The July-August information traffic in the Russian mass media related to the jewelry industry turned thinner as compared to the previous months. It is noteworthy that there were fewer publications even in the mass media traditionally feeding a lot of news about the jewelry world. Thus, the Kommersant Publishing House editions were less alert to the subject, while the supplements to the Vedomosty Daily (Kak Potratit and Pyatnitsa) kept silent about jewelry novelties altogether.
It appears, the season was the main reason behind. Summer reached its second half, which is noted for its vacationing spree infatuating those generating the information flow in the jewelry industry. Besides, a great number of newsbreaks on the Russian and international scale were already covered by mass media earlier.
Nevertheless, Russian jewelers did play their summer tune. Thus, the Adamas Company launched a special site, http://www.letoadamas.ru/ , wholly dedicated to its actions in the so-called “summer capital” – the City of Sochi – and its suburbs. “Suntan fades, while gold stays!” read their rallying cry posted on the site and inviting to take part in contests and entertainments rolled out onto the Sochi beaches and streets and to win treasure gifts offered by Adamas. The company ran the presentation of its new collection “Marmellata” under the slogan “This summer will be… sweet!”
As an advertising follow-up to its collection, the company issued a press release in the Sekret Firmy weekly magazine saying:
“Summer brings in the vogue for imbued brightness of iridescent rainbow colors… This is exactly the key in which the Adamas Capital Jewelry Factory made its new jewelry collection “Marmellata.”
A hard and crisp sugar crust concealing tender and bright filling – this is how the “Marmellata” collection looks to us, an imponderable kaleidoscope of different in their size and shape racy green chrysolites, lemon and honey-orange citrines, white gold and hard crystals of white diamonds.
The combination of green and yellow hues is a fashionable trend of this season.
The collection’s designer Marina Orlova, a well-known art jeweler, this time intentionally refused to follow a strict integrity pattern in making her jewelry pieces. The collection turned out to be jocose and multi-layered. Mobility of its links and free arrangement of the variegated inserts give you the feeling of lightness, minauderie and holiday mood.
According to the designer, her collection was created for the modern woman - as vivid and protean as marmalade.
The history of this collection is the history of lucid gems and modern jewelry adornments a la prêt-a-porter, eye-catching but imponderable treasure accessories, whose aim is to embellish the everyday pace of life. From the point of view of its genre, “Marmellata” is balancing on the brink of cocktail items and casual jewelry. The major part of items in this collection may be worn throughout the day. They will be a viewy feature to a business suit or a white summer sarafan or a slim black dress.
On the whole, these jewelry pieces leave the impression of confidence and airiness. This is why they are first of all meant for young, successful and goal-seeking women, who, while reaching their business decisions, are not oblivious of being seductively beautiful and do not refuse to tender their soft spot having a slice of marmalade for dessert.”
Sochi’s image as one of the jewelry industry summer centers is to be fixed by way of the InterYuvelir Exhibition annually held here, which is this year run for the eighth time from July 8 to July 14. This venture was taken up by the Second International Fair “Gold of Summer Capital” (July 29 – August 4). It attracted more than 150 jewelry companies from Penza, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yakutsk, Makhachkala, Rostov-on-Don, European and Asian countries. Some time ago, in the Soviet Union there was only one specialized exhibition in a year run just for industry people. Today, this Russian spa welcomes thousands of jewelers coming here during the year to offer their artworks to Sochi residents and holiday-makers. Exhibition areas are hardly capable to operate to schedule between alternating expositions of gems and artworks of precious metals, the Chernomorskaya Zdravnitsa, a local daily, says.
A notable place in the Russian mass media publications last month was devoted to wedding jewelry. This is evidently because summer is the traditional period when most marriages take place. Besides, this year saw a peculiar “three eights” wedding boom (tied to 08.08.08).
Recommendations how to choose wedding bands and other jewelry to bridal attire were published in various Russian provinces, but there were quite a lot of similar things among them.
The top ten fashion trends as seen by the Pskov mass media look as follows:
1. Classic things are in vogue – plain strip-shaped gold bands (up to 12 mm wide).
2. Rings made of white and yellow gold hoops are among popular things. The outer hoop, usually of white gold with diamond cutting, rotates over the inner hoop.
