Christie Brinkley on her new jewelry line

Had a really nice phone chat with Christie Brinkley Wednesday about her new line of jewelry, called CeleBrate, now available online and at Ross-Simons, which has stores at Crabtree Valley Mall and The Streets at Southpoint.

First off, she’s really nice and down-to-earth. And unlike so many celebrities these days who just slap their name on a line of clothes, shoes, handbags or whatever, she seems to really have put herself into the line. She says she even has a notebook that she carries around to jot down ideas when they hit her so she can share them with the folks at Ross-Simons.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” she said. “One of the things I’ve enjoyed about working with Ross-Simons is they’ve allowed me to pull from so many of my different inspirations.”

Brinkley, who was an illustrator before she was discovered as a model, calls the new line “eclectic,” with four distinct collections: Southwestern, floral, inspirations and signature. Most of the pieces are made with sterling silver with either semi-precious stones, pearls, beads or other types of earthy materials.

None of it is what you might call fancy. Rather it’s designed to be casual so it can be mixed, matched and layered with casual clothes for day or evening wear. And it’s priced so that no one has to wait for a birthday or holiday to get a piece of it, she said. Earrings start at around $45 and necklaces go to about $1,250 (a diamond heart-shaped charm necklace). There are about 100 pieces in all four collections.

Her favorite pieces are a yellow gold and diamond dove charm and a coral bead necklace with sapphire pendant, shown here. “It’s so great to wear with jeans,” she said. “It’s also great with a dressier outfit. It really stands out.”

I have to admit, it’s one of my favorites, too. I also like the Suncatcher earrings with turquoise and citrines, which look like they would go well with a little black dress or jeans and a T-shirts. Price is $85.

You can see the entire line here.