Posts filed under 'Jewelry World'
WASHINGTON, Dec 18, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — 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: Children’s Jewelry
Units: About 12,800
Importer: Aloha 808 Trading, of Honolulu, Hawaii
Hazard: The recalled jewelry contains high levels of lead. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects.
Incidents/Injuries: None reported.
Description: This recall involves eight styles of silver-colored metal jewelry: flower ear ring, three flower pendant, necklace with red flower and metal leaf pendant, and miniature sandals in aqua, purple, green, orange and turquoise.
Sold at: Small retail stores and kiosks in Honolulu, Hawaii from April 2008 through November 2008 for between $2 and $5.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled jewelry and contact Aloha 808 Trading for a refund or exchange.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Aloha 808 Trading collect at (808) 923-3660 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday.
Photos at www.cpsc.gov
Firm’s Recall Hotline: (808) 923-3660
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
http://www.cpsc.gov
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
Source: www.marketwatch.com/news
December 19th, 2008
By Steve James
NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - In economic hard times, investors traditionally buy gold, but more people hit by the recession are now selling the precious metal, jewelry, and even gold teeth, to raise cash.
People are scouring through attics and jewelry boxes for gold, silver, diamonds and anything else of value to help pay the mortgage, the gas bills, or to buy gifts to put under the tree, gold industry observers said on Thursday.
“When the price of gold upturns, a lot of people start rummaging through their closets looking for gold to sell,” said Eric Harris, co-owner of Niletti Creations, which sells jewelry in New York’s “Diamond district,” on West 47th Street.
“They use the money for whatever they need. It could be for necessities, it could be for vacation, it could be for Christmas presents.”
Harris said his scrap gold business was about 50 percent higher this year over 2007. Gold bought back from consumers is usually melted down by refiners and used to make gold bars.
With the recession starting to bite and gold hovering around $850 per ounce, more and more people are turning to the family jewels as a source of quick money.
The Internet is full of sites buying wedding rings and heirloom diamonds, while cable TV ads offer the highest prices for necklaces and bracelets which the seller can just pop in an envelope and deposit in the mailbox.
One site, Empire Gold Buyers (empiregoldbuyers.com), offers secure Federal Express shipping and advertises it will pay 98.5 percent of the current market price. For a 24-carat gold item weighing 25-50 ounces, it currently will pay $845 per ounce. For dental gold, the price is lower — $568.
David Becker, chief executive of Idonowidont.com — a website for jilted lovers or the divorced to sell unwanted jewelry and wedding items — said there was a huge spike in traffic and listings in September and October.
“In the absence of anything else I can only ascribe it to the economy and wanting to make Christmas brighter.”
THREE D’s — DEATH, DIVORCE, DEBT
“If someone has something in a drawer that can bring in a few thousand dollars, it can make the difference between making the mortgage payment or not,” he said.
The alternative is selling in a consignment store, which could take ages to sell, or hocking items at pawn shops for a loan worth sometimes only 25-30 percent of the real value.
“There are three D’s for why people sell — death, divorce or debt,” said Becker.
“Plenty of people have rings from a first marriage or something from Aunt Edna. Sentimental attachment might make it harder to sell, but if you can walk away with $3,000-$5,000, it makes a difference.”
Dr Joyce Brothers, a nationally syndicated psychologist, said it was easier nowadays to part with family jewelry. “You used to have gold and heirlooms passed down over generations and they had stories attached and were meaningful.
“But nowadays, with more divorces, you don’t have those long family lines, so why not get out from under bills by selling some old coins. Things don’t have the same meaning as Uncle Jack’s watch used to,” she said.
Jim Steel, a precious metals analyst at HSBC in New York, said gold recycling tends to be more related to prices than economic conditions. “But I would not discount the distress element of unemployment and things like that.
“But there was always a stigma attached to going into the pawn shop. My grandmother would never have hocked my grandfather’s wedding ring,” he said.
According to World Gold Council figures, more gold is being recycled this year as the global economy turned south.
