In November 2014, Her Universe released a second Star Wars jewelry collection – this time featuring Darth Vader. Made by The Sparkle Factory (who also made the Her Universe R2-D2 jewelry collection), the range includes six items – Darth Vader mod ring, Darth Vader Dark Side necklace, Darth Vader pendant necklace, Darth Vader pendant bracelet, Darth Vader stud earrings, and Imperial symbol stud earrings. While I loved the collection, the price point combined with US-NZ conversation rates meant I couldn’t afford to buy my favourites when the collection first launched. Thankfully, these items didn’t sell out quickly, and I was able to purchase a few items last year.
All four of these items are still available from Her Universe – Darth Vader mod ring (US$35.00), Darth Vader pendant necklace (US$50.00), Darth Vader pendant bracelet (US$42.00), and the Darth Vader stud earrings (US$40.00). Also, the ring and bracelet are available together as bundle for US$65.00 (saving US$12.00), and the ring and pendant necklace are available together as a bundle for US$75.00 (saving US$10.00). I bought all four items during the Her Universe sale at Zulily back in June, so I paid US$134.96 for all four (saving US$32.04 off the original retail of US$167.00 for all three items).
Each item came packaged inside a purple organza drawstring bag, with purple ribbon ties. Inside each bag is a white cardboard backing card with the Star Wars and Her Universe logos – but only the earrings are attached to the card, the necklace, bracelet and ring are loose and not attached to the card. This packaging is quite pretty if giving these as a gift – though I do wonder why the bracelet or necklace were not attached to the card, as they just sit at the bottom of the bag (I arranged them neatly for my photos instead). The Her Universe website notes all of the items in the Darth Vader jewelry collection are made from a base of white metal/steel that has been plated with an antique silver/dark hematite finish (Nickel Free, Hypoallergenic). The hematite finish of these items gives a much more interesting colour than flat black – they look almost obsidian or dark charcoal in colour in some light.
The Darth Vader mod ring features a 3D sculpt of Darth Vader’s helmet against an oval pendant setting. The ring has a glossy finish – the background of the oval around the helmet has a slight brushed finish that gives a nice contrast to the shine of the helmet. The back of the ring is stamped with the Star Wars logo, Her Universe logo, and the standard Lucasfilm copyright text. The main oval decoration part measures approximately 27mm by 20mm (and 8mm deep at the ‘highest’ part of the helmet sculpt). The band measures approximately 5mm wide – the approximate internal diameter of the band as it arrived is 18mm, but it can easily be tightened or widened with gentle force. The band is very sturdy – it overlaps underneath the main decoration, so it opens/adjusts on top of the finger, rather than underneath the finger when worn. It is very comfortable to wear – the large pendant makes this a statement ring, but it’s not heavy to wear.
The Darth Vader pendant necklace also features a 3D Darth Vader helmet sculpt against an oval pendant setting – but the size of the pendant is smaller for the necklace than the ring. In the photos on the Her Universe website, it looks like the two necklaces in the collection are similar in size – neither item descriptions mention the actual size of the pendant. I had presumed the added rhinestone details of the Darth Vader Dark Side necklace accounted for it’s higher price – but this pendant is actually much smaller. At first I was a little disappointed, but I found I quite like the smaller pendant. The chain is also quite slender in style, which makes this necklace a much more subtle option than the other necklace in the collection. The pendant of this necklace measures approximately 20mm x 15mm x 6mm (at the widest points). The necklace chain measures approximately 41cm long, with a further 7.5cm length of wider link chain for adjustment.
The Darth Vader pendant bracelet features the same size pendant as the necklace – though the bracelet’s pendant has slightly thicker borders on the oval setting (perhaps this is just due to small variations in manufacturing). The bracelet chain is attached to each end of the pendant – the section ‘above’ Darth Vader ends with a standard lobster claw style clasp, while the section ‘below’ Darth Vader has a length of adjusting chain (with wider chain links). The end of the adjustment chain features a small Imperial symbol pendant – a lovely added detail. The full bracelet measures approximately 19cm long, with a further 5cm for adjusting. Interestingly, this is 1cm longer than the Her Universe R2-D2 bracelet in the coordinating collection – also, the R2-D2 bracelet doesn’t feature any detail pendant at the end of the adjustment chain. The extra 1cm in length of the standard bracelet chain means this Darth Vader bracelet fits more loosely on my wrist than the R2-D2 version, so it moves around a little more on my wrist when wearing (even at the shortest length). Also the pendant at the end of the adjustment chain can knock against things when wearing (you can of course remove the end pendant if this bothers you).
The Darth Vader stud earrings are the only Darth Vader sculpt in the collection that doesn’t feature an oval background – instead they just feature the helmet sculpt. The helmets measure approximately 12mm high x 11mm wide x 5mm deep (at the widest points). The earrings have silver-coloured posts and backings, with wider clear plastic backs. The earrings are a nice size – big enough to see the sculpt well, but not so big as to ‘hang’ on your ear when worn.
Overall, I love this set – they are better than I was expecting in person. I like having a ‘Dark Side’ themed set to compliment my Her Universe R2-D2 jewelry set – I think I do prefer this collection more. I really love the hematite finish, and the classic styling of this collection. There is so much more licensed Star Wars jewelry available today than compared to when this collection was first released – but there are not many coordinating sets like this one. There are several other items in the range, so you can mix and match as many as you like, depending on your personal style.
