In November last year, HSN released a collection of ‘bling’ Star Wars jewelry. As HSN does not ship outside the US, or accept international credit cards, I was really frustrated to see such a fantastic collection released that international fans couldn’t purchase. An amazing friend in the US helped me purchase a few of my favourite items from the range, which I was able to pick up while visiting the US for the Run Disney Star Wars event in January (yay, saving on international postage). I am so excited to finally see these items in person, and of course photograph them for review. I was able to buy eight items from the range – today’s review features the ‘bling’ Stormtrooper pave’ silvertone velvet ribbon link necklace and matching bracelet (sold separately).
All of the items I bought came packaged in blue cardboard gift boxes. The each box has a removable lid, with an outer slip band featuring the text ‘Little Box Of Bling’. Inside the box the jewelry item is carefully packaged between two pieces of foam – the ‘top’ of each foam piece has a black velvet-type finish. Sitting on the top of the upper foam piece is a little black card featuring the Star Wars logo. The necklace also included a black fabric drawstring bag, which is a nice touch. I was really keen to see if the packaging included any information about the manufacturer of this range, so it was great to see that the back of the insert card notes these are made by SG@NYC, LLC. I have only come across this company once before this collection – they made the ‘long chain’ TIE Fighter necklace that was sold at Hot Topic back in October/November last year (read my review here).
The Stormtrooper necklace was instantly on my wish list the moment I saw it – it’s so bold and loud, I couldn’t help myself! It reminded me of the amazing diamond stormtrooper ring made by Justin Davis – which was priced over US$20,000, so this was a fun alternative with a much smaller price tag! This Stormtrooper necklace is still available to buy from HSN – it is priced at US$39.95 each.
The necklace features a large metal Stormtrooper helmet pendant, accented with rhinestones that have a slight ‘rainbow’ sparkle. The ‘brow trim’ and ‘mouth’ details are highlighted with black enamel, while the ‘eyes’ and ‘chin’ areas are decorated with black glitter! The back of the pendant is hollow, to reduce weight, but it still has a bit of heft to it. The chain is made from several materials – two wide link chains, a large rhinestone strand, and a thin suede ribbon braiding them all together. The chain is attached to the stormtrooper pendant on both sides, so it does not ‘swing’ when worn.
The stormtrooper helmet is big, it feels so much larger in person than I had expected, which is great. It measures approximately 4.2cm tall, 3.8cm across, and 2cm deep (at the widest points). The pendant has a bit of weight to it, but not too heavy, and the large-link chain means the whole necklace is quite comfortable to wear.
I’ve found a lot of ‘chunkier’ Star Wars necklaces often have a more masculine style with long chains – the suede ribbon, rhinestones and shorter, almost ‘choker’ style of this necklace make it stand out as obviously designed for women. It takes the stereotypical ‘huge diamond necklace’ design and puts a playful Star Wars twist on it. It’s not trying to look like real gemstones – but sometimes you just want a larger style ‘costume jewelry’ necklace, and this fits that situation perfectly. Everyone will know you’re a Star Wars fan when you’re wearing this necklace, which is exactly the point 🙂
The matching bracelet also features a Stormtrooper helmet pendant with rhinestones, black enamel and black glitter details. The chain is a single strand of large link chain, with a black velvet ribbon woven through. Each end of the ribbon lengths are pierced by the hooks attaching the clasp, adjustment chain, and pendant, so it won’t come out. The ends of the velvet ribbon are raw edges – I’m a little worried about one end in particular possibly fraying, so I might see if I can seal it a little more with a tiny spot of glue. The bracelet chain measures approximately 17cm long (if measured as one continuous length, including pendant and clasp), with a further 5.5cm of a smaller link chain for adjustment – the clasp is a standard ‘lobster’ style. There is a small circular pendant at the end of the adjustment chain that features ‘(c) LFL’ stamped on one side, and ‘CN’ on the other (I have no idea what ‘CN’ stands for?).
I was very interested to compare the necklace and bracelet together, as some coordinating jewelry sets use the same pendant sculpt – while these use the same rhinestones, the size of the helmet used on the necklace is a lot larger than the helmet on the bracelet. The stormtrooper helmet pendant on the bracelet measures approximately 2cm tall, 2.8cm across and 1.6cm deep (at the widest points) – this is approximately 2/3 the size of the necklace pendant. The back of both pendants features the standard ‘(c) LFL’ stamp, noting these are licensed items. The chains are obviously different (different link style, different size, and different black fabric accent), but similar enough in style for these to form a matching set that can be worn together.
Like the Stormtrooper necklace, the bracelet is also still available to buy from HSN – it is priced at US$34.95 each. There is also a pair of rhinestone Stormtrooper helmet dangle earrings in the same collection – but they feature goldtone metal bows, rather than a black fabric ribbon. I would have loved to have picked them up as well, but it was already very hard to narrow down my shopping list from the collection, I couldn’t get them all.
I know these particular jewelry items won’t suit everyone’s style, but I love them. They are decidedly statement pieces, and I can’t wait to pair these with a classic black dress to feature these as the focal point of my outfit. You could wear one on it’s own, or both for a total wow factor. They grab attention with their size and ‘bling’ – the rhinestones really sparkle in the light. I plan to pick up a jewelry display stand so I can have these items on display – they don’t belong stored away in a box!
