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I thought some of these trends might be interesting to the kids' jewellery fans out there!  I've been doing some reserach and reading surveys and have found some interesting results, some of which are showing evidence of, at Baby Jewels, some not.

Firstly it seems that even in challenging times, we all love to spoil our children.  

The difference is, we all now want value for money as a priority.  It seems few of us are willing to pay $300 for a gold baby bracelet and that sterling silver wins hands down in the popularity stakes at the present time.  With the price of sterling silver rising rapidly over the last couple of years, it will be interesting to see if the trend moves back to gold, in the long term.

Secondly, there is a trend towards children making their jewellery choices themselves, however it's been found that the item must also please Mum, or Grandmother, or it will not be bought.  

Children are getting more sophisticated and like to wear what Mum and older sister wear which we've seen in the popularity of designs that come in both mother and child sizes. It seems there is a trend to make children's necklaces in more sophisticated designs, with extensions in length, so that Mum can also wear them! 

Children a generation or two ago, might have been happy with a toy for their birthday, but today, they like clothing and jewellery.  A beautiful children's necklace, a grown up looking children's bracelet, or, more recently, and in Summertime, an anklet, is what gives them that thrill.  

The baby market remains the same:  Cute and modern, or classic and traditional, with baby jewellery gifts purchased for Christenings, Naming Days, Baptisms, birthdays and Christmas.

More next time, about what kids like.

News again this morning of another load of children's jewellery arriving in Australia, containing lead, nickel and/or cadmium.  

I've seen these items on displays at various department stores in recent years.  They are very cute, very cheap and kids love them.  They are often bought by Nannas who want to put a smile on their grandkids' faces.

But sadly, hidden inside these pretty little children's bracelets (mainly, but also children's necklaces and children's earrings) are metals that can do harm for our under-12s.  

Please beware when buying these items.  It's possible to purchase some cheap children's jewellery that's free of these toxic metals, but if there isn't a sign up saying, "lead, nickel and cadmium free" then please don't touch them.  

Gold and silver don't contain these dangerous metals.  Yes, gold and silver is more expensive, but sterling silver in particular, is still quite reasonably priced.

I am looking at a whole new range of baby earrings and children's earrings.  I already have a huge range on the website but so far, no screwbacks and people are wanting them.  So I've found a good supplier but the costs involved make them too expensive unless you buy an awful lot of them.  

So before Christmas, I'm going to look at them again and place a largish order, to make it worthwhile and to keep the prices per item, to a reasonable level.

Talking to customers who write to me via the Contact box, I know that kids often put in their "orders" for children's jewellery.  They might say, I want some dolphin earrings, or butterfly earrings, or pink crystal earrings etc.  But many parents/aunties/godmothers etc. buy children earrings that they personally like, and you can bet the kids do too, when they see them.  (I haven't seen any kids' earrings yet, which weren't super-cute!)  

So at Baby Jewels, we try to stock earrings that kids want specifically, as well as those that are much loved and chosen by adults for their children.  So if your child asks for a certain design of earrings, we currently have them in butterflies, dolphins, dragonflies, flowers, penguins, ladybugs, rabbits, bees, stars, hearts, crosses, turtles, koalas, snails, toadstools, owls, Bambis, Nemos, teddy bears, frogs, giraffes, cupcakes, apples, bows, strawberries, starfish, pearls, fairies, crystals, elephants and hoops!  

For family members who want to choose something classical, we have a range of more traditional styles, including gold, silver, cz stones and gemstones.  Often these are similar to adult's earrings only tinier.  The new range of screwbacks we plan on getting will include a lot of these more classic styles, in 14K gold.  But also some cute styles with colourful enamelling.  Can't wait!

Over the years I have come to realise these are very popular.  First of all, they are very pretty and look very sweet around a chubby ankle.  Secondly, the original reason for the Cambodians putting them on their babies and children was because the bells would tinkle wherever baby crawled or tottered.  Because some villages in Cambodia were on the edge or in the middle of, dense jungles, this was more a necessity than an item of baby jewellery.  This reason holds true for modern Mums though for less importance.  

Then the idea was taken up by certain movie stars and their babies were seen sporting the little Cambodian jingle bells anklets.  Businesses sprouted up selling them at a premium cost.  The popularity of these baby anklets floroushed.

I searched the www for some the same, or similar, at a reasonable cost.  Once or twice I've negotiated with silversmiths to manufacture them but each time the deal has fallen through.  

Once again, I am dealing with a new silversmith, who knows the story and seems (at this stage) willing to cost the job to make some of these rather special pieces of baby/children's jewellery.  It will depend on the cost as they will be made especially.  This silversmith is already making beautiful baby bangles, quite different to ones I've so far seen.  

If you're interested in one or more of these anklets, email me at shop@baby-jewels.com and if I get enough interest, perhaps I can increase my order and bring down the cost.  

I had an email last week asking the question whether children's jewellery should be insured.  Obviously, I thought the question would only come up if the jewellery included a largish collection worth over a certain amount.  

Out of curiosity, I phoned my own insurance company and was pleasantly surprised to find that it's possible to add even a small amount of kids' jewellery, say, a couple of baby bracelets, and/or a handful of children's earrings to an insurance policy for a very minimal increase in premiums.  I also asked whether the jewellery should be placed in a safe deposit box.  The answer was, unless we're talking upwards of $1000, probably not.  

Hard to believe, but there are some sites selling gold/diamond children's jewellery with prices over $1000, so in some households, this might be necessary.

So for only an extra one or two dollars a month, it's possible to insure a small collection of baby jewellery and it can be as an addition to the policy in the same way that the purchase of an electronic device might be added.  

