Swarovski latest to fall under silver’s spell

source : nationaljewelernetwork.com
April 23, 2010

Swarovski's first sterling silver collection, the "Manhattan Collection" features pieces like these featuring silver and black cubic zirconia.

New York-Austrian crystal giant Swarovski clearly has a thing for New York: Besides releasing the "Manhattan Collection," its sterling silver debut, the brand's boutiques worldwide will be decorated with a Sex and the City 2 theme, playing up the jewelry and accessories featured in the film.

In a departure from its predominantly costume jewelry focus, Swarovski is bringing its fashion-forward ethos to the company's first sterling silver jewelry collection, the "Manhattan Collection," unveiled as part of its fall collection.

The collection features a modern chain-link silhouette, with pieces crafted in .925 sterling silver with rhodium plating, and offered at price points ranging from $260 to $320. The designs deploy a black-and-white motif, mixing sterling silver with the brand's black cubic zirconia stones.

The silver collection will be available in early August in Swarovski boutiques, through authorized Swarovski retailers and on the brand's Web site, Swarovski.com. ...

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A Storied Name in Jewelry Makes a Comeback

source : nytimes.com
By JULIA WERDIGIER
Published: September 9, 2009

A firebird brooch from the Fabergé jewelry collection.

LONDON — Fabergé, jeweler to the last Russian czar and creator of the legendary Imperial Easter eggs, made a comeback of sorts Wednesday when it presented its first jewelry collection in more than 90 years, even as other luxury goods makers are bracing for a tough year.

The collection is the result of a two-year effort by Fabergé’s owners, a group of investors led by the British private-equity firm Pallinghurst Resources, to revive the brand by reuniting it with two heirs of the Fabergé family.

The firm also assembled a management and design team that includes Mark Dunhill, former president of Alfred Dunhill, a leather and accessories maker owned by the Swiss luxury goods company Richemont, and Frédéric Zaavy, an avant-garde Parisian jeweler. ...

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By choice or not, jewelers fall off brand-wagon

source : nationaljewelernetwork.com
By Michelle Graff
April 15, 2010

Hearts on Fire says it is renewing its focus on bridal pieces, like this "Beloved" ring, featuring a 0.75-carat center stone and 0.37- to 0.47-carat side stones; setting retails for $2,650.

New York--In a month known for hearts and cupid's arrows, some of the industry's biggest brands weren't showing recession-battered retailers any love.

In February, both diamond company Hearts on Fire and the Richemont Group-owned Cartier acknowledged they were severing ties with under-performing retailers, and both cited essentially the same reason: They wanted to maximize their brand's potential by partnering only with those retailers who really know how to push their product.

Stories detailing these divorces blew up online at NationalJeweler.com, remaining on the site's top-viewed list for weeks. But was the frenzy whipped up by the jewelers directly impacted or by the love-hate relationship jewelers often harbor when it comes to their favorite brands? Longtime retailers and industry observers suggest the latter. ...

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De Beers' 'Millenium Blue' sells for $6 million

April 08, 2010

Hong Kong--A 5.16-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, once part of De Beers' Millennium Jewels Collection, sold for $6.4 million at Sotheby's Hong Kong on Wednesday, as diamonds continued to show strength in the auction market.

According to a news release from the auction house, Moussaieff of London emerged as the winning bidder for the pear-shaped diamond, which sold for well over its estimated sale price of $4.1 million to $5.1 million following "intense" bidding.

The sought-after stone was once one of the 11 blue diamonds in the Millennium Jewels Collection, a group of rare diamonds selected by Andrew Coxon, president of the De Beers Institute of Diamonds, to mark the turn of the millennium.

Wednesday's sale of the 5.16-carat millennium blue marks the first time one of these stones has been put up for sale since the diamonds were placed with private collectors in 2000.

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News : Christie's Auctions Two Huge Gems

March 26, 2010, jewelry.com

It's auction time again. See the two stunning stones that are causing a stir this time around.

Jewelry lovers may not be able to afford the gems and jewels offered for sale at big auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's, but we can certainly gawk at the incredible display from afar. To that end, we give you two stunning pieces on the block for the upcoming Christie's New York sale on April 22^nd: The Catherine the Great Emerald and The Emperor Maximilian Diamond.

The first stone comes in the guise of a large emerald and diamond brooch once worn by one of the world's most powerful and ruthless female leaders, Catherine II of Russia. The hexagonal-cut stone weighs between 60 and 70 carats and is surrounded by rose and old mine-cut diamonds. The estimated price for this little beauty clocks in at around $1 to $1.5 million.

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