I recently fell into a reality television rabbit hole when I rewatched Most Eligible Dallas and Courtney Loves Dallas. I was reminded of a conversation I had with an old roommate during the airing of the latter. She was admittedly a huge Courtney Kerr fan and when I asked her whether she had purchased any of Courtney’s Baublebar collection the response surprised me. She said in not so many words: why would I purchase costume jewelry from Baublebar when I already own so much fine jewelry?
As a then-late-twenty-something, what I would have considered my fine jewelry was a collection of various pearl pieces. In very 2013 Jenna Lyons-fashion, I mixed with other costume pieces. Though perhaps out of touch, her message stuck with me. While I still buy fun pieces like neon and lucite, I am always on the hunt for fine jewelry at a palatable price point.
Is Baublebar psychic? Perhaps, or maybe the brand is intuitive to their customer, because since then fine jewelry has been added to the line up. They are not the only brand that got their start in costume jewelry to do so either as Kendra Scott’s selection is gorgeous. Jade Trau, is accessible especially via the ShopBop sale. Below are my picks for each.
Baublebar
I initially discovered dainty diamond jewelry and third party designers via Baublebar about a year ago. I don’t know what possessed me to peruse the website – maybe I was doing a sales roundup – but I found two bracelets that made it to the stateside trip with me.
I also love that they offer Maya Brenner initial jewelry. I bought a 14k yellow gold necklace complete with the Pamper Pirate’s initials. it has become the jewelry piece that I never remove.
Kendra Scott
I am ever-impressed with the Kendra Scott fine jewelry selection. I have three of her diamond trimmed rings in rotation and a star spangled diamond trimmed necklace which I sometimes layer on top of the Maya Brenner initial necklace.
I’ve written about my obsession with her recently released diamond tennis bracelet. It is really a question about sizing and when, not if.
Jade Trau
I found Jade Teau via ShopBop. Her pieces are admittedly more expensive but the ShopBop sale events make the prices manageable. I don’t own any Jade Trau yet, but her collection is nevertheless beautiful.