An estimated 244 tonnes of gold were recycled in the third quarter of this year at an average price of $871 per ounce. That was up from 215 tonnes at $680 in the same quarter of 2007, but down from the peak of 321 tonnes at $925 in the first quarter of this year.
“There is an element of uncertainty, with growing fear of longer-term inflationary consequences, which has translated into higher gold prices,” said Steel.
“Scrap is a balancing agent. If the (gold) price is over $900 there is an increase in scrap; under $700 it dries up.” (Additional reporting by Frank Tang in New York, editing by Matthew Lewis)
Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/
December 19th, 2008
Christi Negrete Joins Tustin-Based Jewelry Exchange
TUSTIN, CA, Dec 17, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — The Jewelry Exchange is pleased to announce that Christi Negrete has joined the company as Marketing Manager. Her role will expand the marketing department to include management of the Company’s online marketing efforts as well, where she will be responsible for CPC, banner and email campaigns. Negrete will focus advertising efforts on innovative creative that will keep the Jewelry Exchange in the top spot as the nation’s leading importer of diamonds.
The company’s drive to increase market share of online sales has shown some positive results. While sales in the company’s brick and mortar stores are down, internet sales are holding steady in comparison with prior years’ sales. Internet store sales now outpace all divisions. Negrete will assist the Company in its goal to increase market share for Diamonds on the internet.
Negrete’s previous marketing experience includes clients such as Anchor Blue, KFC, Lennar Homes, Paramount, Rubio’s Baja Grill, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Wienerschnitzel.
The Jewelry Exchange is owned by Goldenwest Diamond Corporation, and has been operating for over 30 years, doing business as The Jewelry Exchange in Los Angeles/Tustin, Chicago/Villa Park, San Francisco/Redwood City, Boston/Sudbury, Dallas, Tampa, Seattle/Renton, Philadelphia/Norristown, Washington D.C./Bethesda, Phoenix, Minneapolis/Eagan, Denver/Greenwood Village and St. Louis/Overland. The company operates as The Jewelry Factory in New York/Hackensack, Detroit/Livonia, and Cleveland/North Randall. And in Houston, the company operates The Jewelry Source.
SOURCE: Jewelry Exchange
Copyright 2008 Market Wire, All rights reserved.
Source: www.marketwatch.com/news
December 18th, 2008
NEW YORK, Dec 16, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — World Gold Council luxury survey finds rising gold price reinforces investment attributes of gold jewelry
Gold jewelry is one of the top three most popular items for women’s discretionary spending in the U.S. according to World Gold Council’s (WGC) 2008 survey, What Women Want: Global Discretionary Spending Report, conducted by independent research firm, GfK, among 1,068 American women aged 16 to 65. The study was also run in the key gold jewelry markets of India, China, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Turkey. The global survey, which was last conducted in 2005, examined the attitudes of nearly 7,500 females, aged between 15 and 65, toward luxury items and consumables, exploring their views on product attributes, price and competition for discretionary spend.
The findings of the survey, conducted in the spring, reveal that gold jewelry in the U.S. has continued to maintain its appeal despite a squeeze on women’s spending power, a volatile and rising gold price and increased competition from other consumer goods. In the U.S., gold jewelry maintained its position as the third most popular item chosen by a woman spending her discretionary income on herself. It currently ranks below spending on ’short breaks’ and ‘increasing savings’ but above such spending choices as a ‘meal at a nice restaurant’ or ‘beauty/spa treatment.’
Increases in price can have a negative effect on desirability in consumer goods categories; however, in the case of gold, the increase in price has underpinned its intrinsic value. According to the survey results, those who noticed the increasing price over the past 12 months were most likely to agree that the current price reassured them of the value of their gold jewelry. In the U.S., 68 percent of consumers who noticed a price increase said that it reassured them that “What I buy and own is valuable” while 67 percent said “gold jewelry is a good investment.”
