When It's Not Right To Give Jewelry Gifts



Younger People use iPads or other tablets to manage their personal finances



When one of my younger cousins sent out the invitations for her recent wedding, the couple requested cold hard cash for a home down payment instead of gift like a crystal bowl. That says it all about the economic times we are living in now.  The couple would have gotten plenty of cash anyway but I guess economic realities could not allow them the luxury of looking at a bunch of gift-wrapped baubles instead of money.

I think that the same thinking applies to gifts for new college graduates given the burden of college loans and a less than stellar job market.  Let’s be real!



Balancing a checkbook



Whatever gift you do give to the happy couple or new graduate, here’s one more that you must give: Personal financial and wealth creation education.

Many high schools and colleges no longer have Home Economics courses, where the hands-on basics of personal finance, budgeting, getting a home mortgage and wealth creation were taught prior to 1980.  Give this gift of knowledge to make-up for this gap in public education.

Give insight and direction to financial experts, books and websites. Let them know ways to maneuver their financial life in a stalled economy.

Best of all, let them know ways to be ready for when the economy honestly heats-up.  Then, maybe the young couples and new college graduates will be in a financial position to buy jewelry gifts  for you.

Safeguard Your Wedding Gown’s Bling and Glitz



A Gown's Sequin Detail



Make sure that your bridal gown remains as lovely as you remember on your wedding day.  Sequin and bead embroidery with the French tambour beading technique is a worthy investment for any wedding gown.

Why Couture Beading Is Better

Beads and sequins that are embroidered with a special needle in the tambour technique have a longer life than glitz applied with hot glue or heat transfer. Take this into consideration while shopping for your gown.

Beaded  Applique Pieces

Tambour beading is an old technique that is still used in many couture Chanel garments. I understand that 75 year old women living in the French countryside use tambour embroidery to make Chanel’s designs.

Sequins, beads and crystals applied with glue or heat can rub-off much too easily.

I recently purchased a casual top with a crystal design.  Some of the crystals came-off when I removed the size tag taped on the front of the garment.  It was a gift for someone very special and I was so disappointed that some of the crystals came-off before I could present the gift.

Special Dresses Deserve Special Embroidery

Robert Haven is a specialist in theatre costumes and a professor at the University Kentucky.  He loves tambour. He demonstrates the tambour technique on this video:

Embroidery with the tambour beading technique can help make sure that your wedding gown remains your treasured keepsake with no missing bling.

Ciara’s Refined Chunky Gold Look

Ciara makes some hot sultry moves while wearing  big bold  gold jewelry with a distinctive couture designer look in her video for “Body Party”.

 Take a 2nd look at those max hoop earrings with the attached diamond studs-I've never seen that look that big before.  Ciara's gold jewelry style is very polished!

 In fact, the costume design for the dancers and other cast members includes chunky neck chains and bracelets that looks like  a  mix of big bling and couture jewelry styles at the same time.

Diamond Robbery Victim – Liar, Liar



Earlier this week, an elderly woman claimed that she was robbed of $100,000 worth of jewelry when she left Saks Fifth Avenue in broad daylight on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The woman claimed that a gang of 6 to 8 young men robbed her of the jewels which included a $50,000 diamond encrusted bird brooch. She lied.

Her story didn’t match-up with police video surveillance on Chicago’s Mag Mile, according to UPI. Police are “considering” charging her with filing a false police report.

When the liar’s story was first reported, I remembered wondering ‘Why would anyone wear $100,000 worth of diamond jewels just to go shopping at Saks?’

When A Child Makes A Commitment

A girl's 1st Communion

It's the beginning of a love affair …. Here’s a tip: Keep a child’s faith jewelry like the little cross pendants, crucifixes, rosaries and other mementoes of that 1^st big day displayed in a shadow box.

Don’t lock it away in a chest.  



A child is Baptized

Help your child to remember that

they are always loved!

Neck Wires Give Pendants Dramatic Attention!



Get more attention wearing a neck collar and pendant





Silver neck wires and collars are sometimes the best way to showcase scene-stealing pendants. Art jewelry pendants, wire wrapped beads or large pendants many times look much better hanging on a neck wire instead of a chain or leather cord.

Tips for Wearing Neck Wires

No matter the neckline of the dress or top you wear, neck wires keep the pendant hanging close to the collar bone or at bottom of your neck. Longer pendants especially look better with the wires.



"V" shaped Neck wire



Egyptian style crystal bead design on neck wire



A case in-point would be larger Mexican Taxco sterling silver pendants that are floral or whimsical jewelry designs. Silver chains just don’t seem to flow with these designs.

Sometimes you can get away with using a black cord but neck wires and collars look  and feel much better.  

