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smart jewelry

  • Are Americans Buying Less Jewelry?

    Let’s hope not…for obvious reasons. What we do hope is that they’re buying smarter jewelry (like eco-friendly diamonds alternatives such as moissanite). The days of blowing your wedding budget on an engagement ring are changing. More people (the millennials, in particular) see the value option of a custom design ring where the couple chooses the material and the price.

    But other factors come into play when looking at jewelry sales dropping. According to the Wall Street Journal:

    …jeweler Tiffany & Co. on Thursday said sales at existing stores fell 8% in the second period, extending a string of declines. But unlike Signet, which counts on middle America for the bulk of its sales, Tiffany is heavily dependent on foreign tourists, who have been buying less because of the strong dollar.

    “We believe that macro market and political uncertainties are likely playing a role in restrained consumer behavior,” Mark Aaron, Tiffany’s vice president of investor relations, said Thursday.

    And let’s not forget the effect of the Kaye diamond swap scandal. A jeweler’s reputation is everything. And when one is tarnished, sales are bound to drop, even though the executives at Signet say differently:

    People aren’t buying as much jewelry at Signet Jewelers Ltd. , but executives said it wasn’t because of concerns that some diamonds at its shops were swapped with lesser-quality stones.

    Instead, they pointed to a host of other reasons for the unexpected 2.3% drop in sales at established stores and a weak outlook: the prolonged oil slump, the divisive U.S. election, even the Brexit vote.

    The retailer, which also owns the Kay Jewelers, Zales and Jared chains, cut its earnings and sales targets for the year, sending shares down more than 14% to $82.65 in Thursday morning trading.

    Our advice always remains the same: choose a jeweler you trust (like one that’s been in business over 100 years…hint, hint) and stick with a budget that works for you. You can have your dream ring at the price you decide!

     

  • Safe Jewelry that Protects Women in India and Beyond

    leafwearables_cofounders

    Ready for crazy statistic:

    A sexual assault occurs every 22.5 minutes in India.

    Well these men have come up with a piece of jewelry that will help this stat drop.

    According to CNN:

    “The public doesn’t read about most of these incidents in the newspapers,” said Manik Mehta, cofounder of startup Leaf Wearables. “But this fact shook us to the core.”

    Mehta and four of his friends became obsessed with finding a technology solution to help keep women in India safe.

    The five men were engineering students at India’s top colleges, including Delhi College of Engineering and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.

    In February 2015, they launched smart jewelry startup Leaf Wearables. At the heart of each specially-designed pendant, bracelet and key chain is a small circular device called SAFER.

    When a threat is perceived, the user double clicks the SAFER device that’s attached to the jewelry, which triggers the corresponding app.

    Jewelry is no longer just for fashion anymore…and it makes sense, we wear it, right? Help can be that close.

  • Your Crash Course on Estate and Antique Jewelry

    A short and smart video from our friends at Brilliant Earth.

    “Learn about the different design eras, styles, and cuts of antique and estate jewelry. Estate pieces are unique pieces of jewelry that reflect the time in which they were made. Brilliant Earth’s collection of antique and estate jewelry pieces come from a wide variety of design eras, including the Edwardian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Retro, and Victorian eras, and come with a complementary 30 day resize and return policy. Antique and estate rings are wonderful pieces of history that are timeless in style. Learn more at http://www.brilliantearth.com/.”

    Estate jewelry is also environmentally sound!

     

  • Jewelry that’s Just Right for an Interview

    When going on a job interview, the focus should be on you and your amazing mind, not on your fashion choice or accessories. With that said, a few choice pieces of smart jewelry can enhance, show taste, and add a touch of professional bling guaranteed to send the right message to your lucky employer-to-be.

    Acceptable Job Interview Jewelry

    • Wedding ring or a small band.
    • Small, thin necklace.
    • Small, non-religious pendant made of metal, pearls or a muted color.
    • Single bracelet or professional watch.
    • Earrings (studs, small hoops, or dangle earrings that do not draw attention).

    You do not want your jewelry to take attention away from your face. Any jewelry that is bright, gaudy, large or odd should be avoided.  (Source: Every Day Interview.)

    We like our Classic Solitaire necklace for the job.

    main view of Classic Four Prong Round Moissanite Solitaire Pendant

    Style 447M

    Classic Four Prong Round Moissanite Solitaire Pendant

    Four prong solitaire pendant with a Charles and Colvard created round moissanite set on an 18″ cable chain. 

     

  • A Techno “Life Leaf” – Jewelry that Takes Care of You

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    Well, this is not your grandmother’s jewelry. Unless her necklaces could track her sleep, exercise and baby’s heartbeat. It’s no surprise that smart jewelry would become more fashionable (since the first incarnations were a little…robotic looking, to say the least) but what’s interesting is the increasing abilities of these tech pieces. In short, who woulda thunk?

    Bellabeat started as a company that designed a spherical wooden device for pregnant women that could record and share a baby’s heartbeat from inside the womb. From there, Bellabeat’s co-founder Urška Sršen and her team started thinking about creating other devices that would help improve women’s health during all stages of their lives.

    The company’s answer is the Leaf, a small piece of jewelry that tracks all the basic fitness metrics and sleep quality, while also keeping tabs on stress levels, women’s reproductive cycles, and potentially more.

    And it doesn’t stop there. This techno leaf can even monitor your stress levels, giving you a little buzz when it notes you’re breathing more rapidly for no reason (an indicator of stress). Expect it to fry an egg or take out the trash out in the near future!

