only creates one of her signature butterflies every year and they have quickly become collectors items. The Ballerina Butterfly brooch, designed with Sarah Jessica Parker, was sold at Sothebys in October 2014 for $1.2 million, with $300,000 of the proceeds benefiting the New York City Ballet.IRENE NEUWIRTHLos AngelesIrene Neuwirths bold, luxurious statement pieces in a rainbow of gems including opal, turquoise and tourmaline are a red carpet favorite, worn by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts and Lena Dunham. Known for the interior design of her home in the Venice section and her store at Melrose Place in Los Angeles, she has been approached to become a lifestyle brand but is determined to focus on jewelry. I want to be a household name, and to have my jewelry passed down from generation to generation, said Ms. Neuwirth, who won the 2014 CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessory Design. As her boyfriend, the Lego Movie director Phil Lord, decamping to London in 2016 for his next project, Ms. Neuwirth said she is looking forward to an opportunity to grow her international profile.SUZANNE SYZGenevaSuzanne Syz started creating her own pieces after finding traditional haute jewelry too outdated for her tastes. An avid modern art collector, her work was influenced by her friends Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, whom she met while living in New York in the 1980s. Now based in Geneva, her perfectionist approach to her creations meant it took five years to complete her first collection and she continues to produce a very limited number of pieces. Her latest creation and first watch, Her Ben, took two years to complete and, unusually for a jewelry watch (they are normally quartz-powered), it has a mechanical movement from by Vaucher, one of haute horlogeries finest manufacturers.

[brightestworld01]

Jewelry's Independent Women

This year marks Solange Azagury-Partridges 25th anniversary as a designer. Known for her colorful gems and playful, conceptual approach, the London jeweler celebrated the occasion with the Everything collection, which she describes as a little bit more of everything Ive ever done.From spinning diamond cogs and fantastical creatures to rings that tell a story in precious stones and colored enamel, Ms. Azagury-Partridges jewelry is not mere decoration but wearable art that provokes thought, and frequently a smile.The former Boucheron creative director is a veteran among a growing group of independent female designers who have turned their passion for jewelry into successful businesses, creating the heirlooms of tomorrow.Unlike their male counterparts who until recently dominated the independent market, these female jewelers have the advantage of understanding from personal experience what women want to wear.Lisa Hubbard, chairman of North and South America for Sothebys international jewelry division, says that their progress coincides with more female jewelry buyers than ever before. Given that more and more women today have independent means and are vying for jewelry for themselves, it makes sense that women would successfully design jewels that other women want to wear, she said.Ms. Azagury-Partridge, after being burnt in the past by investment partnerships gone awry, is determined to develop her business on her own terms. I want to get as small as I can, and I want to work in my own way. With independence comes freedom, she said.Aside from her exuberantly decorated Mayfair flagship store, which the designer and friend Tom Dixon describes as a magic kingdom, she has just two other stores now, one in New York and one in Paris. She has closed several other stores and is looking for alternative ways to expand, without the expense of new stores.In October, she released her second collaboration with Amazons British website. The e-commerce giant is offering an exclusive sterling silver and lacquered version of her signature Hotlips ring design for 69 pounds, or about $104. The original gold and enamel version, first designed in 2005, and which sells for more than $2,300, is one of the jewelers best sellers.The designer said the Amazon version, available in six colors, is selling well and may soon appear on Amazons American site. The seasonal changes demanded by online jewelry sales are at odds with the long lead time needed for her precious jewelry collection, so the rings sales are a way for me to do wholesaling and to make my jewelry available to a much wider audience, she said.Carolina Bucci is another jewelry designer experimenting with ways to expand her business. Fifteen years after starting her self-named 18-karat gold collection, the jeweler, who was raised in Italy and is based in London, is planning to introduce Caro, a silver jewelry brand, in the latter half of 2016.Catering to a younger, fashion-focused customer, it will have seasonal collections and is expected to sell for prices between $150 and $2,500. (Her fine jewelry ranges from $950 to $100,000).Caro, which uses Ms. Buccis nickname, will have the same spirit as her original brand but will be built on a different business model. I dont want more than four or five Carolina Bucci stores, as I want to retain that sense of exclusivity, but Caro is a brand I envisage having lots of different stores and retailers, she said.Wearability will remain the key issue, though. Born into a family of Florentine jewelers, Ms. Bucci says she was never allowed to wear costume jewelry growing up, and found that the fine jewelry she could wear was too traditional for her tastes. I wanted to make fine jewelry that was true to my family heritage, yet also fun and relevant to my own life, she said.For her, designing jewelry is a personal endeavor. Unlike the elaborate jewels she remembers her mother wearing when she was a child, her concept is to create easy but luxury pieces that can be worn all day, whether dealing with work, children or an evening out. Our lives are so different these days, she said.A turning point for the designer came when she opened her own store in the Belgravia area of London in 2007. Until that point Id never actually met my clients really, she said. The business definitely grew after opening the store.The store allowed her to display her entire range, and she became inspired by the women who came in and became loyal customers who are now evolving with me, she said.Irene Neuwirth agrees that opening her own store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles last year has been pivotal to her companys development. Our business has increased everywhere because of the store. Its an incredible branding tool, she said.Having been among Barney New Yorks top-selling jewelry designers since introducing her colorful, feminine collection in 2003, Ms. Neuwirth says it is her relationships with the store owners who sell her jewels, and with