Cool Jewels
Back on the block: JAR topaz earrings
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!One of the JAR jewels made famous at the 2006 sale of Ellen Barkin’s jewelry is up for grabs again – four years later and in the same showroom, Christie’s announced yesterday. Those who didn’t make the winning bid... »
JAR: designer jewelry as calling card
Jewelry designed by JAR is so rare and coveted, women who own it wear it like a calling card. A piece by JAR is more than a beautiful, expensive jewel. It's evidence that you've made it. You have the inside track. »
Buying pearls with design in mind
Good news: there has never been a better time to get creative with pearls. A few tips for what to look for and how to get the must luscious pearls for your money. »
Jacob Albee: meteoric jewels
Jacob Albee makes meteorite look like precious metal from outer space - which, if you ask him, is exactly what it is. »
Abandoned jewels and vintage nature at Doyle New York
What happens to jewelry abandoned in safety deposit boxes? Apparently, some of it ends up at auction. A portion of the 1,000 or so lots going on the block Thursday at Doyle New York come from the Puerto Rico-based Banco Popular. Most of the interesting stuff appears to come from more conventional sources, however, including a... »
Flights of fancy: Bakelite bangles
Bakelite jewelry can look a lot like modern resin, but the earliest attempts at plastic didn’t look so plastic. Celluloid was invented, in 1868, with the greenest of intentions – to replace ivory and tortoiseshell. And it had to be hand-carved because it didn’t take a mold well. Bakelite, the first entirely synthetic plastic, came... »
A celebration of really expensive tiaras
Miss America, royal weddings, red carpets, Madonna – they all have their tiara moments. But my personal favorite happened on Friday Night Lights, the TV series about high school football in small-town Texas. In a second-season episode, quarterback Matt Saracen accepts a postal delivery at the poverty-level tract house he shares with his grandmother, who’s... »
Susan Sanders: intricate geometry
Susan Sanders is one of those rare people who always knew what she wanted to be when she grew up. “When I was six, I could have told you I wanted to make things and sell them for a living,” she tells me while carving a piece of wax in her studio. Sanders works... »
Sex and the City: the jewelry
As Sex and the City fans eagerly await the release of movie 2, a look back on that cocktail ring Samantha bid on in movie 1 - and the real auction and ring that inspired it. »
What you need to know about jewelry hallmarks
Buying antique or vintage jewelry means first figuring out what it is, where and when it was made, and by whom. That’s why the first thing an experienced buyer will do is hold a piece up to a loupe and examine it for hallmarks. If jewelry has hallmarks and they appear authentic, identifying its... »