Upcoming Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 Jewelry Trends

The Las Vegas Jewelry Couture 2007 Show showcased the fashion trends of the upcoming seasons and those styles were anything but dainty and conservative. This fall season we will see bold jewelry accessories on the edge of eccentricity.

One of the top five jewelry trends is arm candy: wide cuffs and stackable bangles. This trend will be seen exaggerated a bit where you could wear two different but similar cuffs side by side on the same arm. John Hardy recently introduced a new collection called Kali Menari which features lustrous silver cuffs with the signature riverbed stone motif. While slightly reminiscent of the 1980s, bangles will come back with flair of delicacy, charm and sophistication and will shed their punk and madonnaesque personas to be feminine, jeweled and fashion forward accessories.

Rings will see two different and equally compelling trends. The first trend will be thin and small stackable rings which will complement the stacked bangles nicely. The second trend will be big, lavish and elaborate cocktail rings with all kinds of gemstones and colors. These eye catching cocktail rings will be the talk of the holiday parties as everyone will see them as you hold and sip your holiday drink. Look to Damiani, Roberto Coin, Henry Dunay, Michael Beaudry and Gregg Ruth for gorgeous cocktail rings that will attract light, attention and, perhaps most of all, envy.

Necklaces will see two kinds of trends also. The first is the chunky long necklace to be worn with just about any look. Popular choices will be chunks on a link chain in a single or double strand. The second trend will be pendants of all kinds including medallions, hearts, coins, and monograms. The one exception to this big bang explosion of jewelry is earrings which will be smaller than the other pieces to properly show them off, especially the necklaces.

World's Most Dazzling Royal Jewels

World's Most Dazzling Royal Jewels

Why wait in line to see the royal jewels at the Tower of London when you can have a princely piece of your own?

That's what buyers at Sotheby's auction of important pieces once owned by royalty found Thursday at the Beau-Rivage Hotel in Geneva. The event, called "Magnificent Jewels, Noble Jewels and Jewels from the Collection of Lily Marinho," fetched a total of 60 million Swiss francs ($57.1 million), including buyer’s premium. This was the highest total for any sale held in Geneva this week and the second-highest total for any sale of magnificent jewels worldwide in U.S. dollars.

Dubai International Jewellery Week

The Dubai International Jewellery Week, the new format of the country’s largest such exhibition, opened Tuesday. Some 300 exhibitors are showcasing their goods to a crowd consisting of wholesalers, retailers and many consumers.

The show’s new format combines three shows that had run separately in the past: the luxury show Areeq Dubai, the retail show Jewellery Collections Dubai, and the trade show Jewellery Trade Dubai.

The largest of the three, Jewellery Collections Dubai, was heavily dominated this week by private consumers with varied tastes and interests, seeking to buy directly from diamond and jewelry wholesalers.

Exhibitors reported inquires for high color loose diamonds in clarities of VS+, usually for diamonds weighing over a carat. However at the same time, many exhibitors reported interest only in finished jewelry. In those cases, inquires focused on items set with smaller goods of SI quality.

In terms of design, buyers sought out rings with large abstract shapes and big heavy necklaces with very ornate designs. In both cases the jewelry was set with baguette cut diamonds. In general, fancy shapes were far more popular than round cuts.

Jewelry inspired by Istanbul’s history

Istanbul is the only city in the world that stretches across two continents. Connecting Europe with Asia, the city straddles more than the Bosphorus River, it straddles cultures. As a child, Sevan Bicakci lived on a street with a church, mosque and temple – three different beliefs that serve as inspiration for the very enigmatic jewelry designer now known simply as Sevan.

“Where I am from, rings are the mirrors of the personality of the wearer. They tell all about the wearer,” says the imposing 35-year-old, speaking through an interpreter as he points out favorite pieces in the jewelry case at Stanley Korshak.

His calloused and burned hands seem too huge to finesse the delicate details that are the signature of his three-year-old label, but offer proof of the labor he devotes to each necklace, bracelet and ring.

Sevan began working as a jewelry model-maker at 17 in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. He developed a reputation as a skilled goldsmith and problem-solver, but spent most of his time producing commercial versions of work by other Turkish jewelers.

Everything changed six years ago when he set out to make a gift for his wife. “There is one sweetheart in life,” Sevan says. “If she’s going to wear a present from me, it should be a unique one.”

A ring was made – and a manifesto was born.

Inspired by the early 20th-century Arts and Crafts movement, Sevan rebelled against mass production. He began working with his brother and produced 30 rings the first year, throwing away more than he sold. Incorporating non-jewelry techniques, such as stained-glass and mosaic, into his work, Sevan earned a new reputation in the Grand Bazaar, this time inspiring other artisans to join him.

Today he oversees a team of 35 craftsmen, but produces only 400 one-of-a-kind pieces each year. A single ring, his specialty, can take from three months to a year to complete. The more laborious pieces involve micro-mosaic, a Sevan signature that may incorporate up to 12,000 pieces of ceramic tile or porcelain.

Reverse hand-carvings are another signature. Sevan personally carves each stone from underneath, depicting remarkably detailed, three-dimensional sculptures of whirling dervishes, the Virgin Mary, or even ladybugs.

