Archive for March 6th, 2006
Stars come out to shine on the Oscar red carpet
CTV.ca
Updated Sun. Mar. 5 2006 8:11 PM ET
CTV.ca News
Gleaming white teeth, plunging necklines and eye-catching jewelry have become the calling card of the red carpet and this year is no exception.
The breakout colour, perhaps inspired by the much-coveted statue, is a golden yellow. Michelle Williams, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba and Bahar Soomekh, just to name a few, all chose to leave their little black dress at home.
Since most men toe the line with the traditional penguin suit, all eyes are on Hollywood’s better halves - the leading ladies.
The pressure is two-fold; starlets want to stand out from the pack but originality is a fine line that is often rewarded with a place on the worst dressed list.
Keira Knightley, who recently described the Oscars as Hollywood’s dog show and herself as “Britain’s prize poodle,” could easily win best in show with her one-strap burgundy Vera Wang gown and her sparkling vintage Bulgari necklace.
“I can’t actually walk, but I can stand rather well,” Knightley said of her figure-skimming frock.
Amy Adams, up for best supporting actress for her role in “Junebug,” looked fabulous in a brown silky form-fitting dress topped with large dangling earrings.
Oscar presenter Jessica Alba looked ravishing in a glittering gold Versace gown and oval diamond earrings.
Pregnant starlet Rachel Weisz opted for a more conservative look with a simple off-the-shoulder black dress and a neckline that actually left room for the imagination.
Salma Hayek looked great as always with her hair down, in an electric blue halter-style Versace gown.
Hollywood’s men, for their part, appeared not to understand the fashion fuss. When eTalk Daily’s co-host Ben Mulroney asked George Clooney who he was wearing he replied, “I don’t know, I just grabbed the same tux I’ve been wearing forever”.
Tim Burton took a little bit more effort, with a red shirt, a black and white tie and large purple sunglasses. Unfortunately, he didn’t take as much effort with his hair, which looked like he just escaped from a wind storm
March 6th, 2006
LVMH Watch and Jewelry profits spike
National Jeweler
MARCH 03, 2006 - Paris — Profits from the jewelry and watches category at LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 2005 increased fivefold to $45.7 million, the company announced.
The luxury conglomerate attributed the growth to strong performances by TAG Heuer and new products with in the Aquaracer, Link and Carerra ranges and the gold watches the brand designed with Tiger Woods. The group’s Zenith brand benefited at the high end with the Starissime, the first ladies’ watch with a tourbillon. Dior Watches’ Christal line also performed well for the year.
In Europe and Asia, the Chaumet brand showed strong growth for jewelry and watches.
Overall, LVMH posted a 16 percent profit growth in recurring operations in 2005 for a total of $3.3 billion on revenue of $16.3 billion, an operating margin of 20 percent.
The group attributes the growth to robust momentum in organic growth by all business groups and geographic regions despite the negative exchange rates throughout the year.
March 6th, 2006
Pre-Oscars, jewelry does more than sparkle
National Jeweler
By Rebecca L. Fox
MARCH 03, 2006 - Los Angeles — High above Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of dollars in platinum and diamond jewelry that could be wending its way down Oscar’s red carpet come Sunday, Platinum Guild International’s Michael O’Connor was invoking the name of a different kind of celebrity.
“This piece dates back to Catherine the Great,” O’Connor said as he cradled the 67.5-carat Black Orlov Diamond, set in a platinum necklace featuring 108 carats of white marquise and round diamonds.
Rumored to be cursed—legend has it that three previous owners committed suicide—the piece, valued at $200,000, laid in wait alongside the millions in platinum and diamond finery previewed this week by PGI in the penthouse suite of L.A.’s swank Mondrian Hotel.
Also on display were baubles by Christian Bauer, Gumuchian Fils, Ganjam of India—which showed shoulder-dusting platinum and diamond drop earrings capped with smooth, teardrop-shaped emeralds the size of cashews—Erica Courtney, Jacob & Co. and more.