John Calnon, Managing Director — Americas, World Gold Council, commented on the survey findings:
“In the context of a rising gold price, which reached new heights in early 2008, it was important that the survey focus on how the gold price may impact consumer attitudes and spending behavior. It is encouraging that gold’s price increase has re-emphasized the value of gold as an investment, as well as a fashion item, and has actually made it more desirable. This research has helped us to shape appropriate consumer messaging that will continue to build gold’s desirability during turbulent economic times.”
The survey, last conducted at a gold price point of US$444/oz — compared to 2008’s average of US$897/oz — showed that if given around $1,000 to spend, the number of women who would spend it on gold versus other products in 2008 (38%) was similar to the number of women who would spend around US$500 in 2005 (42%). This is evidence that the rising price has not eroded the desirability of gold jewelry for women who have the discretionary spend available to make purchases.
The survey also showed that while the ownership of gold has increased among those interviewed in the U.S., with 94 percent owning gold jewelry compared to 90 percent in 2005, the main competition for consumer discretionary spending does not come from other fine jewelry. Rather, it comes from other “must have” fashion accessories and gadgets such as mobile phones and other personal electronic goods. Ninety-six percent of US women surveyed own mobile phones or personal electronics, up three percent from 2005.
A number of attributes were identified that make gold unique. It has a perceived longevity, purity and value that sets it apart from other luxury goods and a clear differentiation from other precious metals and stones that is derived from its associated and relatively transparent investment value. At the same time, gold’s aesthetic qualities are acknowledged as versatile and suitable for everyday wear. In contrast to gold jewelry, which has clear financial value, other luxury consumables were viewed as having short-term aesthetic appeal and therefore lacked the investment value and the longevity of gold.
Note to Editors:
World Gold Council marketing programs are built on a foundation of understanding of consumer attitudes and behavior, enabling the gold industry to reinvigorate the promotion of gold jewelry.
World Gold Council
The World Gold Council (WGC), a commercially-driven marketing organization, is funded by the world’s leading gold mining companies. A global advocate for gold, the WGC aims to promote the demand for gold in all its forms through marketing activities in major international markets. For further information visit www.gold.org.
Contact: Lauren Carmody
CJP Communications
(203) 378 1152 ext 106
lcarmody@cjpcom.com
SOURCE The World Gold Council
http://www.gold.org
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
Source: www.marketwatch.com/news
December 17th, 2008
Last month I wrote about Bead for Life, the colorful beads made from recycled paper by poverty stricken women in Uganda. I bought a bag of beads from the website with plans to make most of my holiday gifts this year. Yesterday, I did just that.
With high hopes of making a bunch of great bracelets for my friends, I walked into the Bead Boutique on 3rd Street thinking I would just buy some elastic or soft wire to string up all my beads, tying a little knot on the end and viola! It’s not that simple. It turns out there’s tons of different techniques that go into making even the most simple-looking accessory.
I ended up taking a “Basic Beading” class. The two-hour class is $45 and teaches you super useful skills on the basics of jewelry making. Even after my tutorial was up, they let me sit in the front of the store and work away at my bracelets all day long. I ended up with seven items made of a mixture of the Bead for Life beads and some fun vintage beads I bought at the boutique. Anything purchased the day you take a class is 10% off.
Throughout the day, crowds of people came through looking for ideas or supplies to create the holiday gifts they planned on making and giving. I sat in the front of my temporary “studio” feeling so clever and crafty. Check out my work above.
There are four classes: Basic Beading, Beginning Wire Wrapping, Intermediate Wire Wrapping and Silk Knotting. Call (323) 966-5880 for schedule and reservations.
