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I always love to find out how much borrowed jewelry a celebrity is wearing to a red carpet event. If the Golden Globes earlier this year was any sign of how much money celebrities will be wearing to future events, then we’re in for a treat for the Oscars, hosted by Hugh Jackman.
Being a jewelry designer who is heavily immersed in this industry, I have a good knack for predicting trends and what people will wear. Here are my trend predictions that you can expect from the Oscars.
Yellow Diamond Ring by Whiteflash.com
Diamonds are a fail-proof solution to any jewelry concerns, especially Natural Colored Diamonds. Celebrities are often worried that jewelry can lead to a “Worst Dressed” nomination, and therefore, opt for diamonds. You’ll definitely spot them on the red carpet, from dangling earrings and big bold rings to subtle button earrings. But, unlike previous years, stars will keep the diamonds simple. They don’t want anything too flashy due to the state of the economy right now. So be on the look out for a hint of color on their diamond jewelry this year.
SMALL STUDS & BUTTON EARRINGS
Celebrities want their couture dresses to do all the talking, so we can certainly expect to see a lot of button earrings. Button earrings always enhance the overall look, but don’t take away from the dress. They also make a fabulous accent to the ever-so-popular one-shoulder dress.
CLIP-ON COMEBACK
Many celebrity stars have a big secret – they love clip-on earrings! Stars often ask jewelry designers to create clip-on earring styles for them, even if they have pierced ears. You see, those big, diamond earrings can be very heavy, which can stretch out the ear. For comfort and beauty, many celebrities opt for clip-on styles to avoid any problems. This will be a trend that will continue into 2010.
Our celebrity stylists insiders say that Olivia Wilde and Eva Longoria both wore clip-on earrings to the Golden Globes.
BRIGHT PEARLY WHITE
Celebrities won’t just be flashing their pearly whites at the camera at the Oscars – you can also expect white dresses and accessories as well. White was one of the most popular hues of choice at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards (Kate Beckinsale, Salma Hayek, Sandra Bullock, Teri Hatcher, etc). We can expect to see some additional white jewelry on the red carpet.
There used to be easy tip-offs when a watch was fake, like light weight, shoddy artisanship — and the fact that no working Rolex sells for $50. But these days, many fakes are so costly and carefully built that they require an expert to identify.
Now one Swiss watchmaker, Vacheron Constantin, has created a wristwatch that it says is impossible to counterfeit, as well as Men’s Wedding Rings and Woman’s Wedding Rings. What timing: The watch will be launched on Oct. 22 in New York, just as the luxury-watch industry is facing a possible global recession.
Do you care that many of the expensive-looking watches around us are probably not the real thing? Is the watch on your wrist real?
The watch, called the “Quai de l’Ile” for the watchmaker’s historical Geneva address, uses layers of invisible UV marking, laser perforations of some watch parts, special high-security inks, and other measures used to secure passports and currencies like the euro and Swiss franc.
In the world of haute horlogerie, forged watches are as ubiquitous as fake handbags and black-market DVDs. These fakes are sold not only on sidewalk tables but also in stores, catalogs and Internet listings. The Swiss Customs Service has estimated that as many as 40 million counterfeit watches are put into circulation each year. Switzerland last year exported only about 26 million watches, so there’s a fairly reasonable chance that the expensive-looking watch on your neighbor’s wrist could be a fake.
Watchmakers have long fought counterfeiters by adding special stickers and limiting supply through authorized dealers. Rolex — probably the most faked watch of all time — strictly controls the numbers of its watches that can be sold by a dealer and requires that all repairs be made with authorized parts. Rolex also puts a green hologram sticker on the back of its watches — though counterfeiters forge that, too.
Sophisticated Counterfeiters
But counterfeiters have been improving their technology faster than watchmakers. “Counterfeits have gotten more sophisticated,” says David Hendry, chief underwriter for the Jewelry Insurance Brokerage of North America. “The counterfeiters have learned all the things that people didn’t know 20 years ago.” They add weight, use sapphire crystal for the glass of the watch and incorporate other elements that can confuse even experts — and they may charge many hundreds of dollars.
Forging was an industry scourge even when the fine-watch market was growing at double-digit rates annually. Now, with growth sure to slow in the current economy, it’s even more important for watchmakers to differentiate their products in consumers’ minds.
Many luxury retailers — particularly department stores such as Neiman Marcus — have seen sales slow markedly this year. A survey released on Monday by Unity Marketing, a Stevens, Pa.-based consultant to the luxury industry, suggests that affluent consumers “are buying luxuries more selectively and more carefully.”