the female customers who collect them, that has fueled her success.Ive built my business by building amazing friendships, she said. I feel thats a very specific way women have of doing business, which, in the personal world of jewelry, gives them an advantage.Ms. Neuwirths clients frequently buy a piece after seeing the designer wearing it. Acting as a billboard for ones own jewelry is not something so easily achieved by a male designer, and Suzanne Syz believes that female designers also have the advantage of understanding what feels good.We know what fits. I wear my designs to see if theyre comfortable. Weve all had jewelry in the past that was too heavy, the Swiss designer said.Ms. Syzs colorful, one-of-a-kind haute jewelry is frequently inspired by art and marries fine craftsmanship with whimsy. Her tiny atelier in Geneva only produces around 25 pieces a year, and in New York last month, she announced her first watch.Called Her Ben, this limited-edition, bejeweled mystery watch was inspired by Big Ben in London, and took two years to complete. The watch has two faces, both realized in diamonds and a choice of rose or white gold or black titanium. Time literally stands still on the outside cover face, while the one inside is the real watch. The inscription opposite reminds the wearer: You may delay, but time will not.Ms. Syz says her select clients, primarily in Europe and the United States, many of whom are art collectors like herself, find traditional jewelry too staid and appreciate her mix of haute jewelry and tongue-in-cheek style.Cindy Chao also approaches jewelry as art, and the wonders of nature are her chief inspiration. She carves her miniature sculptures in wax, then has them realized in gold, titanium and precious stones at her workshops in Geneva, Paris and Lyon, France. She produces only 12 to 20 pieces a year.Her Black Label Masterpiece No. II Fish brooch took three years to complete. It is a large, glowing emerald representing the cheek of a puffer fish, and the surface is covered with more than 5,000 diamonds and sapphires. (Some pieces from the collection sell for $10 million.)The Taiwanese designer says her business now is roughly 65 percent in Asia, 20 percent in the Middle East and 15 percent in the United States and Europe. She opened a luxurious Hong Kong showroom this past spring, and is transferring her headquarters there from Taipei in an effort to establish herself in an international finance center with a more promising customer base.Despite the continued downturn in the Chinese economy, which has led many international luxury brands to close stores in the city, she believes serious jewelry collectors passing through Hong Kong are always looking for something unique. There is still great demand from the real collectors if they see investment value, she said.For Ms. Chao, the first Taiwanese jeweler to have her work become part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History, growing her business is important but should not come at the expense of creating the perfect jewel: Product is key. Scale doesnt matter.I sometimes ask myself: Is this a business? Is this art? Is it for myself? Ms. Chao said. I need to focus on making the best jewelry I can, on surprising people and making them see how jewelry can be art.THE DESIGNERSSOLANGE AZAGURY-PARTRIDGELondonSolange Azagury-Partridge was working at a 20th century antique dealer in London when, disappointed by the engagement ring choices available, she designed her own. The resulting ring was so admired by friends and acquaintances that she introduced her own brand in 1990. In 2002 she was selected by Tom Ford to become creative director at Boucheron in Paris, an experience she describes as like attending the Oxbridge of jewelry design. Known for her jewelrys combination of color, sensuality and wit, she is in discussions with a London museum to curate a 2017 exhibition that will raise jewelrys profile as a serious art form.CAROLINA BUCCILondonIn 1885, Carolina Buccis great-grandfather opened a store repairing pocket watches in Florence. The family business evolved to become a manufacturer of fine gold jewelry, and now its workshops produce all of Ms. Buccis collections. Mixing traditional techniques with modern designs such as her signature woven-gold and silk thread friendship bracelets, the designer spends her time in London, Italy and New York, where her mother was born and where she started her business. With celebrity clients such as Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow, she has developed an international following for luxurious jewels that are distinctive yet easy to layer with other pieces.CINDY CHAOHong KongCindy Chao grew up in Taiwan surrounded by creativity, the daughter of a sculptor and granddaughter of a famous architect. She launched Cindy Chao The Art Jewel in 2004 and has always approached her jewelry as miniature 3-D sculptures with minuscule detailing and a sense of light and balance. With a less-is-more philosophy of production, she only creates one of her signature butterflies every year and they have quickly become collectors items. The Ballerina Butterfly brooch, designed with Sarah Jessica Parker, was sold at Sothebys in October 2014 for $1.2 million, with $300,000 of the proceeds benefiting the New York City Ballet.IRENE NEUWIRTHLos AngelesIrene Neuwirths bold, luxurious statement pieces in a rainbow of gems including opal, turquoise and tourmaline are a red carpet favorite, worn by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts and Lena Dunham. Known for the interior design of her home in the Venice section and her store at Melrose Place in Los Angeles, she has been approached to become a lifestyle brand but is determined to focus on jewelry. I want to be a household name, and to have my jewelry passed down from generation to generation, said Ms. Neuwirth, who won the 2014 CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessory Design. As her boyfriend, the Lego Movie director Phil Lord, decamping to London in 2016 for his next project, Ms. Neuwirth said she is looking forward to an opportunity to grow her international profile.SUZANNE SYZGenevaSuzanne Syz started creating her own pieces after finding traditional haute jewelry too outdated for her tastes. An avid modern art collector, her work was influenced by her friends Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, whom she met while living in New York in the 1980s. Now based in Geneva, her perfectionist approach to her creations meant it took five years to complete her first collection and she continues to produce a very limited number of pieces. Her latest creation and first watch, Her Ben, took two years to complete and, unusually for a jewelry watch (they are normally quartz-powered), it has a mechanical movement from by Vaucher, one of haute horlogeries finest manufacturers.

