Tiny Passerine Creations Review

Whilst to date I am yet to attend any virtual lolita events, like the ones Bay Area Kei puts on, I am very much aware of them. And so whilst I may have caught some of Garnet Gateau’s panels afterwards, I can’t really say that I went to the event in any capacity. But I could not resist indulging in a purchase when a special event offer was on.

About the Brand

Tiny Passerine Creations isn’t a brand that I was aware of prior to Garnet Gateau - which is all the more odd since I follow its owner, @petit_piaf, on Instagram for a good while. Judging by the fact that @tinypasserinecreations’ first Instagram post is only from October 2020, I assume the brand to only be around since then, even if @petit_piaf had been making jewellery beforehand. And given how fancy the jewellery is, this had to have been the case because oof, these are some absolutely gorgeous shinies, perfect for classic lolitas and lovers of vintage and historybounding! The Etsy shop still has some gorgeous cameo necklaces (at the time of writing), and I am following them both on Instagram and Etsy, so that whenever something new drops, I can pounce on it!

About the Order

For Garnet Gateau the shop had released a special collection called The Duchess’s Tea, inspired in no small part by the Bridgerton series and Regency-era jewellery. The Duchess’s Tea jewellery could be purchased as a parure (which I had to google and learnt that it’s a set of matching jewellery) or as individual items, with eight colour options available and a possibility of customising the earrings to be pierced or clip-ons. Moreover, during the event there was an additional discount of 10% off on orders of two items or more. So whilst I only really wanted the aquamarine parure, upon seeing the offer *and* how reasonable the prices were, after much toing and froing, I went with another pair of earrings in a garnet colourway.

I placed my order on February 6th, so whilst the Garnet Gateau event was still on. The transaction was handled by Etsy, and at the time there was approximately two weeks waiting time, since every item was handmade, to allow for making time. Apparently, there was a delay at some point of about one week, which seems to have missed my consciousness entirely. As someone based in the UK and ordering from the USA, I expect things to take a while in general, and since my order was posted on February 22nd, this seemed perfectly reasonable to me. It’s worth noting that Etsy is extremely optimistic in its delivery estimations and clearly doesn’t know that crossing the Atlantic causes ripples in the time-space continuum, causing any and all post travelling between those two countries to be delayed. Their estimated delivery between March 8th and March 15th was very much based on the assumption that postal services are operating as if there was no pandemic, it seems. Nonetheless, my order was tracked and USPS even has an option of sending email notifications whenever anything does change on the tracking journey, which I signed up for, so I never felt worried. On March 22nd everything arrived in the UK (I presume that it had done so sooner, given that it travelled by air, it simply took this long for someone to scan the tracking on the other end) and a day later, on March 23rd, it was all safely in my hands.

What I Got

One of the things I absolutely love is when indie brands invest the time and money into nice packaging. Using plain packaging doesn’t make me think any less of a brand, but there’s just something about receiving a sax blue bubble envelope instead of the usual white or brown that makes everything nicer and wakes up a sense of glee, you know? Especially when it’s sax blue, which, for all my complaints about it, is one of my favourite colours, as exemplified by my continuous efforts to get things in it in the hopes that something might match.

Yes to all the pastel envelopes!

Inside not only was everything very secure, with the jewellery packed in a box with some padding, wrapped in bubble wrap and then in tissue paper, but it looked lovely too. Before I even got to unwrap anything, a couple of these cute stickers fell out - and they kept coming! It’s always lovely when sellers include tiny freebies like stickers and this is way more than I anticipated. And they are incredibly cute in that vintage children’s book kind of way! As always, I have exactly zero clue where I’d use them and I’m too anxious to commit to using them on anything, but I can admire them nonetheless.

My order also included a lovely thank you note.

Look at how many stickers I got! That chubby hedgehog alone makes me want to drop everything for the cottagecore life.

Another cute sticker holding the tissue paper.