     

  • Self-Defense Jewelry for the Street Savvy Woman

    As we’re seeing more and more, jewelry is no longer just mere adornment in the 21st century. Not only is smart jewelry expanding out into the market but one woman decided that jewelry can also be a perfect weapon for self-defense. Read on.

    Yasmine Mustafa´s company designs self-defense devices that can be worn as jewelry. ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

    YASMINE MUSTAFA, 32, of University City, Philadelphia, and Anthony Gold, 49, of West Chester, co-founded Roar for Good, a University City firm aimed at empowering women with fashionable safety accessories and educational programs. The startup is part of DreamIt Athena, a female-focused entrepreneur program by DreamIt Ventures. I spoke with Mustafa, the CEO.

    Q: How’d you come up with the idea for Roar?

    A: A woman was raped a block from my apartment shortly after I came back from a trip to South America last year. The original idea was a wearable bracelet called the Macelet, which had Mace in it. I started talking to women and they were afraid of self-defense tools that an attacker might use against them. So I pivoted to a device that’s fashionable and easy to use that has a loud alarm and light to distract a would-be attacker and message friends and family.

    Q: The startup money?

    A: I conceived a functional prototype and found a hardware person, who’s still an adviser, to help me build it. We bootstrapped it and it cost about $5,000, and then we designed it.

    Q: The biz model?

    A: The device, which will be priced around $100, can be worn as a necklace, charm or key fob. It also has a magnet so you can put it on clothing. After we developed the prototype, some women wondered: Why not teach men not to attack women? We decided the wearable had a safety purpose but we could use part of our revenues to support nonprofits teaching nonviolence and promoting a culture of consent and respect.

    Read more at Philly.com

     

  • Jewelry Made of Light, not Jewels

    Futuristic jewelry makes us rethink our idea of fashion. Suddenly accessories serve a purpose other than to make us look good. Or in this case, uses light in place of jewels. Wow.

     

     

    When is jewellery not jewellery? Why, when it’s made of light instead of jewels. However, just as jewels catch the eye by sparkling, Neclumi by Jakub Koźniewski and Piotr Barszczewski at Poland-based new media art and design collective PanGenerator catches attention by interacting with the wearer.

    The wearable adornment in its current stage consists of a pico projector, attached to the wearer’s chest via their clothing, and a smartphone app, which connects to the projector via HDMI cable.

    Source: CNET

  • Jewelry Sales on the Rise for Over Two Years

    Rising jewelry sales offer a solid indicator of an economy that can finally “breathe” a little again. JCK details how much it has risen and why people are (once again) deciding that jewelry is a smart asset.

    Jewelry sales have risen for the last 27 months, thanks to consumers who see jewelry products as a lasting asset, according to retail measurement service SpendingPulse.

    The gains have been slow and steady but will likely continue, predicts Sarah Quinlan, senior vice president of market insights for MasterCard Advisors, which produces SpendingPulse.

    “It feels permanent to buy jewelry,” she says. “Many people today can’t afford to buy homes. We are seeing new home sales dropping. But we do see discretionary income rising, like spending on restaurants and travel. People want to invest in something that is pleasurable to wear.”

    She also says that, after a recession that destroyed value in stocks and bonds, some consider jewelry an item with lasting value.

    The group has also seen double-digit jumps in the amount of jewelry purchased online. It estimates online jewelry sales constitute just under 20 percent of the market.

    “Following the recession, consumers do not have a lot of time,” Quinlan says. “The consumer physically wants to go to the store, but wants to shop when and where she wants to shop.”

    She adds that while gains for small businesses have been generally outpacing gains for larger ones, that isn’t true when the weather is bad, because people are more inclined to shop online.

    Her advice for jewelers: Beef up online, and for those that shop with you, “make your store an experience.”

     

  • How to Clean your Sterling Silver Jewelry with Baking Soda

    Sterling silver is a smart and easy-to-use metal which most of us have somewhere in the depths of our jewelry boxes.

    These simple steps that you can perform in mere minutes will bring that sterling silver jewelry back to life.

  • Skin Tone and Jewelry – Making the Right Match

    Most of us think only in terms of clothing when it comes to matching our skin tone, but instinctually we gravitate toward one metal or another because we know silver or gold simply looks better. If you’re unsure, here’s a smart chart to guide you:

    Determining Skin Tone

    Look at the skin in natural light. Try to find a spot where the veins are easily noticeable. For most people, the wrists are their best bet. Use the table below to determine one’s skin tone.

    Tone

    Undertones

    Veins

    Cool Pink or red Blue
    Warm Yellow or gold Green

    Matching Skin Tone to Metals

    Metals are easy to divide into cool and warm categories. The following table highlights the most common cool and warm metals found in jewelry.

    Cool

    White and silvery metals are best. Examples include: silver, platinum, titanium, stainless steel, and white gold.

    Warm

    Brown and yellowish metals are best. Examples include: yellow gold, copper, brass, and pewter.

    Matching Skin Tone to Gem Colors

    Metals are the base of jewelry. They need to match the skin tone so as not to distract, but the metal itself is usually not the focus of a piece of jewelry. Whether artificial or real, gems need to match one’s skin tone in order to create a cohesive look. Pale skin can look great with the right jewelry, but the wrong jewelry can make such skin look washed out and even unhealthy. Use the following table to find the right gem colors.

    Cool

    Bright colors such as pink, red, blue, purple, and green are best because they bring life and vivacity to cool skin.

    Warm

    Earth tones such as orange, brown, yellow, and turquoise are ideal because warm skin is very earthy as well.

    Source: eBay

    Image: Fire Mountains Gems