Big diamonds surpass estimates at Heritage auction in Texas

This platinum ring featuring an 18.4-carat, emerald-cut center stone, was the top lot in Heritage Auctions' Dec. 14 sale. The center stone is enhanced by triangle-shaped diamonds weighing approximately 5 carats.

January 3, 2011 Dallas—The old phrase "Everything is bigger in Texas" certainly held true in terms of diamonds last month when large stones took center stage at the Signature Fine Jewelry Auction hosted by Heritage Auctions.

The Dec. 14 auction in Dallas yielded more than $4.2 million in jewelry sales, with an 18.4-carat diamond and platinum ring leading the way, fetching $388,375, more than double its $175,000 pre-sale estimate.

According to Jill Burgum, director of jewelry at Heritage, the auction "was all about certified diamonds ranging in sizes from 3 carats up to 18 carats, and our clients clearly responded to the selection."

Additional highlights included the sale of a diamond, platinum and gold ring realizing $239,000 (estimated at $150,000-plus); plus the sale of two rings each realizing $167,300: a diamond and platinum ring, and a colorless diamond, platinum and gold ring featuring a 10.62-carat fancy yellow internally flawless diamond.

A second colorless diamond, fancy yellow diamond, platinum and gold ring fetched $89,625 during the auction, while the same price was realized for a platinum ring set with an 11.59-carat, pear-shaped diamond. Another item of note, a platinum and gold ring set with a 8.73-carat, round brilliant-cut diamond, was sold for $149,375 to benefit Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas.

PEOPLES CHOICE AWARDS

People's Choice award winner Taylor Swift stepped out in Amrapali blackened gold and diamond drop earrings for the Jan. 5 event. She wore the earrings with a bangle bracelet and ring from Neil Lane.

Los Angeles—It was a night of power pairings when celebrities convened for the People's Choice Awards last week, with earring and cocktail ring duos, or earring and bangle bracelet combinations, ruling the red carpet.

A number of stars, including Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Minka Kelly and Kaley Cuoco, wore all three styles at once, sporting earrings, a ring, and a bracelet or two.

Country star Swift, the People's Choice winner for Favorite Country Artist, donned blackened gold and diamond drop earrings from Amrapali, paired with a coral and gold bangle and pearl and gold ring from Neil Lane.

Fellow teen queen Selena Gomez (top) hit the red carpet in a similar trifecta of jewelry: green amethyst and diamond drop earrings from Tresor's "Interchangeable" collection, a 14-karat gold and sterling silver bracelet with diamonds from Alwand Vahan and a pink quartz, rose de France amethyst, citrine, garnet and diamond "Melange" ring (above) from Brumani.

Kelly and Cuoco both turned to Neil Lane for their People's Choice baubles. Kelly, formerly of Friday Night Lights and next up in the film The Roommate, wore drop earrings, which she paired with bangles and a ring, all featuring colored diamonds set into gold. Cuoco, who stars in CBS's The Big Bang Theory, selected gold and pearl chandelier earrings from the designer, matched with a gold and pearl bangle and ring.

Additional trends spotted on the red carpet included plenty of diamond and platinum designs and blackened metal pieces. Actresses Kate Walsh, Malin Akerman and Autumn Reeser all went with the classic red-carpet combo, looking to designer Neil Lane for platinum and diamond rings and bracelets.

Meanwhile, People's Choice attendees selecting blackened or oxidized metal designs included reality star Kourtney Kardashian (above) in Amrapali diamond starburst earrings; Queen Latifah in M.C.L. by Matthew Campbell Laurenza bangles and earrings; Ashley Benson of Pretty Little Liars in Sutra rose-cut diamond earrings and Benson's co-star Lucy Hale, in Amrapali gold and diamond designs.

Hale (above) made sure that necklaces weren't ignored for the evening, as she sported a glam diamond and blackened gold necklace with her diamond bangle bracelet and drop earrings. Kim Kardashian, too, changed up the status quo for the evening, wowing in an 18-karat yellow gold square link necklace from Rina Limor.

Photos: Courtesy of D'Orazio & Associates

GOLDEN GLOBES SPOTLIGHT

Actress Scarlett Johansson, a Golden Globes presenter, was just one of many actresses to sport diamond stud earrings and bracelets for the evening's festivities. The jewels Johannson wore, set in platinum, were from Van Cleef & Arpels.

January 18, 2011 Beverly Hills—From gowns in a rainbow of pinks to emerald green, one-shoulder sheaths to full-length sleeves, the fashions on display at Sunday night's 68th Golden Globe Awards revealed a number of key trends. For jewelry, it seemed that most stylists and their stars received a similar style memo: choose either simple earlobe-hugging earrings or large, nearly shoulder-grazing pairs, matched with a bracelet or two.