The idea of Vacheron’s new watch came out of a chance acquaintanceship between Vacheron Constantin Chief Executive Juan Carlos Torres and Roger Pfund. Mr. Pfund is an acclaimed Swiss painter and designer of the Swiss passport and international currencies since the 1970s. The painter met Mr. Torres socially several years ago.
‘The Spirit of a Watch’
“To make secure watches was a new thing,” Mr. Pfund said this past weekend, as he expounded on some of the artistic challenges involved. “The spirit of a watch is not the same as a bank note.”
How does one use invisible ink on a watch, for instance? His answer: Print it on a slip of a paper-like polymer material that is inserted under the watch’s crystal.
The Quai de l’Ile can be customized in up to 400 combinations and will sell for between $29,000 and $60,000, depending on which features are chosen. While the starting price for Vacheron Constantin watches is about $12,000, the company recently took an order from a European entrepreneur for a $6.5 million custom watch, says Julien Tornare, president of Vacheron Constantin U.S.
The company, which produces about 18,000 watches annually, expects to make 800 Quai de l’Iles a year.
To set the Quai de l’Ile apart, Mr. Pfund helped the company gain access to highly controlled money-printing materials like the polymer and inks, says Mr. Tornare. The inventory of polymer kept by Vacheron is monitored by the maker of Swiss passports, he said, noting, “We had no idea about security printing.”
The watch’s security measures involve engraving and printing with special inks. In the first series of watches produced, the words “Swiss Made” and “Automatique” are laser-engraved without using ink on the watch’s dial, while some of the numerals, the date and the words “Vacheron Constantin Genève” are engraved with ink.
Miniature Texts on the Dials
Tiny texts on the dials of some models — illegible without the aid of a magnifying glass — reproduce parts of letters sent between 19th-century family members of the watchmaker, Jaques-Barthélémy Vacheron and François Constantin.
The Quai de l’Ile was unveiled to the watch industry last spring at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva. That annual convention is sponsored by Cie. Financière Richemont SA, the luxury conglomerate that owns such oft-counterfeited brands as Vacheron Constantin, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.
This appears to have given would-be counterfeiters an opportunity to get cracking on Vacheron’s come-and-get-me challenge. Mr. Pfund, who is currently designing the 2010 series of the Quai de l’Ile, says, “They already have fakes of this watch. I saw one yesterday on the Internet. Of course, the movement is wrong — a lot of things are wrong.”
Jennifer Aniston at the 2009 Oscars
That Was Jen, This Is Now: When it comes to major life decisions, few are more critical than selecting the gown that you’ll wear to walk onstage at the Academy Awards and stand in front of your ex-husband and the woman he ditched you for — not to mention the millions of tabloid-devouring viewers eager to tear you apart. In magnitude, it ranks right up there with picking the person you’d want to pull the plug should the time ever come. This was a defining moment for Jennifer Aniston, who, to her credit and our surprise, didn’t blink. While the preternaturally toned and incandescent star’s taste in beaus may be questionable (although her self-described “Oscar boyfriend” John Mayer did wear the heck out his tux), her sense of style is impeccable. She boldly breaks free of her basic black comfort zone and slips into a beaded strapless Valentino number seemingly tailor-made to blind Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie with its sparkly awesomeness. Simple yet sublime, understated yet assured, it’s the perfect couture complement for an actress who just scored two No. 1 movies in a row and stared down the big 4-0 with aplomb. And despite seeming a mite nervous while presenting with the epically laid-back Jack Black, Aniston likely drew strength from her own version of armor — her trademark gleaming, unfussy tresses, which she dresses up with an abbreviated French braid across her forehead, a neo-bohemian look that we’re guessing will soon appear on many a former devotee of “The Rachel.”
Black and Forth: Say what you will about Angelina Jolie‘s addiction to frills-free black frocks, but years from now, when Zahara, Shiloh and Vivienne stumble across a stack of yellowing copies of Us Weekly in the attic, they won’t be teasing their mom over how outmoded and uncool she looks. Instead, they’ll start squabbling over who gets first dibs on her vintage but still stylish couture. The ever-more-waxen Oscar-winning mom of six opts for timeless over attention-grabbing in a strapless, sweetheart-necklined Elie Saab gown with an eye-catchingly sheer skirt and her de rigueur cat-eyeliner and cascading chestnut locks. And perhaps to ensure that Jennifer Aniston could spot her in the crowd, Jolie accessorizes her low-key dress with a kiwi-sized emerald ring, matching teardrop earrings and a grinning, goateed Brad Pitt, whose hands repeatedly wandered from the pockets of his rakish, bow tie-topped monkey suit to the posterior of his prepossessing amour.
