Archive for March, 2008
Bali Bohemian: Santa Cruz jewelry artist Vanessa Montiel has followed her artistic inspiration, and it’s led all the way to Oprah
Santa Cruz Sentinel, CAÂ
WALLACE BAINE - Sentinel staff writer
Article Launched:Â 03/30/2008 01:39:29 AM PDT
As she lies in her bed at night in Bali, waiting for sleep to arrive on the sweet tropical air, Vanessa Montiel can sometimes hear the far-off sounds of gamelan floating across the rice fields. That’s the musical manifestation of the spiritual essence of this South Pacific island, an essence that will inspire her the next morning to get out of bed, go for a head-clearing session of surfing, and then dive into her creative work till sundown.
Privileged self-indulgence? Hardly.
From her perch in Bali, Montiel has started a thriving small company that has allowed her to reach a career pinnacle that would be the envy of any artist in the world. Her work has reached the most famous woman in the world.
On the cover of this week’s Oprah magazine, there is the magazine’s cover girl, the iconic lifestyle maven Oprah Winfrey, wearing, for all the world to see, Vanessa Montiel’s jewelry — better than that even, Oprah is bringing her hand up to her ear, practically pointing to those earrings. Short of Princess Diana descending from the heavens looking fabulous for her resurrection, there is no other set of ears that an earring maker would more want to adorn.
Perhaps, in her quieter moments, Oprah can hear that gamelan music as well.
Montiel lives in Bali only part of the year — four to six months. The rest of her life is spent in Santa Cruz, which has been her home base for 16 years. An artist and world traveler,Advertisement
jewelry is only her latest creative obsession. But it’s a significant first in her artistic career.
“This is the first time I tried to do something that’s business-oriented,” said Montiel, 35. “I’ve always done art projects, and I’ve begged for money. And the nature of my projects were always ephemeral and purposely didn’t last.”
Montiel’s work has run the gamut from efforts to document the living conditions in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, to designing and building elaborate pyrotechnic sculptures as part of the Flaming Lotus Girls at Burning Man.
But it’s her jewelry, an endeavor she’s only pursued for the last couple of years, that’s taken off in the marketplace. Her earrings, necklaces and bracelets are displayed in the showrooms of retailers around the world, including the prestigious Barney’s in New York.
And if you want to quibble with the assertion that Oprah is the world’s most famous woman, Montiel’s jewelry has also found its way into the possession of Britney Spears, as well as Bonnie Raitt, Anoushka Shankar and Vanessa Hudgins.
And it all started in Bali.
Montiel’s niche in the marketplace is built around the buffalo horn indigenous to Bali, one of the most visited islands of the Indonesian archipelago. The horn comes from the black water buffalo, which is a common livestock animal on the island.
“I’m in love with the people of Bali and their culture and the island itself. Of all the places I’ve been, [the Balinese] are the most spiritual people I’ve ever come across. They have a very interesting spirituality. They’re Hindu mixed with Buddhist, overlaid with their indigenous religion, which is an animistic religion. So they’re very reverent to the earth.”
Inspired by the natural forms found on Bali, particularly the buffalo horn, Montiel began making casts of hand-carved buffalo horn, which is a byproduct of Balinese consumption of buffalo meat.
“Everything is just very alive there,” she said. “There is the presence of God in everything. I believe firmly that it’s a big part of the success I’ve had, because I’m in reverence to the people and the island, and it’s been good to me in return. And the buffalo horn is a very magical material which is imbued with that [sense of reverence].”
She has designed and created two collections of jewelry so far. But, of course, none of this high-profile success just happened. Montiel worked to get it noticed. In late 2006, she traveled to Los Angeles with her jewelry in an effort to get it in stores that mattered. She went to L.A.’s most chichi shops and approached retailers. She had some success with that method and decided to use that kind of initiative to get the attention of Barney’s of New York.
“Barney’s is the place to be. If you get into Barney’s, it’s like you’ve entered the kingdom of God.”