Check it out with your insurance company if you have some valuable items and are at all concerned.

Personalised baby jewellery is very popular at the moment.  This can mean simply adding a charm with significance to the baby bangle or bracelet, or even her children's necklace.  Or it can mean engraving a personal message.  The message can be from the giver to the recipient or it can simply be her birth date or name, or even something generic, like the word "Baby" (very popular generations ago, where baby jewellery recycling was the norm) or the word, "Angel" or "Princess" or "Darling."

Pretty pink ribbons tied in a bow on the bracelet or bangle, or a pink crystal denoting a baby girl, are also popular.

This is why children's charm bracelets are so popular.  Each birthday and Christmas or major event in her life can bring a new charm to her bracelet, one that signifies something personal to the recipient.  A big sister charm given after a new sibling arrives, a kitten charm when she's given her first pet, a toothfairy charm when she loses her first baby tooth, a charm featuring ballet shoes when she starts ballet lessons.  These bracelets can tell the story of her young life.  

The trend to personalise probably signals the end of family jewellery recycling.  Often these days, babies and small children have their own jewellery box and have already begun a collection by their first birthdays.  All going to plan, this collection will grow over the years and be kept as a childhood momento, rather than being passed down to new siblings, cousins, or the next generation.

So, ok, I said we're getting some new screwback children's earrings soon.  I found some absolutely divine 14k gold children's jewellery which included a huge range of the most beautiful children's earrings in screwbacks that I'd found to date.  And I've been looking for 2 years.

They weren't cheap so I took my time and eventually placed an order for a dozen different styles, all of which I couldn't wait to lay my eyes on.  The intention was to create a new category for them on the site.  I couldn't wait to show off our new styles, and at the same time, increase our gold component on the site.

But the GFC and Fedex and the bank have conspired to make me hold off until later in the year.  Turns out the cost of paying for, and getting gold from one side of the world to the other, hardly makes it worthwhile.  But, if I was to place a larger order, the shipping/bank costs per item would lower and definitley make the order worthwhile.  We do our best to keep our prices down.

So, much as it saddens me, we have cancelled the order until at least August/September.  At that time, we're hoping to place a larger order and get our new screwbacks just in time for Christmas.  That way, we can offer the prettiest earrings for babies and children on the net, at really good prices.  

Watch this space!

Baby earrings are becoming more popular now that mothers are having their babies' ears pierced at a much younger age than ever before.  For this reason, I felt it important to discuss the piercing of baby ears and what type of earrings are suitable for our littlies.

Firstly, I've done some research into paediatrician's advice regarding the piercing of babies' ears.  The recommendation is that piercing wait until three months.  This is to give baby a chance to build up her immune system so that if, in the unfortunate event that her ears become infected, she has the strength to fight the infection quickly.

After three months, just take the usual precautions which will be outlined at the time of piercing.  You should be supplied with, or purchase a bottle of sterilising solution.  Baby's ears should be cleaned at least once daily. 

The old advice to turn the earrings daily, no longer holds.  Wait for 30 days, then gently turn.  The piercing should be fully healed by that stage and the earring should turn easily.

There is little difference between baby and children's earrings, at least in the early years.  The rod length should be shorter than adult earrings, however, the thickness of a child's earlobes changes very little for many years, so any small children's earrings will be fine for baby.  Later, little girls might like larger earrings, but for the meantime, choose tiny earrings that don't overwhelm a tiny lobe, and ensure there are no sharp edges on the earrings.  

Choose sterling silver or gold rods or, if you can find them, stainless steel (or surgical steel.)  These metals are the most hypoallergenic and will therefore be most unlikely to cause any allergic reactions.  

Often, children's earrings come in sets with either baby bracelets or baby necklaces.  The sets look especially good for Christenings, Naming Days, Birthdays and Christmases and of course, her baby portraits.

I'm in love with a new range of children's earrings which have just arrived.  They have sterling silver hooks, but the earring is made of Fimo.  I'd never seen Fimo earrings before.  They are a great idea.  Very light, almost weightless, and the colours and awesome.

One pair are frangipanis.  Coming from an area where every second yard has a frangipani tree, they are a favourite, in their pinks and yellows.  I almost caught myself sniffing them for that beautiful fresh scent!

A company that makes Fimo children's jewellery have been sending me catalogues for some time, but only children's bracelets so far.  I want to keep to precious metals and leather at this stage, but I was just so taken with these Fimo kids' earrings.  The hooks are 925 sterling silver, so there's no problem with allergic reactions.

Do a search for "Fimo" and you'll understand why I love them so much!

Grandchild #7 arrived late last week and we spent the weekend minding the two older boys.  These two are very different and I expect #3 will also be his own different personality as well.

As mentioned in a previous post, one enjoys wearing his 16cm khaki woven leather boy's bracelet, but that's the only thing I can manage to get him to wear so far.  So different to my granddaughters, who would wear all their children's bracelets and necklaces and kids' anklets all at once, if allowed.  They also have their ears pierced, so children's earrings are also very popular and get changed around regularly.

So I put it to his Mum:  I have a nice little baby sized white leather newborn bracelet if you would like him to wear one.  Yes, she would, but Dad's not so keen.  So we will see...  First, give them time to be home again, back to normality, though nothing is ever "normal as we know it" again when a new baby enters the family, is it?  

I also suggested the sterling silver duck safety pin baby brooches, but I got a no to that one.  The only reason being, is the putting on and taking off his clothing, and with this one being #3, time really needs to be spent efficiently from now on.  They say it would have been appreciated if he was their first.

All of which I totally understand!