Everything seems heightened during Oscar Week in L.A., and jewelry is no exception. A flurry of previews and events has stylists scurrying from one posh spot to another to pull baubles for star clients, so the sparkle seen emanating from the red carpet or Academy Awards stage by millions of viewers around the world isn’t just Oscar’s golden glow.
Harry Winston held an invitation-only preview at its Beverly Hills boutique Wednesday, as well as myriad appointments with celebrity clients Creative Director Suzy Korba declined to specify, in the uniformly observed pre-Oscar tradition of not naming who’ll be wearing what, lest a last-minute change render the prediction false.
The jeweler’s Oscar events was capped Thursday by a jewelry and wine showcase held at Oscar’s ground zero, the Kodak Theatre, where Winston was the sole jeweler on display, showcasing finery from its expansive vaults.
“This year, people seem to be favoring classic Winston, almost vintage,” Korba said, adding that “dimensional” jewelry was also in demand this year.
But what connection do the millions in jewels celebs swan around in have to the bottom line for a jeweler on Main Street? Plenty, according to Korba, who said the trends that begin at U.S. awards shows crop up at retail, both domestically and worldwide.
“When a chandelier earring is worn at the Academy Awards, it does trickle down and consolidate a trend,” she said. “Our business in Japan, for example, is greatly impacted by the Academy Awards, and elsewhere around the world. The red-carpet jewelry moment does translate into jewelry sales.”
As for styles this Sunday, Korba noted that “lots” of colored diamond jewelry was being sought by Winston clients compared to previous years, along with cluster diamond earrings in pear and marquise shapes and “rich brooches.” For nominees and presenters, who frequently take a hands-on approach at the Academy Awards, Winston’s oversized diamond rings are in consistently high demand.
“There’s something about holding that envelope, or that statue, with a big skating rink on your finger,” Korba said. “It’s a very glamorous moment.”
Over at Kwiat’s Oscar suite in Beverly Hills’ Four Seasons Hotel, Greg Kwiat curated what amounted to an art exhibition, featuring oversized sketches of best actress nominees in Kwiat pieces designed specifically for the star on the Hollywood’s biggest night.
In keeping with both the actress’ own style and current jewelry trends, the items highlighted what the jeweler posits will be significant red-carpet looks this year.
“These are Desperate Housewives meets Hollywood glamour,” Kwiat said of diamond and rhodolite garnet earrings conceived for Felicity Huffman, in a shape he dubbed an “evolved handelier”&3×2014;less broad and branch-like than the early incarnations of the trend, still drawing countless consumer devotees after exploding onto the red carpet three years ago.
Showcasing the color trend many think will abound at this year’s Oscars was a 25-carat amethyst pendant by in a web-like Edwardian setting that punctuated an opera-length diamond necklace. Inspired by Keira Knightley, the youngest best actress nominee this year, the look epitomized her “sexy, edgy” style, according to Kwiat.
Celebrity drop-ins this week at Kwiat’s suite included actor David
Arquette—who left with a diamond circle necklace for wife Courtney Cox Arquette—Alyssa Milano, Patricia Arquette and more. Kwiat avoided naming which Oscar contenders the jeweler was working with, but implied the jeweler might have its own reason to celebrate post-show.
“We’re working with some of the nominees, including one of the lovely ladies seen here,” he said, gesturing toward the wall of best actress sketches.
“We’re still trying to put the perfect look together for her, so we’ll see how it all works out.”
March 6th, 2006
She matches right job with right applicant
The Charlotte Observer
Michelle Fish’s entrepreneurial spirit dates back more than a century, to a great-grandfather who started a diamond and jewelry business in 1903. But she got into the business of employment staffing by accident.
Fish came to Charlotte after graduating college in 1990, eager to trade her sleepy hometown for a bigger city. She was scheduling emergency and same-day surgery at Presbyterian Hospital when she decided to try pharmaceutical sales. The owners of a Fayetteville staffing agency saw her resume and instead recruited her to help them expand to Charlotte. She later joined another agency, staying through its buyout by a public company.