Because of that desirability, Barney’s is all but unapproachable for designers not already well-connected. So Montiel found a back door in, coaxing a phone number out of shipping employees at a Barney’s facility in New Jersey. She called the number and convinced the buyers at Barney’s to look at her stuff.
Then, she went to New York, where she took part in an “open see,” an opportunity for unknown designers to show their wares for the buyers at another hot New York company, Henri Bendel.
“Yes, I stood in line at 5 in the morning in the cold blistering wind,” she said.
Eventually, that kind of work paid off. Before the Oprah cover, Montiel’s jewelry was featured in Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire and now Glamour magazine has called, expressing interest.
Montiel believes her jewelry is resonating with current fashion trends in which the “ethnic Bohemian” look is currently fashionable. The buffalo horn has given her a unique stamp to her work, which has been to her advantage in the highly competitive world of jewelry design.
But, she said, she’s also interested in doing more than only buffalo-horn work. She’s interested in expanding out from there, and she is inspired by nature in her shapes and designs from the botanical forms found in Bali to other animal forms. Included in her latest collection — in fact, she said, it’s the central piece to the collection — is a necklace featuring a mold of a penis bone of a raccoon.
“For me, as a woman, I think it’s a very powerful symbol to wear something like that,” she said.
Her success has also made her careful not to retreat solely into her artistic inspirations. The earrings that Oprah is wearing on the cover of her magazine, for instance, are hoops, not something that Montiel was interested in making or wearing. But she took the form and brought her style to bear on it.
“The thing that really buzzes my creativity is trying to identify what’s going on in pop culture and respond to that. Otherwise, I’m in my little bubble.”
Montiel hasn’t seen many changes in demand for her jewelry since the Oprah magazine hit the stands earlier this month. But, she said, she’ll follow wherever this new, unexpected career path leads her.
“I never got the concept that you weren’t supposed to do what you really wanted to do. So I’ve followed my dreams, and it’s led me down some interesting paths, that have always been art-related. My company’s motto is ‘Follow Your Dreams.’ And that’s kind of my life.”
For more information on Vanessa Montiel’s jewelry, go to vanessamontiel.com.
Contact Wallace Baine at wbaine@santacruzsentinel.com.
March 31st, 2008
Jewelry Exhibits Sparkle
Korea Times, South Korea
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
World-renowned jewelry houses Van Cleef & Arpels and Tiffany & Co. are adding sparkle to Seoul this month, as their dazzling jewels are on display in two separate exhibitions.
Visitors will have the chance to learn about the two companies’ long history and appreciate their creative jewelry designs. Among the beautiful jewelry pieces that will fascinate visitors are an exquisite Van Cleef & Arpels tiara worn by Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, and the huge yellow diamond in Tiffany’s stunning “Bird on a Rock.”
Van Cleef & Arpels
French jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels opened its “Jewels of Eternal Glamour and Excellence” exhibit Thursday, at Shinsegae Main Store, Myeong-dong. It runs through Friday, April 4.
The exhibit features 130 pieces illustrating Van Cleef & Arpels creativity and high-quality craftsmanship throughout its 102-year history. The brand’s story begins with the marriage between Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels. The first shop was opened at no. 22 Place Vendome in Paris in 1906, where it remains as its flagship store until today.
Van Cleef & Arpels has carefully cultivated its image of luxury and style throughout the decades. It is easy to see why, with the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, Maria Callas, Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johanssen wearing the jewels.
When Princess Grace married Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956, she received wedding jewelry composed of a set of diamond and pearl necklace, bracelet and earrings specially made by Van Cleef & Arpels. The exhibit features an elegant diamond tiara worn by Princess Grace during the wedding day of her daughter Princess Caroline in 1978.
Visitors will also be able to uncover the secret behind Van Cleef & Arpels’ legendary “mystery setting,” a technique that holds the gems in place without showing the gemstone settings. One example is the “peony clip,” (1937) made of 700 square-cut rubies, 6 oval-shaped rubies, 43 baguette-cut diamonds in a platinum setting.