Armed and Fabulous: The one-sleeved trend became so ubiquitous so quickly that we sort of figured that by the time the Oscars rolled around, it would have taken its place on the fashion scrapheap alongside leg warmers, fanny packs and stonewashed jeans. Boy, are we glad we called that one wrong. Freida Pinto breathes new life into the lopsided style with a beaded, sheer-armed John Galliano gown in a royal blue that’s as vibrant as she is. Like peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti and meatballs, Paris Hilton and inadequate panty coverage, some things are just made to go together, and the “Slumdog Millionaire” starlet’s sari-inspired embroidered couture is a perfect match for her flawless beauty.
Lithe Spirit: When we first spied Anne Hathaway in this paillette-bedecked Armani Privé metallic column, we thought, “Gee, she looks nice. Maybe not wow or anything, but definitely nice.” The dress itself is exquisite and hits the sloe-eyed beauty in all the right places, even if some of those places have grown distractingly weensy as award season has progressed. But our initial impression changed when we watched Anne gamely impersonate Nixon onstage with host Hugh Jackman and cheer loudly when fellow Best Actress nominee Kate Winslet took the prize. The sheer force of her bubbliness, coming as it does on the heels of a year that saw her con-man ex head to the big house, pushes this champagne gown from pretty to pretty fantastic. It also proves that a sparkling personality really does shine through, although the nearly $750,000 worth of Cartier jewels that Hathaway is draped in probably helps, too.
You Can Pleat Me: A thousand monkeys with a thousand rolls of Bounty Select-a-Size would need a thousand years to construct the architectural wonder that is Marisa Tomei‘s extravagantly pleated Versace gown. The slimline actress has been swinging for the fence while making the red-carpet rounds in recent months, and while she fouled out at the Golden Globes in a ruffled, should-have-walked-the-plank pirate shirt, she hits a home run at the Oscars in this silvery, hand fan of a satin organza creation with a traffic-stopping train. It’s a refined look that’s light years away from the pole-climbing stripper Tomei played in “The Wrestler,” a decorous point she drives home with her loose, side-swept hair and subtle makeup.
Heart and Soul: The British tabloids have dumped no end of grief on Kate Winslet for her emotional acceptance speeches while collecting kudos for “The Reader.” So it seems only fitting that the gorgeous thespian chose to wear a heart literally on her sleeve on the night she finally collected her long-hoped-for Oscar. Winslet takes a red-carpet risk in an asymmetrical, silver-blue Yves Saint Laurent gown with a silk overlay that’s also emblazoned with symbols of love and affection, a unifying theme that helps tie together her split-personality of a dress. Kate pairs her thoroughly modern outfit with an oddly sculpted hairdo that hearkens back to a time in Hollywood when Grace Kelly was the epitome of elegance and shellacked, bulletproof manes were all the rage.
Something Old, Something Whew: Looking for a little extra mojo at the Oscars? Two words: Choose used. In recent years, vintage gowns have brought good luck to Reese Witherspoon and Julia Roberts, and, on Sunday, Penélope Cruz won a little gold bald guy of her very own as she wore an intricately detailed Balmain gown from the ’50s. The be-banged, charmingly motormouthed Spanish looker livens up her stately dress by decking herself out in recession-snubbing diamonds valued at around $3 million. Still, should Cruz ever decide to go the thrifty route, she could get one more use out of her now-famous frock, assuming her under-the-radar romance with her “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” co-star, Javier Bardem, progresses to the next level. If that happens, she just needs to dig out her classic couture, toss on a veil and vow to stick together until death, career or otherwise.
Spanx for the Memories: The Oscar red carpet was crammed with gowns in various shades of white, but few carried off the colorless trend quite as classily as Taraji P. Henson, who models a tiered Roberto Cavalli creation that’s a wee bit mummy and a whole lot yummy. The “Benjamin Button” stunner sets off her creamy, figure-highlighting confection with an antique diamond choker adorned with behemoth dangling stars bright enough to light up the night sky — or at least bright enough to illuminate the pair of Spanx she’s sporting. In a move that makes us like her even more, Henson inadvertently gave viewers a glimpse of her figure-smoothing foundation garment, a must-have item that has sucked in more stars than a black hole.
30 Frock: As we gaze adoringly upon Tina Fey at the Oscars, we’re reminded of the words Liz Lemon sighed when she first laid eyes on the dreamy, frosting-scented Jon Hamm on “30 Rock“: “I want to go to there.” The multifaceted comedian achieves classy new heights in a plunging Zac Posen gown that we covet more desperately than Liz covets a freshly opened bag of Sabor de Soledad (mmmmmm … cheesy, salty goodness). And while we could begrudge our long-standing girl crush for suddenly transforming into one of the impossibly glamorous sophisticates her four-eyed alter ego would mock until their perfectly applied mascara streaked in soul-crushing rivers down their perfectly blushed cheeks, we’ll instead applaud Fey for embracing the pretty along with the smart — and giving the rest of us something to admire and aspire to.
