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Mothers Day Sale, Open Studios, Spring Shows

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Shop our current collection of vintage jewelry.

First things first. Mother's Day is coming up and in honor of all the women in our lives, we're having a 20% sale all this week on our website. 

Spring shows are underway! Catch us next us weekend at the Urban Air Market.
We'll be at the corner of Fell and Octavia between the Biergarten and the playground in booth 86.

So Many Spring Shows - come see us!


Urban Air Market - Spring Show SF
May 5, 2013, 11am-6pm
Hayes Valley: Octavia Blvd. @ Hayes
San Francisco, Ca.

PG&E Spring Bazaar
May 9, 2013, 11am-4pm
66 Beale St.
San Francisco, Ca.

Marin Open Studios
May 11 & 12, 2013, 11am-6pm
19 Caletta Ave.
San Anselmo, Ca.

Fairfax Festival
June 8 & 9, 2013
Fairfax, Ca. 

San Anselmo Art & Wine Festival
June 22 & 23, 2013
San Anselmo, Ca.
Rivertown Revival
July 20, 2013
Petaluma, Ca.

Willits Kinetic Carnivale
September 7 & 8, 2013
Willits, Ca.

 
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Spring Trunk Show at Oaklandish - Debut of Fall Collection!

We're celebrating spring with a last minute Spring Trunk Show at Oaklandish this Saturday from 12-3pm at 1444 Broadway in Oakland, California. We'll be debuting a new line of designs I've been working on the last several weeks.

I've made lots of new - Neoclassically inspired designs with front toggle clasps. I used to only do these on the Antiquity Collection, but they add such an elegance at an affordable price.

 

Above: Mother of Pearl Victorian Button, 1893 Worlds Fair Souvenir, Vintage French Tourist Medal.

I'm also using gold fill pocket watches, metallic watch dials and the result is rather pleasing. As the industrial age took hold, the Victorians became very nostalgic about nature. That tension is reflected in the beauty of the Victorian-revival dragonfly contrasted with the mechanical metallic watch dial. These new designs will be on our website next week.

Check for event updates on our events page!

Trunk Show at Oaklandish
Saturday, April 13 2013, 12-3pm
1444 Broadway,
Oakland Ca.

Urban Air Market - Spring Show SF
May 5, 2013, 11am-6pm
Hayes Valley: Octavia Blvd. @ Hayes
San Francisco, Ca.

PG&E Spring Bazaar
May 9, 2013, 11am-4pm
66 Beale St.
San Francisco, Ca.

Marin Open Studios
May 11 & 12, 2013, 11am-6pm
19 Caletta Ave.
San Anselmo, Ca.

Fairfax Festival
June 8 & 9, 2013
Fairfax, Ca. 

San Anselmo Art & Wine Festival
June 22 & 23, 2013
San Anselmo, Ca.

Rivertown Revival
July 20, 2013
Petaluma, Ca.

Willits Kinetic Carnivale
September 7 & 8, 2013
Willits, Ca.

SHOP NOW and save 15% with secret code: VICTORIA15
 
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Spring Sale, Vintage Medals, New Shows Added!

As spring finally takes hold, we're busy planning shows for the Summer and Fall seasons and reflecting a lot about how far we've come! The ANTIQUITY collection seems to have taken on a life of it's own. I just found some fabulous vintage Order of the Eastern Star medals to transform at a vintage shop in Northern California. These are indirectly sentimental, as my great-grandmother was a Grand Matron of a San Francisco Order of the Eastern Star in 1927. I have no idea of what significance this is, but the medals are a delightful mix of re-interpreted European heraldry infused with a invented sensibility of American historical traditions. (You can read a bit more about my San Francisco/Eastern Star roots here)

I've combined one of the triangular medals with some burgundy Swarovski Crystal. It pairs beautifully with this pair of coordinating Victorian button earrings. Elegant and versatile!

We use the vintage ribbons too - they make delightful adornments. I also found some brooch tops from the 1940s that were ripe for repurposing.

We've got lots of new shows on the calendar - check them out!