Neck Wire Designs

Many neck wires can be worn closed at the back of the neck, but some are designed to left open and hanging on the neck.  Also, many neck wires and collars are artfully designed to worn by themselves as jewelry, without a pendant.

And it turns out that the best style selections of neck wires that I’ve seen are often sold along side Taxco silver jewelry. 

Bulgari Luxury Jewelry Employment Opportunity For Designers

The other evening I read a report in Women’s World Daily (WWD) that Bulgari, the luxury jewelers has a new training program for newbie jewelry artisans. There wasn’t any contact information in the WWD article but Bulgari has an employment website!!!

Here’s the link--

Buglari Jewelers Employment Website

So if you want to design and craft luxury jewelry for   movie stars, internet billionaires, royalty  and those otherwise ultra wealthy, Bulgari might just give you a chance.

Now here’s a truly bizarre coincidence:  That very same morning I was looking back at a jewelry history book about the golden age of Indian royal jewelry produced for Maharajas during the 16^th and 17^th century.  I drooled over the pictures of the vast dazzling collection of stupendous jewels housed in the Kuwait National Museum.



A royal palace in India

But my mind began to drift.  I stop thinking so much about the royal wearers of the stunning jewelry.

 I began thinking about the workers in the gold mines, the gemstone jewelry designers, the cutters, polishers and other jewelry craftsmen. These workers had a duty to produce all manner of bejeweled items for Indian royalty.

Now, in the 21^st century, Bulgari’s luxury jewelry designers and artisans, in some respects, are comparable to India’s 16^th and 17^th jewelry artisans.

Newer Rules For Buying Gold Jewelry

The gold spot price is close to a 1 year low (as of May 5, 2013) but gold jewelry is not necessarily  more affordable NOW then it was a year ago. 

Nowadays I put some real thought and time into purchasing any gold jewelry that twinkles for my eyes only.

• I only buy what I love – Frankly, buying gold jewelry now requires a major outlay of cash.  Don’t allow a persuasive jeweler to push a glitzy bauble on you when you’re only feeling lukewarm about wearing it.  
• I never forget about  junk fashion jewelry-which is usually  hot, new, trendy and  okay to get tired of  wearing after a month.

• I buy just what I can afford – there is nothing wrong with small gold stud earrings and thin stack rings. Small gold jewelry items are ALWAYS fashionable.

• I try to discern what I’m buying – Find out if that piece of gold jewelry is solid, an electroform design, gold over silver or gold over resin. I especially try to learn more when I see a trendy trinket with a 'big gold' look.

If that bright yellow sunny color makes you very happy and you need a new fix, it makes some sense to occasionally save money for a small gold coin instead of ONLY buying gold jewelry.

Don’t Ignore These Hot Jewelry Trends For A Mothers Day Gift



Easy to see Big Dial watch



Believe me, your Mom wants to look as hot, I mean, as fashionable as the next girl.  Here are 7 trends in jewelry and gemstone designs that you may want to seriously consider for a Mothers Day Gift this year:

• Big link necklace - check the couture fashion jewelry counter for the most sumptuous selections.
• Lapis lazuli beads in a bracelet or necklace style - the dark night azure gemstone with starry-like pyrite flecks looks very classy in larger millimeter size beads.

  

  Lapis lazui beads

  
• Big dial watch - because face it, bigger watches are easier on the eyes.  Your mom will appreciate this very functional gift.
• Charm bracelets that are designed with bead charms - While the older type of bracelets with dangling charms isn’t going out of style anytime soon, nothing says “new” like a new jewelry style. Check out the selection at your fine jeweler.
• Morganite - view this springy looking pale peach beryl gemstone on your TV shopping channel.  The stone looks impressive in larger carat sizes especially when set in solitaire ring designs.
• Labradorite and Ethiopian Opal gemstone jewelry are also being heavy promoted this year. Both gemstones feature lovely and unusual flashes of light. Your mother may appreciate a gift designed with a relatively rare gemstone.

Tips To Accessorize Teenager Assets For Your Prom

No matter what jewelry style you choose to accessorize your Prom gown, make sure that you also accessorize your best teenager charms:

1. Your Young Age  – your teenager jewelry style should shout or whisper ‘I am young’.
2.  Flawless Skin – fewer baubles means more skin is the focus. You may actually look better in a strapless gown without a necklace.
3.  A Slender Neck – A choker necklace or shoulder duster earrings are the best bets to showcase a graceful neck.
4. Delicate Wrists – Rows of crystal bracelets add pops of flash and color on the arm opposite from the one with the wrist corsage.
5. Youthful Figure – Use a crystal waist pin if you feel you need some jewelry but your choice of gown is really the best way to showcase a young body.
6. Healthy Shiny Hair – a spray of fresh colorful flowers is always glamorously youthful. Of course, if you are going to be the prom queen, leave your hair unadorned so there will be headroom for the crystal tiara.