Of all the collections Erstwilder has done, the Pete Cromer collabs have been my favourites, so I was so excited when they reunited for their fifth collection together this August.
This time, Erstwilder has immortalised many of Cromer's Australian Sea Life designs in resin, and they might just be some of their best pieces yet.
There are sharks and dolphins, penguins and pelicans, seals and seahorses, and all kinds of obscure sea creatures reimagined as brooches, necklaces, earrings, pins, and even keyrings. It's a large collection and everything is amazing, so I had the hardest time choosing which pieces to buy. Luckily, I had some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket, so I was able to buy four brooches (and got a free one!), but I'm still mourning half a dozen other favourites I had to leave behind.
Who wants to see what I got?
I'm going to start with one of my favourites from the collection- The Dutiful Dugong. In fact, I think it might just be one of my favourite brooches ever. It's just so ridiculously cute, and it's perfect down to the last detail. This little guy is made from a beautiful stormy-grey ripple resin with iridescent streaks of pistachio-green, rose-pink, and metallic cobalt running through it. His flippers are a marbled light blue that look like ocean waves, and he has the most amazing, iridescent grey and silver muzzle offset with rainbow glitter. And as it's a Pete Cromer design, he's finished off with a variety of colourful shapes, including a cute purple heart on his flippers. There's nothing I don't love about this brooch, and I'm so glad I managed to snag one before it sold out. I would've been so sad if I hadn't.
When I was trying to narrow down my very long list of favourites, I found I couldn't resist The Halcyon Humpback Whale brooch. It's a beautiful black and grey humpback whale breaching the waves, and he's far prettier than I was expecting. At first glance, its body looks like plain black and grey, but the black is a ripple resin streaked with grey, and the light grey is an incredible, shimmery iridescent resin with pink streaming through it- like an Aurora Borealis effect. It also has a little sparkly yellow teardrop on its flipper with a dot of pink at the end. The water is then crafted from ripple resins in cobalt blue and teal, broken up by some iridescent grey and white. It's quite a large brooch and a good statement piece, so it would be ideal for converting into a necklace with a brooch convertor, too. It's still available from Erstwilder, plus Lottie and Lu, and Lovely Boutique in the UK.
I already had a sea turtle brooch in my brooch zoo (or should that be brooch aquarium?), but I was unable to resist The Graceful Green Sea Turtle brooch. It has so much detail and texture, and it's sooo beautiful. It's head and flippers are made from a mix of ripple, iridescent, and plain glossy resins in three shades of green and patterned with little markings in a variety of blues and earthy colours, and its shell? Its shell has been so cleverly designed to give it depth and texture, and in the middle is a stunning tortoiseshell-like resin with yellow-gold, maple-leaf-red, and olive-green layered over dark smoky-grey. It's one of the coolest resins I've ever seen, and combined with the other details, it's definitely one of the best turtle designs I've come across, too. I can't stop wearing it.
Another favourite of mine from the Sea Life collection is definitely The Blissful Blobfish brooch. It shouldn't make me laugh considering the image of the blobfish we all know and love is how the fish looks after it's decompressed from the change of pressure when it's brought up from the deep sea, but this brooch does make me chuckle, anyway. It's sad little face is hilarious. And he's pink! His body is made from pearlescent resins in pretty rose pink and pink-so-pale-its-almost-white, and his fins and lips are a plain, glossy hot pink. He's then finished with little detailing in navy, grey, dark red, and white, which contrast nicely against the pretty pinks. Definitely the prettiest ugliest fish ever. I'm surprised Erstwilder currently still have some available.
I was also lucky enough to get the free gift with purchase, The Sacred Starfish, for purchasing two brooches from the same stockist. It's a simple, two-layer, five-limbed, red, gold, and white sea star with a shimmery light-gold background, gorgeous ripple resin markings in three shades of red, and a smaller iridescent white star layered on top decorated with plain matte wine-red markings. I think it's an unusual colour-choice for a starfish, and would've been cuter if the colours were softer and more typically ocean-like, such as coral, yellow, or blue. Don't get me wrong, it's really pretty, but I'm not sure I'll get much wear out of this one, so it's likely to go to my Mum who has already called dibs.
And that's my little Erstwilder x Pete Cromer Sea Life haul.
There is still a great selection of designs available direct from Erstwilder here, and a handful still in stock through UK stockists, so be sure to snap them up while you can.
Have you bought anything from the Sea Life collection yet? Which piece is your favourite?
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