The loss percentage is high, with eight to 10 stones ruined for each success. The gem’s interior is then painted and filled with clear enamel, before being set on an elaborately intricate band.

Sevan says the environment of Istanbul and its history propel his work. “I enjoy dreaming of myself as an Ottoman sultan, and sometimes I become his concubine or a Byzantine queen. The question then becomes, what would they wear if they lived now?”

Latter-day Byzantine queens Halle Berry, Tory Burch, Mary-Kate Olsen, Brooke Shields and Celine Dion are among those who wear his designs. And, he affirms, they pay retail. (Translation: from about $7,000 for a gold and sterling bracelet, to $58,000 for a ring with an Istanbul mosque carved into lemon topaz.)

“The Ottoman Renaissance never happened,” Sevan acknowledges, “but I like to think it is now.

“The ideas are new, but the techniques are old.”

World’s most prestigious jewelry award goes to Sevan Bicakci

Stating that competition between jewelry brands in the US market is very tough, Bicakci said that he produces only one piece of jewelry for each model range and this uniqueness allowed him to sell his work at places such as Hollywood Barneys as well as New York, Chicago and the Las Vegas Barneys. Bicakci also has a number of collectors across the world.

Istanbul-based jewelry designer Sevan Bicakci was chosen as the winner of the prestigious “Town & Country Couture” Design award, considered to be the Oscar of the jewelry world. He was given the award in a ceremony held in Las Vegas in Spring 2006.

Bicakci also received the Tanzania-based Tanzanite Foundation’s Celebration of Life Jewelry Design award for a ring in his ‘Door Collection’ in the Independent Designer category of the competition held in the United States this year, leaving world-renowned jewelry brands behind. The style of his award winning design is regarded as an invention in the jewelry world.

Bicakci said he participated in the competition at the invitation of the Tanzanite Foundation but he couldn’t even imagine how to take part in the competition due to the astronomical price of the ring’s stone. The rare and precious tanzanite stone in parliament blue was thus provided by the foundation.

Stating that competition between jewelry brands in the U.S market is very tough, Bicakci said that he produces only one piece of jewelry for each model range and this uniqueness allowed him to sell his work at places such as Hollywood Barneys as well as New York, Chicago and the Las Vegas Barneys. Bicakci also has a number of collectors across the world.

He said the awards and competitions weren’t so important for him, however, he highlighted the importance of taking part in such events in order to be recognized in the U.S.-dominated jewelry industry.

His work is comprised of portraits, statues, glass collections and his latest collection is called Bug and Sea Products. He that he has some ambitious projects and has worked for months on the designs, adding, My new works will turn the signature of Sevan Bicakci from the temperament of jelly to bone.

High-fidelity diamond simulation for sales and marketing

View hi-res graphic

American Diamond, a large jewlery retailer wanted a way to let people learn about and interact with diamonds in order to facilitate sales. They needed a solution that would work over the Web, provide good diamond simulations, and could be easily manipulated by a customer online.

Construct 3D created a real-time web diamond simulation using X3D with its support for scripting, custom nodes and shaders. The diamond can be viewed loose (on its own), within a cathedral style ring setting and on a female hand model.

The geometry for the diamond is generated mathematically in real-time, based on user input using a custom X3D PROTO. Most of the diamond’s characteristics can be modified in real-time by user input to the HTML page, including size, facets, color grade, etc. The X3D simulation uses shaders for the metal and a diamond shader with reflection, refraction and dispersion (front and back faces) and a custom node for sparkles.

A custom GUI was created to match the ‘look and feel’ of the AmericanDiamond.com website. The colors and style of the X3D could then embed seamlessly into the existing web pages.

Real Ruby Rings Are Highly Precious

The tradition of wearing real ruby rings has been much common in several countries from the ancient ages till now. Even in the country of India the practice of wearing real ruby rings has always been regarded as a part of the fashion jewelry where ornaments are found to adore almost every part of the body. This does include the tika from the forehead to the toe rings, which is nothing but a definite evidence of the great Indian love for jewelry and also the great skills of the Indian jewelers. In this esteem it is necessary to state that the culture of traditional jewelry has always been deeply motivated by the mythology and in spite of the change of times the influence remains just the same.

In the Indian context the significance of ruby has always been at the highest for which from the ancient period till now there is always a craze to go for the real ruby rings. Now the basic reason for this is not far to see. Ruby being a gemstone is regarded as the ideal epitome of eternal love and also of passion and emotions for which it is almost a custom to present the couples celebrating the sliver or golden jubilee of their marriage real ruby rings. It is due to the fact that in the present age when the breakaway of relationship is just a matter of time, celebration of such a long association is indeed tough, and for that there should be the presence of some love and passion among the couple. But it must be said that this is nothing new and this attribute has been known from the ancient period in the Indian context.

Nixon Diamond Rotolog

Nixon Diamond Rotolog

Wrist bling bling fashion with Nixon and its Diamond Rotolog watch, exactly 1851 full cut diamonds all of which 1087 are black ones, for a total of 9.25 carats, on a stainless steel articulated bracelet. Diamonds making skull motives.

For the price, it certainly need to line up plenty of zeros to afford it.

Fab and irresistible.