Coordinating Jewelry

Choosing what goes with what...

This week, I delivered to one of my best customers, a necklace and earrings made to match. Notice, I did not say "matching set" because when I made the necklace, I had no interest in making "matching" earrings. But...when one of your best customers asks you for matching earrings, you don't turn to her and say, "Why, you already have several pairs that would look splendid with this necklace."  No, you make the earrings. As a matter of fact, you make two pairs of earrings, so she can have a choice. 

So, the customer is (nearly) always right. Right? But I am not a "matchy matchy" type. I don't like to make sets, although I do, occasionally,  because people ask for them. I will suggest earrings that I think would look good with a necklace or bracelet but that's a whole different thing for me. 

Here's a combination I am wearing a lot these days:

The pendant is something I "bought" from myself, I liked it, and took it out of my items for sale. The earrings, are from MaryAnn Carroll, copper tubing with heat enameling. They certainly were not made to match. Yet they reflect color, shape, and I think a certain playfulness that make them look good together.   

Then, there is the issue of matching clothing to jewelry. I cringe when I hear someone say, "Oh, I'd love those earrings, but I don't have a shirt to match." Really? No white? No black? Okay, I especially cringe if the person is looking at MY earrings, but still....

 What about you? Do you make or buy sets? Do you meticulously match earrings, necklace, bracelet, and ring? How about metals? Gold always with gold, silver with silver? If you wear colorful jewelry, do the earrings have to match the top? If you make jewelry, do you make a lot of sets, or do you let nature take its course, and let the customer put it all together?