[lightdreamer24]

Jewelry's Independent Women

This year marks Solange Azagury-Partridges 25th anniversary as a designer. Known for her colorful gems and playful, conceptual approach, the London jeweler celebrated the occasion with the Everything collection, which she describes as a little bit more of everything Ive ever done.From spinning diamond cogs and fantastical creatures to rings that tell a story in precious stones and colored enamel, Ms. Azagury-Partridges jewelry is not mere decoration but wearable art that provokes thought, and frequently a smile.The former Boucheron creative director is a veteran among a growing group of independent female designers who have turned their passion for jewelry into successful businesses, creating the heirlooms of tomorrow.Unlike their male counterparts who until recently dominated the independent market, these female jewelers have the advantage of understanding from personal experience what women want to wear.Lisa Hubbard, chairman of North and South America for Sothebys international jewelry division, says that their progress coincides with more female jewelry buyers than ever before. Given that more and more women today have independent means and are vying for jewelry for themselves, it makes sense that women would successfully design jewels that other women want to wear, she said.Ms. Azagury-Partridge, after being burnt in the past by investment partnerships gone awry, is determined to develop her business on her own terms. I want to get as small as I can, and I want to work in my own way. With independence comes freedom, she said.Aside from her exuberantly decorated Mayfair flagship store, which the designer and friend Tom Dixon describes as a magic kingdom, she has just two other stores now, one in New York and one in Paris. She has closed several other stores and is looking for alternative ways to expand, without the expense of new stores.In October, she released her second collaboration with Amazons British website. The e-commerce giant is offering an exclusive sterling silver and lacquered version of her signature Hotlips ring design for 69 pounds, or about $104. The original gold and enamel version, first designed in 2005, and which sells for more than $2,300, is one of the jewelers best sellers.The designer said the Amazon version, available in six colors, is selling well and may soon appear on Amazons American site. The seasonal changes demanded by online jewelry sales are at odds with the long lead time needed for her precious jewelry collection, so the rings sales are a way for me to do wholesaling and to make my jewelry available to a much wider audience, she said.Carolina Bucci is another jewelry designer experimenting with ways to expand her business. Fifteen years after starting her self-named 18-karat gold collection, the jeweler, who was raised in Italy and is based in London, is planning to introduce Caro, a silver jewelry brand, in the latter half of 2016.Catering to a younger, fashion-focused customer, it will have seasonal collections and is expected to sell for prices between $150 and $2,500. (Her fine jewelry ranges from $950 to $100,000).Caro, which uses Ms. Buccis nickname, will have the same spirit as her original brand but will be built on a different business model. I dont want more than four or five Carolina Bucci stores, as I want to retain that sense of exclusivity, but Caro is a brand I envisage having lots of different stores and retailers, she said.Wearability will remain the key issue, though. Born into a family of Florentine jewelers, Ms. Bucci says she was never allowed to wear costume jewelry growing up, and found that the fine jewelry she could wear was too traditional for her tastes. I wanted to make fine jewelry that was true to my family heritage, yet also fun and relevant to my own life, she said.For her, designing jewelry is a personal endeavor. Unlike the elaborate jewels she remembers her mother wearing when she was a child, her concept is to create easy but luxury pieces that can be worn all day, whether dealing with work, children or an evening out. Our lives are so different these days, she said.A turning point for the designer came when she opened her own store in the Belgravia area of London in 2007. Until that point Id never actually met my clients really, she said. The business definitely grew after opening the store.The store allowed her to display her entire range, and she became inspired by the women who came in and became loyal customers who are now evolving with me, she said.Irene Neuwirth agrees that opening her own store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles last year has been pivotal to her companys development. Our business has increased everywhere because of the store. Its an incredible branding tool, she said.Having been among Barney New Yorks top-selling jewelry designers since introducing her colorful, feminine collection in 2003, Ms. Neuwirth says it is her relationships with the store owners who sell her jewels, and with the female customers who collect them, that has fueled her success.Ive built my business by building amazing friendships, she said. I feel thats a very specific way women have of doing business, which, in the personal world of jewelry, gives them an advantage.Ms. Neuwirths clients frequently buy a piece after seeing the designer wearing it. Acting as a billboard for ones own jewelry is not something so easily achieved by a male designer, and Suzanne Syz believes that female designers also have the advantage of understanding what feels good.We know what fits. I wear my designs to see if theyre comfortable. Weve all had jewelry in the past that was too heavy, the Swiss designer said.Ms. Syzs colorful, one-of-a-kind haute jewelry is frequently inspired by art and marries fine craftsmanship with whimsy. Her tiny atelier in Geneva only produces around 25 pieces a year, and in New York last month, she announced her first watch.Called Her Ben, this limited-edition, bejeweled mystery watch was inspired by Big Ben in London, and took two years to complete. The watch has two faces, both realized in diamonds and a choice of rose or white gold or black titanium. Time literally stands still on the outside cover face, while the one inside is the real watch. The inscription opposite reminds the wearer: You may delay, but time will not.Ms. Syz says her select clients, primarily in Europe and the United States, many of whom are art collectors like herself, find traditional jewelry too staid and appreciate her mix of haute jewelry and tongue-in-cheek style.Cindy Chao also approaches jewelry as art, and the wonders of nature are her chief inspiration. She carves her miniature sculptures in wax, then has them realized in gold, titanium and precious stones at her workshops in Geneva, Paris and Lyon, France. She produces only 12 to 20 pieces a year.Her Black Label Masterpiece No. II Fish brooch took three years to complete. It is a large, glowing emerald representing the cheek of a puffer fish, and the surface is covered with more than 5,000 diamonds and sapphires. (Some pieces from the collection sell for $10 million.)The Taiwanese designer says her business now is roughly 65 percent in Asia, 20 percent in the Middle East and 15 percent in the United States and Europe. She opened a luxurious Hong Kong showroom this past spring, and is transferring her headquarters there from Taipei in an effort to establish herself in an international finance center with a more promising customer base.Despite the continued downturn in the Chinese economy, which has led many international luxury brands to close stores in the city, she believes serious jewelry collectors passing through Hong Kong are always looking for something unique. There is still great demand from the real collectors if they see investment value, she said.For Ms. Chao, the first Taiwanese jeweler to have her work become part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History, growing her business is important but should not come at the expense of creating the perfect jewel: Product is key. Scale doesnt matter.I sometimes ask myself: Is this a business? Is this art? Is it for myself? Ms. Chao said. I need to focus on making the best jewelry I can, on surprising people and making them see how jewelry can be art.THE DESIGNERSSOLANGE AZAGURY-PARTRIDGELondonSolange Azagury-Partridge was working at a 20th century antique dealer in London when, disappointed by the engagement ring choices available, she designed her own. The resulting ring was so admired by friends and acquaintances that she introduced her own brand in 1990. In 2002 she was selected by Tom Ford to become creative director at Boucheron in Paris, an experience she describes as like attending the Oxbridge of jewelry design. Known for her jewelrys combination of color, sensuality and wit, she is in discussions with a London museum to curate a 2017 exhibition that will raise jewelrys profile as a serious art form.CAROLINA BUCCILondonIn 1885, Carolina Buccis great-grandfather opened a store repairing pocket watches in Florence. The family business evolved to become a manufacturer of fine gold jewelry, and now its workshops produce all of Ms. Buccis collections. Mixing traditional techniques with modern designs such as her signature woven-gold and silk thread friendship bracelets, the designer spends her time in London, Italy and New York, where her mother was born and where she started her business. With celebrity clients such as Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow, she has developed an international following for luxurious jewels that are distinctive yet easy to layer with other pieces.CINDY CHAOHong KongCindy Chao grew up in Taiwan surrounded by creativity, the daughter of a sculptor and granddaughter of a famous architect. She launched Cindy Chao The Art Jewel in 2004 and has always approached her jewelry as miniature 3-D sculptures with minuscule detailing and a sense of light and balance. With a less-is-more philosophy of production, she only creates one of her signature butterflies every year and they have quickly become collectors items. The Ballerina Butterfly brooch, designed with Sarah Jessica Parker, was sold at Sothebys in October 2014 for $1.2 million, with $300,000 of the proceeds benefiting the New York City Ballet.IRENE NEUWIRTHLos AngelesIrene Neuwirths bold, luxurious statement pieces in a rainbow of gems including opal, turquoise and tourmaline are a red carpet favorite, worn by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts and Lena Dunham. Known for the interior design of her home in the Venice section and her store at Melrose Place in Los Angeles, she has been approached to become a lifestyle brand but is determined to focus on jewelry. I want to be a household name, and to have my jewelry passed down from generation to generation, said Ms. Neuwirth, who won the 2014 CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessory Design. As her boyfriend, the Lego Movie director Phil Lord, decamping to London in 2016 for his next project, Ms. Neuwirth said she is looking forward to an opportunity to grow her international profile.SUZANNE SYZGenevaSuzanne Syz started creating her own pieces after finding traditional haute jewelry too outdated for her tastes. An avid modern art collector, her work was influenced by her friends Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, whom she met while living in New York in the 1980s. Now based in Geneva, her perfectionist approach to her creations meant it took five years to complete her first collection and she continues to produce a very limited number of pieces. Her latest creation and first watch, Her Ben, took two years to complete and, unusually for a jewelry watch (they are normally quartz-powered), it has a mechanical movement from by Vaucher, one of haute horlogeries finest manufacturers.

[aiyunying499]

