Madonna’s fifties anniversary is one of the most prominent events in the world of celebrities in August. To mark the occasion, her name was repeatedly mentioned along with the names of the most popular jewelry brands. In particular, it was mentioned that her husband Guy Ritchie ordered for her a Bulgari diamond necklace worth half a million dollars. The Jewelry.com blog presented a photo story of the singer’s relationship with jewelry brands and illustrated the way Madonna changed her tastes in different periods of her life. Among the mentioned jewelry pieces there is a Chopard knuckle ring she posed with for the cover of her latest album in spring 2008.
In the opinion of the blog authors, Madonna still remains one of the ambassadors of present-day jewelry trends. Small and even large chains of different lengths and metals worn simultaneously are one of such trends, according to Jewelry.com.
Beyonce Knowles is another star who has a long and strong association with the world of jewelry fashion. As a rule, she appears in public wearing Lorraine Schwartz jewelry. Her wedding ring featuring an at least 18 carat emerald-cut diamond is worth $ 5 million.
The Lorraine Schwartz trademark is popular among Hollywood celebrities. This brand’s jewelry, apart from Beyonce, is worn by other hip-hop stars. They not only wear it, they mention Lorraine Schwartz in their songs along with Jacob the Jeweler – Jacob Arabo.
Currently, Beyonce Knowles intends to release her own collection of jewels at affordable prices. Jewelry industry sources report that Deréon, the junior sportswear brand founded by the Knowles, has inked a deal with Carolee Jewelry to create a fashion jewelry collection for the label. The line is expected to hit stores in spring.
Maria Sharapova, a Russian-born world tennis star, unveiled five Canon PowerShot ELPH diamond-studded cameras at a special presentation in New York. The price of each of the five cameras made in different colors is around $12,000. These cameras were raffled off at Powershot.com, MarketWatch reports. The presentation was part of the new Canon advertising campaign.
This was not the first time the tennis player had to pose with diamond encrusted photographic equipment – thus, recently Rio Tinto Diamonds gave a camera featuring an Argyle pink diamond studded “M” charm on its wrist band to the tennis star as a gift.
Accessorizing watches, phones and cameras with diamonds is presenting a whole new range for jewelers, Rio Tinto experts believe.
In early September, diamond brand Kwiat launched an immense action on the occasion of their flagship opened in Manhattan celebrating their venture into the area of exclusive jewelry stores along Madison Avenue.
The party’s host was Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson, who accessorized her emerald-green cocktail dress with some of the brand’s diamond pieces and leaned across the counter to try on more as photographers snapped away, NationalJeweler reports.
It is Kwiat’s first retail store and part of the company’s efforts to make its name known. Kwiat is neighboring to such bold-faced jewelry brands as Graff, Leviev, Honora and DiModolo.
According to Russell Kwiat, the company is considering further stores, but is looking globally in shopping hot spots such as Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Russia.
Let us remind you that Jennifer Hudson, the black star of Hollywood, sometimes named as “Black Marilyn,” is often the face of events organized by jewelry companies. For instance, one year ago she took part in Tiffany’s Blue Book presentation along with Diana Ross.
On September 7, there was held a ceremony of MTV Video Music Awards. As NationalJeweler says, this tends to be among the most colorful of the awards shows, and this year’s event didn’t disappoint the viewing audience.
Among the biggest diamond trends were blinged-out bracelets, big stud earrings for both the ladies and gentlemen, and dramatic right-hand rings.
Talked-about looks included Rihanna in Loree Rodkin diamonds, Demi Moore in Cartier and Pink in Neil Lane.
Additional designers who got a lot of love on the MTV red carpet included Bochic, Erica Courtney, H. Stern, LeVian and Platt Jewelry.
Dancing with the Stars co-host Samantha Harris will play master of ceremonies at the Jewelry Information Center’s (JIC) 2009 GEM Awards to be held on January 9, 2009.
A renowned entertainment-news journalist, in addition to her work on ABC’s hit variety show, Harris is a correspondent for E! Networks’ news.
