For That Up-To-The-Minute (Should We Say 'Fashionista'?) Mom

Dear San Francisco Jewelry Doctor:

I read what you wrote to that nice person with the casual mom and the one with the religious mom. Help! My mom is the trendiest person I know. I don’t go around naked, mind you; people tell me I dress just fine. But I cannot keep up with my mother. So how on Earth can I choose the right gift for her? 

No Runway for Me

Dear NRM:

First of all, thank you for reassuring us that you are wearing clothing—nice clothing, apparently. How wonderful that your mother loves the “latest and the greatest.” 

Shopping can be challenging in the wider world. Your Jewelry Doctor still remembers a time in her shorter days when her mother, always fashionable herself, held up an item and she took one look and said, “Mom! I would never wear that!” and if memory serves, that was the last time they went shopping together. 

Gift-shopping at San Francisco Jewelry Doctor is somewhat different. We start with “What kinds of things does the person love wearing?” We have lots of jewelry in the latest styles; chances are, we have something just right for your mom. 

Note: If for any reason your mom is not thrilled and delighted with the gift you select, she is always welcome to exchange her gift for something else. In over 20 years of helping people with gifts, we have received countless “She loved it!” calls and notes and not a single message of regret, probably because we start by zooming in on the person’s style. People often bring or send pictures, so we can see what the person loves to wear. It’s so much fun!

Another great solution for those who want that “up-to-the-minute” look is a gift certificate, which allows her to choose her gift for herself. 

“You have gift certificates?”

Of course we do. Just let us know what you’d normally spend on a gift for your mom, and we’ll create a gift certificate in that amount. Which you then give to your mom, who jumps up and down and then calls us and everybody lives happily ever after.

San Francisco Jewelry Doctor. Making your life easier, one gift at a time.

©2019 Laynie Tzena. All Rights Reserved.

Your Mother Would Like a Little Something

Dear San Francisco Jewelry Doctor:

I just saw a sign. Not the kind they talk about in circles on the floor, the kind you pass on the freeway. This one said Mother’s Day is next Sunday. Next Sunday! Yikes! 

What do I do? My mother always says, “Thank you, Dear,” and then never wears what I give her. Should I just send her flowers, or tell her I’ll take her out to dinner when I visit her in August or September?

Flummoxed in Baltimore

Dear FIB:

First of all, do not panic. There is a wonderful invention called “UPS” (and its cousins, “FedEx” and “USPS”). The Jewelry Doctor cannot recommend dilly-dallying, but she is pleased to tell you that if you step on it, you can have a wonderful gift in time for Mother’s Day. 

Which brings us to our next point: Flowers are out. They wilt, and she may have developed allergies since the last time you saw her. (No, we are not judging. We know you had your reasons.) Jewelry, on the other hand, is a perennial. That’s why those smart people put that sign on the freeway for you to find. As for asking someone to wait for a gift until later—well, how did you like it when they did that with your graduation present?

No, no, no. The answer is jewelry, of course. But how to select the right gift? Well, let’s talk about your mother. (Honey, there’s no way around it.)

Does she favor classic design? Is her style simple and elegant? A solitaire pendant on a chain would be a great choice—or just a pretty chain to go with the pendants she already has. (And ask about the Laynie Tzena collection: beautiful handcrafted pendants, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets in porcelain, Venetian glass, Swarovski crystal, and gemstones.)  

Is her taste more casual? Take a look at our jewelry in wood and contemporary metals. You say she’s a big sports fan? Give her a “sporting” pendant: we’ve got skaters, tennis racquets, footballs, baseballs, basketballs (and maybe a hockey puck, too—we’ll check), in both gold and silver.  

Whatever kind of jewelry your mom adores, we’ve got you covered. Call us at 415/796-3969—oh, and honey, do it now, while there’s still time.

San Francisco Jewelry Doctor. A mother’s best friend (well, aside from you, of course).

©2018 Laynie Tzena. All Rights Reserved.

Hard to Shop For? Not Anymore!

“My wife never wears the gifts I give her,” say some men.  

Your Jewelry Doctor creates a lot of gifts (and provides others from her sources). They always get rave reviews.  Now yours can, too.  

What’s the secret?  Well, remember the “reconnaissance mission”? 