Jewelry's Independent Women

This year marks Solange Azagury-Partridges 25th anniversary as a designer. Known for her colorful gems and playful, conceptual approach, the London jeweler celebrated the occasion with the Everything collection, which she describes as a little bit more of everything Ive ever done.From spinning diamond cogs and fantastical creatures to rings that tell a story in precious stones and colored enamel, Ms. Azagury-Partridges jewelry is not mere decoration but wearable art that provokes thought, and frequently a smile.The former Boucheron creative director is a veteran among a growing group of independent female designers who have turned their passion for jewelry into successful businesses, creating the heirlooms of tomorrow.Unlike their male counterparts who until recently dominated the independent market, these female jewelers have the advantage of understanding from personal experience what women want to wear.Lisa Hubbard, chairman of North and South America for Sothebys international jewelry division, says that their progress coincides with more female jewelry buyers than ever before. Given that more and more women today have independent means and are vying for jewelry for themselves, it makes sense that women would successfully design jewels that other women want to wear, she said.Ms. Azagury-Partridge, after being burnt in the past by investment partnerships gone awry, is determined to develop her business on her own terms. I want to get as small as I can, and I want to work in my own way. With independence comes freedom, she said.Aside from her exuberantly decorated Mayfair flagship store, which the designer and friend Tom Dixon describes as a magic kingdom, she has just two other stores now, one in New York and one in Paris. She has closed several other stores and is looking for alternative ways to expand, without the expense of new stores.In October, she released her second collaboration with Amazons British website. The e-commerce giant is offering an exclusive sterling silver and lacquered version of her signature Hotlips ring design for 69 pounds, or about $104. The original gold and enamel version, first designed in 2005, and which sells for more than $2,300, is one of the jewelers best sellers.The designer said the Amazon version, available in six colors, is selling well and may soon appear on Amazons American site. The seasonal changes demanded by online jewelry sales are at odds with the long lead time needed for her precious jewelry collection, so the rings sales are a way for me to do wholesaling and to make my jewelry available to a much wider audience, she said.Carolina Bucci is another jewelry designer experimenting with ways to expand her business. Fifteen years after starting her self-named 18-karat gold collection, the jeweler, who was raised in Italy and is based in London, is planning to introduce Caro, a silver jewelry brand, in the latter half of 2016.Catering to a younger, fashion-focused customer, it will have seasonal collections and is expected to sell for prices between $150 and $2,500. (Her fine jewelry ranges from $950 to $100,000).Caro, which uses Ms. Buccis nickname, will have the same spirit as her original brand but will be built on a different business model. I dont want more than four or five Carolina Bucci stores, as I want to retain that sense of exclusivity, but Caro is a brand I envisage having lots of different stores and retailers, she said.Wearability will remain the key issue, though. Born into a family of Florentine jewelers, Ms. Bucci says she was never allowed to wear costume jewelry growing up, and found that the fine jewelry she could wear was too traditional for her tastes. I wanted to make fine jewelry that was true to my family heritage, yet also fun and relevant to my own life, she said.For her, designing jewelry is a personal endeavor. Unlike the elaborate jewels she remembers her mother wearing when she was a child, her concept is to create easy but luxury pieces that can be worn all day, whether dealing with work, children or an evening out. Our lives are so different these days, she said.A turning point for the designer came when she opened her own store in the Belgravia area of London in 2007. Until that point Id never actually met my clients really, she said. The business definitely grew after opening the store.The store allowed her to display her entire range, and she became inspired by the women who came in and became loyal customers who are now evolving with me, she said.Irene Neuwirth agrees that opening her own store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles last year has been pivotal to her companys development. Our business has increased everywhere because of the store. Its an incredible branding tool, she said.Having been among Barney New Yorks top-selling jewelry designers since introducing her colorful, feminine collection in 2003, Ms. Neuwirth says it is her relationships with the store owners who sell her jewels, and with the female customers who collect them, that has fueled her success.Ive built my business by building amazing friendships, she said. I feel thats a very specific way women have of doing business, which, in the personal world of jewelry, gives them an advantage.Ms. Neuwirths clients frequently buy a piece after seeing the designer wearing it. Acting as a billboard for ones own jewelry is not something so easily achieved by a male designer, and Suzanne Syz believes that female designers also have the advantage of understanding what feels good.We know what fits. I wear my designs to see if theyre comfortable. Weve all had jewelry in the past that was too heavy, the Swiss designer said.Ms. Syzs colorful, one-of-a-kind haute jewelry is frequently inspired by art and marries fine craftsmanship with whimsy. Her tiny atelier in Geneva only produces around 25 pieces a year, and in New York last month, she announced her first watch.Called Her Ben, this limited-edition, bejeweled mystery watch was inspired by Big Ben in London, and took two years to complete. The watch has two faces, both realized in diamonds and a choice of rose or white gold or black titanium. Time literally stands still on the outside cover face, while the one inside is the real watch. The inscription opposite reminds the wearer: You may delay, but time will not.Ms. Syz says her select clients, primarily in Europe and the United States, many of whom are art collectors like herself, find traditional jewelry too staid and appreciate her mix of haute jewelry and tongue-in-cheek style.Cindy Chao also approaches jewelry as art, and the wonders of nature are her chief inspiration. She carves her miniature sculptures in wax, then has them realized in gold, titanium and precious stones at her workshops in Geneva, Paris and Lyon, France. She produces only 12 to 20 pieces a year.Her Black Label Masterpiece No. II Fish brooch took three years to complete. It is a large, glowing emerald representing the cheek of a puffer fish, and the surface is covered with more than 5,000 diamonds and sapphires. (Some pieces from the collection sell for $10 million.)The Taiwanese designer says her business now is roughly 65 percent in Asia, 20 percent in the Middle East and 15 percent in the United States and Europe. She opened a luxurious Hong Kong showroom this past spring, and is transferring her headquarters there from Taipei in an effort to establish herself in an international finance center with a more promising customer base.Despite the continued downturn in the Chinese economy, which has led many international luxury brands to close stores in the city, she believes serious jewelry collectors passing through Hong Kong are always looking for something unique. There is still great demand from the real collectors if they see investment value, she said.For Ms. Chao, the first Taiwanese jeweler to have her work become part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History, growing her business is important but should not come at the expense of creating the perfect jewel: Product is key. Scale doesnt matter.I sometimes ask myself: Is this a business? Is this art? Is it for myself? Ms. Chao said. I need to focus on making the best jewelry I can, on surprising people and making them see how jewelry can be art.THE DESIGNERSSOLANGE AZAGURY-PARTRIDGELondonSolange Azagury-Partridge was working at a 20th century antique dealer in London when, disappointed by the engagement ring choices available, she designed her own. The resulting ring was so admired by friends and acquaintances that she introduced her own brand in 1990. In 2002 she was selected by Tom Ford to become creative director at Boucheron in Paris, an experience she describes as like attending the Oxbridge of jewelry design. Known for her jewelrys combination of color, sensuality and wit, she is in discussions with a London museum to curate a 2017 exhibition that will raise jewelrys profile as a serious art form.CAROLINA BUCCILondonIn 1885, Carolina Buccis great-grandfather opened a store repairing pocket watches in Florence. The family business evolved to become a manufacturer of fine gold jewelry, and now its workshops produce all of Ms. Buccis collections. Mixing traditional techniques with modern designs such as her signature woven-gold and silk thread friendship bracelets, the designer spends her time in London, Italy and New York, where her mother was born and where she started her business. With celebrity clients such as Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow, she has developed an international following for luxurious jewels that are distinctive yet easy to layer with other pieces.CINDY CHAOHong KongCindy Chao grew up in Taiwan surrounded by creativity, the daughter of a sculptor and granddaughter of a famous architect. She launched Cindy Chao The Art Jewel in 2004 and has always approached her jewelry as miniature 3-D sculptures with minuscule detailing and a sense of light and balance. With a less-is-more philosophy of production, she only creates one of her signature butterflies every year and they have quickly become collectors items. The Ballerina Butterfly brooch, designed with Sarah Jessica Parker, was sold at Sothebys in October 2014 for $1.2 million, with $300,000 of the proceeds benefiting the New York City Ballet.IRENE NEUWIRTHLos AngelesIrene Neuwirths bold, luxurious statement pieces in a rainbow of gems including opal, turquoise and tourmaline are a red carpet favorite, worn by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts and Lena Dunham. Known for the interior design of her home in the Venice section and her store at Melrose Place in Los Angeles, she has been approached to become a lifestyle brand but is determined to focus on jewelry. I want to be a household name, and to have my jewelry passed down from generation to generation, said Ms. Neuwirth, who won the 2014 CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessory Design. As her boyfriend, the Lego Movie director Phil Lord, decamping to London in 2016 for his next project, Ms. Neuwirth said she is looking forward to an opportunity to grow her international profile.SUZANNE SYZGenevaSuzanne Syz started creating her own pieces after finding traditional haute jewelry too outdated for her tastes. An avid modern art collector, her work was influenced by her friends Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, whom she met while living in New York in the 1980s. Now based in Geneva, her perfectionist approach to her creations meant it took five years to complete her first collection and she continues to produce a very limited number of pieces. Her latest creation and first watch, Her Ben, took two years to complete and, unusually for a jewelry watch (they are normally quartz-powered), it has a mechanical movement from by Vaucher, one of haute horlogeries finest manufacturers.