3. In Europe people are more inclined to white gold rings embellished with one large or three small diamonds.
4. Another fashionable European trend – contrasting wedding bands. If the bride chooses a white gold ring with a strip of diamonds for her groom, the latter can choose a gem-studded yellow gold ring for her.
5. Twin rings are also fashionable, similar for the bride and the fiancé or made in one style.
6. Vintage style rings are the latest cry of fashion – wide and heavy-looking, made of yellow gold and antique-styled, they are graced with big gems.
7. Off-beat design. For instance, a gold piece topped with enamel and having a diamond path or made in the Celtic style.
8. Jewelers offer classic three-color models of wedding bands manufactured of red, yellow or white gold or platinum (Cartier).
9. Extravagant couples choose golden rings embellished with black enamel.
10. Engravings on rings are nowadays popular as never before. Every couple is individual in their approach to the inscription: some of those in love make it their acquaintance date, their names or some intimately important words or phrases; some newlyweds resort to winged words and traditional Latin inscriptions.
To a large extent, these pieces of advice echo those furnished by the Komsomolskaya Pravda in Vladivostok. Apart from that, the daily calls attention to the bride’s jewelry. The main rule long stuck to by wedding fashion is to choose jewelry harmonious with the wedding gown. All the shades of white and ivory, white or yellow gold, platinum, pearls, diamonds and fianits, are the conventional colors of wedding jewelry. This year, designers advise the brides to try on the following:
long earrings graced with pearls and diamonds; they look exclusively impressive - such earrings are especially viewy with a high hairdo, when the bride’s hair is combed back;
multi-tier necklaces – several strings of beads around one’s neck or an ingenious carcanet;
color pearls – these are commonly accepted stones for newlyweds; now it is customary to combine pearls of non-conventional colors, which are an excellent supplement to classic cream-colored and white pearls;
hair adornments – diadems, stone-encrusted combs and hair clips and pins with strasses, which create an exquisite style of a careless princess.
And finally, one of the leading themes of the jewelry summer – sports. From time to time, jewelry companies employ sporting events for proper positioning, making first of all prizes or establishing their own awards for winners. The present day attention to sports was primarily pinned to the Beijing Olympic Games.
Among the companies, which took part in the “Olympic PR,” we should distinguish Altyn, a jewelry holding, which issued special buying certificates for the members of the Russian team.
The Adamas jewelry company was the organizer of the Gold Olympics in Krasnoyarsk. The main prize of the city sports festival held on August 9 was a flat contested among its participants.
The Kaliningrad Integrated Amber Plant manufactured amber charms for the female participants of the Russian synchronous swimming team.
It should be noted that lately the Kaliningrad Amber Plant was pursuing amber promotion tasks. One may remember that as early as April at the Amber Museum in Kaliningrad there was a discussion dedicated to problems and outlooks of the Kaliningrad amber industry.
In summer, for the first time in 20 years, the amber plant started to run excursions for visitors. During such excursions every sightseer, who is not against it, is offered an opportunity to have a try and make an amber jewelry piece.
Besides, in July the Kaliningrad Amber Plant received an operating license to develop the Malyshevskoye Emerald Field and intends to participate in the tender for a permanent license. As told to the Kommersant-Ural daily by the plant press service, the main aim of the project is to establish a new jewelry brand – “Russian Emeralds,” – which will be assiduously promoted in the West. To realize this goal, there will be needed not less than $100 million worth of investments into the emerald field development of which amount the greater part will be attracted funds.
The current season was meaningful for the Russian football as well, whose success was mainly associated with the “Zenith” team of Saint Petersburg. According to the Komsomolskaya Pravda in Petersburg, now the fans of the club have their own signature treasures, which will significantly diversify the conventional fandom accessories. The fans now will be able to take delight in tie pins, key chains and badges made in gold and silver. The price of a single jewelry piece of this kind runs from 500 to 35,000 roubles. The daily does not disclose the name of the jewelry house, which has taken up the project.
