The Guggenheim Collection by Harry Winston

The House of Harry Winston and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation announce an exciting new product line – the Guggenheim Collection by Harry Winston. An exquisite series of diamond jewelry and diamond dials for timepieces inspired by the iconic architecture of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Celebrating Frank Lloyd Wright’s groundbreaking design of the Guggenheim Museum, each piece of the collection features a sparkling spiral of diamonds, recalling the sculptural exterior and spiraling interior ramp of the museum.  Breathtaking!

Mother of pearl, 358 round brilliant diamonds, 18k white gold setting. $21,000.00

55 round brilliant and tapered baguette diamonds, 4.67 total carats; platinum setting. $26,000.00

161 round brilliant diamonds, 3.96 total carats; platinum setting. $26,000.00

18k white gold case, chronograph quartz movement, mother of pearl spiral dial, diamonds on bezel, lugs, attachments and buckle, approximately 2.65 cts. $46,000.00

Copyright Red Carpet Jewelry 2010, your official jewelry blog.

Pay attention! Jewelry Trends for Fall 2010

In the words of Diana Vreeland: “People are talking about…” polar opposites!  And jewelry, of course.

As far as clothes go, the common thread among all the September magazines seemed to be best described on the covers of Elle Spain, which announced in bold letters “Lo Moderno es ser Clasica” (It’s Modern to be Classic), and Vogue UK’s “Minimal Chic”.  Fall is about streamlined silhouettes with pops of bold accessories.

The specific jewelry list? Long, swinging pendant necklaces, silver cuffs and bangles, gold link designs, shoulder-grazing earrings, sophisticated cluster studs and gemmy cocktail rings in sunset colors.  Plus, “buy” pendant charms, “keep” heavy metal such as hefty cuffs and “store” bib necklaces, the editors of Harper’s Bazaar advise.

All mags featured long pendant necklaces, cuff bracelets and bangles in the fall issues. Bib necklaces, an editor favorite over the past few seasons, appear to have been banished to the back of jewelry boxes for now, replaced by an eclectic mix of neck-circling styles, from simple pendants and loose, low-hanging multi-strand necklaces to ladylike pearls and opulent sautoir styles. Minimalism and opulence going hand-in-hand.

Sumptuousness will be other keyword for fall, as evidenced through the number of editorial spreads highlighting a diversity of attention-grabbing textures and materials, from furs and nubby tweeds to rich velvets, lushly embroidered coats and chunky knits. The jewelry to match must be statement-making in its own right to stand out from this lavish array of fabrics, the fashion magazines illustrate via their editorials.

This season is also ripe with ’50s inspiration as channeled through long A-line skirts and dresses, and form-fitting cardigans, in addition to menswear-inspired looks and fine tailoring, primed for wearing with signet rings, oversized watches and the season’s ubiquitous long pendant necklace.

We also noticed sculptural silver designs and smooth cuff bracelets in juxtaposition to a spread of polished plaids and textured tweeds.  Once again, fall equals fur (unfortunately), with gold link chain bracelets and necklaces. In addition, the magazines’ stylists suggest earrings exaggerated in length, swinging well below the shoulder. Other styles to pair with already-embellished or highly textured clothing include ornate pendant necklaces, given that “long gold-chain numbers enrich any ensemble,” according to Harper’s Bazaar. In addition, the magazine decrees to “channel old-world appeal with a decadent bracelet” and to wear “stone rings,” which “make a statement without saying too much.”

Below, some pictures from Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, both from September 2010.

Copyright Red Carpet Jewelry 2010, your official jewelry blog.

Fine Jewelry and Fashion Industry Join Forces at New York Fashion Week

It was about time!

As reported by The National Jeweler, Mercedes Benz Fashion Week has a new jewelry partner.  Couture, the annual event for upscale retailers, designers, and manufacturers of fine jewelry and timepieces, held at the Wynn Las Vegas, will be showcasing designs of seven brands during New York Fashion Week that represent the best in high-end jewelry design.

Among the pieces in the Couture Fine Jewelry Exhibition are Yossi Harari's blue sapphire and rose-cut diamond drop earrings, a combination of 24-karat gold and oxidized "gilver," and Gurhan's "4/24 Collection," rings, featuring chocolate-hued 4-karat gold alloy mixed with 24-karat gold.

