It's nearly 2013, and everyone's environmental awareness is peaking. There are desingers who have combined thier love for fashion with creative talents and created a whole new genre of jewelry. Earth is the echoed inspiration for each hand-crafted piece. I see many diamonds daily but this marries classic modern design with natural, organic elements. Many of these "natural or rough" pieces I find stunning.
The jewelry still has the fine art and design of traditionally cut stones but also link traditionals jewelry methods with a modern aesthetic, using fine recycled metals, and conflict-free gemstones and diamonds in each piece.These deisgners are takings risks with thier designs, but take pride in the continual growth and development of the way our generation views diamonds. Personally. I love it! You??
The world lost MCA today, Adam Yauch today, one of the founding member of the Beasie Boys. Here in NY, they are close to our hearts. The Beastie Boys may not be recognized as fashion pioneers like Run-DMC, but they clearly made a unique imprint in the eighties with their signature style. Respectful of cultural influences, the ironic rebels blended classics like gold chains and Adidas trainers with tapered jeans, leather jackets, button-downs, and even polos. Perhaps more significantly, the Beastie Boys are credited with reviving hip-hop style in the nineties. Visionaries and some even dubbed them 'genuis' they were ahead of their time and still get club play. However, they rocked the Dookie chain whic has made it's come back, some thirty years later.
Okay, for the most part, I am not trendy, but I do, however love the evil eye motif. It stretches all cultures and it's a huge celebrity trend right now. These clever incarnations of this mystic symbol are popping up all over the fashion sites. This kind of jewelry does not discriminate and is easily adaptable between fashion personalities.
Firstly, we should acknowledge that wearing the evil eye is not an evil act at all. This is no up side down cross my friends! In fact, wearing evil eye jewelry is supposed to be a protective measure. That little evil eye symbol represents ill wishes from others who are giving ‘the evil eye.’ Ooooh spooky! They say this is especially true for feelings on envy from other people, casting out negative energy when they often do not even realize it. So, as a protective measure, you wear the evil eye jewelry to mirror the ill wishes back at the gazer! So clever and USEFUL when you are an eye catching fashionista like all of our readers.
Without taking this too literally (hey, this is fashion after all), we are currently in love with rocking this little symbol in the most backwards of ways! Colored in powder pink, stuck amongst a collection of miss matched charms and especially given as gifts to frienemies. This is a fun trend with a very distinct look. And here in the United States, the evil eye doesn’t have much of a religious or superstitious vibe. Or, rather, it has been very diluted.
These little evil eye jewelry pieces can be found in every store, from the $5 Forever 21 to the pieces which are diamond encusted and in the thousands. As the saying goes, if you want it badly enough… you can find it online .
Gold seems to be the magic word in these tough times. Gold parties are a growing trend. They’re like Tupperware parties, with mostly women gathering at someone’s house for food and drinks. But instead of selling plastic, they’re pawning off their precious valuables. Women of every generation can benefit from this. A hostess invites friends and family to bring their unwanted gold to sell for extra income. The price is based on karat content, weight and the market price of gold that day. It's easy. We weigh each item … and examine them … verify the authenticity… separate the metals by karat, then weight to assess their sale value. Plain and simple.
Guests benefit by getting rid of things like faded gold lockets, outdated earrings and bangles that have been sitting in the back of the jewelry box collecting dust since the '70s. They even bring scrap gold/broken jewelry to the party to be weighed by us, and they walk away with cash or a check in hand.
In our society here we have a lot of parties, get-togethers and gatherings, and I think a lot of friends have broken jewelry and things that they want to get rid of, so this is the perfect excuse. Contact us at 631.651.6100 or visit us online at www.GoldBuyerNewYork.com.
Color Enhanced Diamonds?
Recently, our boutique had bought a 3 carat canary colored diamond. It was color enhanced, since this was my first encounter with such a stone, I began a feverish search for the pros and cons of the stone. Quick lesson, diamonds are made from carbon, diamonds are the hardest known substance to man and are both a naturally occurring and manufactured abrasive. It takes a diamond 1 to 3 billion years to form beneath the earth. Once formed, a diamond travels to the earth’s surface via streams of molten rock. Throughout this process, natural diamonds acquire inclusions and or flaws within them that give them their own unique “fingerprint”.
Diamonds can be purchased in various sizes (carats), shapes, colors, and clarities. Natural diamonds are preferred over enhanced or treated diamonds because of their rarity and individual fingerprint. No two natural diamonds in the world are identical; each one is unique whether it’s because of its color or clarity or both combined. Now, here comes the deceiving part.
The term “enhanced” may sound like a positive feature, however, any diamond that has been enhanced has been treated and altered from its natural condition to artificially improve its appearance. If you decide to purchase an “enhanced” diamond, find out what kind of treatments have been used and how they might affect the value of the diamond. You should also be concerned with the long term care and appearance these enhancement treatments may have on the diamond, as enhancements sometimes result in discoloration or cracks in the diamond.
Enhanced diamonds, unlike high quality natural diamonds are natural diamonds that have had very specific treatments done to them to improve their characteristics, or their natural “flaws”. One type of treatment is laser drilling, which is a process that removes minor inclusions in a diamond to produce a clarity enhanced diamond. This process will typically create lines that resemble tiny trails, which are visible under side-view magnification. The laser may dissipate the imperfection, or chemicals may be injected into the resulting tunnel to bleach away the color. This is a more permanent process than fracture filling. However, it is highly debated whether or not this process damages the integrity of the diamonds, thereby decreasing the value of clarity enhanced diamonds in the long term.
Fracture filling is a treatment that adds a glass-like resin material to a natural diamond to close small cracks. Since the filling has the same optical illusion and refraction index as a natural diamond, it’s nearly impossible to detect the “repair” to the flaws. Fracture filling is not a permanent treatment as heat from future repairs, cleanings, and even sunlight can erode the filler or possibly darken its color, making the diamond less valuable as time goes on.
There are different ways to detect if a diamond has had clarity enhancement treatments done to it. As mentioned above, laser drilling results in very thin, white lines or tunnels within the diamond that do not follow the pattern of the loose diamond. When fracture filling is used, the diamond may appear flawless when viewed from the top, but careful examination from the sides or other angles may reveal flashes of color that disrupt the pattern of facets in the diamond. Fracture filled diamonds may also have air bubbles trapped within them. Because these hints are only visible from the sides, it is very important to examine the diamond closely and preferable as a loose diamond rather than set into a diamond ring setting. I hope you learned as much as I did my diamond loving friends!!
Now, I'm not a twilight fan per say but one thing I do know is that Kristen Stewart broke fashion "rules" on more than one occasion. She can pull-off casual by donning her signature worn-in Vans and stunning dresses straight from the runway. She mixes and matches her tomboy and glam-inspired looks without hesitation because she’s never been afraid of showcasing her brand of style. This includes her unique accessory choices.
Kristen and I do have one thing is common. WE LOVE SPOON RINGS!! One of Kristen’s favorite pieces are her different spoon rings. I first noticed her wearing it on Conan O'Brien. Then I began to look for it everytime I saw her on something :) She went from Twilight screenings, to all over her hometown of Los Angeles. The antique feel of this ring makes it her go-to piece for both casual and formal occasions. Check it out!
