Happy Stories From our customers

A touching and painful story about the lengths that people will go to hold on to a beloved piece of jewelry in the most dire of circumstances.

According to NPR:

From the outside, it looked like any of the other mugs in the Auschwitz museum.

But on the inside, this one had a secret — faithfully kept for seven decades.

A false bottom concealed a gold necklace and a gold ring inlaid with stones.

The enameled mug was one of more than 12,000 pieces of kitchenware that Nazis stole from people sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in occupied Poland.”

Choker necklaces are a bold fashion statement  with a lengthy history.

Chokers appeared in 1798 as a French cultural jewel that was worn by wealthy ladies. in 1874 it was worn by ballerinas and in the early 1880s by queens.

Historically, chokers are associated with high fashion, but could take on different meanings under different circumstances. Ballerinas and the upper class in the late 19th century commonly wore certain types of chokers. However, at that same time, a plain, thin, red or black ribbon choker had ties to prostitution in the late 19th century, as seen in Manet’s Olympia (1861), while a plain black woven choker or ribbon could signify secret lesbianism in the Depression era.

But chokers are certainly not for everyone, especially if you don’t want to draw attention to your neck. Some can also border on the restrictive or uncomfortable, so if you’re the type who simply doesn’t like that sensation, then move on to different types of adornment.

For the ones who simply love chokers, here are a few mentioned in JCK’s latest article on the topic that our staff really liked.

Ball and Chain choker in 14k gold-plated silver, $289; Liberty I. Exchange

Wraparound choker in black silk with an 18k gold fleur de lis motif and 0.2 ct. t.w. diamonds, $330; Gintare

Choker in 14k gold with 0.12 ct. t.w. diamonds, $1,595; Ariel Gordon Jewelry

 

Choker necklace in 18k gold with South Sea pearls and 24.45 cts. t.w. diamonds, price on request; Yoko London

 

There’s one truism when it comes to people: they love to watch things get crushed.

Whether it’s in the imaginary form…

Or in the real world, where a hydraulic press is taking the internet by storm, crushing everything in it’s path…including a diamond (from Brilliant Earth). We’ve all been embedded with the notion that nothing is stronger than diamond. But that was before the diamond met a hydraulic press apparently.

According to their About Us section on their YouTube channel:

Wanna see stuff getting crushed by hydraulic press? This is the right channel for you. New videos and new stuff to crush every week.

1.13ct