ABAZIAS EXPANDS ITS OFFERING TO MEN’S JEWELRY
22 March 2006/Tacy
Abazias Diamonds has completed the expansion of their online offerings with a new line of affordable, non-engagement jewelry. The new line features diamond stud earrings starting at just US$100 a pair to US$2,000.
The next step for the new line will be the addition of the ready-to-wear Paris Hilton watch line. In addition, the new line will also reach a previously untouched demographic, the young male shopper. Abazias’ previous online offerings were restricted to engagement and wedding rings with a small sampling of women’s jewelry, while the new line includes jewelry designed for men.
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“Abazias has had increasingly successful sales figures over the past year. That financial success has allowed us to expand into what we feel is an area ripe with possibility. It is a win-win situation as fashion jewelry carries the additional advantage of having higher margin on average than our diamonds, and we are broadening our customer base,” explains Oscar Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer of Abazias.
March 23rd, 2006
Rare costume jewelry a boon for collectors
El Paso Times
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 “Fabulous Fakes: A Passion for Vintage Costume Jewelry.”
“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.”
“Fabulous Fakes” offers hundreds of 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. 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.
The photos and histories in ” Fabulous Fakes” are fun, but many readers will want to know how to start a collection themselves. Tanenbaum buys with an eye to condition first, and that’s her advice for new collectors. Look for pieces in excellent, original condition.
As for eBay and Web sites such as www.rubylane.com and www.trocadero. com, 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.’ ”
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-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. 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 says, “it’ll be the Mona Lisas of tomorrow.”
March 23rd, 2006
Sophia Loren Says Jewelry Helps Beauty Shine Through
Starpulse.com
Screen legend Sophia Loren urges women to enhance their beauty by wearing dazzling jewels. The glamorous Italian actress, 71, believes a woman must realize her own beauty for it to shine through, while adorning herself in beautiful jewelery.
She says, “Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than being convinced that she is indeed beautiful. And only a jewel renders this state of mind more real. The hands are very important; they speak the language of the gestures - just like the mouth. They should be colored with jewels just like the mouth is colored with lipstick.”
She added, “Also a woman’s dress must be like a metallic fence, it should serve its purpose without obstructing the view.”
March 23rd, 2006
22nd International Jewelry Fair Opens In Istanbul
Anatolian Times
ISTANBUL - The 22nd International Jewelry, Silver, Watch and Equipment Fair was inaugurated in Turkish commercial hub of Istanbul on Wednesday.
Gold jewelry, diamond jewelry, all kinds of stones & pearls, silver jewelry & households, watches & clocks, mountings, machinery, tools & equipment, display units, security devices, and software are being displayed at the fair opened at the CNR Expo Center.
905 firms, including 365 foreign firms from Italy, Hong Kong, Thailand and Spain, join this year’s fair.
More than 40,000 people are expected to visit the fair which will stay open till March 26th.
March 23rd, 2006