The “Couture Fine Jewelry Exhibition” will turn heads in the main hall of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center in New York City.  The exhibit is designed to attract editors, stylists and retailers to not only view the pieces but to  delve deeper and consider reinforcing the connection between the two industries–fashion and jewelry–in their editorial spreads and merchandising assortments.

Designers chosen for the exhibition include Scott Kay, Gurhan, Yossi Harrari, Andrea Fohrman, Paul Morelli, Sally Sohn and Bavna.  Watch for my updates from Lincoln Center: it’s going to be a sparkly Fashion Week!

Copyright Red Carpet Jewelry 2010, your official jewelry blog.

Fashion Icons Around Your Neck

I can’t.  I can’t!  I need them all.

Now you can carry Anna Wintour, Coco Chanel or Suzy Menkes with you, wherever you go.  Courtesy of Nathalie Queyraud, designer of “Défiles from Paris”.

Wear them as a reminder to strangle yourself when you wear shoes that match your bag, or just to make yourself feel like a fashion insider.  Adorable available options are: Ms. Wintour, Ms. Menkes, Mlle. Chanel, Rihanna in a Viktor & Rolf dress, and Vuitton, Galliano, Chanel and Rykiel dresses.  Available at Luisa Via Roma.  As Miranda would say, “That’s all!”.

Copyright Red Carpet Jewelry 2010, your official jewelry blog.

65-carat gem uncovered at NC farm described as largest cut emerald found in North America

An emerald so large it’s being compared with the crown jewels of Russian empress Catherine the Great was pulled from a pit near corn rows at a North Carolina farm.

The nearly 65-carat emerald its finders are marketing by the name Carolina Emperor was pulled from a farm once so well known among treasure hunters that the owners charged $3 a day to shovel for small samples of the green stones. After the gem was cut and re-cut, the finished product was about one-fifth the weight of the original find, making it slightly larger than a U.S. quarter and about as heavy as a AA battery.

The emerald compares in size and quality to one surrounded by diamonds in a brooch once owned by Catherine the Great, who was empress in the 18th century, that Christie’s auction house in New York sold in April for $1.65 million, said C.R. “Cap” Beesley, a New York gemologist who examined the stone.

The Catherine The Great Emerald Brooch.

Copyright Red Carpet Jewelry 2010, your official jewelry blog.

Fall jewelry is looking rather dangerous

 

Rhodium-plated bullet bracelet with peace sign by Bullet Girl, $1,800.

I get that the military trend is going strong, but apparently so is jewelry inspired by weapons and ammunition. Of course, there is the Unearthen line of colorful jagged crystals stuffed into bullet casings and strung as pendants, which has been around for several years, but I’ve also noticed recently that more and more designers are creating collections based on or made literally from bullets and casings.

45 AUTO 24k gold-plated CZ cap studs with .17 MM earring jackets, $360; 45 AUTO rhodium-plated with CZ caps flower ring $450, both by Bullet Girl.

 A Texas-based line called Bullet Girl is exactly what it sounds like. Bullets are made into flower shapes, mixed in with strands of pearls and emblazoned with cubic zirconia peace signs and words like “Faith”, “Love” and “Hope” in order to show the more feminine and fancy side of a bullet, but to me it still looks a little aggressive.

Jules Smith "Tracey" bullet earrings, $95; Jules Smith "Zoe" bullet ring, $110.

Brooklyn-based jewelry line Jules Smith usually   creates girly, fun and casual pieces such as neon jellies, charm bracelets and stackable bangles, but for fall she’s turned out a collection of “bullet embellished” pieces. Her collection isn’t made from actual bullets like Bullet Girl and Unearthen, but she’s aimed to create accessories in the shape of ammo for a result that’s definitely edgy and apparently on trend.

.357 MAG 24k gold-plated bullet with CZ cap ring, $300, by Bullet Girl.

Though jewelry designers are trying to transform these symbols of violence into something less jarring, I can’t help but see these pieces for what they really are. What do you think? Will you wear bullet jewelry this fall?