Trunk Show at Oaklandish
Saturday, April 13 2013, 12-3pm
1444 Broadway,
Oakland Ca.

Urban Air Market - Spring Show SF
May 5, 2013, 11am-6pm
Hayes Valley: Octavia Blvd. @ Hayes
San Francisco, Ca.

PG&E Spring Bazaar
May 9, 2013, 11am-4pm
66 Beale St.
San Francisco, Ca.

Marin Open Studios
May 11 & 12, 2013, 11am-6pm
19 Caletta Ave.
San Anselmo, Ca.

AND - we're having a 2-day Spring Sale! 

25% off your entire Compass Rose Design order through Sunday 3/31/13

use code SPRINGSALE at checkout for 25% savings! SHOP NOW!

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PoolTradeshow - Magic Market Week - Viva Las Vegas!

I can easily say that our experience with Compass Rose Design at Pool Tradeshow was life-changing. It was like graduating from the local art & wine festival circuit. It was a great honor and absolutely positive experience to participate in this marketplace of emerging designers. I'll admit - I'm new to the fashion world and I was a bit apprehensive about what it meant to join this global marketplace of emerging and established brands and buyers of the wholesale marketplace.

IT WAS AMAZING - here's a bit about our journey.

LUCKILY - Pooltradeshow has the most amazing staff who approached us last year and especially Krystle who helped me understand that we were ready. She also convinced me to condense my beautifulbutexpensive catalog down to linesheets. At first I was hesitant, but this ended up being MOST helpful advice. I was able to represent the linesheet collection accented with some statement pieces with a bit of room to breathe. Unlike almost all of our friends and colleagues in the handmade community in the bay area, my husband and I are full time at Compass Rose Design - this is our livelihood and not a hobby. Pool answered our need to connect with buyers in other states and countries, though we had no idea what to expect. Based on our research, we went hoping to cover our costs and to aim for an average retail day.

 

We did not expect everything to go so smoothly. We arrived around 2pm and waited about 4 minutes for a loading spot. It took three small trips with our wheeled whatnot to load in everything and about an hour to set up. (I'd planned everything fairly precisely in our living room the week before). 

We were a bit nervous about a few aspects of moving from direct to the wholesale market.

• We work with real antiques, so our work is limited edition. 
• This also means that we have design families, but that each watch, button and antique object is slightly unique. 
• Our work is also handmade, so we're operating at a scale where we can keep in touch with the history and sourcing of our materials. 

These aspects of our brand have been a great asset to us in our four years of work. We find that people PREFER to have something that has a story and that they won't see on two other people at a cocktail party.

We did a cash & carry booth - meaning we brought inventory to sell on the floor. People are shopping for themselves, but there is also a lot of testing out brands - buying small starter-collections to see how the brand resonates with a store's clientele. We set out one of each design and people selected their items from the selection "in front," and it worked well.

 

We could then refill any items from our backstock drawers. The tables are slightly tall and lined with cork, so we could store quite a lot of organized stock for people to go through. This ended up being a success - similar to one of our favorite booths at the National Button Society Conference, where you could go through neatly organized design families and choose what resonated with you. This worked particularly well with our watch rings and railroad button cuff links.

 

At one point, someone from a mega-brand asked us "how will the wholesalers find you if you're down here?" It made me realize that being at Pool was the perfect place for us to find the small independent boutiques we want to connect and work with.

 

And we found them! We connected with at least 10 independent boutique owners with 1-20 shops in their ownership. With our choice to work with authentic antiques and handmake our work in California - these were just the people we were looking for.

And people REALLY appreciated that our work was made in the USA by us. There is a market for lower price-points and quality that can (but do not necessarily) accompany overseas production. We were thrilled to see that there was an upwelling of appreciation about just that.

It was exciting to see some beautiful work and to get a look at designs before they hit the marketplace.

We also met lots of wonderful and stylish people. Again, as someone who has identified as a maker and jeweler more than a fashion industry person, I was incredibly moved by what I saw. People doing their thing, whatever that was.