“If you’ll excuse me, Doctor, that operation is used in war.  We’re talking about love.”

True.  But “gaining intelligence”—here, about your special someone’s taste in jewelry—makes the difference in both worlds.

Here’s how it works:  on a date, or across the breakfast table, notice what kinds of things your sweetheart loves to wear.  

Color

Earth tones or jewel tones?   Warm colors or cool colors?  Pastels or true colors?  Does she wear a lot of black?  Does she like colors that blend, sharp contrast, or a bit of both?

Shape

Now let's consider the outline of the kinds of jewelry she loves.  What kinds of shapes does she choose?  Round?  Oval?  Pear-shaped?  Triangular?  (We call those "trillion.")  Rectangular? (We call the long ones "emerald," and the square, "princess.")  Does she prefer soft lines, or crisper ones--more "Art Nouveau," or more Deco?

Environment (and Personal Style)

Let's think about how she likes to wear the jewelry.  Does her style tend toward suits, or a more casual look?  Does she wear necklaces with a lot of texture or a mix of shapes, or something simple and elegant, like a solitaire pendant or a strand of pearls?  Are her earrings flush against the ear—we call that a “button post” or a “stud”—or a dangle?  How long a dangle does she like? 

When Lights Are Low

You’d be amazed how much information you can pick up over breakfast.  And if you want to step up your game, go out for a romantic dinner.  Does her jewelry change?  Obviously, it’ll be dressier.  But does she also choose different colors and/or shapes for special times?

What She Chooses for Herself

Next time you’re home alone, take a look at her jewelry box.  Notice any patterns?  Just as men often buy the same kinds of ties with slight variation, women often favor, say, a simple gold pendant on a chain.  You might see three or four of these, each with a different gemstone.  Look to see if there are coordinating earrings.  Does she prefer matching jewelry, or what we could call “counterpoint”—i.e., jewelry that coordinates, but doesn’t repeat the same exact pattern?

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Make some notes.  And take a picture of your special someone, if you don’t have a recent one.  It not only feels great to have that with you, it makes a big difference when you shop.  I’ve helped people choose gifts for loved ones across the country, using the clothes they’re wearing in a snapshot to determine their style.  (And those clothes are usually in the colors they prefer, too.)

Putting It Into Practice

So don’t be afraid to shop.  You’re no longer groping around in the dark.  Now when you go looking for gifts, you’re halfway there:  you already know what she likes!

What’s your next special occasion?  Anniversary on the horizon?  Is her birthday coming up soon?  Or is the woman in your life a mother?  Mother’s Day is just two weeks away.  Call your friendly neighborhood* Jewelry Doctor at 415/796-3969, and let’s put our heads together. 

San Francisco Jewelry Doctor.  We make gift-shopping fun.

*If you can read this, we’re in the neighborhood.

©2014 Laynie Tzena.

Veronica Has the Floor

Sorry, Betty: a British study investigating “hair color and the intensity of attraction” (we’re all ears, Wikipedia), found that a sizable portion of the male population favors brunettes. (Okay, 51 percent, but we’ll take it. 62 percent said that we were stable and competent, 67 percent said we were independent and self-sufficient, and 81 percent noticed we were smart.)

You say there are brunettes from the Americas to Asia and Africa, and how on Earth can you generalize about so large a group? You may be right. So here are some pointers when shopping for jewelry for your favorite brunette.

Those with fair skin are ravishing in red; choose ruby or garnet for her. The right purple is wonderful: amethyst comes immediately to mind, but have a look at iolite, tanzanite, and grape garnet (yes, the color is natural, and stunning), too. Sapphire—from Ceylon blue to indigo—is a great choice, and so is lapis. In the green family, consider emerald, malachite, and jade.  Smoky quartz, red tiger’s eye, and mahogany obsidian are good choices in brown; in gray and black, choose hematite, gray labradorite, black diamonds, snowflake obsidian, and onyx.

The chatoyan in both tiger’s eye and red tiger’s eye catches the light and will be lovely on a brunette with honey-colored skin; moonstone and labradorite are great on her, too. Citrine, carnelian (especially the light one that looks like melon), yellow sapphire, yellow jade, and amber are fine choices, along with two different garnets: Mozambique, and that Spessartite garnet we were talking about for redheads.   