Golden Globes winner Claire Danes, recognized for her role in the HBO miniseries Temple Grandin, went this route, pairing a yellow gold and diamond cuff with small diamond and platinum drop earrings, all from Fred Leighton. Black Swan actress Mila Kunis, one of a handful of stars to wear emerald green to the Globes, went with a bracelet and earring combo, too, selecting a yellow gold and diamond cuff and diamond stud earrings from Lorraine Schwartz. And Mad Men's January Jones, who wowed in a barely there Versace, was another actress to go the popular jewelry silhouette, selecting diamond and platinum column earrings and a trio of diamond and platinum bangle bracelets from Neil Lane.

Meanwhile, right-hand rings don't show any sign of going out of fashion, as quite a few stars topped off their earrings and bracelet combinations with a ring—or a few. Annette Bening, one of the evening's big winners for her role in The Kids Are All Right, wore a diamond and black onyx cuff bangle, diamond cluster earrings and two diamond cocktail rings. Catherine Zeta-Jones, whose husband Michael Douglas presented the final award of the night, looked to Van Cleef & Arpels for her "Crescendo" diamond bracelet, "Laureen" diamond ring and "Eliza" earrings, the latter featuring 26.8 carats total weight of round-, pear- and marquis-shaped diamonds. Presenter Jennifer Lopez went with a jewelry trio, too: a diamond cuff with over 600 diamonds, plus cluster earrings and a diamond suspension ring, all in platinum from Harry Winston.

Necklaces were fewer on the evening's stage, but they did get some very high-profile exposure. Natalie Portman, Golden Globe winner for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, accessorized her strapless Viktor & Rolf gown with a multi-row diamond necklace set in platinum, topped off with oval diamond stud earrings in platinum and a diamond ring in 18-karat white gold, all from Tiffany & Co. Presenters Helen Mirren and Kaley Cuoco hit the stage in necklaces, too, with Mirren wearing a platinum and cascading diamond necklace from Cartier, and Cuoco donning a 29-carat oval-shape diamond necklace in platinum from Chopard.






Unique diamonds, from rough stones to Ashokas, plus colored gemstones, also made their mark on the red carpet. Glee's Heather Morris wore Diamonds in the Rough's "Orielle" drop earrings and a bangle bracelet, both featuring natural rough diamonds, while Boardwalk Empire's Kelly Macdonald (above left) sported an Ashoka diamond ring and 18-karat rose gold earrings (above right) set with "rustic diamonds" from Martin Katz. Gabourey Sidibe looked to designer Martin Katz, also, but for colored gemstones. The actress wore a pair of the designer's oval amethyst earrings microset with 422 diamonds and 357 amethysts. Other Golden attendees sporting colored gemstones included Maria Menounos (below left) in Adeler South Sea pearl earrings and a smokey and pink quartz Brumani ring (below right) with diamonds, plus actress Jennifer Love Hewitt in Le Vian chocolate diamond and topaz rings.

Serious Christmas Spirit: Abu Dhabi Hosts $11 Million Christmas Tree

The Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, just debuted its $11 million dollar Christmas tree. Kind of puts your $50 six-footer to shame, huh?

A Tree's Best Friend.

Before you ask what could possibly make a tree--even a 43-foot tall tree--cost $11 million, we'll tell you: jewelry. Lots and lots of jewelry. The artificial tree is bedecked with 181 pieces, including diamonds, pearls, emeralds, and rubies, along with "more mundane gold and silver balls and bows." Well yes, we would expect that nearly anything put next to a $3.5 million diamond set would strike one as "mundane."

A Record In The Making.

Because hosting a massive piece of thief-bait isn't enough, the hotel is looking to get the tree recognized by the Guinness Book Of World Records as "the world's most expensively dressed," going up against a Japanese tree dressed to the tune of $10.8 million. If Emirates Palace does take the honor, it will join their Guinness record for the world's most expensive shot of alcohol (a $2,000 cognac). Here's hoping.

Thought this article was well worth mentioning...you will always know what you are purchasing with Two Blonds & Co. We are cost-conscious shopping gals and always looking for the best of everything...for less!

Jewelers seek ways to make pearls more expensive

by Joanna Douglas, Shine Staff, on Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:28pm PST

Many women own or would like to possess a strand of pearls or pearl earrings, and yay, the cost of the precious baubles have dropped drastically in recent years. China has been producing massive quantities of cultured freshwater pearls, so now a necklace made of real pearls costs what we used to pay for fakes—as low as $20. Affordable luxury items? We are not mad at that! But the New York Times says high-endjewelers are freaking out and trying to devise ways to up the price tags.

