As many of us sleepily crawled to the end of the Oscar awards last Sunday night, we were greeted with an award ourselves: Michele Obama’s telecast appearance wearing a “wake up” glam gown and some killer vintage Harry Winston earrings.
This isn’t the best shot admittedly but at least we’re given a closer look at those chandelier earrings. Wow! Matched perfectly with Michele’s new bangs:
Sometimes these award shows are overwhelming for jewelry lovers. There is just so much eye candy, we don’t know where to begin. So we picked a few of our favorites from last night’s Oscars. Tell us whose jewelry really bowled you over!
Salma Hayek looks amazing in her Alexander McQueen Academy Awards gown. But what impressed us was the way in which her “statement necklace” seems to be part of her gown, making the ensemble that much more pulled together and sleek.
Catherine Zeta-Jones, looked drop-dead in a Zuhair Murad gown with Lorraine Schwartz jewelry. And while Schwartz jewelry can consistently be seen on the red carpet, we just couldn’t help but love the gown and jewelry pairing…just perfect together.
Ads are often subjective. We’re used to hearing that one product or service is the best, the fastest, the cheapest, etc. But Zales is up against a lawsuit where those claims may be put to the test:
A federal judge in Ohio will weigh in Monday on a legal tussle with ramifications for the diamond world: whether the Zales jewelry chain should be allowed to advertise that its rocks are the brightest.
Sterling Jewelers Inc., a unit of Signet Jewelers Ltd., SIG +1.74% which also owns the Kay Jewelers and Jared the Galleria of Jewelry chains, has filed a lawsuit accusing Zale Corp. ZLC -2.63% of false advertising for claiming its Celebration Fire stones are the “most brilliant diamonds in the world.”
Sterling, based in Akron, Ohio, wants to force Zale to scrap a multimillion-dollar ad campaign as it heads into one of the busiest sales week of the year; on Monday, the judge will consider Sterling’s request for a preliminary injunction. The company also is seeking millions of dollars in damages from Zale, which is based in Irving, Texas.
The Federal Trade Commission allows advertising that makes subjective claims, according to an agency spokeswoman. But a spokesman for Signet, David Bouffard, said the brilliance of a diamond can be “systematically, reliably and scientifically measured” and shouldn’t fall under those protections.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal.
Often we reflect on the history of jewelry on our blog. It’s easy to see the connectivity between a vintage necklace and what we continue to wear today. But what does the future of jewelry hold? How does technology influence fashion, for instance?
Designer Paola Mirai peers into that space-age world:
We’ve seen our share of jewelry made from old circuit boards, but none as luxe-looking as those by Paola Mirai. The Milan-based art director, designer, and self-described “alchemical experimenter” suspends castoff computer parts, clock springs, watch cogs, and other technological detritus in a colorless—and home-brewed—resin known as “orotrasparente.” The result is a series of brooches, bracelets, cuff links, and rings with a lighter-than-air quality, featuring high-tech components that appear to float just above the body.
Source: Ecouterre
Couldn’t help but stop and say, “Wow!” after seeing this latest discovery in Botswana:
Lucara Diamond Corp. has recovered an ultra-rare 9.46 ct. Type II blue diamond at its Karowe mine in Botswana.
The diamond will be sold at the mine’s upcoming tender on Nov. 26.
William Lamb, Lucara’s president and CEO, tells JCK the company believes the stone will polish out to a fancy blue, with VVS1 or better clarity.
Source: JCK
Sofia Vergara stole the show in the heavy bling department at last night’s Emmy awards, wearing 175 carats worth of amazing ice.
Modern Family star Sofia Vergara paired her green beaded mermaid-style Zuhair Murad gown with jewelry, courtesy of Neil Lane, weighing in at more than 175 carats: Vergara’s pear-shaped drop earrings are 45 carats, the marquise cut diamond and platinum bracelet come to 25 carats, a ring with two center stones is 20 carats, her serpent bracelet, 10 carats, and—here’s the keystone piece—a whopping 75-carat cuff bracelet.
At first, I laughed when I saw this product for kids but after some thought, I realized it’s a smart idea. It’s called “chewelry” and its jewelry kids can gnaw on. If you’ve been around any child, you know firsthand how much they love to grab that necklace of yours and pull and bite on it. This has lead to some broken jewelry and upset moms. But chewelry allows kids to safely chew without breaking a real necklace and costing the parents a broken chain or lost stone. And it’s completely safe!
Dr. Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s manuscripts specialist had this to say:
“Jane Austen’s simple and modest ring is a wonderfully intimate and evocative possession. The price achieved and the huge level of interest it has generated, is a remarkable testament to the author’s enduring appeal and her place at the heart of our literary and cultural heritage.”
And appeal it had, selling for more than five times the estimated price.
The Pride and Prejudice author’s simple piece of jewelery, featuring an oval turquoise gemstone, was a big draw at the Sotheby’s sale this week and went for £152,450. The winning bidder was an anonymous private collector.
The gold ring (size K½), set with a cabochon blue gemstone.
Gold, Jasper and Carnelian - A box of gold and semiprecious stones by Johann Christian Neuber, from around 1770-75, is in this show at the Frick Collection.
If you need a little box to hide a precious piece of jewelry, you pretty much can’t beat this. (Though it was originally used for snuff.)
Above is one of the gemstone snuffboxes created by the German goldsmith Johann Christian Neuber (1736-1808), working in Dresden, the cosmopolitan capital of Saxony. Nearly 30 of these boxes, generally no larger than the palm of a hand, dominate “Gold, Jasper and Carnelian: Johann Christian Neuber at the Saxon Court,” on view at the Frick Collection.
Reading this over coffee today, I couldn’t help but see how someone with a jewelry background could make the move into the world of psychology. We are our own kind of psychologists. Jewelers don’t just make a product; we create jewelry based on our client’s deepest dreams and wishes surrounding love. You couldn’t ask for a bigger psychological connection than that!
I couldn’t find an image of Cybil’s ring yet but wanted to share this interesting “love found again” story:
CYBILL SHEPHERD will become a therapist’s bride when she’s done playing a politician’s wife. “I’m engaged,” the 62-year-old actress, who is starring in “The Best Man” on Broadway, exclusively told the News’ theater critic Joe Dziemianowicz. “He was a jeweler. Now, he’s a psychologist. He’s Serbian.”
Shepard’s “he” is Andrei Nikolajevic, who still knows his gems, judging by the gorgeous sparkler set in white gold on her left hand. But she said no one has questioned her new jewelry as of yet. “It’s not my job to tell them,” she says. Shepherd, whose ex-husbands include David Ford and Bruce Oppenheim, adds Nikolajevic popped the question a couple weeks ago here in NYC. “It was very romantic and on one knee,” she says of her fiancé, whom she met through friends. “I never thought I’d get married again.”
