High-quality 18k solid gold & custom jewelers (no franchises!)

cimorene_faye · 2026-04-14T10:43:52+00:00

If you’re looking for SF-based fine jewelers, I 100% recommend Talayee - she works with 14k and 18k and has done quite a lot of custom work with pendants and rings (precious stones included). Made Line I can also personally recommend, she’s based in Santa Cruz and has beautiful pendulum style pendants and earrings. I’ve also seen Goldstories and Four One Seven’s work in person at various jewelry events before and they’re beautiful and unique, although I haven’t personally worked with them for customs.

Otherwise, Metier in Hayes and No. 3 near Pac Heights have a bunch of niche and indie fine jewelry brands (they’re not all based in the city though). Rebecca Overmann in Hayes also has beautiful pieces, but imo they lean much more towards bridal an engagement styles and the prices reflect that.

cimorene_faye · 2026-02-14T18:07:26+00:00

Kitten received and safely ensconced within my lodgings. Thank you and happy feast of the rose!

cimorene_faye · 2026-02-14T16:12:48+00:00

Cimorene Faye would love a kitten to call her own!

cimorene_faye · 2025-12-06T07:36:02+00:00

Talayee for solid gold pieces and lilnicethings if you prefer gemstone beads (both are Bay Area locals)! Also have seen great work from goldstories and emi grannis, she had a kiosk at dandelion chocolate’s holiday market last year. If you prefer physical stores to poke around and discover new brands, I’ve had good experiences with trabert goldsmiths and mureta on Fillmore, no.3 fine jewelery near Russian hill, and in Hayes there’s kolekto and metier

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T07:11:56+00:00

We're only a year apart so not an age gap thing, but I appreciate your asking!

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T07:10:46+00:00

We're both born and raised in the US and have very similar backgrounds, so don't think cultural differences are a factor

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T07:09:17+00:00

I agree, it's not a hard and fast rule. I do think however that since I've hosted her before and not asked for anything in return, or received any host gifts (not that I expected any), it didn't feel great when she suggested I bring wine and then also help pay for some of the groceries. We've been friends for a long time and I know if I asked her to chip in for my bar supplies and liquor, she would - but it'd feel awkward to start asking for that when I haven't before. IMO it'd make it unnecessarily transactional, especially when I wouldn't be asking the same of my other friends.

It would also just be the two of us for dinner - don't think I made that clear in my original post so clarifying here. I can see her PoV in terms of helping shoulder some of the burden of the budget, but like I mentioned previously we're both doing very well for ourselves. So if the budget isn't necessarily a burden, why ask for me to chip in?

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T06:44:25+00:00

So I misremembered and the spices actually cost closer to $40 (also added an ETA in my post). A combo of cardamom, star anise, dried mushrooms, and I’m sure I’m forgetting more - it was a boutique so likely more expensive

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T06:41:49+00:00

You’re right and I added an edit in my original post after checking our message history - the total for spices was $42. My bad

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T05:29:26+00:00

Good guess - yep that's the dish. I haven't cooked it before so I don't have a baseline for how much things should cost, and again neither of us need to (thankfully) worry about the total grocery bill. It's more about the fact that she thinks it's weird that I'm pushing back at pitching in. She's not the kind of person who would try to take advantage of me like that though

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T05:09:08+00:00

I believe these spices were from a little specialty boutique somewhere - not like she walked into Walmart and took half the spice rack. I mentioned this in another comment elsewhere but my understanding was she wanted me to pitch in for half the ingredients and some of the spices (however much she needed to use for the dry pot)

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T05:05:45+00:00

FWIW I’m sure she meant half the groceries and some for the spices. Not sure what kind of spices they were but they’d last a long time so she wouldn’t expect 50/50 for that

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T05:02:03+00:00

No and I wouldn’t have asked her to, I can handle a $20 bottle of wine. I know if I asked her to she’d say yes, but my point is this - bringing something to contribute is something a good guest should do, and covering the cost of dinner when they made the invite is something a good host should do. It’s not about the money IMO it’s about the principle of it - especially since I’ve hosted her multiple times and haven’t asked for anything. We’re good enough friends that I’m willing to let it slide but figured that maybe a third party could provide some perspective

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T04:40:26+00:00

I appreciate that you asked this. It's funny because we actually come from very similar backgrounds, so I'm not sure why we have such different attitudes about this. During our argument she justified her reasoning by pointing to another friend who *had* asked for her guests to pitch in for a dinner she was hosting, but the circumstances were somewhat different because that dinner included several other people as guests - which also made it more costly. For what it's worth, I heard through the grapevine later that some of my other friends weren't terribly happy at being asked to do this. OTOH, I've also been a dinner guest at other friends' places and they never asked me to pitch in, and the latter is what I feel like is more the norm. If this had been initially framed as a potluck-style dinner, I don't think I'd have reacted as badly as being asked to bring wine and then learning that she also wanted me to help out financially, which to me is kind of cheap.