Sarah, Pain and Tulle: If we had to rate Matthew Broderick‘s Oscar night stiffness, it would fall somewhere between the Tin Man from “The Wizard of Oz” and the corpse-of-the-week on “CSI.” Perhaps feeling a little tense over persistent tabloid talk of trouble in his union to Sarah Jessica Parker, the once cucumber-cool Ferris Bueller appears more rigid that Madonna in traction as he escorts his haute couture-clad spouse down the red carpet, his grim expression a sure sign that he’d rather be sitting at home in his PJs watching “Square Pegs” reruns than playing second fiddle to the tulle tent encircling SJP’s waist and her beaded, belted and painfully up-pushing bustier that creates an overhang so impressive Boy Scouts could camp under it. Broderick may not appreciate Parker’s mammary-heavy, hint of mint Dior gown, but we do. This is exactly the type of stylish excess we expect from the fashion-adoring “Sex and the City” star, who counteracts the ballerina preciousness of her diaphanous designer-wear with coppery curls separated by a severe middle part that mimics Broderick’s body language to a very stern T.
Knock on Wood: Winning or washed-out? Opinion is split on Evan Rachel Wood in this draping ivory Elie Saab gown with clamshell cleavage. On the one hand, there’s something to be said for the shock of the sun-shunning starlet’s alabaster, Snow White-after-she-ate-the-poisoned-apple-and-slept-for-a-few-years-in-a-glass-coffin look. On the other, there’s the risk that medical staffers waiting in the wings at the Oscars might get a gander at her anemic style and order a plasma transfusion — stat! To us, Wood’s high-and-mighty head pose and continued channeling of on-off boyfriend Marilyn Manson‘s ex-wife Dita Von Teese aren’t annoying enough to detract from her frock’s super-flattering silhouette, which would likely look even more ravishing in, say, an arresting blood red.
Pinky and the Brain: Natalie Portman provides a refreshing blast of color on this year’s relatively muted red carpet in a pleated Rodarte strapless gown that’s as sweet and tasty as the treat that inspired its hue — the delectable Hostess Sno Ball. The winsome, sharp-witted actress fetchingly matches her lips to her dress but leaves her neckline jewel-free, which is a shame, because a few glittery baubles might have prevented the hairs on the back our neck from standing up courtesy of the creepily colorful sequined cutouts on Natalie’s bodice, which — yikes! — appear to be following our every move.
De Beers, the World’s largest diamond company, is taking several steps to withstand the economic recession that is now affecting the diamond industry as well. First, De Beers will borrow $50 million from Anglo American PLC and other shareholders to “withstand any shocks” after diamond and gem demand worldwide has fallen more than 50 percent. Also, Debswana Diamond Co., a joint venture between De Beers and Botswana that produces almost one-fifth of the world’s diamonds, will shut down all of its mines until at least April 14, as the market is already flooded with diamonds and other gems. The company also plans to cut 580 jobs and try to deploy those workers elsewhere in the company.
Brock Salier, a mining analyst at Ambrian Partners Ltd London said via email that “This is a major chunk of worldwide production. Although bad news for the Botswana economy, we expect that this will stabilize the supply demand balance.” The closures of the mines are being done to help offset the effects of the decrease in demand for expensive diamonds and gems by reducing production in an already-flooded market.
New York-based Tiffany & Co., the world’s second largest high-end jewellery retailer said that holiday sales declined 21 percent from 2008. Switzerland’s Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, makers of Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery, said in January that this is the toughest market they have faced in 20 years. Luxury jewelers will certainly bear the brunt of this crisis, as Americans—expected to purchase 22% less in the next year—look to other less expensive but high-quality jewelers to make their diamond jewelry purchases.
While Fendi and Hermes might produce some of the most expensive purses at over $20,000 each for certain models, neither of them comes close to this one. Spectators at a recent Tokyo fashion show were dazzled beyond believe when they laid their eyes on this beautiful platinum and diamond evening purse by Japenese jewelry designer Ginza Tanaka.
This pricey handbag is beyond ornate, featuring 2,182 diamonds, totaling 208 carats on a pure platinum body casing. Retailing at $1.63 million (USD), this is by far the world’s most expensive and fanciest purse.
