Fabulous Femmegems

My Collection

In August 2003, Princess and I were attending the wedding of a mutual friend (my friend from college, who became her roommate in law school). I was wearing a plain black (and fabulous) dress, but felt that I needed a fabulous necklace to complete the outfit. I was looking for something in a jet black bead or maybe a red. But, I had been looking for a little while and hadn't found anything I liked.

Princess came to visit me in New York City and, since she is the Accessories Princess (or the guru of all things sparkly and fabulous, as I like to think of it), she decided to help me on my mission. We hit the pavement and began our whirlwind shopping trip. We decided to stop at Henri Bendel. While 99% of the time, I can't afford Henri Bendel, and certainly couldn't in August 2003 when I had just finished my masters degree and was frantically looking for a teaching job...which, as we all know, is not a high paying profession, the store is fun, so we went anyway. If you haven't been, next time you're in New York City, give it a walk through.

Bridesmaid Necklace

Much to my surprise, there was a fabulous little jewelry stand called "femmegems." Here there were strands and strands of beads (most of which are semi-precious stones), where you could make your own design, have it strung for you on the spot, and walk away with something new, fabulous and beautiful. After checking out the beads, and some pushing from Princess, I decided on a strand of rose quartz beads with a large, teardrop shaped rose quartz pendant. My wallet was $75 lighter, but I was 110% happier.

Bridesmaid Necklace

It was at this moment that I decided that if I ever got married, I wanted to get each of my bridesmaids femmegems necklaces in their favorite colors. I would often come back to Henri Bendel and stalk the femmegems table. The following year, I purchased my second femmegems necklace--bright, turquoisey blue chalcedony with an opalescent triangle-ish shaped pendant. Another $75 later, I went home with my new, beloved creation.

Bridesmaid Necklace

In the winter of 2006, I got engaged. I had moved out of the city over a year prior, but I planned on taking frequent trips in to the femmegems stand at Henri Bendel. To my chagrin, the stand no longer existed there. But, I found the femmegems website. At that point in time, their website was rudimentary and, clearly, very new. They had very few strand choices and nothing that I wanted for my bridesmaids. So, I emailed the company. I got in touch with Rachel--one of their designers--who worked with me for quite a while throughout the process. I gave her my price point and, in return, she gave me 9 beautiful necklaces in an array of colors. I wanted to keep them all...but that would be selfish. I did, however, get to keep one.

Bridesmaid Necklace

A week before my wedding, my maid of honor dropped out of the wedding. Since she was no longer part of the bridal party--or even attending the wedding, for that matter--I kept her necklace. It is a beautiful, unique creation--yellow chalcedony in small teardrop shapes--some frosty, some translucent and shiny--in a flowery pattern. Her set also came with earrings--yellow chalcedony drops with two colors of stones on them. This rounded out my collection of femmegems necklaces.

Bridesmaid Necklace

Every once in a while (ok, every time I wear one of my necklaces), I get the itch to buy another one. I'll be honest--it's not as fun as when I could stare at the strands of beads, the most beautiful ones calling to me and saying "Make me yours!" But, the end rush is still the same. A beautiful bauble--timeless and elegant--that I designed. While the pieces can be pricey, they can also be affordable. The lowest I spent for a necklace was $50 (and I won't tell you which one it was!!), the most was $110. They can get up to hundreds of dollars, depending on the stones you pick. But, believe me...for $75, it's totally worth it to design your own necklace.

Bridesmaid Necklace & Earrings

Femmegems will also take your old strands of beads that either have broken, are no longer in style, or with which you just don't know what to do and turn them into something fabulous.

I wore one of my femmegems necklaces today (the blue one). Not only did my coworkers and students compliment me all day, but when I was out to dinner with my parents tonight, my father--who is usually oblivious to all things fashion related--commented on how beautiful my necklace is. Granted, he's seen it a number of times without commenting before, but it is certainly an amazing, stand out piece that I will wear for years to come.

Bridesmaid Necklace & Earrings
(Reversible Necklace--you can wear it with the clasp in front or back)

 So, I encourage you to check out the photos I've included here, tap into your inner designer, go to the femmegems website, and make yourself your own fabulous piece. I know you'll love yours as much as I love my collection of femmegems pieces!