Bead Boutique, 8313 West 3rd St., L.A., CA 90048
– Melissa Magsaysay
Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/
December 16th, 2008
There are actually a wide range of wholesale Indian jewelry that one could choose from online. While there are the classic designs of Indian jewelry like the ones that feature designs of nature, there are also those made of sterling silver that come in unique designs. These silver Indian jewelry comes in rings for men and women, bracelets, bangles and even pendants. Of course, if you are into precious stones or even just semi-precious stones, there are also a lot of wholesales Indian jewelry available for you. These stones could either be in designer items that most anyone could buy or you could have those that are made exclusively for you. There are bracelets made with cut stones and others that feature only your birthstone. You could have these wholesale Indian jewelry in stones set in gold or silver or even platinum. You could also get these stones as pendants to go with that perfect silver and gold chain that you got for Christmas. Because you are buying wholesale Indian jewelry, you could buy one particular stone that you like and have it set in different ways or you could have different pendants with different stones but set in only one specific design or pattern. The most common stones used in wholesale Indian jewelry are sapphires, topaz, amethyst, emeralds and rubies.
Aside from the usual jewelry pieces that you could most expect in the market, wholesale Indian jewelry also extends to other adornments like cuff links, hair pins or clips, brooches, among other jewelry items. You could avail of these types professional speaker Indian jewelry just in the same way as the traditional jewelry pieces. And just like the usual jewelry pieces, these types of ornamental pieces also come silver, gold and platinum and could also be studded with precious stones.
There are also the other pieces of wholesale Indian jewelry that you could get. These are the terracotta jewelry or the ones made with clay or those that are made with fine silver or gold wires that is woven into an intricately delicate design called the filigree. ones made of beads or shells could also be bought under wholesale Indian jewelry. Although these type of Indian jewelry are less expensive, it doesn’t make them less fun or stylish to wear.
Source: www.meadowfreepress.com/jewelry
December 15th, 2008
V Vintage, House of Love and Luck, Tobi Tobin and Susan Jane feature older pieces among their collections.
By Melissa Magsaysay
Anyone who’s ever been to a flea market or estate sale knows that old jewelry is sometimes the best jewelry. Following on the heels of V Vintage in Beverly Hills (vvintage90210.com), which opened in June selling vintage pieces by Chanel, Dior, Miriam Haskell and others, comes House of Love and Luck. Opened just last week at 370 1/2 N. La Cienega Blvd., this vintage jewelry store has a selection that’s less expensive, $22 for 1980s album-cover earrings, say, or $132 for a 1950s choker with brown and yellow stones.
FOR THE RECORD: Photo captions accompanying a Dec. 14 Image article about jewelry designers who use vintage items in their work incorrectly listed the prices for two pieces by Tobi Tobin as $1,800. Her Marilyn necklace is $5,500, and her Jackie necklace is $3,950.
Designers are making what’s old new again too. Tobi Tobin recently found a home for the antique bits and baubles she’s collected in her travels as an interior designer. Shoe buckles from 1940s Spain, 1920s beaded appliqués from Hungary — even samples of fabric Chanel camellias — have become centerpieces of Tobin’s statement necklaces.
“I call it ‘regal rocker,’ ” she says of the collection, which is at Maxfield. Her necklaces, $1,375 and $3,900, are hefty, but look as delicate as tiaras, with the antique items hung from glittery strands of jeweled buttons she refers to as “princess necklaces.” (For imaginative sparkle at a slightly less princely price, the strung buttons go for $1,200 a foot.)
Of course, you can always make your own. Send your heirlooms, broken pieces or single earrings to Susan McDonald, designer of the Susan Jane jewelry collection, and she will make a custom bauble just for you. See susanjane.com for information. Lulu Frost (lulufrost.com) offers a similar service.
Magsaysay is a Times staff writer.
melissa.magsaysay@latimes.com
Source: www.latimes.com/features/printedition
December 15th, 2008
DUBLIN, Ireland, Dec 11, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/cdc230/jewelry_manufactur) has announced the addition of the “Jewelry Manufacturing in China” report to their offering.
The IBISWorld Jewelry Manufacturing in China industry report consists of companies mainly engaged in manufacturing necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets, brooches, non-industrial diamond jewelry, cultured pearl jewelry, precious or semi-precious stone jewelry, as well as jewelry parts. The products in this industry use precious metals (gold, silver and platinum), precious metal alloys, diamonds, jade, emeralds, pearls and other precious and semi-precious stones as major raw materials. Imitation jewelry and handcrafted articles using precious metals or glass as raw materials are included in other industries, such as Household Glass Products Manufacturing in China (China Industry Code - 3145) and Other Craft Manufacturing in China (China Industry Code - 4219).