There are numerous pieces that will catch visitors’ attention, such as delicate ballerina and fairy brooches, a Picasso clock, diamond-encrusted ribbon clips and exotic Indian and Chinese-inspired necklaces.
The latest Van Cleef collection “Atlantide,” inspired by the lost city of Atlantis, is shown in Seoul for the first time.
The value of all the jewels on display to estimated to be more than 20 million euros (approximately US$32 million). The Van Cleef & Arpels exhibit runs through April 4 at the Culture Hall, located on the 10th floor of Shinsegae Main Store (Hoehyeon station Line 4).
Tiffany & Co.
“The Jewels of Tiffany (1837-2007)” at the Hangaram Design Museum showcases almost 200 pieces of jewelry made by Tiffany & Co. in the last 170 years.
Charles Lewis Tiffany founded the company in 1837, starting out as a stationary store in New York. Its international reputation grew, as it won various prizes at expositions around the world.
In pop culture, the brand is forever linked with Audrey Hepburn, thanks to the classic 1961 film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” which was based on Truman Capote’s novel. Today, young women adore the “Return to Tiffany’s” bracelet, and hope to receive a Tiffany’s diamond engagement ring.
The Tiffany exhibit is divided into 10 sections, starting with the company’s history and shows its opulent designs throughout the years. There are sections devoted to nature-inspired designs, Art Deco and designs by G. Paulding Farnham and Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of the founder.
Tiffany’s has created unique jewelry and accessories such as orchid brooches, crystal scent bottles, sterling silver spurs, cigar cases and watches using silver, gold, pearls, diamonds and other precious gems.
Many of the pieces were owned by famous people such as a pearl necklace and brooch worn by American First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, and a diamond brooch worn as a belt decoration by Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife, Empress Eugenie.
However, the highlight is the “Bird on a Rock,” featuring one of the largest yellow diamonds in the world and designed by Jean Schlumberger.
The works of designers Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso (daughter of Pablo Picasso) and architect Frank Gehry are also on display.
“The Jewels of Tiffany” runs through June 6 at Hangaram Design Museum, Seoul Arts Center (Nambu Bus Terminal Line 3, exit 5). Admission is 12,000 won, but discounts available for students and senior citizens. For more information, call (02) 3471-3641-2 or visit http://www.Tiffany170years.com.
cathy@koreatimes.co.kr
March 31st, 2008
RICHIE LAUNCHES JEWELRY LINE
San Francisco Chronicle, USAÂ
Nicole Richie is set to extend her portfolio of moneymaking ventures: She is launching her own jewelry line.
The reality TV socialite is designing pieces, which will be produced by Mouawad, the exclusive jewelers behind supermodel Heidi Klum’s fine jewelry collection, according to People.
And the new mum is ecstatic with the way the production process is going, because she can fit in time for designing as she looks after her newborn daughter, Harlow Winter.
She says, “It’s all costume jewelry. I like to play with jewelry and mix and match. (I’m working with) this really talented woman named Shelley Gibbs. She’s an artist and she sketches everything.
“Everyone’s been really mellow and able to work around my schedule. If I need to go feed the baby, I do it.”
As well as the jewelry project, Richie, who already has author, actress and singer on her resume, is launching a children’s clothes range in addition to rumors of plans for her own fragrance, reports People.com.
March 26th, 2008
Jewelry-making a step up for African woman via Flower Mound church
Dallas Morning News, TX
Local Methodist church helps Mozambique families toward self-sufficiency
08:37 PM CDT on Saturday, March 22, 2008
By SHAWN FLOYD / The Dallas Morning News
sfloyd@dallasnews.com
Barb Williams has been traveling to Mozambique for 10 years to help the people there learn English and improve their way of life.
As much as she put into it, there was still something missing.
“We needed someone who could set up some sort of business,” said Ms. Williams, a member of Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church in Flower Mound. “Diane Bishop did that with the jewelry business.”
