Last month, Erstwilder, my favourite Australian jewellery brand, launched their amazing Endangered Animals collection, a fifteen piece collection of necklaces, brooches, and earrings featuring designs of some of the world's most vulnerable species. There are blue whales and bilbies, pangolins and penguins, tarsiers and tree frogs, and so much more.
Being both an Erstwilder jewellery addict and a huge animal lover, I could not have been more excited about this collection, and I found myself coveting the whole collection before it was even released. As luck would have it, the range launched on the morning of my birthday, so I was able to buy four brooches with my birthday money, and also treated myself to two more because, hey, it was my birthday and it would've been rude not to, right?! Right!
My brooches arrived a few days later and I sure wasn't disappointed. The designs are all amazing! I've been wearing them to death since I got them, so I think it's about time I gave you a peek at them all 'cause I know you'll love them as much as I do.
First up is Benevolent Behemoths, a mama blue whale swimming with her calf. I've always been fascinated by whales and didn't have a whale brooch in my collection, so I just had to have this adorable brooch in my life. The whales have been made from the most beautiful blue and turquoise marbled resins that remind me of the ocean on a sunny day, with shiny resins in contrasting shades of blue and teal layered underneath to create their bottom jaws. They're a stunning pair, and definitely one of my favourites of the six. It'll be perfect for wearing on trips to the seaside or with nautical-themed outfits.
Did you know: Blue whales are the largest known animals to have ever lived, and their tongues weigh as much as an African elephant.
Plight: There are only 10,000-25,000 blue whales left in the world.
Next up is a bilby brooch called Bouncy Burrow Dweller. If you're not familiar with bilbies, a bilby is a desert-dwelling marsupial and species of bandicoot from Australia which basically looks like a rabbit-eared opossum crossed with a chinchilla. It sounds weird, but they're oh so cute! (Google it!) I was thrilled to see a bilby brooch in the collection as I'd missed out on the previous designs, and I wasn't disappointed. This brooch is adorable! This cute little critter has been made from marbled grey resin which shimmers in the sunlight, with darker grey and white resins for its tail, and pale pink bubble resin finishing its ears and nose. I think they've captured the bilby perfectly, but it's a piece that will definitely keep most people trying to guess what it is.
Did you know: A bilby's pouch faces backwards to prevent dirt from getting in while they're digging.
Plight: There are only an estimated 600-700 bilbies left in the world.
My favourite from the collection is probably Kakapo on Show; a kakapo parrot brooch. The kakapo- or owl-parrot- is a flightless, nocturnal parrot native to New Zealand with yellow-green feathers, and a cute, round, almost owl-like face. Erstwilder have made their kakapo out of the most amazing lime green pearlescent resin streaked with black, plus textured brown and off-white resins for its face and feet, and a pale grey bubble resin for its beak. It's so beautiful and has so much character. I can't stop wearing him!
Did you know: Kakapos are the world's only flightless parrots, and they're one of the longest-living birds with an average lifespan of 95-125 years.
Plight: Sadly there are just 142 kakapos remaining on Earth.
One of my favourite animals is the pangolin, so I was so excited to see Erstwilder had included a pangolin brooch in the collection. (Although, you couldn't have an Endangered Animals collection without the world's most trafficked animal). Their Roly Poly Pangolin brooch is a dainty piece made from just two layers of resin. The bottom, making up its face and feet, is a plain coffee-brown, and the top is a stunning caramel-coloured marbled resin, skillfully etched to give the little scaly anteater his scales. It's quite a simple design, but boy is he cute!
Did you know: While they look similar to anteaters and armadillos, pangolins are more closely related to bears, cats and dogs!
Plight: Pangolins are the world's most trafficked mammals, with tens of thousands poached every year for their scales and meat. Of the eight pangolin species, four are critically endangered, and four vulnerable.
Up next is the Eyes Wide Open tarsier brooch. For those of you who aren't familiar with this little critter, a tarsier is a tiny primate with huge round eyes- very similar to a bush baby. I couldn't resist Erstwilder's derpy-looking take on a tarsier- it's ridiculously cute. It's been crafted from shimmery grey marbled resin, and also has a caramel-coloured marbled face, big glittery silver eyes, and burnt-orange coloured bubble resin ears and feet. The little guy is also holding on to a green stalk made of shiny textured resin. He's probably my least favourite of the six I purchased, but I still think he's utterly adorable.
Did you know: Tarsiers have the largest eyes (in relation to body size) of all mammals, and each eye is heavier than their brains.
Plight: There are eighteen sub-species of tarsiers in the world, and they're all endangered.
My final purchase and undeniably one of the cutest pieces in the collection, was the Lesser Rusty Red Panda brooch. I love red pandas and have never seen a red panda brooch before, so I couldn't resist snapping this little guy up with some birthday money from my Nana. Rusty Red is made from the most amazing vibrant red marbled resin, with a swirling textured white pearlescent resin for its ears and facial features, and black hand-painted details finishing his face. Oddly, my favourite part is the back which is marbled in swirls of red, orange, and pink... which I forgot to take a photo of. The design is so striking, especially worn against black, and I can't stop wearing it! It's amazing.
Did you know: The red panda isn't actually related to the giant panda, but in a class of its own. It has an extended wrist bone with a sixth digit, or false thumb, which helps them to grip branches and eat bamboo, their favourite food.
Plight: There are only around 10,000 red pandas left.
Overall, I'm really impressed with the Endangered Animals collection, and love all of the pieces I chose. I've worn them all so much already. A few designs have sold out already, but most pieces are still available. You can shop the collection with Erstwilder here, but if you're outside Australia, you can find a list of stockists around the world here. There are loads of places to shop for Erstwilder in the UK. I've shop between several of them, but would particularly recommend Glitterally and Lottie & Lu.
Have you bought anything from the Endangered Animals collection yet? Which pieces do you like best?
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