But: “I knew I had to build something, that was just me.”
Fish found a knack for mating the right applicants with the right job. She likes the fast pace, the challenge of learning about a client’s business and understanding the personalities.
She learned that smarts aren’t enough. Fish looks for job candidates who are upbeat, emotionally stable, self-aware, not prone to wallow in negative feelings or suffer bouts of intense jealousy, people who think before they speak, people in tune with what’s around them and able to adapt.
In 1998, she co-founded a staffing company. To conserve cash, she leased a lot of the furniture, computers and other equipment. That ended up costing more in the long run — a mistake Fish says she won’t make again.
She sold out of that business after a few years, met Robert Fish, wed and started Integra in 2002. He’s the chief operating officer. So like her grandparents in the diamond business, she works daily with her husband. But he’s the numbers guy, busy keeping the business running.
“We very seldom see each other,” Michelle Fish said. “We need a date night to catch up.” — Stella Hopkins AGE: 37.
March 6th, 2006
Children’s Toy Jewelry Recalled Due to Aspiration Hazard
Kansas City InfoZine
The recalled jewelry could break, releasing small beads that pose an aspiration hazard to young children.
Washington, D.C. - infoZine - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.
Name of Product: “Girl Favors” Children’s Toy Jewelry
Units: About 144,500 sets
Importer: MTC - Man’s Trading Company, of Brisbane, Calif.
Hazard: The recalled jewelry could break, releasing small beads that pose an aspiration hazard to young children.
Incidents/Injuries: None reported.
Description: The jewelry includes various colored plastic bead bracelets, rings and necklaces on elastic strings. They were sold under the brand name “Girl Favors” and had the following item numbers and writing on the packaging
old at: Various dollar stores nationwide from July 2003 through December 2005 for about $1.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should take these recalled items away from children immediately and discard them or return them to the store where purchased for a refund.
Consumer Contact: Contact MTC-Man’s Trading Company at (800) 388-7228 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or fax to them at (415) 468-7300. Consumers also can contact the company via email at mtcmans@aol.com, or on their Web site at www.mtcmans.com
March 6th, 2006
Buffet:Major Acquisitions Needed
By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer
ABC News
OMAHA, Neb. Mar 5, 2006 (AP)— Big purchases will be needed to improve Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s earnings in future years, chairman Warren Buffett wrote in his annual letter to shareholders.
But whenever Buffett’s successor takes over the Omaha-based investment company, finding those major acquisitions to fuel Berkshire’s growth is likely to become more difficult especially in the first few years.
Buffett sparked speculation about his successor by writing that the company board had unanimously decided who should succeed Buffett. Buffett called 2005 a “decent year” for Berkshire as the company’s net earnings grew nearly 17 percent to $8.528 billion.
“Over the years, our current businesses, in aggregate, should deliver modest growth in operating earnings,” Buffett wrote in the letter, released Saturday. “But they will not in themselves produce truly satisfactory gains. We will need major acquisitions to get that job done.”
Steve Kaplan, a University of Chicago professor of finance and expert in corporate governance, said people bring deals to Buffett now because of who he is and that won’t happen with a new CEO.
“The reason people are willing to sell to Berkshire Hathaway is because of Buffett, not because it’s Berkshire,” Kaplan said.
Just consider the five acquisitions Berkshire made in the past year. The purchases of Business Wire and Forest River happened because executives at those companies wrote Buffett offering to sell.
“He sees deals that other people don’t,” Kaplan said. “That will not be true of his replacement.”
The “Oracle of Omaha” built a 1956 partnership of four relatives and three close friends into a holding company with total assets of $198.3 billion at the end of 2005. Berkshire owns furniture, carpet, jewelry and candy companies, restaurants, natural gas and corporate jet firms and has major investments in such companies as Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch and Wells Fargo & Co.