Jewelry-making skills in hand, Ms. Bishop traveled to Chicuque in Africa for the first time in 2006 to teach the women in that country what she knows. She has been back twice more.
What she finds each time she returns is a group of 75 women who want the best for their families.
“They’re struggling to feed their families,” Ms. Bishop said. “They value education.”
In order for their children to get an education, they make the jewelry in Mozambique. The jewelry is sold in the U.S.
The program is called Seeds of Hope. It is called that because at first the women had only seeds with which to make the jewelry. Now, Ms. Bishop has seen to it that they also have beads and pearls.
Making the jewelry is just one part of the program to help the Mozambique women and their families become self-sufficient.
“Our goal is to give them some skills so they can stand up on their own,” Ms. Williams said. “They don’t want to be dependent on us. So our whole goal is to work ourselves out of a job,”
There is a lot of give and take before the goal of self-sufficiency is reached.
“We try not to impose too many American ways on them,” Ms. Williams said. “They teach us some wonderful spiritual values. They teach that it’s not all work, work, work and getting the project done on time.”
But because their children’s futures are at stake, there is still much to be done in Mozambique, a country that has seen more than its share of wars and other strife.
Anne Hyde has accompanied Ms. Bishop to Mozambique. She believes that people such as Ms. Bishop will make all the difference in that country.
“Diane is a true servant that is committed to make life better for many women in the country of Mozambique,” Ms. Hyde said.
For Ms. Williams, having Ms. Bishop there is a dream come true.
“She’s helping a whole lot of women who are helping a whole lot of children,” she said. “She is really working hard to keep it going. She’s a tremendous organizer and good at following through.”
For Ms. Bishop, Seeds of Hope represents something else.
“It’s a very awakening and humble experience to see what little they have and yet how happily they approach life,” she said. “They really do live their faith day in and day out.”
March 24th, 2008
Staten Islanders sell jewelry because of high price of gold
Staten Island Advance - SILive.com, NY
by Staten Island Advance
Sunday March 23, 2008, 1:22 PM
The lines aren’t out the door and around the block like they were in 1980 when gold prices skyrocketed, but as the precious metal topped $1,000 there were plenty of Staten Islanders who cashed in.
“We’re not selling to them, they’re selling to us,” joked Joseph Buono, owner of Buono Jewelers on Hylan Boulevard in Grasmere.
Gold has slumped since it hit a historic high of $1,033.90 an ounce a week ago, following a Fed-approved bailout of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
But local jewelers say that the steady stream of customers hoping to turn old jewelry into cash, while not yet reaching the frenzied pace of 1980, when gold was up to $850 an ounce, is still brisk.
“We’re scrapping thousands and thousands of dollars worth,” since the price of gold began to rise, said Jimmy Granello, who owns Jimmy’s Fine Jewelry Exchange in Bulls Head and has been in the business 28 years. “But I don’t know that we’ve hit it yet. Back then, the lines were down the block and people were selling everything they had.”
Gold has settled at about $920 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling as low as $904.70 — its lowest level since Feb. 19. On March 19, gold dropped 5.9 percent, its biggest one-day loss in nearly two years.
“The bottom line is, people are selling stuff, and gold and commodities are getting slaughtered,” said John Reade, analyst with UBS AG in London.
But the price of gold on the market and the price in your dresser drawer differs substantially. The $920 an ounce price reflects “pure” 24-karat gold of the type only found in bars, while most jewelry contains 14 karats. Still, Jimmy’s was offering $440 an ounce for 14-karat gold last week.
Other jewelers reported similar increases in the amount of people selling jewelry for cash, but interest does not appear to have reached a fever pitch yet.
At Jewelry Liquidators at the Showplace Bowling Alley plaza on East Service Road in Travis, business has about doubled in people selling old jewelry due to higher prices. And while some customers at the 10-year-old store simply need the cash, more discerning sellers have been coming in.