Natural pearls are fished from oysters living wild in the ocean—most by a few companies off the coast of Australia, rather than in farms—so retailers claim they are more rare and more attractive and thus justifying a higher price tag. "Natural pearls have a much quieter luster, which is really appealing," jeweler Viren Bhagat told the Times. Back in April, Christie's sold a collection of natural pearls for $7.1 million. "It goes to show the appreciation buyers have for things that are no longer produced," said Rahul Kadakia, Christie's head of jewelry to the Americas.

But these days freshwater pearls can be tinkered with to resemble natural ones so well that even jewelers have been fooled. (Does every market have counterfeits these days?) Since freshwater pearls are still real pearls, and in our opinions, equally lovely, we don't see a reason to splurge big bucks for overpriced natural ones. We may even gift some freshwater pearls this holiday season!

MAKE YOUR SKIN SPARKLE!

In order to show off that incredible jewelery...you need incredibly beautiful skin! Skip all the expensive creams and gels...follow a simple regimen that takes only minutes!

Your most gorgeous skin ever—in just 10 minutes a day!

• by Joanna Douglas, Shine Staff, on Mon Dec 13,

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• Our facial skin is one of the first things people notice about us, yet—when our lives get super busy—it's also one of the first things we neglect. Sure, makeup can cover up imperfections, but having a genuinely pretty, natural glow really isn't as difficult to achieve as you'd think. For most folks (barring serious medical skin conditions like eczema) a simple, well-thought-out, 10-minute daily skincare routine is all you need to look great. And no worries if you can't squeeze it in during time-crunched mornings. Manhattan dermatologist Eric Schweiger M.D., says an evening skin regimen is actually much more important to maintain. These four easy steps will help you achieve a flawless face in next to no time.
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Step 1: Cleanse
Dr. Schweiger says there's no need for a fancy, expensive makeup remover, so cut down on time and your beauty budget by thoroughly washing with a gentle cleanser that removes products and oil but doesn't over-dry.
Time spent: three minutes

Step 2: Moisturize
No matter what your skin type, you should slather on a light lotion to your face and neck every night. For this, Dr. Schweiger says to look for oil-free products that are also fragrance-free.
Time spent: two minutes

Step 3: Apply retinoids
"Of all the anti-aging and photo damage correction products on the market, retinoids have the most scientific evidence," explains Dr. Schweiger. He says retinoid creams, either prescription or over-the-counter, can be the most beneficial. "Retin-A, Renova, and Tazorac have been shown, in one month or two, to decrease fine lines and wrinkles." Three times a week use a pea-size amount on your face, and once or twice a week apply the cream under your eyes to banish those dark circles. Retinoids should always be applied at night since they can make your skin more sensitive to the sun.
Time spent: three minutes

Step 4: Hydrate
"Toners are not necessary—they over-dry the skin and can actually increase oil production, and then the cycle is hard to break," says Dr. Schweiger. But he does suggest a final application of moisturizer after the retinoid cream to prevent redness and flaking, especially in the winter when skin is drier.
Time spent: two minutes

Really, that's it! Ten minutes of devoted attention is all your face needs before bed. If you follow these steps every evening, an a.m. quick rinse with face wash and a light SPF will get you out the door and on your way to a gorgeous glow.

Victoria's Secret unveils 2008 'Fantasy Bra'

After reading this article, I mused "some things never change!" I suppose these creations are figments of the imagination in the artist' mind. With the current economy, you'd think Victoria's Secret would be less inclined to be so ostentatious. But hey...it's makes the news, right?

Have a good one.


October 20, 2008

The Victoria's Secret 2008 Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra features 3,575 black diamonds, 117 one-carat round diamonds and 34 rubies.

Columbus, Ohio—With the holiday season approaching, Victoria's Secret unveiled its annual jewel-encrusted "Fantasy Bra" on Monday, with this year's lingerie creation totaling more than 1,000 carats and valued at $5 million.

Jeweler Martin Katz crafted the 2008 Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra using 3,575 black diamonds, 117 certified one-carat round diamonds and 34 rubies.

The piece de resistance of the bra's design, however, is two black-diamond drops totaling 100 carats.

Dubbed "the ultimate fantasy gift" by the Columbus, Ohio, intimate apparel company, the bra, modeled by supermodel Adriana Lima, is adorned with 3,900 gems and totals 1,500 carats.

Victoria's Secret has been partnering with jewelers to create an over-the-top bedazzled bra since 1996.

Past Fantasy Bra creations include 2006's "Hearts On Fire Fantasy Bra," a balconet-style brassiere with more than 2,000 diamonds weighing a total of 800 carats and modeled by Karolina Kurkova.

That bra's estimated value was $6.5 million and marked the 10th anniversary of the Fantasy Bra.