“Nobody is Buffett or can be expected to be Buffett,” said Andy Kilpatrick, the stockbroker who wrote “Of Permanent Value, the Story of Warren Buffett.”
March 6th, 2006
Costume jewelry party
AUTHOR OF ‘FABULOUS FAKES’ WILL JUDGE YOUR PIECE WHEN YOU BUY HER NEW BOOK
BY MARTA SALIJ
FREE PRESS BOOKS WRITER
Can a woman ever have too many fabulous jewels?
This is a question we put to Carole Tanenbaum, collector extraordinaire of antique and vintage costume jewelry.
Too many? Consider: She has more than 3,500 pieces in her personal collection and more than 8,000 in her retail Carole Tanenbaum Vintage Collection. (Ogle them at www.truefaux.com.)
Fabulous? Oh, yes. She has a particular love for bold, colorful jewelry from the 1950s, the sort of statement-making pieces that take a strong personality to carry off.
Which Tanenbaum cheerfully agrees she has. “I love the ‘wow’ factor of ’50s jewelry,” she says by phone from her home in Toronto. “Like my personality is kind of bigger than life, so is my jewelry. I’m a very small person — I’m 5-feet — but I wouldn’t think twice about wearing three pins at one time or multiple necklaces.
“I love the rhinestones, I love the color that was used and I love the scale of the ’50s.”
Now, Tanenbaum is sharing her love of jewelry from all eras in a book, “Fabulous Fakes: A Passion for Vintage Costume Jewelry,” and a tour that will bring her to the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Rochester Hills Wednesday evening
“It’s a passion that I’ve had for more than 20 years,” she says. “I’ve worked very hard at trying to find the special pieces … really art pieces, objects of art rather than jewelry, in many cases.”
Celebrity styles
“Fabulous Fakes” offers hundreds of mouth-watering, full-color photos of jewelry from the late Victorian period through today, bracketed by Tanenbaum’s stories of how history and personalities became reflected in jewelry.
One surprise in her research was to discover the extent of the feud between Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli in the first half of the 20th Century. You know Chanel: the creator of slim, simple suits that begged for multiple costume jewels to adorn them.
As for “Schiap,” as she was called, she’s the designer who coined “shocking pink” as a name for her favorite color. She also dreamed up new ways for women to dress and adorn themselves with costume jewelry, but there the resemblance ends, Tanenbaum says.
Chanel’s designs were classic and elegant, she writes. Schiap’s were influenced by surrealism and were bolder and more daring, with unusual colors of crystals often used in pear and octagonal shapes in the same piece. Those are much-sought by collectors today, Tanenbaum says.
Other personalities loomed over jewelry in unexpected ways, Tanenbaum discovered.
Queen Victoria, for one.
“Really, all of the Victorian era was influenced … all of the jewelry that was made was influenced by what Queen Victoria did,” she says.
Take the jet mourning jewelry that came into vogue then or the jewelry woven from the hair of a loved one, which seems a little morbid to modern eyes. We have Victoria’s protracted mourning of Prince Albert to thank for that, Tanenbaum says. Victoria’s influence continues today, she says, “like when you have a baby and you cut off the baby’s first locks and keep them,” she says.
Advice for collectors
The photos and histories in “Fabulous Fakes” are fun, but many readers will want to know how to start a collection themselves.
Tanenbaum herself buys with an eye to condition first, and that’s her advice for new collectors. Look for pieces in excellent, original condition and pass by pieces that have been remade or renovated.
“If I needed a piece to fill in a certain area in my collection, and the condition is not great, I would buy it until I found another one to substitute it out when I find one in great condition,” she says.
Another question: What’s the difference between costume and fine jewelry?
Today, she says, the line is well-drawn: Fine jewelry has precious stones and is set in gold or platinum. Most everything else is costume.
But in earlier eras, some semiprecious stones figured in what would today be collected as fine antique jewelry.
Other pieces, such as the Scottish plaid pins she shows in her book, are carved from agate, malachite, bloodstone and even granite — no sparkly gemstones at all. Nonetheless, they are highly collectible.