“Those people are going to be here no matter what,” sales manager Maureen DeLuca said. “There’s been a lot of older people just getting rid of stuff they’ve had laying around, they say they’ve seen it in the news and they want to take advantage.”
Prices for those interested in buying gold jewelry have risen accordingly, although some dealers ordered stock when prices were lower and haven’t had to boost prices. The real sticker shock will come as jewelers replace their inventory, and will have to charge more.
“We have bracelets that before Christmas were selling for $200 or $300, and when we sold out and ordered new inventory the price was about $200 more,” Buono, said. “But you know what? On Valentine’s Day it was in the $900s, and it didn’t stop the customers.”
Contributed by Phil Helsel. Associated Press material was used in this report.
March 24th, 2008
Reebok to pay $1 mln fine for lead jewelry: U.S. CPSC
Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Athletic shoe maker Reebok International Ltd will pay a record $1 million civil penalty to settle allegations that it imported and distributed charm bracelets that contained toxic levels of lead, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Tuesday.
The agency said in March 2006, a 4-year-old boy from Minneapolis swallowed the bracelet’s heart-shaped pendant and died.
According to a March 2006 report by local newspaper Star Tribune, the lead level in the blood of Jarnell Brown, 4, was three times higher than what health officials consider to be dangerous.
Brown’s death sparked a nationwide recall of some 300,000 bracelets, which were given away with the purchase of various styles of children’s Reebok footwear, the newspaper said.
The penalty is the largest for a Federal Hazardous Substances Act violation, the CPSC said, and follows the bracelet recall.
“This civil penalty sends a clear message that the CPSC will not allow companies to put children’s safety at risk,” CPSC acting Chairman Nancy Nord said in a statement. “Preventing dangerous metal jewelry from reaching the hands of children is a priority for our agency.”
Reebok, a unit of Germany’s Adidas, in agreeing to settle the matter, denied that it violated federal law, the commission said.
(Reporting by Kristina Cooke and Karey Wutkowski, editing by Maureen Bavdek)
March 19th, 2008
Gold: The unwanted treasure
Arizona Republic, AZ
Cathryn Creno
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 17, 2008 05:17 PM
At the end of last week, the price of gold futures hit a record $1,000 an ounce.
So Don Hall packed up six broken gold chains and four rings his wife no longer wanted, a chain and ring his daughter no longer liked and five tie tacks he had received as company awards.
“I don’t even wear a tie,” the retired Ahwatukee pharmaceuticals executive said.
“Why not sell them and buy something I would really like?”
Around the Valley and across the country, owners of single gold earrings, broken gold chains and jewelry they just don’t like anymore are asking the same question.
Many are taking their gold to independent jewelry stores, coin shops and pawnshops and walking out with fists full of cash.
“It’s been packed in here,” said David Wyatt, owner of Master Creations Jewelry, 3145 E. Chandler Blvd. in Ahwatukee.
Hall is one of hundreds who recently brought gold jewelry to be evaluated at Master Creations, after Wyatt bought newspaper ads promoting the service.
“A man’s high-school class ring that was worth $20 twenty years ago is now worth $150,” Wyatt said.
He said one customer last Friday walked out of his store with $1,000 after bringing in more than an ounce of gold items - including a gold dental plate with gold teeth.
Chain jewelry stores typically do not buy jewelry from the public.
But Wyatt, an independent jeweler who’s been at his Ahwatukee location eight years, said that buying gold coins and jewelry with carat weights of at least 10 has always been part of his business. Gold-plated pieces typically are not worth buying because the amount of gold in them is so small, he said.
About a third of his annual revenue comes from jewelry and coin purchases, Wyatt said.
“I expect it to be a lot higher this year,” he added.
Shane Eckberg, jewelry buyer for Molina Fine Jewelers, 3134 E. Camelback Road in Phoenix, called the rising price of gold “just amazing.”
“Absolutely everyone I know in the Valley who does this is busy,” he said.