Let’s start off with the garnet earrings, which cost $6 (£4.58 at the time of purchase). The colour is a gorgeous, rich shade of true red, which with a pearl and gold backing is such a timeless colour scheme. I’d asked for both pairs of earrings to be pierced and the backing looks to be attached really securely. It helps that the earrings (every item I got, in fact) is extremely light. They weigh pretty much nothing, when I put them on to see how they wear, I kept forgetting that I was wearing any earrings at all until I moved my head and heard them jangle a little. I’m not sure what the gold material is - it sounds kind of aluminium-like and is light as aluminium would, but it doesn’t feel cheap or wrong. I would say that if you are sensitive to the sound or feel of this sort of metal, you may want to avoid it because the jewellery is very dangly indeed and it’s impossible to not hear it. But if you are not prone to sensory issues like this, then I imagine you would find it just as easy to wear and lightweight as I did. Also, did I already have the Puvithel earrings ordered when I bought these ones? Yes, I did. Did my dumbass brain care to remember that fact? Pfft, hell no! Granted, I was very torn as to which colourway of earrings I should get for my second pair and the only other one I would’ve had a use for were the emerald ones, and I already have a pair of emerald earrings that I’m quite happy with. And between these two red pairs they are different enough, both in overall style and the shade of the stone, to make me feel a bit less like a dumb bitch who forgets what she buys until two of practically the same arrive.

It was an odd lighting day, though the garnets can be this dark. It's just that they can also appear much brighter, depending on how the light hits them.

Simple, securely attached backing. Pretty comfortable to wear too.

The moment you realise you did an ooops.

And now for the parure, the main reason for my purchase in the first place. In this case, a parure meant necklace, earrings and a ring, and cost a very reasonable $26 (or £19.83 at the time of purchase). Even though just from the stock photos available I knew that the aquamarine set would be exactly that - aquamarine, not sax - I decided that it was blue-enough looking for me to take the risk. It is annoying that despite there being plenty of natural (as well as indoor) lighting when I took the photos, despite it being a typical British overcast day, my camera struggled to capture the true colour of the jewels. Rest assured that it is a very vibrant shade of aquamarine, more lazure than turquoise, definitely blue-based rather than leaning into green or mint, and very bright and reflective with how multifaceted the gems are. It’s not the gentle, pale sax that I may have liked in an ideal world, but since it’s a set of big pieces, I’m content that the shade will complement whatever I wear it with.

It took several attempts before I got this shot which I feel is the closest to showcasing the colour accurately.

Just like the earrings, the necklace is really dangly and makes lots of noise with very little movement. I appreciate the lobster clasp being on the larger side, as this makes it much easier to put on or off. There is also enough length to the chain to wear it higher, like a choker, or a bit lower, across the collarbone. The bow charm at the centre is so adorable, a lovely cute element within a design that’s overall more elegant and mature in a historical kind of way.

It's not lolita unless there's a bow somewhere in the design, right?

The ring is adjustable, though whilst it seems to be made of the same kind of metal as all the other metal bits, there is a bit of stiffness to it. I managed to adjust it to the size that I need, which isn’t much as my fingers are on the slim side. It could be that it simply needs warming up a little, either by rubbing or with the help of a hairdryer or some warm water, but I was a tad worried that I might accidentally snap the band. This is most likely just me being paranoid, there is no indication that it would snap, and just like the earring backing, it’s attached securely.

One of the nicest things about this set, besides how sparkly and pretty it is, is that the stones are attached very firmly in those little claws. (I’m sure there’s a proper word for that.) To me this is an indication of high quality, a guarantee that you won’t suddenly and accidentally lose a stone. Many an amateur would simply find gems they like and then hot glue them, so when an independent creator takes the extra care and steps to construct the items in a way that will last, it deserves a shoutout. Everything about this set says quality and well-made, this is just one detail that stood out to me.

The parure piled onto itself. I am really excited to wear it as a set, actually.

Tiny Passerine gets a complete 10/10 from me, there isn’t an item in my order that I wouldn’t love. Their jewellery is excellently made and simply beautiful, large enough to be a statement piece, yet not so overbearing so that it couldn’t simply be part of a coordinate. Should this exact series ever be up for sale, I may give in and get a few more bits (like the green earrings and ring maybe?). At the same time, I have been eyeing those cameo necklaces too. In other words, whatever else might become available, I will be keeping a close watch on the shop and it probably won’t be the only time that I’m buying something from them. And if you’re looking for gorgeous, elegant jewellery with a vintage feel to it, I can’t recommend Tiny Passerine enough.