Copyright Red Carpet Jewelry 2010, your official jewelry blog.

Julianne Moore Nude Bulgari Ad Banned In Venice

Venice, Italy has banned Julianne Moore’s Bulgari ad from being posted as a billboard in the city, the Telegraph UK reports. The photo shows a nude Moore covered up by lion cubs, handbags and jewelry.  Mayor Giorgio Orsoni called the image too racy and inappropriate for St. Mark’s Square.

President of the Venice Foundation added, “I take account of the fact that Venice is part of the real word…but we cannot accept these Hollywood-style images. There are intelligent sponsors, and we need to come up with advertising that suits Venice, not Times Square.”

Bulgari will instead use a fully-clothed image of Moore modeling Bulgari jewels.

Copyright Red Carpet Jewelry 2010, your official jewelry blog.

Keith Haring Jewelry

The modern hieroglyphics that once appeared on chalk drawings inside New York City subway stations are now springing to life with Noir Jewelry’s Keith Haring collection. Inspired by Haring‘s visual lexicon, the 18k gold and enamel pieces in the collection feature some of the late artist’s most recognizable icons — among them the Radiant Baby (which some believe Haring used as a way of conveying innocence and purity) and the Barking Dog.

Pictured here are some of the pieces in the collection, available at Karmaloop as of this week. The Keith Haring Cuff Bracelet, an oversize piece worthy of Wonder Woman’s jewelry box, features etched characters, swirling and wiggling about, outlined in red enamel all over its 18k gold surface.

Similarly, the Keith Haring Hoop Earrings feature laser-cut images which onlookers can ogle at and attempt to decipher.

And, in keeping with the whimsical spirit of so many of Haring’s pieces, the Standing Man Drop Earrings feature four gold chain strands along the center of each man’s silhouette, allowing the top and bottom sections to move more freely, making the Standing Man more of a Dancing Man as your head bobs while you walk about town.

Check out more pieces of Noir Jewelry’s Keith Haring collection below:

Copyright Red Carpet Jewelry 2010, your official jewelry blog.

Gemstone Carvings On Display In Orange County Museum

Thousands have admired the work of Harold Van Pelt who, along with his wife Erica, are considered the best gem and mineral photographers in the world. Few know of Van Pelt’s extraordinary ability as a fine art gemstone carver, and nobody has ever seen his entire body of work assembled in one place. The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, CA is showing the first comprehensive exhibition of the extraordinary artworks of Harold Van Pelt.

Carved agate drinking vessel with gold capped nose.

Exact replica of Erica's hand, Van Pelt's wife, in Brazilian agate.

Erica's hand in quartz.

For over 35 years Van Pelt has quietly been perfecting the art of carving quartz, rock crystal and agate gemstones. Hundreds of hours go into each multi-faceted, fluted, and textured vase, hollow container, sculpture and vessel, many of which are accented with gold and semi-precious stones. Working the stone down to paper-thin walls brings out the gorgeous natural quality and colors of the agate and gives quartz the transparency of glass. Transformed by one man’s vision and skill from a solid stone to an incredibly delicate work of art, the gemstone carvings of Harold Van Pelt have to be seen to be believed.

Skeleton hand.

Copyright Red Carpet Jewelry 2010, your official jewelry blog.

Diamond Snoopy!

Snoopy has been a much loved comic character for a long time now, maybe as long as you can remember.  And this year Snoopy reaches his 60th birthday milestone, a big date for our beloved rambunctious dog.  To celebrate the anniversary, the Hong Kong fine jewelry brand TSL has created a 5.5″ diamond statue of the iconic cartoon character that just might get into Guinness as the world’s most expensive.

“Diamond Snoopy” , dubbed “The Ever Shining Star” by TSL’s jewelry designers, features 207 carats of gems, with a total of 9,917 diamonds, 783 black diamonds, and 415 rubies that have all undergone a meticulous selection process (to ensure matching color, clarity, cut, and size) as well as a strict stone setting procedure to ensure optimal symmetry and shine. Diamond Snoopy has been touring around China and has an estimated value of HK 2.8 million (or about $372,000).

Copyright Red Carpet Jewelry 2010, your official jewelry blog.