Key Topics Covered:
Industry Definition Key Statistics Segmentation Market Characteristics Industry Conditions Key Factors Key Competitors Industry Performance Outlook
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/cdc230/jewelry_manufactur
SOURCE: Research and Markets
Laura Wood
Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
Fax from USA: 646-607-1907
Fax from rest of the world: +353-1-481-1716
Copyright Business Wire 2008
Source: www.marketwatch.com/news
December 12th, 2008
By KAREN ROSENBERG
It’s become a cliché to describe statement-making jewelry as “wearable art,” but no other term quite captures the personal adornments made by Alexander Calder. His earrings, necklaces and bracelets were mini-mobiles that dangled from the wrists, necks and earlobes of sophisticates like Peggy Guggenheim and Jeanne Moreau.
The Whitney Museum’s current Calder show features room after room of his playful wire sculptures but none of the 1,800 pieces of jewelry he made over the course of his career. Fortunately about 90 of these pieces are being given their own exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, the first museum show to focus on Calder’s jewelry.
The works in “Calder Jewelry” are wire sculptures too, only smaller, though not much smaller, really, than the components of Calder’s “Circus” at the Whitney. They are made of the same materials — mostly brass and steel, with bits of ceramic, wood and glass — and are just as self-consciously clever. All are one-of-a-kind objets d’art. Calder had many opportunities to sign off on reproductions, and always refused (much to his dealers’ chagrin).
“Calder Jewelry” comes to New York from the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla. It was organized by Jane Adlin, an associate curator at the Met, with the Norton adjunct curator Mark Rosenthal and the Calder Foundation director (and Calder grandson) Alexander S. C. Rower. It can be difficult to exhibit jewelry, even Calder’s resolutely unprecious metals, without creating a boutique atmosphere. Smaller objects like brooches and hair combs are clustered in vertical display cases, and even the larger necklaces get lost in the high-ceilinged galleries. Photographs of Calder’s jewelry on the body are scarce in the galleries, though numerous in the unwieldy catalog.
Still, the show has an intimate, even familial quality; Calder made many of the pieces as gifts for friends and relatives. Mr. Rower recalls that when he was a child, his grandmother’s dressing table “always seemed a mysterious altar.”
Two cases are devoted to the jewelry Calder made for his wife, Louisa, beginning with the couple’s engagement ring — a simple spiral of gold wire. Calder always returned to the spiral for birthday and anniversary gifts; he seems to have adopted this late Bronze Age motif as a personal talisman.
He was also fond of initials and monograms, as evidenced by the pieces he made for friends like the curator Dorothy C. Miller and the art dealer Marian Willard Johnson. These objects are the equivalent of the wire portrait heads at the Whitney: bits of customized whimsy. More interesting are the pieces with a Surrealist bent, like the pair of earrings that spell out Joan Miró’s piquant declamation “A bas la Méditerranée” (“Down With the Mediterranean”).
Calder’s jewelry appealed to women with avant-garde tastes who liked to make a dramatic entrance. Mary Rockefeller was said to have required a little elbow room when she wore her Calder necklace to art openings. Peggy Guggenheim boasted in her autobiography, “I am the only woman in the world who wears his enormous mobile earrings.” Two pairs of those broad and pendulous earrings are in the exhibition; they are certainly not for everyone, or at least not for the woman who might be afraid to inflict flesh wounds while air-kissing.
Consider the spectacular object nicknamed “The Jealous Husband,” from 1940. In this oversize necklace, a breastplate of flat curlicues of hammered wire rises into barbed coils at the collarbone. Hilton Kramer, writing in The New York Times Magazine in 1976, noted the work’s “humor of mock aggression and shameless self-assertion.”
