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If you have been following this year’s presidential campaign (who hasn’t?!) you’ve seen one woman in front of the camera almost as much as Democratic presumptive nominee Barack Obama himself. No, I’m not talking about Hillary Clinton, who has received a lot of air time in her own right, rather Obama’s wife, Michelle.
Michelle Obama has been campaigning vigorously for her husband and, despite the occasional misstep, has proven to be an effectual campaigner, speaker, and even a fashion statement maker. Yes, we’ve been noticing what Mrs. Obama has been wearing, particularly her collection of prized pearls which some insist are fake while we think the above picture could be depicting the real thing.
You can’t miss what Mrs. Obama prefers to wear — big pearls which evoke memories of two other first ladies — namely Jacqueline Kennedy and Barbara Bush. Add in that Donna Reed flip and her collection of power dresses and you might concur with what many fashion experts are saying: Michelle Obama is here to do business. And, she is doing it in her own way.
As the above photo shows, Michelle loves her pearls, and seems partial to gold earrings, her gold watch, and of course her gold wedding band and diamond engagement sparkler.
We don’t know if we’ve provided some of jewelry that Mrs. Obama likes to wear, but we do sell everything but the wristwatch. Michelle Obama — fashion diva?
After only 8 months together, it looks like “Die Hard” star Bruce Willis, 53, is ready to put an engagement ring on the gorgeous finger of model Emma Heming, 30. Can a wedding ring be too far behind in this high-speed romance? Bruce seems to be trading up, as did his ex-wife Demi Moore. When Demi, now 45, married Ashton Kutcher, 30, Hollywood was aghast. After all, Demi made a name for herself in 1985 as a coke-snorting party girl while little Ashton was (probably unsuccessfully) learning to read about Dick, Jane and Spot. Ashton has since shown his intellect by creating the tv shows “Punk’d” and “Beauty and the Geek”. On the other hand, he probably makes an excellent playmate for Demi’s three daughters with Bruce Willis. Bruce, nonetheless, approves completely of their marriage.
Bruce and his upgrade, Emma, were seen together at Cartier in Beverly Hills, where Emma appeared to be looking more for ideas than for one of the engagement rings from the well-known and very pricey jeweler. It seems that the relationship between Bruce Willis and Emma Heming has been deliberately low-key and romantic, forgoing the Hollywood nightlife and showy movie premieres in favor of a more intimate courtship. Willis was known throughout the 80s as one of Hollywood’s most notorious bachelors, a regular on the party scene, playing with his band, and serial-dating models like Rachel Hunter and Janice Dickinson, and was often seen with a Playboy playmate dangling on his arm.
But now, the man who once said he “believes he will die a bachelor because he can’t be with just one woman”, has found his next ‘just one woman’. According to a friend, Bruce took Emma to look at engagement rings to get an idea of what she likes. Another shopper noted that “Emma seemed to like one that had a very art deco feel to it…it was a smaller diamond set in platinum, and it was very feminine and unique”.
At this rate, in another 10 years Demi will marry a 6th-grader and Bruce will put his work in the movie “Look Who’s Talking” to work, and, and marry a fetus.
Paris Hilton and Benji Madden can’t fight off engagement rumors much longer. The girl who made ‘famous for being famous’ a job and turned “celebutante” into a word seems ready to settle down with her rocker boyfriend of 10 months, Benji Madden.
The rumors began after only 2 ½ months into their courtship, when the Paris was seen showing off a diamond-encrusted ring bearing the initials “BM”, a most unfortunate set of initials to have to wear at all. Madden, too, was seen sporting his own diamond-encrusted “PH” ring. Despite Paris Hilton’s checkered relationship history, it seems that it was too early even for her to promise herself forever (for now) to Benji. In the past, she was engaged to model Jason Shaw, tattooed “Nick” on her behind while dating Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, and the poor thing later had to request a smaller diamond from shipping heir Paris Latsis because the first of the engagement rings he bought for her was too heavy and it “made her hand hurt”. None of these men ever got even close to putting a wedding ring on her finger, but her collection of engagement rings grew and grew.
