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Benefits of Choosing Lab Made Diamonds
Lab made diamonds cost less than natural diamonds yet are of comparable or superior quality and discourage inhumane practices involved in mining natural ones.
What is a Lab Created Diamond?
Diamonds are made using enormous amounts of heat and pressure that modern technology has only recently become capable of. For a very long time, diamonds have been traditionally dug from the earth in certain parts of the world. These highly coveted stones have always carried a large price tag due to the difficulty of acquisition and their relative scarcity. The ability to create diamonds in a laboratory first emerged in the 1940′s, although the technology of the time was crude and lacked the ability to create gem quality diamonds. The result was something like crushed diamond, which was used primarily for creating industrial cutting tools and for masonry saw blades and drill bits. About 40 years later, a process had been successfully developed that could create larger diamonds, but unfortunately, these lab created diamonds were often flawed and possessed undesirable coloration. These were still made primarily for industrial purposes. Eventually, the technology was born that enabled the creation of high quality, multicolored gem quality diamonds for the jewelry industry. Interestingly, colored diamonds are very easy to make while white diamond production still meets with some difficulty.
Jewelry Inspired by Architectural Details
In high school, Rebecca Schiffman was embarrassed about living on the Upper East Side, which she considered uncool. But now she embraces the neighborhood, writing a blog about it called the U.E.S. Journal, and living in the same apartment on 88th Street where she grew up.
Ms. Schiffman, a 29-year-old singer-songwriter and jewelry designer, has lately started making sterling silver jewelry inspired by local buildings and their architectural details. Her first, a pendant ($175), was based on a stone carving at 1021 Park Avenue. “I saw this shield with a flower on it and I thought, ‘That would be a really cool necklace,’ ” Ms. Schiffman said recently, sitting in a booth at a Viand Coffee Shop on Madison Avenue.
She is drawn to prewar buildings, she said, because newer ones seem to lack “anything that gives them a little whimsical detail.” A frieze of rabbits jumping across the façade of 1040 Park Avenue, a white-glove building dating to 1924, inspired her Racing Hare Brooch ($430); a geometric flower carving at 19 East 88th Street became a pair of cufflinks ($365).
Another Shot: AK-47s as Jewelry
By THOMAS VINCIGUERRA
WHEN Cara Buono arrived at the Emmy Awards in September, nominated as best guest actress in a drama series for her role as Dr. Faye Miller in “Mad Men,” she wore a $150,000 political statement in her lobes. “These earrings,” she said, “are made from AK-47 gun metal.”
Ms. Buono’s husband, Peter Thum, is a founder, with John Zapolski, of Fonderie 47, an organization that converts what is perhaps the most widely distributed assault rifle into jewelry.
On a visit to Kenya in 2008, Mr. Thum, a leader in humanitarian efforts like Ethos Water, which finances water projects in underdeveloped countries, was struck by the profusion of AK-47s. An estimated 20 million of them are circulating in Africa, according to Mr. Thum, citing Small Arms Survey reports and data.
Jewel-Box Rooms and Baubles to Match
One of interior design’s most influential (and eccentric) figures, Ms. Brandolini burst out in a riot of color, material and motif more than 15 years ago. As laid out in “The World of Muriel Brandolini,” a lavish tome out from Rizzoli next month, her style may look au courant now, but in the midst of the safe, classic 1990s, it was like a bucketful of red paint tossed on a tasteful table setting.
“I was the only one using color!” she recalled last week in the Upper East Side town house she shares with her husband, Nuno Brandolini d’Adda, an Italian aristocrat and investment banker. It never occurred to her, she said, that color might be something to avoid. She had grown up in Vietnam and on Martinique, where vivid color was as natural a choice as Benjamin Moore Decorators White is here.
And color isn’t even the half of it. Scarcely are you in the front door when you find that the walls of the small entryway are, in fact, covered in tiny glass beads.
Both Sides of the Border
FOR her new fall line, the designer Pamela Love found somewhat unlikely inspiration in Mexico’s Day of the Dead and the Wild West (Two Tone Dagger Cuff, sterling silver and bronze, $1,150; Triple Finger Rope Ring, sterling silver, $415).
Ms. Love started in a Brooklyn basement in 2006. Her line is sold at Opening Ceremony at the Ace Hotel, 1190-1192 Broadway (29th Street), (646) 695-5680; and Opening Ceremony, 35 Howard Street (Broadway), (212) 219-2688; openingceremony.us.com.
Celebrity Jewel: CMA’s 2011 – Celebrating Country Jewels
Tonight Country Music Stars took to the Red Carpet for the Country Music Awards!TRENDS: Silver White on Lee Ann Rimes and Taylor Swift with pure white on The Band Perry’s award winning lead singer Kimberly Perry, along with the Gold of Carrie Underwood stood out among lots of black gowns and few bright misses.
Presenter Carrie Underwood arrived in a gold sequin ombre cap sleeve gown byReem Acra with Jimmy Choo shoes and Jewelry from her favorite jeweler Johnathan Arndt (the jeweler that designed her engagement ring).
This should have been a warning of what was to come – 10 costume changes in all!
JCK 5: Jewels to Find in Dubai
Find these exhibitors at Dubai International Jewellery Week 2011 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre Nov. 10–13:
1. Pendant necklace in 14k gold with 0.14 ct. diamonds; $775; Meira T Designs, New York City; 212-398-0606;
Loving the Chambered Nautilus to Death
It is a living fossil whose ancestors go back a half billion years — to the early days of complex life on the planet, when the land was barren and the seas were warm.
Naturalists have long marveled at its shell. The logarithmic spiral echoes the curved arms of hurricanes and distant galaxies. In Florence, the Medicis turned the pearly shells into ornate cups and pitchers adorned with gold and rubies.
Now, scientists say, humans are loving the chambered nautilus to death, throwing its very existence into danger.
“A horrendous slaughter is going on out here,” said Peter D. Ward, a biologist from the University of Washington, during a recent census of the marine creature in the Philippines. “They’re nearly wiped out.”
Romantic Pearls for Less than $15
This Pearl Freshwater Cultured Pink Tones Necklace Strand
So get something a bit more special than usual .. and spend less while doing it!
Simple Pearl Jewelry Care
We all know that pearls are some of the most fragile gemstones being sold in jewelry stores today, so in order to keep them in tip-top shape, it is important to know some of the basics of pearl jewelry care. Books and websites about caring and maintaining pearl jewelryare available in stores and online, and this article is just one of the very few that will provide pearl owners an idea on how to care for their pearl jewelry.
Pearl Jewelry Care:
• Since most pearl jewelry use cultured pearls, there is a possibility that even the thickest coatings can degenerate, chip, and show signs of wear after a few months or years of use. To ensure that they are cleaned well, try to wear pearl jewelry only after you’ve applied your make-up or perfume.
• When washing hands or applying hand and body lotions and creams, always make sure to take off your cultured pearl rings.
• You can clean your pearls by wiping them with a soft and lint-free cleaning cloth as soon as you take them off after use. You can dampen the cloth with water or use it as it is. If you decide to use a damp cloth, make sure to let the pearls dry naturally before storing them.
• If the pearls are dirty already, you can clean them by using mild soap and water solution. Make sure to use water solutions that do not contain ammonia or strong harsh detergents as these could damage the pearls.
• When storing your pearl jewelry, make sure to not store them with other kinds of jewelry as these could scratch the pearls easily when rubbed against metal or hard gemstones. It’s most advisable to store your pearl jewelry in a separate place for them to ensure that they are safely kept.
• Store your pearl necklaces flat as the string used often will stretch over long periods of time. This helps keeping your necklaces looking new.