On Sunday night the world took a break from wondering what Michelle Obama will wear to the inauguration, and returned to doing what our culture does best: scrutinize red carpet fashion. As usual, the Golden Globes gave us a chance to ponder the good, the bad, and the very, very bad. Here are a few themes we identified.
What did we leave out? Please chime in below.
Skin is In!
Black is Back
Hair Went Insane
And Then It Was Back to Normal
We really can't wrap our heads around Drew Barrymore's 'do
Pale is Pretty
Full Eyebrows Are Back
Flesh is Fresh
Brad and Angelina at the Oscars
Everyone from Angelina Jolie to Heidi Klum displayed their finest diamond jewelry and gemstone jewelry in Los Angeles last night at the 81st annual Academy Awards.
Jolie, who was nominated for Best Actress, looked fabulous in a black Elie Saab Couture gown accessorized with a 65-carat Colombian emerald ring and 115-carat emerald earrings from Lorraine Schwartz. Lorraine Schwartz has been the hottest name in diamond jewelry lately, dressing everyone from movie stars to First Lady Michelle Obama.
Other celebrities wearing Lorraine Schwartz to the 2009 Oscars included Beyonce, with her yellow-gold diamond leaf Lorraine Schwartz rings, and Heidi Klum, whose $900,000 worth of Lorraine Schwartz diamond jewelry complemented her asymmetrical Roland Mouret gown. Klum wore the bold crimson gown to draw attention to the Heart Truth campaign, which raises awareness about heart disease among women.
Best Supporting Actress nominee Amy Adams made the largest jewelry statement of the evening, topping off her crimson Herrera bustier dress with a Fred Leighton bib necklace that contained 39 carats of diamonds and 630 carats of emeralds, rubies and sapphires. But the Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress, Penelope Cruz, also scored with her outfit: a 60-year old vintage Pierre Balmain gown which she accessorized with a whopping $3 million worth of Chopard diamond jewelry, including a 69-carat diamond necklace.
Other fashion winners included Best Actress Kate Winslet with her Chopard diamond bracelet, Halle Berry with her H. Stern diamond jewelry, and Marisa Tomei with vintage jewels from Van Cleef & Arpel that included a 1941 diamond and sapphire bracelet, a 1960 diamond ring, and 1973 lapis and diamond earrings.
Sure, you could easily spend a few hundred dollars on a nice pair of designer sneakers, but if you really want to make your shoes sparkle and stand out from the crowd, you want diamonds on them! The Kickbar, a jewel encrusted shoelace clip, adds that extra bit of class and shine to your favorite lace-ups.
The Kickbar features 108 G/VS1 diamonds pave set into a rectangular, white gold bar. All in all, the diamonds add up to a total weight of 2 carats per pair. If you prefer a little more color, The Kickbar is also available with pink sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and an assortment of colored diamonds. These alternate stoned Kickbars all retail at their “current market value.”
There’s also a “junior” version of the Kickbars for those who can’t afford to splurge on the $7500 models, but who still love their diamonds. The junior Kickbars contain fewer diamonds. There are about 76 stones that added up to a total weight of 1.5 carats.
The Kickbars are secured to your shoe by threading them through the laces. Because of this set-up, they can also double as a necklace or bracelet if threaded into a nice chain.
At $7500 per pair, Kickbars aren’t for everyone, and we fully expect these to be popping up on the shoes of hip-hop stars in the near future!
Eva Longoria & Tony Parker’s Piaget Wedding Bands
Desperate Housewives’ star Eva Longoria married Tony Parker, the championship NBA basketball player from the San Antonio Spurs. With two high-profile stars getting hitched at a star-studded wedding event, you just knew that they were not going to skimp on their wedding bands. The two stars sealed their love and marriage with these two beautiful and unique Piaget wedding bands.
The rings are each made of two bands that are “inseperably linked, turning together for eternity.” Now isn’t that quite the romantic touch? Eva’s ring features double rows of brilliant cut diamonds, which are divided by a row of 27 square cut diamonds down the center. That makes for a total of 107 individual diamonds on this super sparkler! Eva’s band itself is made of 18k white gold, like Tony’s, which is a much simpler ring. Both of the rings also have a personalized French engraving on the inside, which was added at the couple’s request.
Eva also choose to give her husband a true one-of-a-kind timepiece as a wedding gift. The watch Eva had crafted is a customized version of the Piaget Polo watch featuring a the number 9 filled with 50 beautiful diamonds (Tony’s jersey number), a 43mm white gold case, and a slate grey 18K gold and titanium bezel and matching slate grey dial. Wow, what a gift!
Conflict Free Diamonds – DreamsofAfrica.org
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Bride's Choice Awards 2011
