The “Sultan of Suave” has passed away at 82 and left a legacy in the fashion world that will have a never-ending ripple effect. Here are some images in his memory.
The only realities in life are that you are born, and that you die,” he told an audience at New York’s 92Y “Fashion Talks” series in June 2013. “We always think we are going to live forever. The dying aspect we will never accept. The one thing about having this kind of warning is how you appreciate every single day of life.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Lauren Bacall’s art, jewelry and furniture will be auctioned in New York.
Her estate is selling hundreds of items that had filled her three homes. Bonhams auction house estimates they will bring $3 million.
The film and theater legend died in New York City in August at age 89.
Bonhams says two Henry Moore sculptures from the collection will be offered during its Impressionist and modern art sale in November.
Bacall was a big fan of Moore’s work. Six more of his sculptures will be sold in March, with about 700 other lots. They include tribal art and paintings by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Alexander Calder and others.
They once decorated her homes in Los Angeles, Amagansett, Long Island, and the famed Dakota apartment building in Manhattan.
Just because you couldn’t be there doesn’t mean you can’t see the dazzling winners from this year’s Jewelers’ Choice Awards. Put on your sunglasses!
Best Ring Design
Under $2,500
14k white gold diamond ring; $1,980; Gabriel & Co., NYC; 212-719-3258; gabrielny.com
$2,501–$10,000
18k white gold ring with 6.58 ct. marquise-cut ocean-blue aquamarine and 0.6 ct. t.w. diamonds; $8,999; Parlé Jewelry Designs, Pocatello, Idaho; 208-233-4059; parlegems.com
Colored Stone Jewelry
Under $2,500
14k white gold and sapphire diamond necklace; $1,510; Gabriel & Co., NYC; 212-719-3258; gabrielny.com
Over $10,000
Custom 18k rose gold Baroness ring with 14.09 ct. morganite and 2.36 cts. t.w. brilliant-cut diamonds; $19,279; Yael Designs, San Francisco; 415-989-9235; yaeldesigns.com
Diamond Jewelry
Under $2,500
Vines of Romance 14k rose gold and diamond ring; $2,000; El Dorado Jewelry Inc., Los Angeles; 213-689-4406; eldoradojewelry.com
Most people think crystal when they hear the name Swarovski. And rightfully so. The family reputation is built upon them. But most don’t realize the retail power this company carries in terms of jewelry:
According to Nadja Swarovski, the head of corporate communications and design services at crystals giant Swarovski, only two companies are ahead of it in jewellery sales: Cartier and Tiffany, both of which are in the fine jewellery space. “We’re certainly the largest in terms of the crystal jewellery element,” she confirms. “We have big goals in terms of the jewellery industry and our position in it.”
“In all areas, overall, we have the ambition to outperform the expanding jewellery market by a very few percent,” adds Markus Langes-Swarovski, head of Swarovski Professional and Daniel Swarovski tourism services GmbH, and great-great-grandson of Daniel Swarovski, who founded the Wattens, Austria-based company in 1895. But in a company the size of Swarovski, even a modest expansion will be significant in absolute numbers. The group saw revenues of over €3 billion (about $4 billion) for 2013, and there are 2,480 Swarovski-branded jewellery and accessories stores around the world.
We don’t talk about opal nearly enough. But that doesn’t mean we don’t offer up the utmost respect to its magical and varied iridescence that seems to be in a constant state of colorful change.
Here are some simply stunning opal pieces seen at Jewelry Week in Las Vegas several weeks ago, thanks to JCK.
Small Circle Aladdin earrings in 18k gold with pink opals and 0.04 ct. t.w. diamonds, $1,390; Jamie Wolf
Lushness earrings in 18k yellow gold with opal and 2.5 cts. t.w. diamonds, $7,500; Tatiana Berenguer
Earrings in 18k gold with 18.57 cts. t.w. Australian opal doublets with 1.13 cts. t.w. diamonds, $5,600; Rina Limor at LUXE Intelligence
Lushness earrings in 18k yellow gold with opal and 2.5 cts. t.w. diamonds, $7,500; Tatiana Berenguer
Earrings with huggie hoops in 18k gold and 21.17 cts. t.w. Paraiba, 15 cts. t.w. opals, and 0.78 ct. t.w. diamonds, $38,200; Erica Courtney
Apparently no one wants this beauty. Well, maybe its that little issue of the asking price, which apparently wasn’t reached:
The Eye of Golconda, an impressive necklace built around two D-flawless diamonds that was predicted to fetch as much as $10 million at the Christie’s jewelry auction last week, did not sell, company officials said.