Things appear to be different with Benji Madden, the brother and bandmate of Joel Madden, who is married to Paris’s former best friend and co-star on “The Simple Life”, Nicole Richie, who is a celebutante in her own right. Although the relationship between these two appears to need its own flow chart, the couple remains solid, and exchanging wedding rings actually might be in their future. On “Late Night with David Letterman” in May, Paris gushed about her boyfriend and announced her intention to marry him. She said: “We want to stay together forever”. And she probably really believes that.
At one time, Nicole Ritchie was known as Paris Hilton’s sidekick. Suddenly, it was Nicole who was skinny and beautiful and photographed all over the place. When she got endless press for her pregnancy and marriage, Paris took note and not only jumped on the “Serious Relationship” bandwagon, but also the Madden bandwagon (tour bus?) as well. Lucky for Nicole there was another Madden brother available.
In a recent KIIS-FM radio interview, Ryan Seacrest commented that heiress was wearing a new ring on “a significant finger”. Paris giggled like a 4 year-old and, without specifically denying that it is an engagement ring, said that, when Madden gave it to her, he told her: “just that he really loves me”.
Ah, young love. Once again, Paris has found her One True Soul Mate. I’m sure the wedding of Benji Madden and Paris Hilton, should they ever have one, will be her next big role on her next very-own hit reality tv show.
Actress Uma Thurman has hit the motherlode, accepting a whopping 8-carat diamond engagment ring from her Swiss-financier boyfriend Arpad “Arki” Busson. Though we can assure you that the stone pictured above isn’t her rock, you can bet that the diamond sparkler on her left ring finger is rather massive.
For Thurman, all this bodes well for future big jewelry gifts because Arki is rolling in the dough. Though Busson’s father was a wealthy stockbroker in his own right, Arki learned to make most of his millions himself through hedge funds, reportedly managing a portfolio worth well over ten billion dollars.
Arki, if you are reading this we have a couple of “small” gift items you’ll want to give to Uma: A pair of White Gold Akoya Pearl & Diamond Earrings with Pave diamonds fresh white water Pearl and a Ladies Platinum 3.00 Carat Total Weight Diamond Ring.
Busson owns a mansion in London’s Chelsea district worth about twenty million dollars and has a villa in the Bahamas. Uma is currently in the lead role for Motherhood and will be filming Eloise in Paris probably about the same time she becomes Mrs. Busson in London.
Congratulations to the happy couple and a long and happy marriage to you both!
Being in the midst of such challenging economic times, it’s hard to fathom that people are even thinking of shopping for the upcoming Holiday. Well think again! People are not totally swearing off of buying gifts for loved ones, instead, they are shopping with a strategy by being more selective with their purchases.
“Quality over quantity and less is more will be the mantras controlling consumers’ wallets, spelling good news for fine jewelry retailers. Our sales are expected to be up 10.1% over 2007 and 49% of holiday sales this year,” says Debi Wexler, CEO of WhiteFlash.com, a premier online fine jewelry retailer. “Opposed to spending money on several lower quality items, consumers are viewing luxury goods as an investment.”
You don’t have to spend a large amount of money for luxury goods, and you can still purchase quality “bling” on a shoestring budget. For instance, Wexler’s online trendsetting boutique, WhiteFlash.com (http://www.WhiteFlash.com/), offers a plethora of items that put the personal touch back in gifting. Delivering unique and affordable gifts for any budget, this site is known for its impeccable service and high quality goods.
Another bonus to purchasing jewelry items here can be found in their charity focused sub lines, Dreams of Africa (http://www.DreamsofAfrica.org/) and AWEAR: Jewelry for Conscious Kids. A substantial portion of the proceeds from sales, 100% profit from Dreams of Africa and 25% from the AWEAR collection, goes to support children in nations hit hard by the blood diamond trade.
Gifting with a cause is another powerful trend that stretches hard earned dollars way beyond their face value and will help sales for many retailers while at the same time, conscious spending is paramount and provides a good feeling about spending.
Feeding off of this trend means encouraging sales forecasts for retailers of fine jewelry due to the lasting and personal sentiments attached to such gifts, according to the “Today Show” financial expert, Jean Chatsky.
So regardless of your budget this Holiday, make your dollars count and remember that the most gratifying part of giving is the sentiment behind the gift.
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