[variantia]

BELLUM.   *trips and falls down the stairs, somehow miraculously landing on the dash*

HI I’M HERE AND NOW I’M ALL Y’ALL’S PROBLEM

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Work, Not Youtube (8) Masterlist

part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six, part seven

A Perfect Pair (ao3) - husbants

Summary: Dan, a struggling actor who works retail by day, and Phil, an ex-YouTuber-turned-porn-star, end up matched together on the new reality show, Perfect Pair.

all that kindred eyes can see (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Teachers Dan and Phil figure that they could quite easily keep their relationship secret while working at the same school. It's only for half a year after all. But the keen eyes of a trio of friends soon start to pick up on little hints and clues. It's a good thing the students mostly just want to admire their love and figure themselves out along the way.

As Long As I’m With You - mogars-sword

Summary: Dan, a hotel employee, is asked to come home with Phil, his coworker that he’s only known for a month, for Christmas. The only catch is Dan has to pretend to be Phil’s fiance, and things happen.

Buying Chocolate At 3:00 AM (ao3) - shallowlives

Summary: It's just another late night working at Walgreens, until Phil walks in asking for chocolate recommendations.

Coffee Spills and Ink Smudges (ao3) - TheKidFromYesterday

Summary: Dan spends more time than needed at the coffee shop where Phil works, but it's only because the prices are cheap and definitely not because Phil is cute.

Disney World Mishaps (ao3) - pasteldanhowells

Summary: Dan works at Disney World, and Phil is a single parent who loses his son while on a trip to Florida. Phil loses his son, and goes to Dan for help.

every second with you, I want another (ao3) - t_hens

Summary: Dan is a night cashier at a grocery store who is bored with his life and Phil is new to town and doesn’t believe in making a grocery list

fish me up (ao3) - megiaolf

Summary: Dan has a crush on the pet store clerk

For the lads (ao3) - Allthephils

Summary: Dan helps Phil get rid of some rabble rousers at the bar where he works.

Forever Frozen Still (ao3) - jestbee

Summary: Phil is a wedding photographer, capturing the beauty of people's weddings day after day even if it's beginning to wear a little thin. Then he meets Dan, a cynical and irritating wedding planner who doesn't believe in love and finally, he finds something that inspires him.

Ghost boy (ao3) - Fictropes

Summary: He clues into what’s actually happening the eleventh time it happens.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (ao3) - citizen101erased

Summary: Dan has just started as a new teacher at a secondary school in Manchester, and immediately gets put in charge of the annual Christmas celebration. But between constant budget cuts, the two main roles coming down with laryngitis, and the original teacher possibly coming back earlier than expected, it will take all of Dan’s creativity - and that of the cute English teacher, Mr. Lester - to keep the show going, whatever it takes.

Midnight Garden (ao3) - silentdescant

Summary: In which Phil is a gardener at the palace and Dan is a reclusive prince.

Milkshakes And Window Art (ao3) - luckysam78

Summary: Dan works at a diner and there's one boy who always is at the diner who he can't get his mind off.

My Juliet (ao3) - RyRyCaptain

Summary: Phil is a world-famous playwright, and he's directing his newest play, Romeo and Juliet. Dan is an actor who luckily receives the part of Juliet.

One punch is all it takes (ao3) - thesassykels66

Summary: Phil works at a haunted house, Dan is a passer by who is all alone. Everything take a shift when Dan accidentally punches Phil in the face.

pastry chef attempts to steal phil's heart (ao3) - sierraadeux

Summary: If anyone asks, Prince Philip's sneaky morning journeys down to the royal pastry kitchen are for nothing more than the perfect cup of coffee.

playing charades (ao3) - watergator

Summary: dan and phil work in the same office. bryony thinks they'd make a cute couple. they both seem to be equally as oblivious to each other as well as their feelings. at least, that's what everyone thinks...

possibly, maybe i'm falling (ao3) - lestered (clonetrobed)

Summary: It’s just another boring day at Dan’s summer internship. Luckily, there’s an accidental coffee date waiting for him at the customer service desk.

Potroast (ao3) - dickiegreenleaf

Summary: In which Dan is very serious about his pottery studio, pinch pots are vaguely made, and Phil just wants to ogle his boyfriend.

quite fetching (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Phil likes to take his dog on walks around the neighborhood. Dan works at the local elementary school.

Rebirth to Rebloom (ao3) - Yiffandquiff (paradisobound)

Summary: Dan Howell met Phil Lester while they were still in high school when Phil was helping him out. But as time went on, they lost touch when Phil graduated, and they never speak. Dan thought of him often and hung onto his crush all these years until Phil shows up at the flower shop he works and asks for Dan’s help arranging flowers for his daughters birthday.

Record Store Day (ao3) - americanphancakes

Summary: Dan’s claimed a copy of one of the RSD exclusives available at the small indie record shop that he owns, but someone else wants the same record.

Sail Away With Me (ao3) - Yiffandquiff (paradisobound)

Summary: It was a fluke. Dan shouldn’t have ever gone with Sam to a party on a yacht. He shouldn’t have trusted her to go. But in a chance encounter, he ends up in bed with Phil Lester, a billionaire CEO of a luxury clothing company. When he thinks he’s screwed up enough, he realizes he’s in way too deep. Because Phil Lester has fallen in love with him. The catch: Dan gave Phil a fake name and all Phil has to remember Dan by is the tattoo on his hip and the necklace he left behind.

scratch bark bite (oh, love me, i lied) (ao3) - Tarredion

Summary: Music & Drama teacher Dan Howell has a well-known rivalry with his coworker, English teacher Phil Lester.

An unforeseen event flips everything Dan thought he knew about Phil and himself on its head. Slowly but surely, the grudge withers, and the two of them cross the line between enemy and friend. But what will happen when their true intents and feelings get revealed? And was what they had ever really a rivalry? Was it even mutual?

step into the light (ao3) - dayevsphil

Summary: Dan works the night shift at a corner store and Phil needs a sugar fix.

Sugar (ao3) - lovergalore

Summary: Phil works at a bakery and Dan is a single Dad.

The Best One Yet (ao3) - pasteldanhowells

Summary: Dan works at a library, and Phil is a teacher. Phil has been so stressed out lately that he completely forgot about Valentine’s Day (which never happens because Phil loves Valentine’s Day), so he takes it upon himself to surprise Dan.

The Canary (ao3) - galaxy_ash

Summary: Dan is a famous singer called The Capricious Canary, but known as The Canary by his fans and the public. Phil is a paparazzo who hates his job and is assigned to stalk Dan to get insider pictures.

Three Tattoos (ao3) - greensweater

Summary: When a talkative, blue-eyed boy named Phil Lester walks into Dan Howell's tattoo parlor one dusky autumn afternoon, Dan isn't sure what to make of him. But when Phil keeps coming back, their one-time connection grows into friendship, and eventually, something more.

to coffee or not to coffee (ao3) - danhoweiis

Summary: dan doesn't like coffee, phil works in a coffee shop. cue some awful attempts at flirting and some first dates

what lies beneath the waters (ao3) - watergator

Summary: prompt: cryptids

phil works at the loch ness monster museum where he meets a boy named dan

When the Tattoo Meets the Flower (ao3) - BigRedEnergy

Summary: Florist!Dan wears pastel clothing. One day he decides he wants to get a tattoo. He goes to the tattoo parlor across the street and meets Punk!Phil. Phil awkwardly flirts with Dan and Dan thinks he might like the odd tattoo artist.