Eckberg’s primary goal is finding jewelry of high enough quality to resell instead of melt for the gold.
That brings the highest amount of money to the seller and his store, he said.
“People should remember that even broken chains have value - as long as it’s gold,” Eckberg said.
Meantime, Greg Willits, owner of Xavier Coins, Currency and Jewelry, 6750 E. Main Street in Mesa, said that he has not seen much of an increase in business since gold approached the $1,000 point. That’s because he has been busy for months.
“My surge started when the economy started to slow,” Willits said.
Willits, a member of the Better Business Bureau Serving Central, Northern and Western Arizona, advises sellers to make sure they are dealing with reputable buyers.
“There are people out there who will really take advantage of you,” he said. “So check with the Better Business Bureau, your friends and your neighbors.”
Wyatt said he tells nervous customers to get offers from several buyers.
“I offered one woman $1,000 for a ring, and she thought that was too low,” he said. “She came back after a pawnshop offered her $200.”
Hall said he decided to do business with Wyatt because a neighbor had good luck selling gold jewelry there.
At the end of Hall’s negotiations last Saturday, he pocketed $143 for his daughter’s chain and ring and $612 for his wife’s chains and rings and one of the tie tacks.
What about the other four company awards?
“Zippo,” Hall said.
They turned out to be gold-plated.
Reach the reporter at cathryn.creno@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8056.
March 18th, 2008
Honoring Easter Sunday
By Cecil Chandler
E-mail | Biography
Good morning, everybody, and welcome back to another Cecil’s World in Print.
This Sunday is Easter. It will be a time for dressing up the kids in their new clothes for church.
When I was a young boy, my grandmother would always buy me a new outfit for church.
Growing up in the ’50s, we did not have a lot of money, so when I got a new outfit, I really wanted to show it off
Being a Baptist, I grew up sitting in the back of the church, but on Easter Sunday, I would always move up to the middle of the church so everyone could see my new outfit.
That afternoon, we would have a big Easter egg hunt at my aunt’s house.
The adults would hide 50 to 60 boiled eggs with several prize eggs.
Some of the prizes had candy in them and one would have at least $2 in it.
That was a lot of money back then, and that was the egg we all wanted to find.
When my son Jeff was growing up, we also had Easter egg hunts and bought him new clothes for church, but this time it was me and the other adults hiding the eggs.
Things have changed plenty during the past 40 years. Of course, they still have Easter egg hunts, and I am sure many parents buy their kids new clothes for church, but the real meaning of Easter has been put on the back burner for some families.
If you have forgotten the real meaning of Easter, make sure you go to church this Sunday so you can refresh your memory.
You know what it is all about, but sometimes you need a refresher course. We all know and accept that things do change over time.
Here is a poem, called “The Old Paths,†a friend of mine sent me that I wanted to share with you.
The author supposedly is a retired minister who lives in Tennessee:
I liked the old paths when moms were at home, dads were at work,
brothers joined the Army, and sisters got married — before having children!
Crime did not pay, hard work did — and folks knew the difference.
Moms cooked, dads worked, and children behaved.
Husbands were loving, wives were supportive, and children were polite.
Women wore the jewelry and men wore — the pants.
Women looked like ladies, men looked like gentlemen, and children looked — presentable.
People loved the truth, hated a lie and went to church to get in — not out!
Hymns were Godly, sermons helpful, rejoicing normal and crying sincere.
Cursing was wicked, drinking evil and divorce unthinkable.
Our flag was honored, America was beautiful and God was welcome!
We read the Bible in public, prayed in school and preached from house to house.
To be an American was worth dying for, to be a Christian worth living for and refusing to do or be either — shameful!
Sex was personal, homosexuality unheard of, and abortion illegal.
Preachers preached because they had a message and Christians rejoiced because they had victory!
Preachers preached from the Bible, singers sang from the heart, and sinners turned to the Lord!
New birth meant a new life, salvation meant a changed life and following Christ meant eternal life.