Other necklaces suggest less extreme forms of body armor. An aptly titled “Chainmail” necklace from 1940 features hand-linked circles of silver wire. An untitled piece from 1942 might be described as brass knuckles for the shoulders.
Calder’s necklaces and tiaras could take up a lot of space without looking heavy. His “Flower Necklace” (1938) is a chain of delicate silver leaves attached to a daisylike blossom, all fashioned from looped wire. In “Crown” (1940), clusters of brass “ivy” rise from a simple headpiece.
Craftsmanship is anything but mysterious; nearly every piece consists of hammered, bent or chiseled wire. Pliers marks are visible on the unpolished surfaces. Calder rarely used solder; when he needed to join strips of metal, he linked them with loops, bound them with snippets of wire or fashioned rivets. Some of his intricate-looking cuff bracelets, with wavy lines and zigzags, are little more than single pieces of twisted and flattened wire.
In both technique and design, Calder aspired to be “primitive.” Like Picasso, he had seen and collected African sculpture in Paris. Ms. Adlin points out, in her catalog essay, that Calder’s bracelets and neck collars with parallel strips of wire bear a striking resemblance to the beaded corsets worn by members of the East African Dinka tribe. Other comparisons will come to mind, particularly if you wander through the Met’s galleries of Celtic or Pre-Colombian art.
Calder’s forms weren’t new, but his sense of the body as a kinetic sculpture was liberating. He convinced us that art can be precious, and jewelry need not be.
“Calder Jewelry” continues through March 1 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org.
Source: www.nytimes.com
December 12th, 2008
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Dec 10, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — JTV.com Announces New & Improved Learning Library
JTV.com, the fourth-largest online destination for jewelry and gemstones according to Internet Retailer, announced a robust new Learning Library designed to educate and entertain consumers.
JTV.com Editor, Tammy Jones, read and tallied nearly 4,000 comments from customers using the information to create an improved Learning Library experience. “This is just the beginning,” said Jones. “We’ve already begun creating additional pages, new features, an expanded video library, interactive maps, jewelry-making projects, and a special section just for kids,” she said.
“Our customers have a real thirst for knowledge regarding gemstones and jewelry,” said Randy Sadler, Vice President of Marketing, Jewelry Television. “We sell more loose gemstones than any other retailer in the world, so we’ve helped to create a very sophisticated consumer in this category. The Learning Library will assist them in identifying and learning about the gemstones they love to collect,” said Sadler.
The Learning Library offers:
— videos and slideshows of buying trips, gemstones, mineral specimens,
JTV’s first-hand exploration of gemstone mines, jewelry, and
industry news
— Gemstones 101—in-depth guides to gem history, discoveries, lore,
color, value, composition, hardness, and more
— gemstone identification guide that walks consumers through the process
of identifying a gemstone
— Gemcyclopedia(TM) —an illustrated gem and jewelry glossary with
hundreds of terms, photos, and videos
— Daily Discovery feature offering a new gemstone fact every day
— regularly updated multimedia articles about gemstones, jewelry, and
collecting
— guide to proper care and cleaning of jewelry and gemstones
— gemstone enhancement information, news, and research
“One of JTV’s brand cornerstones is to empower consumers through education,” noted James Thome, SVP of E-Commerce for JTV.com. “Then they can make informed decisions wherever they choose to shop. Through this process of openness and education, we are creating highly loyal jewelry and gemstone consumers,” said Thome.
About JTV.com
JTV.com is the online division of the national shopping network, Jewelry Television(R) (JTV). JTV focuses exclusively on the sale of fine jewelry and loose gemstones airing live programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The network is the 11th largest jewelry retailer in the United States and is distributed to 68 million households.
JTV.com offers more than 40,000 products for sale and has served over 1.7 million customers to date. The site recently landed on Internet Retailer’s “Hot 100 Best Retail Web Site” list.
Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, Jewelry Television(R) recently celebrated its 15th anniversary.
http://learning.jewelrytelevision.com
SOURCE JTV.com
http://learning.jewelrytelevision.com
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
Source: www.marketwatch.com/news
December 11th, 2008
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