Marco Bicego Jaipur Diamond Earrings

Marco Bicego is a brand that has made a big splash in the designer jewelry world recently. With styles that are fun, distinctive and flexible, this Italian jewelry house has captured a large audience and clientele. From vibrant gemstone compilations to dazzling gold and diamond compositions, there is an overall touch of class which unifies Marco Bicego’s vision.

One of the brand’s most recent collections is “Jaipur Diamonds.” With pave white diamonds set in 18k white and yellow gold, these designs are elegant and dazzling while maintaining a playful look. The gold displays a hand-rendered finish which has an organic and raw feel. Some of the designs in this collection also feature large colored gemstones providing a rich candy colored pallet.

These large diamond dangle earrings are featured in the August issue of “In Style” magazine. With large hoops dangling from pave diamond studs, this design is dynamic and bold. An exciting new take on classic gold hoops from Marco Bicego’s latest collection.

Roberto Coin Cares

Luxury Italian jewelry designer Roberto Coin has launched his fall 2009 advertising campaign, featuring supermodel Christy Turlington. This is a special campaign and one close to Christy and Roberto Coin’s hearts: Five percent of net proceeds of jewelry pieces featured in these ads will be donated to YouthAIDS. Roberto Coin has supported YouthAIDS for the past three years in their global incentive of raising funds and awareness to the world’s youth population.

Christy Turlington, who joins other Hollywood heavyweight philanthropists such as Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz, feels a meaningful connection with this campaign. Having recently returned from Africa where she visited young mothers and children living with HIV/AIDS, Turlington wanted to collaborate with brands trying to effect change on a larger scale. Continue Reading… »

A Piaget Altiplano Watch Unique As Your Own Fingerprint

One of the things I’ve always admired about the house of Piaget, is their ability to craft unique and bespoke creations for their clientele.  I’m reminded of a great (true) story about Piaget creating a series of one-off timepieces for a sheik who wanted each of the 32 (!) ladies in his harem to have a unique watch based on the specific wallpaper in her own room in his palace!  Pretty incredible, but it does illustrate Piaget’s dedication to extraordinary luxury. One piece unique concept that Piaget offers today, which enables you to obtain a watch truly unlike any out there, is the Altiplano “Fingerprint Motif”.   Continue Reading… »

IWC Portuguese Automatic 7-Day Watch

Among today’s IWC timepieces, the Portuguese (7-Day) Automatic is unquestionably one of the best.  A bold statement to be sure, but there’s lots to back it up: this model respectfully follows the historical design laid down by the very first Portuguese watch IWC created back in the 1930’s (a large, highly legible and extremely accurate wristwatch that would give up nothing to pocket watch performance), it’s extremely handsome, and it has tremendous presence on the wrist.  What’s more, this IWC watch possesses one of the most interesting self-winding mechanical movements in current production.  Definitely a solid resume! Continue Reading… »

Takin’ It To the Tweet!

It seems the latest celebrity obsession is Tweeting about themselves! Ashton Kutcher caused a near meltdown of social media site Twitter when he challenged Larry King of CNN to see who could get a million Twitter followers first. Ashton won, and continues to tweet about his day to day happenings, photos of his wife, and about charitable causes he feels passionately about.

Isn’t it curious in this day and age of paparazzi becoming stalkarazzi, and celebs claiming their privacy is endlessly invaded, that they would become hooked on Twitter? Sending out messages about themselves, essentially BEGGING to be followed? Is this their way of controlling the situation, or is it ultimately narcissism? Continue Reading… »

Bell & Ross BR 02 1000M Watch: Escaping The Dive Watch Paradigm

With their rugged, virtually indestructible construction, legible no-B.S. dials and alluring size and mass, dive watches are some of the coolest sports timepieces out there.  And among comparative newcomers to the scene,  few have the presence and pleasing originality of the Bell & Ross BR 02 1000M.  While I know it won’t unseat such smashingly popular classics as the Rolex Submariner or Omega Seamaster, there’s no question this head-turner is a real option for those wanting to escape the established dive watch paradigm. Continue Reading… »

Gurhan Gives Back

The world of designer jewelry is one of glamour, extravagance and opulent marvels. Existing in this lofty atmosphere, it’s all too easy for designers and their patrons to lose sight of the everyday. However, some members of this elite community choose to lend a hand to those less fortunate than themselves. One such person is world renowned gold jewelry designer Gurhan Orhan.

This summer, Gurhan partnered up with charitable organization God’s Love We Deliver, helping in their mission to provide healthy meals and nutritional counseling to individuals afflicted with life-altering illnesses. Gurhan was able to contribute in two ways. Firstly, the brand donated a gorgeous aquamarine “Slice” necklace to be included in an auction bennefit. Secondly, memebers of the Gurhan staff volunteered together in the GLWD kikitchen helping to craft nutritious meals for over 3,000 people.

In these times of economic hardship, it’s doubly important for those endowed with wealth and privilege to open their hearts and share what they have with the disadvantaged. It’s encouraging to see that a successful and talented jewelry designer like Gurhan Orhan has made it a priority to persue such ambitions.  This is just one more reason why Gurhan is one of our favorite jewelry brands.

Watch Collecting: A Perspective From One Who Tried, And Failed

Watch collecting is an interesting pursuit, and can mean very different things to different people.  There is no “right answer”–only what works for that individual.  Some people enjoy a rotation of 3-10 watches, happily going to the safety deposit bank or the safe to pull stuff off the winder.  Others keep a few timepieces on hand they wear regularly, and leave the others–sometimes many others–wrapped up in plastic for posterity or investment purposes (I’m thinking of the Patek crowd here, particularly)  Then there are the fanatics for vintage Rolex or Panerai limited editions, who enjoy the hyper-minutiae and sharing a latest rare acquisition with their equally obsessed buddies at get-togethers where festivity levels are just slightly less than that of a Roman bacchanalia.   Continue Reading… »

H.Stern Highlight Stars in Marie Claire

H.Stern’s bold designs are an essential part of the modern jewelry landscape. Over the years, this brand’s contributions to the fashion world have been substantial and well recognized with industry awards and celebrity patronage. Unlike some designers who make a splash and then rest on their laurels, H.Stern is a constant innovator.

The world of jewelry design is relatively homogenous with most brands latching onto trends and squeezing them for every last drop of life. H.Stern bucks this trend by creating unexampled works of art, unique in both material and style. A perfect illustration would be the “Highlight Stars” designs which showcase massive translucent gemstones with champagne diamonds set in 18k noble gold. Continue Reading… »

Paul Picot Technograph Discotime: A Chronograph Watch With Spice

With chronograph watches having the popularity that they do among timepiece aficionados, it can be a challenge for a watch brand to come up with a concept that catches the eye and stands out amongst the crowd.  That said, I think the small house of Paul Picot in Le Noirmont, Switzerland has succeeded in doing just that with their colorful and technically interesting Technograph Discotime watch.   Continue Reading… »