Today’s featured jewelry collector is Kylie of okay_____fine, an Instagram account of a jewelry loving, uber creative ceramist who describes her page as her digital jewelry box. Her style and taste in jewelry is as unique as they come, with a love for spooky season, obsession for charms and stackable rings for days. She has a talent for DIY jewelry boxes, but these are actually the kind that make your mouth drop and don’t look like you raided Joann Fabric’s sale section of ruffle trim. Let’s take a dive into her jewelry box and hear her story!
“Jewelry has always been in my life. My mom curated her collection mostly when I was younger, then slowed way down. I guess I absorbed all that fire from her and my thirst for gold began. My collection was always charm-heavy (because who can resist a miniature?) and fluffed by heirloom pieces and secret trophies I “borrowed” from my mom’s jewelry box. Once I landed my first big girl job after college, that’s when the real fun began. It started slowly and very carefully planned, and then it just avalanched into a full-blown escapade.”
“This is my mom’s antique charm bracelet that she hid away in a fake Arizona iced tea stash can (in the fridge!) forever. Last year, I finally convinced her she should be wearing it. I lent her a shorter box chain so now she wears it as a necklace to protect the charms. I can’t wait for it to be mine one day, thankfully my sisters aren’t big on jewelry.”
“Like so many of these collections, mine also started with my mom, who has the beeeest taste in antique jewelry and charms. She doesn’t collect any specific themes, but she does love mourning hair and enamel. I remember in second grade, she was explaining to my classmates that her ring was made of “real hair, like from a dead person” and the look of disgust on my friends’ faces. She’s so cool. But truthfully, my love of jewelry bloomed from my obsession with boxes. I’m a ceramicist by day, so form and function are on ultimate display when it comes to housing tiny valuable beautiful things. Storage is an ongoing quest/puzzle/itch of mine. I probably spend more time looking at jewelry boxes than I do things to put inside. I’ve made a few myself from scratch, and also relined a couple of vintage boxes I’ve thrifted. I like having a few medium boxes rather than one massive one that fits my whole collection. Chains are the hardest though, and I don’t love most of the necklace stands in the market, so I recently designed a ladder/pulley sort of system, which I think is a playful solution. I also have a few of these supportive lady hooks from Kaye Blegvad by my bed to collect my necklaces after my nightly mass untangle. Like an insect trapped in a spiderweb, HA!”
“Lockets and Halloween are my favorite motifs to collect! I’m box-minded, so of course, lockets make sense for me to be obsessed with. I’ve hoarded every locket I’ve ever encountered, from crusty to fine, I just love the tiny hinges. Halloween has just always been my thing; I never outgrew my love of October. I’ve been working on a Halloween charm bracelet for a while, but I have slight commitment issues with soldering them to a chain, so I added some jump rings onto a chain to allow me to swap em out for now. My favorite is a vintage cauldron charm I snagged last year. I saw one like it a while ago and kicked myself that I missed it. That lead to long nights on eBay and google and all the internet nooks. When it popped up in my feed years later, I hit the purchase button so fast. I remember all the comments on the seller’s post were along the lines of “Woah, that went so fast!” and it made me smirk to myself like a villain. I’m so glad she’s mine and she found me after all that time. I still think about my perfect unicorn piece I missed out on this year which was the most gorgeous antique locket with a 3D spider mounted on top. It had a rose cut diamond and was way out of my budget. I think about it all the time.”
Most recent find: I snagged a vintage French 18k rounded mariner chain. It has a fabulous clasp and is perfect fiddling length. I’m patiently waiting for the perfect occasion to give it to myself.
Most sentimental piece: Oy. My grandpa’s signet. He wore it for 60 years and I inherited it after he passed because we share the same initials, all the cousins were jealous, it was a big deal. I stupidly wore it on my pinky (like he did) to school one day, and in geometry class, I realized it was no longer there! You know that feeling. Instant nausea. Searched on my hands and knees for an hour crying like a lunatic. My mom was going to murder me. …THANKFULLY, I called the bus company that I took to school, and they FOUND IT! It was quite a miracle. That ring didn’t leave its special box for 8 years until I graduated from college and finally resized it. I also have this buttery vintage Tiffany peridot that means a lot to me. It was gifted to me during a very transformative time.
Most worn piece: The one thing I’ve never taken off (except for one surgery) is a curb ID anklet that my mom wore when she was younger. It’s been on me since I plucked it from her jewelry box when I was 14. I feel like it’s my signature now. Aside from that, my M.Hisae Figure ring is always on me. That thing is pure tactile comfort, I rub it all day.