World's Greatest First Love: The Case of Daniel Howell (ao3) - Yiffandquiff (paradisobound)

Summary: Dan Howell wanted a clean break from his father’s publishing company. It was why he applied for a different company in London: to stop the ridicule of his coworkers for riding on his ‘daddy’s coat tails’. But he wasn’t expecting to suddenly be going from a literature editor, to a graphic novel editor. And he certainly wasn't expecting to come face first with his first love who broke his heart from when he was a teenager: who just happens to be his new editor-in-chief.

you say go fast, i say hold on tight (ao3) - parentaladvisorybullshitcontent

Summary: He's Phil Lester, small independent bookshop owner, who wears graphic t-shirts and drinks too much coffee. That's it.

Except when it isn't.

In which Phil is sometimes a bookshop owner and sometimes a superhero, and Dan is a villain, of sorts.

[fuck-customers]

I have a deep hatred for the customers who come in and absolutely rip apart our fucking clearance, jean area, and shirt tables. Every Fucking Day our clearance racks are a mess, shirts/jackets are either all over the floor, kicked UNDER THE RACKS, or hanging halfway off the hangers, and the pants/skirts are hung halfway or just thrown over the rack.

We have a jean wall that can and does take forever to fix everytime because there’s four styles, five rows, and six columns and they’re sized a certain way, and people just fucking yank the sizes they need out from the stacks and leave the ones that fall out on the floor, or they pull them apart and put them EVERYWHERE ELSE BUT BACK ON THE SHELF, including on top of the display!!!! Or random areas of the store!!!!!

They do the same shit with our shirt table, pulling them apart and laying them wherever they fucking feel like it or tossing them onto other piles. Then have the nerve to come up and ask “where is this shirt?” IDK BITCH YOU DIDNT SEE IT WHILE YOU WERE REARRANGING THE DISPLAY THAT TOOK MY POOR WORKER FOREVER TO FIX?????

there’s a post somewhere that (half-jokingly) says retail workers should get to commit one in-store homicide once a year so customers won’t know who’s used theirs up already and will act better and I think about it. A lot.

[kintatsujo]

When I was working at the grocery store I built a sleep "schedule" around my shifts that went somewhat like...

Manage to fall asleep about two to four hours before I had to be up

Get up about three hours before my actual shift so I could eat, feed the cats, shower, sit drinking tea for about fifteen minutes and then go in with enough time to account for bad traffic since the grocery store in question is by the worst intersection and road in the area

Do my actual shift (anywhere between 7 and a half to eight and half hours of real time because they decided lunches didn't count toward your total shift time at some point) on about two to four hours of sleep

Do whatever shopping we had to do on the way home so by the time I got home I'd been up for around fourteen hours on two hours of sleep beforehand

Pass out instantly when I got home, SOMETIMES after I'd managed to change out of my work clothes

Wake up about four hours later and attempt to self care and do housework and/or laundry in time to get two to four hours of sleep before I had to be up for my next shift

On my days off I usually slept nine to ten straight hours and it was the major time I got to see people besides my housemate

My days off were never the same two days of the week

My shifts never started at the same time. The store wasn't open 24/7 but it was still open late enough for me to go in at 5 pm one day and 7 am the next (I usually fought this and the people scheduling would always act like we were being totally unreasonable about not liking it)

It has taken me.... Five years to even start to be confident that I am finally getting back to something stable, I can't wake up to sound-only alarms reliably anymore, and I uncovered like three different possible sleep problems outside of that in the meantime.

So like when I have had trouble doing things like making appointments and maintaining an adult life and hell, even little things like regular personal hygiene and FEEDING myself at regular times

It still all goes back to working for however many years with a sleep schedule like that

So I think that not only should we be pushing for things like shorter hours and higher pay I think retail employers should have heavier restrictions on how irregular they can make people's work schedules.

Anyway hi I've been getting up before noon ALMOST every day for months now and I consider that by itself a victory

[gracelight052]