The piece, the headline offering at the auction house’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels sale on May 27, featured a 40.5 ct. D-color internally flawless diamond from the famed Golconda mine, as well as a 6.76 ct. D-internally flawless Golconda diamond up top.
“There was interest up to $7.2 million,” François Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Asia Pacific, tells JCK. “But the vendor insisted on $8.5 million, so we did not sell it.”
Biopic Grace of Monaco took a royal beating after its screening at the Cannes Film Festival. But it’s shining moments reside in the fashion/jewelry arena, so all is not lost!
Even more important than her outfits, however, is the jewelry, a staple in Grace Kelly’s wardrobe. Kelly was a loyal client of Cartier, and the jeweler agreed to provide the jewelry for the film. Some original pieces were loaned to the movie while others were re-created, but overall there was so much bling on set that two bodyguards had to accompany Kidman during filming.
“As a devoted client, Grace Kelly, later Princess Grace of Monaco, maintained a loyal relationship with the jeweler in Paris and Monaco. Cartier created the 10.47-carat emerald-cut diamond engagement ring, which she was given by Prince Rainier III in 1956. For her wedding she received numerous gifts of Cartier jewelry, such as a diamond and ruby tiara and a necklace composed of three strands of diamonds,” the house said in a press release.
“Faithful reproductions of five of these royal jewelery pieces were produced in the ateliers of the Maison, with the consent of the Sovereign House of Monaco. The original creations are part of the royal jewels of Monaco,” they added.
Who knows? Maybe an inscribed diamond by Warren Buffet will bring you financial good luck?
In conjunction with the upcoming Berkshire Hathaway shareholder weekend, the Berkshire-owned two-store retailer is offering 51 gems with a reproduction of the billionaire’s signature inscribed on their girdle. Buffett is expected to personally sell some of them when he takes his fourth spin behind the Omaha, Neb., retailer’s sales counter on May 4.
In addition to Buffett’s signature, the stones are inscribed with the store logo and a maple leaf, signifying their environmentally friendly Canadian origin.
There have been tons of adjectives used to describe jewelry but this might have been the first time I stumbled across “velvety” blue to describe a gem. With that said, the descriptor seems to be spot-on. Read more about this one of a kind gem and the ring its seated in.
The April Sotheby’s sale will offer one of the finest Kashmir sapphires ever to appear at auction. The Exceptional Platinum, Sapphire and Diamond Ring (est. $4/5 million) features a square emerald-cut Kashmir sapphire weighing 28.18 carats set in a tapered baguette diamond mounting designed by Oscar Heyman & Brothers.
The stone has no indications of heat treatment and is described by the American Gemological Laboratories (AGL) as “a gem of singular importance.” According to the AGL, “It possesses the quintessential, velvety blue color that distinguishes a fine Kashmir sapphire….The pleasing color of this sapphire is further enhanced by a square emerald-cut fashioning which resulting in deep, internal color reflections and brilliance that complement the overall visual appearance of the stone, as well as a high clarity that results in a heightened degree of transparency.”
Daan Roosegaarde found a way to incorporate a noxious mixture like pollution and fog to create a high-end designer product, the smog ring. Credit Studio Roosegaarde
More and more eco-friendly jewelers are coming up with pieces that contribute to a cleaner world, whether using recycled materials, or in this case, smog.
“It’s weird how the city [Beijing] is covered in smog and no one is doing anything,” Daan Roosegaarde remembers thinking.
What started as a common — albeit worrying — observation, soon became a quest for the designer: He wanted to find a way to incorporate the noxious mixture of pollution and fog in another one of the poetic-pragmatic projects for which he has become famous since founding Studio Roosegaarde some six years ago.
The result is a highly ambitious project by Studio Roosegaarde to create smog-free parks in Beijing.
Daan Roosegaarde found a way to incorporate a noxious mixture like pollution and fog to create a high-end designer product, the smog ring. Credit Studio Roosegaarde
And a by-product of that project is the smog ring, an elegant piece of designer jewelry intrinsically linked to the new reality of urban pollution and the fight against it.
“I like the notion that you take something high-end and combine it with the problematic,” he said.
The ring — which is still in its design phase — will be a simple band mounted with a small clear center stone containing smog particles extracted from Beijing city air. The black dust, which is largely carbon soot from coal, will be configured in a millimeter cube, to symbolize a cubic kilometer of smog that each ring has cleared.