”Samantha Harris is recognized for her elegance, poise and, of course, for heightening our industry’s awareness to consumers by wearing beautiful fine jewelry on Dancing with the Stars,” JIC Board Chairman David Bouffard said in a media release. “We are thrilled to have Samantha as our new host.”
JIC launched the GEM Awards in 2003 to honor leaders in the industry and media who have helped to promote the wearing of fine jewelry and watches to the consumer.
The U.S. presidential election campaign broke on the coverage of events in the jewelry industry in the summer-autumn period of 2008. Mass media is closely following the presidential candidates’ wives and have already noted that both of them are wearing pearl jewelry. The return of the brooch into the mandatory accessories of a fashion abiding woman was illustrated by Jewelry.com with a publication about Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic Convention.
At the final of the election campaign all its highlights have shifted and Michelle Obama may now encounter competition from Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
It is assumed that American celebrities start their mornings looking through Page Six of the New York Post, one of the oldest U.S. newspapers. The daily continues to trace Jacob Arabov’s life. In spring, its correspondents disrupted a benefit night to be held at the Jacob & Co. boutique. Now, releasing an article titled Jail-Bound Bling King is All ‘Dun’ the paper “sped” him to jail.
Arabov pleaded guilty in June to falsifying records and giving false statements in connection with drug-money laundering and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, the publication reminds.
In a prepared statement, he said: “Jacob Arabov is putting together a business plan that will ensure the continued growth of Jacob & Co. while he is absent.”
It was Jacob’s generosity toward the hip-hop world that took him from a stall in the Diamond District to the Madison Avenue store that he runs today.
Whether through ignorance or greed, he moved from serving musical gangstas to real ones, doing cash business with a drug ring called the Black Mafia Family, or BMF.
Federal investigators accused him of money laundering; Arabov recently pled guilty to obstruction and falsifying records.
For the tight-knit community of Bukharian Jews in Forest Hills, Queens, it’s a stunning turnaround.
At age 14, Arabov fled Tashkent, Uzbekistan, after his father, a successful wine and vodka manufacturer, was forced to surrender most of his assets to the authorities (as the newspaper asserts).
At 16, Jacob took a class in jewelry making. By 18, he was employing 10 jewelers. Arabov was able to land the business of hip-hop’s finest because of his outrageous designs - like a 50-carat crucifix for Diddy - but mostly by treating them with the sort of respect often denied them by the mainstream.
Rappers paid him back reciprocally. Jacob’s name has been dropped in at least 45 songs by prominent hip-hop artists. Arabov lived with his wife and their three sons in a multimillion-dollar mansion in Forest Hills, while being driven in a Maybach worth $500,000.
But in June 2006, Arabov arrived at his office to find a phalanx of police and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents waiting with an arrest warrant.
A federal indictment alleged that Arabov had helped the leaders of the mafia ring use proceeds from drug sales to buy jewelry in a way designed to hide the source of the money. Arabov at first denied the cash payments.
His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said Arabov’s main crime was panic.
“Unbeknownst to Jacob, these people were working in the drug industry. When the FBI showed up at his door and asked him about it, he panicked and lied to them. But he was never involved in money laundering.”
But Assistant US Attorney Dawn Ison said Arabov knew what he was doing. “I think it’s just basic greed,” she said.
Arabov once said his father always told him, “Whatever you do in life, son, you always have to do it the finest, the best. Otherwise, don’t do it.”
On January 15, his father’s advice unheeded, Jacob Arabov will replace the bling of diamond watches for the clink of a cellblock door, the New York Post sums up.
As if for contrast, the same issue of the daily features an article about a rising star in jewelry design, Ivanka Trump. At just 26, Ivanka Trump reigns over her father Donald’s real estate kingdom, runs her own jewelry company and may or may not be dating NYC’s most eligible bachelor, the daily says. The double lariat necklace around Ivanka’s neck is from her jewelry line, aptly called the Ivanka Trump Collection, which launched in September 2007. According to Ivanka, the line is designed off her personality and her aesthetic. The diamond tassel she’s wearing today, for example, is “feminine but with a modern twist on old Hollywood.” It retails for $140,000 at Ivanka’s marquee store on Madison Avenue.
