Happy Stories From our customers

It looks like the well-known and prestigious Christie’s auction house in London is no longer for the special few in attendance. Christie’s will be auctioning off several of Elizabeth Taylor’s pieces online as well as in-house. And although they’re calling it a “online-only sale”, I have a sneaking suspicion it won’t be cheap!

The two-week online sale will run concurrent with the live auctions. This marks the first time that the famed auction house will host an exclusively online addition to a private collection.

Christie’s has hand-selected more than 500 fine and costume jewelry items for the online-only sale, including exceptional Art Deco-era jewelry and an array of signed jewels by Cartier, Chanel, Christian Dior, and Ruser, among others.

Through a special engagement with the luxury fashion retailer Moda Operandi, Christie’s will offer prospective shoppers a sneak peek at a selection of highlights from the online-only sale starting Nov. 14 at shop.modaoperandi.com/ElizabethTaylor. Beginning Nov. 18 the full complement of online-only lots will be available for viewing at Christie’s website at christies.com/etonlineonly.

“To ensure the full breadth of the collection is accessible to collectors worldwide, Christie’s has taken the innovative step of adding this special, online-only component to our live auctions, so that bidders from around the world can participate in this landmark two-week-long event,” Marc Porter, chairman and president of Christie’s Americas, said in a statement.

The first piece is a diamond-encrusted necklace with 12 golden pearls mounted in 18-karat white gold, estimated at $200,000 to $300,000.

Source: JCK Jewelry

Choker collars don’t have the best reputation. If you’re like me, you harken back to the punk rock era, when they were worn with spikes jutting out of them – not really quite dinner attire! But choker collars offer a striking touch to a dramatic outfit. So what do today’s choker collar necklaces offer? According to a recent New York Times article:

These are not Victorian-style velvet ribbons adorned with cameos or hearts, but clean metal bands, tougher and more graphic. At Lanvin and Rag & Bone, many spring 2012 looks were accessorized with severe bands, tight to the neck. And just as with those buttoned-up collars, chokers confer a naughty/nice suggestiveness. Early proponents include anything-but-uptight dressers like Lauren Santo Domingo, Margherita Missoni and Taylor Tomasi Hill.

Zanna Roberts Rassi, the senior fashion editor of Marie Claire, has been wearing a minimalist metal choker — a half-inch silver band by Robert Lee Morris — day and night. By day, she wears it with a long skinny chain, a T-shirt and leather pants; by night, with off-the-shoulder sequins, her hair scruffily pinned up. “Earrings drag my face down, but a choker seems to frame it,” Ms. Rassi explained. “There is something elegant and a little sexy at the same time. It make you hold your head up high!”

If the look sounds too extreme for you, remember a short necklace can give you the effect of a choker collar necklace without the drama (or possible discomfort). This necklace, for instance, works nicely with a shorter chain:

Round Moissanite Circle Pendant Circle pendant with approximately 1ct t.w. (dia equiv) Charles and Colvard created round moissanite set on an 18' singapore chain. Available in 14kt white gold only.

We’ve gotten a great response for this pair of earrings and it’s no surprise why. At $315, these beauties are a heck of a deal. Brazilian garnet is such a fetching stone. The stone’s shape makes it particularly enhancing and eye-catching. With diamonds off-setting the rich red hue, you have a pair that could bring just about any outfit to life.

Over the years, I’ve heard more customers tell me that it was worth the extra bit of money to have a very special pair of earrings. For this price, you have an affordable, classic pair meant to last any changing fashion trends. The lever-back earring clasp ensures safety and comfort as well.

If you’re an early holiday shopper, consider these earrings for anyone who wants to stand out just a little.

Style 10587S Diamond And Brazilian Garnet Drop Earrings 14kt White gold drop earrings featuring two Brazilian garnets (10x7mm each) and approximately .025ct t.w. natural diamonds.

Most women don’t think when putting on earrings that they have a long, LONG history. Perhaps even the need to wear jewelry in the first place is in us, somewhere deep, as a connective piece to our shared past. Here’s some additional information about jewelry that you might not know:

Ancient Egyptian Ear Rings
A fine example of some ancient Egyptian ear rings, made of pure gold and beads.

Jewelry:

 Ever since ancient times people of all cultures have used jewelry for personal adornments, badges of social or official rank and as emblems of religious, social, or political affiliation.

Materials used in ancient jewelry:  Jewelry has been made of many kinds of organic and inorganic materials such as hair, feathers, leather, scales, bones, shells, wood, ceramics, metals and minerals. But today when most people refer to jewelry, we refer to precious or semiprecious stones mounted in attractive metals such as gold, silver, platinum, copper and brass. Gold of course being the favorite.  

Platinum jewelry is 50 times more rare than gold jewelry.  Platinum is one of the world’s strongest metals. It weighs 60% more than karat gold. Just holding it in your hand, you can feel the difference.   

Culture of Jewelry

Current knowledge of ancient jewelry comes largely from the preservation of personal objects in tombs or portraits in surviving paintings and sculptures.

One of the most notable being the ancient Egyptians, who’s processes of ornamenting metals are still employed today. They produced skillfully, chased, engraved, soldered, repousse and inlaid jewelry, they used commonly gold and silver and inlaid in these metals with semiprecious stones, enamel and glass. The most notable jewelry from ancient Egypt is from the 18th Dynasty

Other Cultures that are notable cultures in the making of jewelry were Middle Eastern from the 3rd and 2nd millennia that produced techniques in granulation, filigree, inlaid gems, closisonna and champleve enamel. Greek and Roman jewelry, gave way to the art of cameo cutting.   Scythian Jewelry, the Byzantine use of jewels are also notable. A notable Medieval technique was the use of garnet slices into metal cells in the 7th Century. Other notable Jewelry came during the Renaissance times and the 17th and 18th century.

Source: hatilla_pr.Tripod.com

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And for some modern day earrings, not made of shells and feathers!

Style 10587S Diamond And Brazilian Garnet Drop Earrings 14kt White gold drop earrings featuring two Brazilian garnets (10x7mm each) and approximately .025ct t.w. natural diamonds.

“I LOVE the ring!! It is exactly what I wanted and I am just so happy with it.”
Read Mel’s testimonial here:

How to wear jewelry? Do we really need instructions? In short – yes! I’m sure you’ve seen some jewelry faux pas among the masses and you don’t want to be one of them, do you? This Lucky Magazine video gives you great ideas on necklace layering, wearing large earrings and how to enhance your outfit without overwhelming it.

Ready to jump into some custom design jewelry? Take a look at our stunning pink sapphires, just waiting to be transformed into a piece just for you!