As for eBay and Web sites such as www.rubylane.com and www.trocadero, among many others, Tanenbaum thinks they’re a boon to collectors — if buyers approach them with proper care.
“When they go to an antique show, or when they go to the store, they can see eye-to-eye the person who is selling it to them,” she says. “They can examine the piece, they can ask questions about the piece, etc. Online, you know, it’s ‘buyer beware.’ ”
To protect yourself, don’t even bid unless you have an assurance from sellers that they’ll take the piece back, should you discover it’s not what was advertised.
Tanenbaum has bought many pieces in her existing collection from online sellers, but she avoids the types of jewelry that counterfeiters seem to target — for instance, the much-collected mid-century jewelry of Miriam Haskell.
“I would never buy a Haskell on the Internet,” she says. “Eighty percent of those Haskells on the Internet are embellished ‘Haskells.’ ”
In January, Katie Hafner of the New York Times published a story about the growing discontent among jewelry collectors over fakes on eBay, such as fake Weiss brooches.
“That’s very discouraging because generally, when something is reproduced, it’s a high-end item, and people can get a lot of money for it,” Tanenbaum says. “But Weiss jewelry is generally not that expensive. The Weiss butterflies, the authentic Weiss butterflies, are not expensive. So it’s curious to me that anyone would reproduce them, when you can get the real thing for anywhere from $45 to $75.”
If you’re looking for an area to collect that hasn’t been picked over, Tanenbaum suggests you look at Bakelite dress clips — not the much-collected (and faked) Bakelite bangles.
Or consider wooden figural jewelry from between the world wars that was handmade, not mass-produced.
“It just hasn’t caught on yet,” she says. “I love the pieces, and I think that one day they’ll be popular.”
And if you have the money, buy present-day jewelry created for couture collections, such as Giorgio Armani or Miuccia Prada pieces. The jewelry is made in small quantities to create a fashion statement, so it’s often very original.
“Though it’s expensive today,” she
March 6th, 2006
Silver spoons
News-Star
Linda Brown and her sister-in-law Anita have discovered a creative use for antique silverware: creating rings, bracelets and other pieces of jewelry
Wearing a plush red fleece, Betty Nolan lingered beside a display of silver jewelry made from unlikely materials — twisted forks, spoons and knives.
Nolan, a repeat customer at Rio Rose Antique Mall in West Monroe, moved down the glass counter, where she glimpsed silver bookmarks chiseled from the tips of antique spoons.
“There are no two pieces alike,” she said, pointing to an array of knife-shaped pens. “You really can’t find it anywhere else.”
Standing to the side of her jewelry case, Farmerville crafter Linda Brown stifled a smile. For 11 years Brown has crafted intricate jewelry — rings, earrings, bracelets — from silverware scoured from auctions, antique malls and estate sales. Sterling silver pieces sell for upwards of $40, but Brown’s reward doesn’t come from the money she makes by selling her work.
“I love to have someone come up to me and say, ‘I bought this stuff for my family and friends and they all love it,’” said Brown, 55.
In a society of disposable napkins, paper plates and plastic utensils, Brown’s jewelry is more than a fashion statement.
It resurrects once-precious family heirlooms and extends the shelf life of silverware relegated to attics and auction blocks.
It all began with a simple ring.
In 1995, Brown sat with her sister-in-law, Anita Brown, and stared at a silver spoon.
They recalled the spoon rings of their teenage years. Then, the rings were as fashionable as leather jackets and trench coats. The fashion craze wore well into the 1970s.
Anita Brown wondered if they could breathe new life into the dead trend.
Her brother Joe, Linda Brown’s husband, got to work. He created tools that would cut the stem of the spoon, smooth it and bend it into a perfect circle.
Linda Brown took over from there.
She crafted her first silver ring that she now keeps in a special box at her home, a reminder of an ordinary beginning.