Being a preacher meant you proclaimed God’s Word and being a deacon meant you served the Lord.
Being a Christian meant you lived for Jesus and being a sinner meant — someone was praying for you!
Laws were based on the Bible, homes read the Bible and churches taught the Bible.
Preachers were more interested in new converts — than new Corvettes.
God was worshiped, Christ was exalted and the Holy Spirit respected.
Church was where you found Christians on the Lord’s Day — rather than the golf course.
I think that says it all and I think I still like the old paths the best. See you next week, right here in the Morning News and on the tube.
— Cecil Chandler is a veteran reporter at WBTW News13. His column appears Mondays in the Morning News.
March 17th, 2008
Hobby turns into jewelry business for biochemist
By Donna Kato
Article Launched:Â 03/16/2008 01:45:24 AM PDT
San Jose Mercury News, USAÂ
Carol Barrett was a Stanford University research biochemist taking time out of the workforce to raise three daughters when she found herself going through a divorce.
An at-home mom for years, she was in need of a steady income to pay the bills. Unable to dive back into breast cancer research after being away so long, the single mom became a commercial real estate manager.
Through those tumultuous years of working and raising her children, one of Barrett’s great pleasures was her hobby of designing pendants with the carved jade, mined ivory and beads she bought while on a trip to China in 1989.
“I’m a long-distance runner, and a group of us went to China to run,” says Barrett, now 66. “Going through markets, I would have to stop and look at these beautiful carved pieces of jade and ivory that were for sale.”
She bought some of them, along with semiprecious beads of carnelian, turquoise, quartz, lapis and other stones and started stringing them together once she got home, using one of the large, carved pieces as the centerpiece of the pendants.
Barrett, who lives in San Carlos, was “discovered” when a buyer stopped her on the way out of the I. Magnin ladies room and asked about the unusual piece she was wearing.
It was the compliment and the impetus Barrett needed to start a jewelry company. With a partner, she launched Gemini jewelry company and got to work on a collection.
Almost 20 years later, she’s on her own now and offering
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handcrafted necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings and brooches in local boutiques and Saks Fifth Avenue stores, including the San Francisco location. The pieces are also available on her Web site, www.carolbarrettjewelry.com.
Her specialty is bold and substantial necklaces, which range in price from about $800 to $2,000. Less-expensive pieces on leather cords are $200 to $350. Earrings are less than $200.
Barrett’s given up her real estate gig and says she makes a decent living doing what she loves.
“I’ve always been a risk-taker,” she says, adding that she’s not just talking about her penchant for backpacking in Borneo or marathon-walking through Italy.
“I’ve always been one to think outside the box,” she says. “I’m one to ask, ‘If this is not working, where do I shift from here?’ That’s how I got from being a biochemist to being a jewelry designer. It’s also the same question I ask when a piece I’m working on doesn’t seem to be just right.”
In the beginning, there were frequent trips to China to find the materials: carved red, apple-green and lavender jade; Japanese netsukes, the tiny carved sculptures used as fasteners on clothing, swords and purses; and mammoth ivory carvings, which Barrett says are mined, and not illegally obtained.
She also traveled to South America and Indonesia to find unusual stones. Lately, she hasn’t traveled as much because she says she’s established enough sources who know what she likes and will send her the materials she needs to keep designing.
“I do a lot of research on the symbolism of each piece because I think it has more meaning for someone if I can tell them a little bit about it,” she says. “Part of the enchantment of this is that each one is unique.”
A 24-inch necklace of oblong lapis beads also includes handblown glass, cloisonne and an intricately carved vendor of rabbits, a smiling man holding a bunny with a basket of them at his feet. For the wearer, the carving is asymmetrically placed across from another carving - a rabbit that, from afar, looks like a fat, chunky bead.
The possible good karma? Rabbits are a symbol of longevity.
Which is what she’s hoping for with her business. Her daughters, now 33, 35 and 38, are involved in its growth. The oldest designs the Web site, the middle sibling scouts for new stores and the youngest takes over the business when Barrett can’t manage it - something that happened recently when she was in the hospital.
