Diversion: Pansy Ring

Grrr. The best intentions, right? I really spaced out on the posting-once-a-day thing. But unfortunately for you and me both, real world things have to come before blogging. :(

Anyway. CHECK THIS BABY OUT! I was waiting and waiting and waiting for this to show up on any website besides Neiman Marcus and it just wasn't happening. I caved in and called Juicy to see if they had it in stores, and sure enough they did.

I won't lie to you; this ring looks significantly better in photos than it does in person. That's not to say that it isn't gorgeous, because it is. It just doesn't exactly have that amazing color depth that it appears to. I absolutely love this ring, though. It is huge; it covers from the base of my ring finger all the way up to the knuckle. The sizes also seem to run a little on the big side. Juicy usually stocks their non-adjustable rings in sizes from 6-8.

Unfortunately, there were no promotions going on that I knew of when I went to the boutique so I got stuck paying the full price. That definitely stung a little bit, especially since I have become pretty accustomed to nabbing things from S&C at a 20% discount. It's hit and miss when it comes to knowing if you'll be able to wait it out for a sale. The white MOP flower ring from a few seasons back stuck around for awhile, but never seemed to go on sale and then vanished entirely. The re-released darker fall version, however, lingered around long enough to be marked down before it was gone.

The pansy was a good choice of flower for this spring, especially since Alice In Wonderland is hitting theaters in a few weeks. This ring is definitely Alice-esque!

Price: 88.00
Box: Brown/Pink
Code: YJRU3728

Limited Edition: Ring (Purple Neiman Marcus Exclusive)

Much like the shoe, purse, and snowflake charms I'm not really one for the ring charms either. Juicy has done several different versions of the engagement ring, and I think I only have two including this one.

But there is a very good reason for having this one: it's the only colored stone they've done on an engagement ring charm. And it's beautiful. I purposely used flash on the third photo so you could see just how many colors are hiding inside of the purple stone.

I really love the detailing along the inner sides of the ring. It's intricate and rather than overwhelming the entire piece, it really elevates the purple stone and brightens everything up.

Now the bad news, as there usually is with older charms. This was a limited edition piece made exclusively for Neiman Marcus in 2008. That means that even if this charm had made it to the sale tables it would have eventually gone to Neiman Marcus Last Call outlets (of which there are quite a few less), not Juicy outlets. Your odds of finding this in a retail establishment are about as good as Juicy re-releasing the original globe. You will have to resort to the secondary market for this one, and it is still hard to come by. Prepare to pay (on average) double MSRP!

LE Tag Year: 2008
Price: 38.00
Box: Gold/Pink
Code: YJRU1729
Misc: Produced exclusively for Neiman Marcus; make sure their logo is on the tag.

On The Horizon: Pansy Ring

Again I must take a slight detour from the world of charms to rave about something else.

The Pansy Ring popped up on Neiman's website not too long ago, along with a whole other slew of spring jewelry pieces by Juicy. I may be more excited about this ring than I am about any of the upcoming charms (including the chocolate bunny!).

It's gorgeous. Of course this is only a stock photo but I just can't stop myself from tripping head over heels for it. I love the blending of the purple hues and the almost-black color that is skirting around the edges of the petals. I'm sure that the large crystal in the middle will attract an insane amount of sparkle, and I love that smaller crystals are intermittently sprinkled all over.

I'm also excessively happy that this ring isn't "adjustable" and comes in sizes 6, 7, and 8. Ship date is listed in February; pay no mind to the "back order" status that nearly every item has. The pieces aren't actually back ordered, this is just Neiman's way of letting you know that things are immediately available for shipping. You can check out this ring and all of the other upcoming accessories by Juicy on Neiman's Juicy New Arrivals Page.

Diversion: Pave Petals Flower Ring

Oh. No.

The Neiman Marcus website has a window into Juicy's spring offerings and I have to tell you, it's kind of thrilling.

On the horizon are a plethora of flower rings. If Juicy can really hit something out of the park, it's flowers. Their Garden Party lines have sold out repeatedly, and fetch some big dollars on the secondary market. I suspect that this spring's line won't go quite as quickly, seeing as how many pieces they're putting out.

Some are already available and this is one of them (though this came from Nordstrom's, not Neiman's). Behold the Pave Petals Flower Adjustable Ring! So many beautiful elements! Cannot.. contain.. excitement!

Let's get the box talk out of the way. Appealing packaging is a great marketing move; I'm not too proud to admit that I'm shallow and have caved in to things based purely on their packaging once or twice. The box itself looks a little boring from the outside - standard cylinder shape with a lid and some girly designs scrawled on there. When the lid comes off, however, it's a completely different story. A pink rose full of soft petals blooms as soon as it's released and, voilà! A creamy white flower with pave crystals sprinkled on the petals is revealed.

The pave petals are kept to a minimal two; this is good. Any more and they might become overwhelming. The larger crystal in the center is very eye-catching and looks amazing in the sun. I forgot to take pictures of the band, but Juicy's idea of 'adjustable' is really only adjustable to a certain point. There is a solid band that is probably a size 8 with a smaller, thin sideways C shape inside of it. This is the part that's adjustable. It's hard to explain, but the smaller band inside will expand or shrink with your finger to hold the ring on.

Don't expect to wear this ring on your pinkie; not only is it huge (maybe about an inch across, if not a little more), but it's heavy. Your hand will definitely feel unbalanced if it's not on one of your three inner fingers.

As much as I love Juicy's rings, they are always way way way too expensive and aren't usually stocked on websites that offer frequent discounts, like S&C or SBB. Juicy has been offering a lot more in-store promotions lately, but they're sporadic and sometimes don't apply to regularly priced jewelry.

Price: 78.00
Box: Round Pink Rose
Code: YJRU3625