Modern Jewelry Trends

If you ever wanted to carry a big-name designer but couldn’t, the economic squeeze may give you a second chance.  Some formerly exclusive territories are opening up as stores drop lines or close their doors.  And recent bankruptcies and closings also mean that high-end merchandise is now starting to appear in the close-out market. For example, liquidation specialist Simplex Diam has acquired the branded inventory of Christian Bernard, which filed Chapter 7 the day after Christmas.

Brands Simplex Diam has available include Tacori, Ritani, Hearts On Fire, David Yurman, John Hardy, Mikimoto, Lagos, Tissot, and Hamilton.  The company will be selling some of the close-out merchandise at the In Store trade show this weekend.

“Some of the product in mint condition an easily be sold for 10 percent below retail,” Neel Madhvani of Simplex says. “The rest can be sold for around half to 75 percent of retail and because most stores simply can’t get their hands on it, it is immensely advantageous. Just having a designer piece of this caliber in your store raises your status in a community.”

The effect on the brands themselves and their authorized retailers, most of whom aren’t allowed to discount?  Not quite as positive.

H. Stern added just a little bit of “sparkle” to the celebrity wedding of singer Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson and actor Josh Duhamel (“Las Vegas”). The couple walked down the aisle wearing millions of dollars worth of one-of-a-kind creations.

H. Stern created the couple’s engagement ring and wedding bands and also accessorized the entire wedding party. H. Stern’s “Stars” engagement ring in the brand’s 18k Noble gold featured a 4 carat diamond and cognac diamond accents, along with a colored diamond wedding band and 18k white gold band for the groom. Each band is engraved with special personal messages by the bride and groom.

During the ceremony and reception, Fergie changed it up, wearing a variety of different outfits and jewelry designs. She wore more than $5 million of H. Stern’s jewelry, including an 80 carat diamond lariat necklace, as well as a rope diamond necklace worn in her hair as a veil, hair pieces, cuffs, and several other designs, too. Not to be outdone, the groom wore H. Stern’s white and black diamond cuff links. Last but not least, the seven bridesmaids in the wedding party wore the Brazilian jeweler’s “Zephyr” diamond hair clips, priced at $3,000 each. H. Stern’s stunning creations took a star turn during this celebrity red carpet wedding.     — Matthew Kramer

If a Shepard Fairey button isn’t your idea of a stylish accessory, jewelry designer Jeanine Payer today launched a new jewelry collection that’s a more subtle and moving tribute to the inauguration of President Barak Obama.  Her new “Elements of Change” jewelry collection is hand engraved with excerpts from the inauguration poem by Elizabeth Alexander, “Praise Song for the Day.” Payer gave the first pieces from the collection to Michelle Obama, her daughters, Oprah, and other women who she feels are working to advance the president’s message of hope.

Hand-engraved poetry has long been a signature of Jeanine Payer’s work.  When Payer wrote about how moved she was by Alexander’s poem on her company’s blog during the inauguration, a commenter suggested that the poem would be perfect to incorporate into her jewelry designs.

“I reached out to Ms. Alexander to give her a gift, a piece with her poem engraved onto it, and the dialog turned into a collaboration,” Payer says. “Her words about love and possibility are perfect for the art I make.”

The six pieces in the collection, three necklaces and three bracelets available either in sterling silver or 14k gold, will be made and hand engraved in the Jeanine Payer design studio in San Francisco.   The pieces can be worn by either women or men.

“Jeanine Payer’s exquisite designs create elegance in elemental forms,” Alexander says. “Her jewelry honors the power and beauty of simplicity, yet they also capture poetry’s invitation to deep contemplation. In every aspect, Jeanine’s jewelry is beautiful, and I am honored that she would find inspiration in my poem.”

The launch of the collection today also celebrates the beginning of National Poetry Month.

“In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, any thing can be made, any sentence begun.” - Elizabeth Alexander