“The design part is what’s in it for me,” says Barrett, who also does custom pieces. “I’m lucky in that a hobby I love turned into a pretty good business venture for me.”
Have a fashion or style question? Ask Donna. Post your question on her blog at www.mercextra.com/dkato. and look for your answer here or online.
March 17th, 2008
Jewelry scrapped as gold prices skyrocket
MLive.com, MI
by Elizabeth Piet | The Grand Rapids Press
Thursday March 13, 2008, 7:57 AM
WYOMING — Less than two years ago, every spot in the Wepman Brokers jewelry display was filled with gold earrings, necklaces and bracelets.
Today, only the best and flawless pieces make it beneath the glass in the shop at 3710 S. Division Ave. The rest are in a cabinet waiting to be sold for scrap.
With gold prices skyrocketing, Wepman Brokers owner Tonja Wepman has found it’s no longer worth repairing and cleaning gold jewelry for resale.
Press Photo/Jon M. BrouwerTonja Wepman, of Wepman Brokers, looks over a gold ring that will be sold for scrap
She can make the money faster — about $20 a gram or $567 an ounce– through scrap.
“It’s a sure thing,” Wepman said. “I have scrapped some pieces that would almost make you cry.”
Antiques, class rings, even dental fillings are a steady source of income in an economy in which fewer people are buying nonessential items, including from pawn shops.
Depending on the karat compared to pure gold, Wepman profits more from selling scrap metal than she could charge her average customer for the intact piece.
Gold for April delivery closed Wednesday at $980.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $4.50.
“It has priced gold right out of the market for my customers,” she said.
So, Wepman extracts gemstones, separates karat types and mails the items off to Kitco in New York, a gold bullion dealer.
Because the national economy is sluggish, people are reluctant to put money in the financial market, said John Tiemstra, a Calvin College economics professor.
“In a time of great uncertainty, commodities look very appealing,” he said.
While high gold prices may increase the cost of jewelry, some electronics and dental items, the average consumer might not notice, said Laurence Blose, a Grand Valley State University associate finance professor who researches the gold industry and prices.
In response to high prices, mining companies will look to increase production and jewelers might use lower grades of gold or other materials.
“When prices get very high, there is all this pressure,” Blose said. “There is sort of a regression to the mean.”
While prices seem high now, it is unclear whether they will return to earlier lows or stabilize, he said.
“I don’t think you can really predict gold,” Blose said. “People try it all the time.”
Meanwhile, gold and silver bullion are popular purchases at Diemer’s Coins, Jewelry & Collectibles, 4982 Plainfield Ave. NE in Plainfield Township, owner Dan Diemer said.
“People are kind of sick of the stock market and have moved more into coins and tangible incomes,” he said. “It’s the ease of mind if you have it.”
Diemer has bullion from several countries, including the Austrian Corona, American Eagle, Chinese Panda and Canadian Maple Leaf.
While he expects gold prices to keep rising, he cautions potential customers to invest only their extra income into metals as a long-term investment or to use in emergencies.
“Everything is a roller-coaster,” he said. “Nothing goes up forever.”
Local jewelers hope the price of gold goes down as it forces up some jewelry prices.
Record gold prices combined with a weak economy and poor retail environment reduced jewelry demand in the United States by 14 percent last year, according to the World Gold Council.
“We’re waiting it out a little bit,” said Dennis De-
Vries, owner of DeVries Jewelry, 411 Leonard St. NW.
While some prices at the store have been adjusted with the cost of gold, other pieces were purchased months ago at lower costs and will sell at those prices.
“We haven’t bought a lot,” DeVries said.
“We’re waiting to see where gold will level off.”
While few customers have turned away from gold jewelry, the larger issue of the struggling economy hurts business, DeVries said.
“We can’t really blame gold prices for that,” he said.
March 14th, 2008
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