 Above, Stefan and Peder, 2 of the 3 founders of Moods of Norway - Peder on the right even gave me his tractor pin! The 3rd founder, Simen bought one of our vintage Railroad Button Rings!

 

Above and below - Lexx Perry - custom everything.

 And the ladies of Lip Service, our neighbors.

A few of my favorite bay area colleagues, Tangleweeds Jewelry and Isobell were also at the show in the Cash & Carry section with us. It was invaluable to have them to touch base with and chat throughout the day.

 

And, honestly, as someone who expected to dislike Vegas, I found people to be hard working and friendly. The food was super expensive but very good. The drinks were strong. I didn't need to gamble even a quarter as a novelty. With very few exceptions, people seem to be reasonable and kind.

 At the end of it all, even one of the set-up crew bought a couple necklaces for he and his wife. The crew was awesome - I can't even begin to imagine the logistics of these shows - but they were awesome to the last. I think the most challenging part of the tradeshow was the schlepping, but even that was not so bad, thanks to my awesome husband and 2 small wheely-things. The walking was envigorating and the line at the coffee spot was shorter at the Luxor.

We'll be back in August. We hope to be beginning a journey that continues to connect people with storied antiques and support art and local commerce at small boutiques where people value handmade. What did I learn about being in the fashion world? To be myself. To trust my art. That people are kind.

Thank you Pool!
Thank you Las Vegas!

SHOP NOW and save 15% with secret code: VICTORIA15
 
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International Press, Horological Jewelry, SF Beer Week

As we were making watch rings for our February Trunk Shows (especially excited about our SF Beer Week show with City Beer Store), we got an exciting package in the mail today.  Two months ago, I got an inquiry from a London luxury watch magazine launching a ladies edition. We did an interview and it got published!

 

 It's a beautiful article and a great honor to have both our words and photos featured.

The article was opportunity to articulate how I contextualize our work in history and the ways I see patterns of the Victorian Era reflected in our current relationship with technology and fashion.

 It's a gorgeous magazine - overflowing with luxurious full-page glossy photos - totally amazing.

We also got some glorious feedback from an etsy customer this afternoon - all in all a very good day.

If you're in California - visit us at one of our three February Trunk Shows!

Trunk Show at Modern Eden

February 1, 2013, 6-9pm
Modern Eden
403 Francisco St. San Francisco, Ca.

An Evening of Hearts & Crafts

February 8 2013, 4-8pm
ArtWorks Downtown
San Rafael, Ca.

Trunk Show at City Beer Store
SF BEERWEEK

February 10, 2013, 3-6pm
City Beer Store
1168 Folsom St., Suite 101 San Francisco, Ca.   
 
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See our Events Calendar for Upcoming Shows 

Edwardian Ball - Dark Garden - Five & Diamond

This month we've had the honor to work with some of our favorite colleagues in preparation for the Edwardian Ball, which starts tonight! While we will be going as attendees this year (hooray!), our jewels will be installed at the Five and Diamond booth - just inside the main entrance. We've sent some particularly luscious new designs from our newest collection.

Some folks will already be wearing their Compass Rose Design creations from the Trunk Show last week at Dark Garden. It is beyond an understatement to say we enjoyed ourselves at the Dark Garden Styling Party and Trunk Show for the Edwardian Ball.

Dark Garden is one of my favorite spaces - that a small army of corset makers - true visionaries - can exist in the modern world is pure delight. Whether the one of a kind masterworks for Dita Von Teese or a ready-to-wear - each invokes a personal transformation and expression of individual beauty.

Here is a lovely woman I met that night who was kind enough to model our Clockwork Empress Collar and Double Clockwork necklaces - thank you Maya!

 We brought some beautiful pieces from our new 2013 Spring ANTIQUITY Collection and lots of folks came to get their outfits ready for the Ball next weekend.

 

Don't miss our January Valentines Day Sale!

SHOP NOW and save 15% with secret code: VALENTINE in January!
 
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See our Events Calendar for Upcoming Shows