Thousands of bracelets and necklaces followed. Then came bud vases, pens, pacifier holders, recipe cardholders, bookmarks, lapel pins and earrings.
The Browns craft the majority of pieces from silver-plated utensils, which cost less than sterling, but still contain at least four coats of silver. Silver-plated items cost between $5 and $30.
They took their silver on the road, traveling to Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas. At an annual craft show in Canton, Miss., craft enthusiasts turn up at 5 a.m., bearing flashlights, to pore over new creations.
“Sometimes I lay awake at night, thinking of what else we can make,” said Anita Brown, 60, who sells her silver jewelry in Farmerville.
Customers traipse into the Rio Rose mall daily, where Linda Brown keeps her only booth in Ouachita Parish.
“It’s mostly women, of all ages, wanting to know how they can get the jewelry,” said Bernie Nolan, the mall’s owner.
Not everyone shares the enthusiasm. The jewelry, say the Browns, is “love-it-or-hate-it.”
Silver collectors scoff at the liberty the women take to cut up and retool antique pieces.
Many of the molds for the silverware are more than 100 years old. But most customers appreciate the work.
“We have a lot of grandmothers who call and say, ‘Will you make something out of my silverware?’ because they want to give it to their daughters and granddaughters,” said Anita Brown.
Linda Brown, who works part-time as a nursing home cook, never expected the work to last this long.
It can take her minutes to hours to craft a piece.
Rings come easy now. When she gets stuck, Brown escapes from her workshop to hunt and fish.
She lets herself think about anything but jewelry, then returns to work, her head fresh with new ideas.
“Usually that solves the problem,” she said.
Her ideas come from her own life, often as solutions to domestic problems. Once as Brown sat in her kitchen, she stared at a china cup and saucer.
She didn’t like the way they looked, standing on the counter.
“I thought they needed to hang,” she said.
So she ordered strong wire, bent the base of a fork and soldered the wire to the fork’s top.
The result? An elegant silver stand that displays the china pieces.
Today her most popular items are pacifier holders. She’s recently started adding beads to her silver spoon necklaces. She crafts earrings to match.
Lapel pins that hold fresh flowers remain a popular pick for weddings.
Like Betty Nolan, many customers repeat.
“I’m getting to the point now where it’s hard to come up with ideas because I’ve made so many things,” Brown said, letting her fingers catch the light on a case of silver rings.
Both Browns take comfort in the notion that their craft keeps a piece of history vibrant and viable.
“People will use it everyday,” Anita Brown said. “It’s not just stuck away in a drawer or in the attic.”
March 6th, 2006
A virtual garden of Eden
TriCities.com
What: Snakes and the Fairer Sex: an Honors Thesis Exhibit of Work by Jennifer Culp Wood
Where: Slocumb Gallery
When: February 27th through March 3rd, gallery hours: 9am to 4.30pm
Jennifer Culp Wood, a metalsmithing student in ETSU’s Department of Art and Design has created a virtual garden of Eden in ETSU’s Slocumb Gallery this week. Her work, consisting of jewelry and wearable art, is sexy and sexual, challenging conventional ideas about jewelry, women and beauty.
The pieces are attractive, their drawing power being their sleek, bold design. But look closely enough, and you find danger. Snakes abound in the work, with jeweled eyes and hinged scales. In her artist’s statement, Wood discusses the way that women are perceived and treated as a result, and draws on biblical and mythological imagery to drive that message home…hence the snakes and the fruit.
This work is a small fraction of what can be enjoyed in Slocumb Gallery this year. Every week, students who are graduating will be showing their B.F.A. and M.F.A. portfolios. This is a wonderful opportunity to see what our local artists are creating, and the gallery and openings are free to the public. The Gallery is located in the first floor of Ball Hall on the campus of East Tennessee State University.
If you would like to contact Jennifer about her work, she can be reached at jenncwood@gmail.com. An updated calendar of Slocumb exhibits is found at the website of ETSU’s Department of Art and Design.
March 6th, 2006
