So I’ve reviewed pretty much all the products The Simple Equine makes for horses and humans…but…did you know they make jewelry too? While Tara hand makes all of the grooming products, her mom Anne is the artist behind the jewelry designs. She does a lovely job creating beautiful and quality equestrian inspired jewelry pieces in my opinion…and I’m so excited to add one to my jewelry collection!
The Double Bit Lariat is made of sterling silver and The Simple Equine is NOT messing around. This thing is solid. You never really know what you’re getting with jewelry when you order something online. Typically these days it is delicate and undersized…because that is of course much cheaper to produce with a smaller amount of metal. I mean…look at this comparison of a similar equestrian lariat necklace I have…and the Simple Equine one…The price difference between the two isn’t as extreme as you would expect.
They aren’t skimping here…this jewelry is heavy. You can have a toddler tug on this necklace and you’re not going to have to worry about anything giving. Honestly…you might be able to let a toddler hang from it with all weight off the ground it’s that solid. I’m impressed.
The workmanship is lovely with wonderful details like the D ring actually moving like a bit instead of being one solid molded piece of metal. There is also a tiny little tag engraved with “Simple Equine” which I love as a special little detail. The length of this particular lariat is quite long and if you’re a smaller person than I (or are looking for something a little more casual), you may want to try the shorter version (which also happen to be less expensive).
Because this particular version is quite long, I find it works better with a solid dark based shirt (I’ve tried it with prints and it gets lost a bit) and I love to pair it with a jacket or cape (yeah…I’m one of those people that have a cape…cause I like to channel my evil queen persona sometimes). Because it’s a nice solid silver, it works with pretty much any color, especially deep winter colors or bright colors. And the design is simple and elegant so it elevates a look and adds some class and style to what might otherwise be a rather boring outfit. I wore it out this weekend to a dark, rather trendy Japanese restaurant and it was the star of my outfit. It was very chilly out (for California at least) so a turtle neck and wool jacket was required. Without the necklace this outfit is dull. With, I looked quite stylish.
I also really like the length of the long lariat for wearing with multiple styles and heights of necklines. Because it is so long, it doesn’t interfere with the neckline of your shirts…I have worn it with a low square neck to a high turtle neck…to a moderate v neck to a scoop neck. It looks great with all. I think it would look smashing with boat-neck if you have a body that can pull that cut off. I think it will also look amazing with various black or colorful cocktail dresses or paired with a work suit. Honestly I think it would probably look lovely with a light summer dress as well, but it’s not that season so I’ve not tried that paring yet. Either way I love the subtle nod to equestrian (and we all know equestrian is a long standing trend in fashion…so you don’t even need to be horsey to love this one).
If long lariat styles aren’t your thing, there’s a LOT more to look at from The Simple Equine including bangles and bracelets of various designs (the curb chain bracelet is so cool!), necklaces of all lengths and styles, earrings, cuff links. Finishes are almost all silver with a few pearls on some pieces and some carved cameos from Italy and vintage coins and other. Designs feature bits, horse shoe nails, horse shoes, stirrups, horses, and more.
The weight is a bit heavier, so you can feel it around your neck, but it doesn’t bother me (and I’m prone to tense shoulders and headaches), but if you’re really sensitive to that, perhaps check out some of their daintier styles. I think the price is excellent for the quality being fine jewelry! I’m super impressed with the jewelry and honestly, wasn’t expecting it to be as nice as it is! I’m not sure why I doubted…but for the quality, craftsmanship and weight of the necklace and being silver…honestly I would expect an extra $100 tagged on! The prices on the jewelry range from $12 – $499 so there’s something for all the budgets. The quality won’t disappoint you and I would recommend The Simple Equine’s jewelry line as excellent gifts.
I’ll keep this necklace for my lifetime and be happy to pass it along to my daughter. Unlike many items in my jewelry box, this one is made to last several lifetimes.
