Monica Vinader popped up on my radar four weeks after my first date with Mr STG, when he bought me a stunning, delicate Fiji Chain bracelet  (pictured towards the bottom of the post) for my 36^th birthday.

Let’s face it; gift buying that early on in a relationship is dicey territory. It’s a situation that presents umpteen, unseen etiquette hazards.

Choose a gift too ostentatious and you risk overwhelming, give something modest or lacking in sophistication and you’re running the chance of a huge underwhelm. But wow! The future Mr STG got it so right. I was incredibly touched by the thought he’d put into choosing just the right piece (there are a lot of options) and I immediately fell for the – now iconic – classy, yet cool Fiji friendship bracelet.

Luckily for me and Mr STG, it was love at first sight and I would have married him regardless but the fact that he unveiled himself to be a master present buyer so early on in the relationship certainly didn’t hurt.

Since then, I have bought myself, friends and family a host of individually selected and engraved Monica Vinader pieces and I just love seeing their reaction when they open up the box.

A present for my  friend who set me up with  Mr STG

My first meeting with Mr STG was a blind date, set up by an old school friend. She’ll forever be our matchmaker, our Yenta and so for her birthday this year I sealed the deal with a mink cord, silver Havana bracelet with her nickname YENTA engraved on it (see it below). She was totally thrilled. It’s our in-joke and the gift was received with the warmth in which it was meant. No matter how old you get, there’s nothing like a friendship bracelet to make you feel special.

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Anyone  that knows me, knows about my obsession with  Monica Vinader  and how it’s played its part in my love story with  Mr STG.  They’ll also know that I was a graphic designer in a past life and am near obsessed with typography and letter  forms.

So when I heard that Monica had launched an alphabet collection  using a variety of typographic styles  for each letter,   I whooped, hollered and squealed  with joy…  I may also have done a little prance and a jig around STG  HQ.

What would I go for? A  K  (for Karen) pendant  no doubt. Or  perhaps I’d buy four! I’d love a  K  J S and  Z  symbolising the initials of Karen, Jeremy, Sacha and Zara, to represent myself, my husband and two daughters.

But it’s as a bride that you can have the most fun with these.  On my wedding day, I surprised Mr STG right after our ceremony by wearing a necklace with my  new initials for the reception and party.  I hunted high and low to find some beautiful typographic pendants but couldn’t find anything particularly special. In the end I went for these  rather simple silver letter pendants on a ball chain. If only  Monica Vinader  had launched the  alphabet collection  back in 2013 I would have jumped to buy her  K, C  and H! (In case you’re wondering, my maiden name is Cinnamon, and my husbands’s surname is Harris. I chose to go double barrelled and become  Karen Cinnamon-Harris).

Of course these would also make beautiful bridesmaid gifts too, especially as  each letter is distinct with its own style. It also adds a wonderful design touch that they come in a mix of upper and lower case letters, and deliberately vary between hanging straight and at angles.

Prices for the pendants range from £65  to £80 and they come in 18kt rose and yellow gold vermeil as well as sterling silver, and sit  beautifully  with a Monica Vinader chain.

Check out the  full alphabet collection right here, and do let me know what you go for!

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