Jewelry's Independent Women

This year marks Solange Azagury-Partridges 25th anniversary as a designer. Known for her colorful gems and playful, conceptual approach, the London jeweler celebrated the occasion with the Everything collection, which she describes as a little bit more of everything Ive ever done.From spinning diamond cogs and fantastical creatures to rings that tell a story in precious stones and colored enamel, Ms. Azagury-Partridges jewelry is not mere decoration but wearable art that provokes thought, and frequently a smile.The former Boucheron creative director is a veteran among a growing group of independent female designers who have turned their passion for jewelry into successful businesses, creating the heirlooms of tomorrow.Unlike their male counterparts who until recently dominated the independent market, these female jewelers have the advantage of understanding from personal experience what women want to wear.Lisa Hubbard, chairman of North and South America for Sothebys international jewelry division, says that their progress coincides with more female jewelry buyers than ever before. Given that more and more women today have independent means and are vying for jewelry for themselves, it makes sense that women would successfully design jewels that other women want to wear, she said.Ms. Azagury-Partridge, after being burnt in the past by investment partnerships gone awry, is determined to develop her business on her own terms. I want to get as small as I can, and I want to work in my own way. With independence comes freedom, she said.Aside from her exuberantly decorated Mayfair flagship store, which the designer and friend Tom Dixon describes as a magic kingdom, she has just two other stores now, one in New York and one in Paris. She has closed several other stores and is looking for alternative ways to expand, without the expense of new stores.In October, she released her second collaboration with Amazons British website. The e-commerce giant is offering an exclusive sterling silver and lacquered version of her signature Hotlips ring design for 69 pounds, or about $104. The original gold and enamel version, first designed in 2005, and which sells for more than $2,300, is one of the jewelers best sellers.The designer said the Amazon version, available in six colors, is selling well and may soon appear on Amazons American site. The seasonal changes demanded by online jewelry sales are at odds with the long lead time needed for her precious jewelry collection, so the rings sales are a way for me to do wholesaling and to make my jewelry available to a much wider audience, she said.Carolina Bucci is another jewelry designer experimenting with ways to expand her business. Fifteen years after starting her self-named 18-karat gold collection, the jeweler, who was raised in Italy and is based in London, is planning to introduce Caro, a silver jewelry brand, in the latter half of 2016.Catering to a younger, fashion-focused customer, it will have seasonal collections and is expected to sell for prices between $150 and $2,500. (Her fine jewelry ranges from $950 to $100,000).Caro, which uses Ms. Buccis nickname, will have the same spirit as her original brand but will be built on a different business model. I dont want more than four or five Carolina Bucci stores, as I want to retain that sense of exclusivity, but Caro is a brand I envisage having lots of different stores and retailers, she said.Wearability will remain the key issue, though. Born into a family of Florentine jewelers, Ms. Bucci says she was never allowed to wear costume jewelry growing up, and found that the fine jewelry she could wear was too traditional for her tastes. I wanted to make fine jewelry that was true to my family heritage, yet also fun and relevant to my own life, she said.For her, designing jewelry is a personal endeavor. Unlike the elaborate jewels she remembers her mother wearing when she was a child, her concept is to create easy but luxury pieces that can be worn all day, whether dealing with work, children or an evening out. Our lives are so different these days, she said.A turning point for the designer came when she opened her own store in the Belgravia area of London in 2007. Until that point Id never actually met my clients really, she said. The business definitely grew after opening the store.The store allowed her to display her entire range, and she became inspired by the women who came in and became loyal customers who are now evolving with me, she said.Irene Neuwirth agrees that opening her own store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles last year has been pivotal to her companys development. Our business has increased everywhere because of the store. Its an incredible branding tool, she said.Having been among Barney New Yorks top-selling jewelry designers since introducing her colorful, feminine collection in 2003, Ms. Neuwirth says it is her relationships with the store owners who sell her jewels, and with the female customers who collect them, that has fueled her success.Ive built my business by building amazing friendships, she said. I feel thats a very specific way women have of doing business, which, in the personal world of jewelry, gives them an advantage.Ms. Neuwirths clients frequently buy a piece after seeing the designer wearing it. Acting as a billboard for ones own jewelry is not something so easily achieved by a male designer, and Suzanne Syz believes that female designers also have the advantage of understanding what feels good.We know what fits. I wear my designs to see if theyre comfortable. Weve all had jewelry in the past that was too heavy, the Swiss designer said.Ms. Syzs colorful, one-of-a-kind haute jewelry is frequently inspired by art and marries fine craftsmanship with whimsy. Her tiny atelier in Geneva only produces around 25 pieces a year, and in New York last month, she announced her first watch.Called Her Ben, this limited-edition, bejeweled mystery watch was inspired by Big Ben in London, and took two years to complete. The watch has two faces, both realized in diamonds and a choice of rose or white gold or black titanium. Time literally stands still on the outside cover face, while the one inside is the real watch. The inscription opposite reminds the wearer: You may delay, but time will not.Ms. Syz says her select clients, primarily in Europe and the United States, many of whom are art collectors like herself, find traditional jewelry too staid and appreciate her mix of haute jewelry and tongue-in-cheek style.Cindy Chao also approaches jewelry as art, and the wonders of nature are her chief inspiration. She carves her miniature sculptures in wax, then has them realized in gold, titanium and precious stones at her workshops in Geneva, Paris and Lyon, France. She produces only 12 to 20 pieces a year.Her Black Label Masterpiece No. II Fish brooch took three years to complete. It is a large, glowing emerald representing the cheek of a puffer fish, and the surface is covered with more than 5,000 diamonds and sapphires. (Some pieces from the collection sell for $10 million.)The Taiwanese designer says her business now is roughly 65 percent in Asia, 20 percent in the Middle East and 15 percent in the United States and Europe. She opened a luxurious Hong Kong showroom this past spring, and is transferring her headquarters there from Taipei in an effort to establish herself in an international finance center with a more promising customer base.Despite the continued downturn in the Chinese economy, which has led many international luxury brands to close stores in the city, she believes serious jewelry collectors passing through Hong Kong are always looking for something unique. There is still great demand from the real collectors if they see investment value, she said.For Ms. Chao, the first Taiwanese jeweler to have her work become part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History, growing her business is important but should not come at the expense of creating the perfect jewel: Product is key. Scale doesnt matter.I sometimes ask myself: Is this a business? Is this art? Is it for myself? Ms. Chao said. I need to focus on making the best jewelry I can, on surprising people and making them see how jewelry can be art.THE DESIGNERSSOLANGE AZAGURY-PARTRIDGELondonSolange Azagury-Partridge was working at a 20th century antique dealer in London when, disappointed by the engagement ring choices available, she designed her own. The resulting ring was so admired by friends and acquaintances that she introduced her own brand in 1990. In 2002 she was selected by Tom Ford to become creative director at Boucheron in Paris, an experience she describes as like attending the Oxbridge of jewelry design. Known for her jewelrys combination of color, sensuality and wit, she is in discussions with a London museum to curate a 2017 exhibition that will raise jewelrys profile as a serious art form.CAROLINA BUCCILondonIn 1885, Carolina Buccis great-grandfather opened a store repairing pocket watches in Florence. The family business evolved to become a manufacturer of fine gold jewelry, and now its workshops produce all of Ms. Buccis collections. Mixing traditional techniques with modern designs such as her signature woven-gold and silk thread friendship bracelets, the designer spends her time in London, Italy and New York, where her mother was born and where she started her business. With celebrity clients such as Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow, she has developed an international following for luxurious jewels that are distinctive yet easy to layer with other pieces.CINDY CHAOHong KongCindy Chao grew up in Taiwan surrounded by creativity, the daughter of a sculptor and granddaughter of a famous architect. She launched Cindy Chao The Art Jewel in 2004 and has always approached her jewelry as miniature 3-D sculptures with minuscule detailing and a sense of light and balance. With a less-is-more philosophy of production, she only creates one of her signature butterflies every year and they have quickly become collectors items. The Ballerina Butterfly brooch, designed with Sarah Jessica Parker, was sold at Sothebys in October 2014 for $1.2 million, with $300,000 of the proceeds benefiting the New York City Ballet.IRENE NEUWIRTHLos AngelesIrene Neuwirths bold, luxurious statement pieces in a rainbow of gems including opal, turquoise and tourmaline are a red carpet favorite, worn by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts and Lena Dunham. Known for the interior design of her home in the Venice section and her store at Melrose Place in Los Angeles, she has been approached to become a lifestyle brand but is determined to focus on jewelry. I want to be a household name, and to have my jewelry passed down from generation to generation, said Ms. Neuwirth, who won the 2014 CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessory Design. As her boyfriend, the Lego Movie director Phil Lord, decamping to London in 2016 for his next project, Ms. Neuwirth said she is looking forward to an opportunity to grow her international profile.SUZANNE SYZGenevaSuzanne Syz started creating her own pieces after finding traditional haute jewelry too outdated for her tastes. An avid modern art collector, her work was influenced by her friends Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, whom she met while living in New York in the 1980s. Now based in Geneva, her perfectionist approach to her creations meant it took five years to complete her first collection and she continues to produce a very limited number of pieces. Her latest creation and first watch, Her Ben, took two years to complete and, unusually for a jewelry watch (they are normally quartz-powered), it has a mechanical movement from by Vaucher, one of haute horlogeries finest manufacturers.

[stagelight0721]