If her skin is a deeper, richer color, diamonds and pearls are stunning, and she is oh, so pretty in pink, whether it’s a ruby, a pink sapphire, pink tourmaline, rhodolite garnet, rhodonite, or rhodochrosite. Tsavorite garnet, a beautiful green gemstone, is wonderful on her, and so is peridot. If she loves blue, choose aquamarine, a sky blue topaz, or larimar. Both blue and green turquoise are also great choices for her.

Oh, and thanks, Wikipedia, for reminding us that Leonardo’s mysterious friend, the one the world has been trying to figure out ever since she sat for that portrait, was, let us say it in unison: brunette. No information has been recorded as to what kind of jewelry she favored. Just another part of her allure.

©2012 Laynie Tzena.

Do Blondes Have More Fun? You Decide.

As we recently discussed, I once aspired to be blonde, and ended up with hair that was screaming orange.

I came to love having dark hair—good thing, too, since that’s the kind that grows on my head—but I really enjoy designing jewelry for blondes and those who love them.

Today we’ll talk about what kind of jewelry is best for blondes.

You’ve probably already thought of gold jewelry, and that’s certainly a good choice.  Anything that picks up that beautiful color works well.  So for a lovely gold pendant for that blonde in your life (or the one in the mirror :>;), set that gold with citrine, topaz, tiger’s eye, amber, agate (“Picture Jasper,” anyone?), or yellow sapphire.

That sapphire could be a blue one, too, a stone that is stunning on many a blonde.  A glance at the color wheel might explain why that’s so, and why lapis is such a winner, too. But had you thought of emerald? Wow! And don’t forget jet or onyx—the contrast is what makes that “little black dress” such a knockout when the wearer is blonde).

At the other end of the spectrum, pink tourmaline, diamonds, and pearls are all beautiful on blondes.  Also on brunettes.  More on us soon.

©2012, 2014 Laynie Tzena.

Sun-In Not Required

I love it when people ask, “What kind of jewelry do you design?” All kinds of beautiful jewelry, actually—from very simple to very elaborate. A few years ago I created a line of tiny pendants (called “pendientitos”) in porcelain, Venetian glass, and gemstones for the “Tiny” show at Studio Gallery. They were so much fun to make! But I also love multi-strand necklaces and great big pieces my friend Jane would call “show-stoppers.” It’s all about the customer’s taste. 

There are wonderful pieces in the collection that I could never wear. They’re either not in my colors, or not my style. That’s one of the things I love about designing jewelry—the variety of it, and the fact that it’s all tailored to the customer.

As a teenager, I so wanted to be blonde. Honey, did I ever!

"Blondes have more fun!" people notified us regularly. "If I've only one life to live, let me live it as a blonde!" said a woman on TV.

"Sign me up!" I thought.

Alas, my brief fling with Sun-In did not yield the desired result. My hair turned orange—and not an orange that worked for me. Take my word for it.

But I sure do love red hair. It's so beautiful! For you redheads out there, and those of you who have a friend or loved one with red hair, here are some gift ideas.

First, let's talk about gold tones vs. silver ones. The gold shimmers next to that red hair, but white gold, platinum, and sterling silver all provide a nice contrast. Think about what the redhead on your list chooses most often.

Carnelian sings on redheads. I paired it with hematite in a bracelet for a great look. It's available in both deep orange (in clothing, the color is called "rust") and a lighter shade, too.

For those who favor earth tones, "flower agate" or striped agate is wonderful.  Red tiger’s eye is terrific, with that chatoyan (the band that shimmers a bit), as is mahogany obsidian.

In the green family, unakite is a great choice, since the green is flecked with a russet color; labradorite is lovely, too. Green tourmaline and emerald are also fine choices.

Redheads who love blue look wonderful in aquamarine, blue tourmaline, lapis, larimar, sapphire, and Swiss blue topaz.

For a sparkly look that will pick up that red hair, choose yellow sapphire or Spessartite garnet. (Yes, it’s a garnet—a gorgeous orange one.)

There are many more choices, of course, but these will get you started.  Call 415/796-3969 and let’s talk about the redheads on your list.

©2012, 2014 Laynie Tzena.