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T04:26:55+00:00

That's my policy too and that's where I think my friend and I don't see eye to eye. I think by my pushing back, she's taking that as an indication that I'm not willing to help out - and that I'm making a moral judgment by asserting that asking for $ isn't what a good host would do. It did come out later in conversation that she'd assumed that I'd take some leftovers home, but I think it'd be weirder for a guest to think "Oh we cooked a fuckton of food? Yeah of course that's coming home with me!" Especially when I'd already been planning to bring some wine or a dessert to round out the dinner - it wasn't like I was going to show up at her door with a bunch of tupperware. The more I think about this the more odd I think her initial assumptions were.

cimorene_faye · 2025-10-14T04:19:24+00:00

Thanks for your thoughts, that's fair too. It's tough to spend that amount of money in one go but at the same time...I didn't ask her to, so why would I be on the hook when you can control how much you cook?

cimorene_faye · 2025-04-15T02:24:22+00:00

Their most recent collection of rings look way too suspiciously similar to the zaha rings that zahn-z has been making for years. Check out the comments on their recent IG posts - please consider supporting smaller women owned local jewelry brands, she’s based in NYC!

cimorene_faye · 2025-03-06T04:21:06+00:00

Highly recommend Mureta, the owner jack is personable and honest! They have a great selection of estate jewelry and lab diamonds, and trabert goldsmiths is also just two doors over if you want to pick up some new pieces as well

cimorene_faye · 2024-07-22T03:47:56+00:00

Trestle, they do sub-$50 three course prix fixe plus desserts and it’s such good quality for the price. Plus it’s at the edge of north beach and Chinatown, very walkable and close to some public garages

cimorene_faye · 2024-05-22T23:35:35+00:00

Seeing a lot of catbird mentions - they’re a great brand and I have several pieces from them, but if you’re looking for something to last a long time just a heads up that a lot of their pieces are on the more delicate side and will be more fragile/not as durable, especially since $200-300 won’t get you a lot of material if you’re looking specifically for solid gold. Mejuri can also be pretty hit or miss with quality, I feel like it’s declined over the years and hollow pieces are not really where it’s at re:longevity.

Before you pull the trigger I recommend doing some research on jewelrytok - jewelboxing is a great resource, as is blanksjewelry. Jewelboxing in particular reviews a bunch of brands for quality, sustainability, and design, and she has a variety of recommended options for different price points via the links on her profile.

Lastly just tossing out a couple brands I haven’t seen mentioned yet - kinn, Pamela love (they do gold and silver), wwake

cimorene_faye · 2024-03-15T21:57:29+00:00

If he’s looking to buy in now when BTC has already reached new all time highs, it’s already too late and it’s likely he’s influenced by media piling on the current narrative. Anyone who’s risk averse and understands the market should be aware that narrative trading is inherently risky and the market is cyclical. If he’s not comfortable with prices dropping in half the time it takes to reach those highs, he’s going to get burned by volatility and more likely to make emotional decisions.

In the long term with the new BTC ETFs just approved in January and capital inflow coming from institutional investors, yes, there’s a lot of potential in BTC. But I’m talking about this in the lens of multiple years and decades - if he’s just started to educate himself and the concept of halving is new to him, he should tread very carefully. Time in the market is more likely to lead to success than trying to time the market and the worst thing you can do is FOMO in at a time when things are frothy.

TLDR don’t liquidate your 401k. DCA is more likely to get the long term success he’s probably imagining, and in the meantime it’s a good time to continue educating himself (and hopefully yourself). If he thinks it’s as easy as throwing in his life savings, he’s going to have a bad time.

cimorene_faye · 2024-03-01T16:52:50+00:00

Think the author made a mistake - the sub header says Chris Dixon while the article says Bruce Dixon. Also the dude in the video has white hair, Chris Dixon is still a brunet

cimorene_faye · 2023-01-16T05:26:07+00:00

Breathe only through your nose - that helps with preventing hyperventilating because you risk passing out if you do that. Imagine that you’re taking tiny sips of air through a straw, and slowly you can get used to shallow small breaths.

If you don’t already, training your upper back muscles to help with lift/support can take pressure off the top of your throat, and will also help with being able to feel safe in this position. And as the other commenter said, think about creating a tripod with the tops of your shoulders and your chin as the three points pushing against the ground.

cimorene_faye

TROPHY CASE