Oooh, sparkly (swan) things! So now that I am going to buy all new jewelry, and I'm in "ooh, sparkly things!" mode, it occurred to me that it might be nice to have some swan jewelry.→[More:]

As you can imagine, this is a subset of jewelry in which it behooves a shopper to be discriminating. As I browsed online, I remembered a friend's warning that I might not want to tell a lot of people that I named my house Swan's End, because most swan stuff is tacky and people would start giving me a lot of swan crap. She was quite right. I do have some swan stuff, but it's rare that I come across anything swan-related that's not horribly cheesy. I'm still trying to forget about a eighties-era pink ceramic swan I saw in Value Village.

So in swan jewelry shopping I soon came up with a list of rules. I soon ruled out swan earrings, because the effect of swan earrings seems to always be kitschy, even in the case of elegantly minimalist designs in silver. (Somehow one needs to be extra careful about whimsical hats and earrings, because they are so prone to look silly, perhaps because they're so close to one's brain.)

And I definitely didn't want any spoony looking swans that have their heads together, like say, this or this. This swan swims alone!

And beautiful as this cameo is, I am not sure that I'd want to get into any "Leda and the swan" themed stuff. I can't seem to see it without it evoking all that "ecstatic rape" garbage.

So what do I like? I like these vintage brooches. I like this pendant, though with it being black it probably isn't the best choice for me, someone who never wears anything black but track pants.

I can't help liking this necklace and earring set, though it's maybe a little chintzy and I'm not quite sure how it would go with my clothes.

I just love cameos, and so I like this ring, though I am not quite sure about the quality of the workmanship.

Probably the item I am most likely to buy is this silver swan ring, which is downright cool. It's funny — I am so drawn to that celtic aesthetic, and am half-Irish, and yet don't own anything in that vein. Not sure it's really worth $85 plus shipping though.

And the whole exercise of looking for swan jewelry has given me an idea for my mother's birthday present. She likes owls ("because they're wise and they have big eyes") and jewelry, and might like an owl brooch. But that's another thread for another time.;-)