Hello and welcome along to the May addition of our Erstwilder blog. I can't quite believe it has been a whole month since we were treated to a Rocky Horror adventure. If you haven't caught up yet you can read all about it: HERE
You might have seen on social media channels that Erstwilder have been moving offices this past month, so I was pleasantly surprised when a colourful parcel landed in my letterbox as I did worry that we might have been having a month off, so I am glad this is not the case.
Everything about this launch has felt a little quieter than normal, I don't know if that is because I am STILL waiting for the Africa launch but this one seemed to come out of nowhere and surprised me a little.
This collection is alot smaller that we are used to seeing, we are normally treated with a variety of 12-14 different pieces. This time we have 9 different brooches, but no earrings or necklaces, which is a little bit of a shame for those of you who like me, love a good necklace. Nevertheless the brooches that have arrived are lovely.
For this collection Erstwilder have gone back to their roots, it is very well known that they are an Australian company and we have already been treated to a few different Australiana collections to date. This one is completely different from those that we have seen before, and there isn't any recolours only new designs.
We have a slightly mixed bag when it comes to this collection, 8 of the brooches are animals with one lonely plant to finish off the series. Although everything that you see here is native or well known to Australia.
I guess this is where my knowledge of the designs does fall down a little bit, being a fan from the UK sometimes I can't always appreciate the collections in the same way that other can, as it is not quite as relateable as maybe other collections.
That being said that certainly doesn't mean that I can't appreciate a good piece of jewellery when I see it. For me I love how bright and bold this collection in, especially in comparison to the RHS which was all very cimilar colours.
The resins on these are yet another step in the bold direction for Erstwilder, while I think that works really well for some, I feel other are a little over the top. My favourite choices of resin are the ones with the hidden detail such as the green in the plant or a couple of the more subtle colours.
Being completely honest, when I first saw this collection I wasn't 100% sold. But as always I will never write a blog until I have photographed the pieces as so many times I have changed my mind when actually getting to handle the pieces up close and experiencing the joy of photographing them.
That was exactly what happened with this collection. I think this is going to be a grower for people. I think that if your only going to be looking at the stock photos you might not think too much of it, but as soon as you start to see people's real life photos (and hopefully to a degree the photos that I have show today) you will see alot of hidden treasures in this.
It is not really until you see the pieces from different angles and lights that you really start to appreciate them. Again I must say the quality on these is great, they don't feel fragile or weak and do look like they will stand tall for a long while.
Now I always enjoy playing the game of which pieces will sell out the quickest. I am finding this one really difficult as the pieces mean quite alot to so many different people, especially with it being a home grown collection.
A little added extra thing that I have noticed this time round is each little insert in the box now tells you who designed the piece and when, I think this is a great way to make Erstwilder feel a little bit more approachable and it is great to see who has designed your favourite pieces!
If I were to pick my top three they would have to be: The kingfisher, the hedgehog and the kookaburra. I would love to know what you think of the collection. Please pop us a message or head on over to our Facebook page.