This week the focus has been Blue Groove Zinfandel.  The inspiration for the jewelry collection became more about the design of the label than the personality of the brand…since I really didn’t find a personality.

Design Direction

When I looked at the beautiful label that Salvatore Principe designed, I pictured a romantic night on the town.  I wanted to design pieces that leveraged the contemporary label and could move straight from the office to a night out.  The pieces need to be classic enough to be worn with a simple black suit and stunning enough to draw attention when worn with a little black dress.

The process, as usual, involved a lot of stuff strewn out on the table moving the pieces and parts around until I found the perfect combinations.  The pieces started to come together and I began using the extra parts of the label to create some wine charm.  Soon, I realized this was the “never ending” beautiful label.  From the one design, I ended up with nine designs in the collections below – that is efficient reuse!

The Collection

I think this collection ended up with a bit of the same upscale feel as the Hob Nob Collection last week.  However, the key difference is that last week I was hiding the elements of the bottle to make them less obvious and this week I was celebrating the beauty of the artwork on the label.  Here is the collection all together:

There are two stunning necklaces, four unique pendants, and three sets of sophisticated wine charms.  All carry the unique backstory of the Blue Groove Zinfandel brand.

The Details

The first necklace is a shorter length and plays off of the gold tones in the label design.

The centerpiece of the necklace is a large section of the label set in a gold tone bezel and protected with resin.  A complementary chain is then separated into sections.  The beads the sides of the necklace are recycled glass.  The two blue glass beads have sections of the label attached.  Until you bring forward the backstory on the design, no one will realizing you are wearing pieces from a wine bottle label!

The second necklace is a longer design that has a unique and sophisticated design style.

While the design is shown here with a black sweater, I think this piece would look lovely with a lighter color as well.  The beads are all recycled glass and four sections have portions of the wine label attached.  The square in the upper left of this photo has the name of the label designer attached.  That way, as you tell the backstory of this piece you will always be reminded of the designer and can tell people where they can find more of his work online.  The chain used in this design is a dark, gunmetal color.

The first pendant is a simple tribute to the beauty of the Salvatore Principe design.

A section of the label was set in a silver tone bezel and protected with resin.  I can picture this piece being worn with nearly anything – from the little black dress on a night out to jeans and a t-shirt running errands around town.

The next three pendants carry a different style that I first tried last week – cutting sections of the label into small parts, attaching them to a piece of glass from the wine bottle, and wrapping them with silver or black wire.

With the irregular shape of the glass pieces, these designs have their own unique personality.  The piece on the left carries the strongest connection to the wine of all the jewelry pieces as it carries the Blue Groove words on the design.  That piece is wrapped in a silver wire and strung on a silver chain.  The two pieces on the right carry the color scheme of the label and are both wrapped in black wire and hung from a black leather cord.

The final pieces in the collection are three sets of wine charms.  Pieces of the design are positioned  on slices of wine corks and paired with recycled glass, recycled magazine, and stone beads.  These wine charms would make the perfect compliment to any dinner party or a wonderful hostess gift.

Summary

I continue to be amazed at how a simple bottle of wine or beer can transform itself into an entire collection of pieces that can be worn and enjoyed for years to come.  This weekly process is really pushing my design style into new directions and I’m excited by where the brands will continue to take me throughout the year.

Please let me know your thoughts on this collection.  If you would like more details on any of the pieces, you can check them out in my Etsy shop.