Jewelry's Independent Women

This year marks Solange Azagury-Partridges 25th anniversary as a designer. Known for her colorful gems and playful, conceptual approach, the London jeweler celebrated the occasion with the Everything collection, which she describes as a little bit more of everything Ive ever done.From spinning diamond cogs and fantastical creatures to rings that tell a story in precious stones and colored enamel, Ms. Azagury-Partridges jewelry is not mere decoration but wearable art that provokes thought, and frequently a smile.The former Boucheron creative director is a veteran among a growing group of independent female designers who have turned their passion for jewelry into successful businesses, creating the heirlooms of tomorrow.Unlike their male counterparts who until recently dominated the independent market, these female jewelers have the advantage of understanding from personal experience what women want to wear.Lisa Hubbard, chairman of North and South America for Sothebys international jewelry division, says that their progress coincides with more female jewelry buyers than ever before. Given that more and more women today have independent means and are vying for jewelry for themselves, it makes sense that women would successfully design jewels that other women want to wear, she said.Ms. Azagury-Partridge, after being burnt in the past by investment partnerships gone awry, is determined to develop her business on her own terms. I want to get as small as I can, and I want to work in my own way. With independence comes freedom, she said.Aside from her exuberantly decorated Mayfair flagship store, which the designer and friend Tom Dixon describes as a magic kingdom, she has just two other stores now, one in New York and one in Paris. She has closed several other stores and is looking for alternative ways to expand, without the expense of new stores.In October, she released her second collaboration with Amazons British website. The e-commerce giant is offering an exclusive sterling silver and lacquered version of her signature Hotlips ring design for 69 pounds, or about $104. The original gold and enamel version, first designed in 2005, and which sells for more than $2,300, is one of the jewelers best sellers.The designer said the Amazon version, available in six colors, is selling well and may soon appear on Amazons American site. The seasonal changes demanded by online jewelry sales are at odds with the long lead time needed for her precious jewelry collection, so the rings sales are a way for me to do wholesaling and to make my jewelry available to a much wider audience, she said.Carolina Bucci is another jewelry designer experimenting with ways to expand her business. Fifteen years after starting her self-named 18-karat gold collection, the jeweler, who was raised in Italy and is based in London, is planning to introduce Caro, a silver jewelry brand, in the latter half of 2016.Catering to a younger, fashion-focused customer, it will have seasonal collections and is expected to sell for prices between $150 and $2,500. (Her fine jewelry ranges from $950 to $100,000).Caro, which uses Ms. Buccis nickname, will have the same spirit as her original brand but will be built on a different business model. I dont want more than four or five Carolina Bucci stores, as I want to retain that sense of exclusivity, but Caro is a brand I envisage having lots of different stores and retailers, she said.Wearability will remain the key issue, though. Born into a family of Florentine jewelers, Ms. Bucci says she was never allowed to wear costume jewelry growing up, and found that the fine jewelry she could wear was too traditional for her tastes. I wanted to make fine jewelry that was true to my family heritage, yet also fun and relevant to my own life, she said.For her, designing jewelry is a personal endeavor. Unlike the elaborate jewels she remembers her mother wearing when she was a child, her concept is to create easy but luxury pieces that can be worn all day, whether dealing with work, children or an evening out. Our lives are so different these days, she said.A turning point for the designer came when she opened her own store in the Belgravia area of London in 2007. Until that point Id never actually met my clients really, she said. The business definitely grew after opening the store.The store allowed her to display her entire range, and she became inspired by the women who came in and became loyal customers who are now evolving with me, she said.Irene Neuwirth agrees that opening her own store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles last year has been pivotal to her companys development. Our business has increased everywhere because of the store. Its an incredible branding tool, she said.Having been among Barney New Yorks top-selling jewelry designers since introducing her colorful, feminine collection in 2003, Ms. Neuwirth says it is her relationships with the store owners who sell her jewels, and with the female customers who collect them, that has fueled her success.Ive built my business by building amazing friendships, she said. I feel thats a very specific way women have of doing business, which, in the personal world of jewelry, gives them an advantage.Ms. Neuwirths clients frequently buy a piece after seeing the designer wearing it. Acting as a billboard for ones own jewelry is not something so easily achieved by a male designer, and Suzanne Syz believes that female designers also have the advantage of understanding what feels good.We know what fits. I wear my designs to see if theyre comfortable. Weve all had jewelry in the past that was too heavy, the Swiss designer said.Ms. Syzs colorful, one-of-a-kind haute jewelry is frequently inspired by art and marries fine craftsmanship with whimsy. Her tiny atelier in Geneva only produces around 25 pieces a year, and in New York last month, she announced her first watch.Called Her Ben, this limited-edition, bejeweled mystery watch was inspired by Big Ben in London, and took two years to complete. The watch has two faces, both realized in diamonds and a choice of rose or white gold or black titanium. Time literally stands still on the outside cover face, while the one inside is the real watch. The inscription opposite reminds the wearer: You may delay, but time will not.Ms. Syz says her select clients, primarily in Europe and the United States, many of whom are art collectors like herself, find traditional jewelry too staid and appreciate her mix of haute jewelry and tongue-in-cheek style.Cindy Chao also approaches jewelry as art, and the wonders of nature are her chief inspiration. She carves her miniature sculptures in wax, then has them realized in gold, titanium and precious stones at her workshops in Geneva, Paris and Lyon, France. She produces only 12 to 20 pieces a year.Her Black Label Masterpiece No. II Fish brooch took three years to complete. It is a large, glowing emerald representing the cheek of a puffer fish, and the surface is covered with more than 5,000 diamonds and sapphires. (Some pieces from the collection sell for $10 million.)The Taiwanese designer says her business now is roughly 65 percent in Asia, 20 percent in the Middle East and 15 percent in the United States and Europe. She opened a luxurious Hong Kong showroom this past spring, and is transferring her headquarters there from Taipei in an effort to establish herself in an international finance center with a more promising customer base.Despite the continued downturn in the Chinese economy, which has led many international luxury brands to close stores in the city, she believes serious jewelry collectors passing through Hong Kong are always looking for something unique. There is still great demand from the real collectors if they see investment value, she said.For Ms. Chao, the first Taiwanese jeweler to have her work become part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History, growing her business is important but should not come at the expense of creating the perfect jewel: Product is key. Scale doesnt matter.I sometimes ask myself: Is this a business? Is this art? Is it for myself? Ms. Chao said. I need to focus on making the best jewelry I can, on surprising people and making them see how jewelry can be art.THE DESIGNERSSOLANGE AZAGURY-PARTRIDGELondonSolange Azagury-Partridge was working at a 20th century antique dealer in London when, disappointed by the engagement ring choices available, she designed her own. The resulting ring was so admired by friends and acquaintances that she introduced her own brand in 1990. In 2002 she was selected by Tom Ford to become creative director at Boucheron in Paris, an experience she describes as like attending the Oxbridge of jewelry design. Known for her jewelrys combination of color, sensuality and wit, she is in discussions with a London museum to curate a 2017 exhibition that will raise jewelrys profile as a serious art form.CAROLINA BUCCILondonIn 1885, Carolina Buccis great-grandfather opened a store repairing pocket watches in Florence. The family business evolved to become a manufacturer of fine gold jewelry, and now its workshops produce all of Ms. Buccis collections. Mixing traditional techniques with modern designs such as her signature woven-gold and silk thread friendship bracelets, the designer spends her time in London, Italy and New York, where her mother was born and where she started her business. With celebrity clients such as Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow, she has developed an international following for luxurious jewels that are distinctive yet easy to layer with other pieces.CINDY CHAOHong KongCindy Chao grew up in Taiwan surrounded by creativity, the daughter of a sculptor and granddaughter of a famous architect. She launched Cindy Chao The Art Jewel in 2004 and has always approached her jewelry as miniature 3-D sculptures with minuscule detailing and a sense of light and balance. With a less-is-more philosophy of production, she only creates one of her signature butterflies every year and they have quickly become collectors items. The Ballerina Butterfly brooch, designed with Sarah Jessica Parker, was sold at Sothebys in October 2014 for $1.2 million, with $300,000 of the proceeds benefiting the New York City Ballet.IRENE NEUWIRTHLos AngelesIrene Neuwirths bold, luxurious statement pieces in a rainbow of gems including opal, turquoise and tourmaline are a red carpet favorite, worn by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts and Lena Dunham. Known for the interior design of her home in the Venice section and her store at Melrose Place in Los Angeles, she has been approached to become a lifestyle brand but is determined to focus on jewelry. I want to be a household name, and to have my jewelry passed down from generation to generation, said Ms. Neuwirth, who won the 2014 CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessory Design. As her boyfriend, the Lego Movie director Phil Lord, decamping to London in 2016 for his next project, Ms. Neuwirth said she is looking forward to an opportunity to grow her international profile.SUZANNE SYZGenevaSuzanne Syz started creating her own pieces after finding traditional haute jewelry too outdated for her tastes. An avid modern art collector, her work was influenced by her friends Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, whom she met while living in New York in the 1980s. Now based in Geneva, her perfectionist approach to her creations meant it took five years to complete her first collection and she continues to produce a very limited number of pieces. Her latest creation and first watch, Her Ben, took two years to complete and, unusually for a jewelry watch (they are normally quartz-powered), it has a mechanical movement from by Vaucher, one of haute horlogeries finest manufacturers.