Continued from Jewelry by Picasso: the secret stash of Dora Maar, part 1: At the auction, a chrome-metal watch with a brass plaque engraved with a portrait of Maar sold for about $63,000 – 19 times its estimated value of $3,300. A portrait ring in a metal frame of lattice flower work, estimated at...
Ralph Esmerian, fourth-generation jewelry dealer and former owner of the Fred Leighton chain, was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for double pledging and reselling collateral used to secure more than $210 million in loans. Manhattan federal Judge Denise Cote also ordered Esmerian to perform 1,800 hours of community service and forfeit $20...
I’ve been obsessed with Hendrix again since watching the 1973 documentary Jimi Hendrix, followed by the 2007 biopic. Hendrix was long gone before I was aware he existed. So I grew up listening to him, not watching him. I remember parking in a cornfield with a high school boyfriend on a summer night, listening...
New jewelry is like new love. Once acquired, it’s difficult to part with. We want to take it everywhere. We struggle to keep our hands off it. Alas, the moment comes when it must be unfastened and put away. One option is to return the beloved jewel to its velvet box and lock it...
UPDATE: Here it is at last, the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl championship ring, presented to the team at a Thursday night celebration in Lambeau Field Atrium. The Packers bucked the recent trend to go with a name-brand jewelry designer like Tiffany or an edgier up-and-coming designer for Super Bowl rings, sticking instead with...
Not all designers work individually with couples to customize wedding rings, but sometimes galleries that represent those designers will serve as liaison. This allows designers who prefer to work independently to benefit from the demand for customized wedding rings and for couples to end up with a favorite designer’s work as a wedding ring,...
Ralph Esmerian, former owner of Fred Leighton, pleaded guilty last week to bankruptcy fraud, a tragic turn in a respected family business that took a century to build. The Esmerians began like many jewelry businesses that relocated to New York in the early twentieth century, bringing their expertise in the old world European jewelry...
Only a few years ago, Ralph Esmerian was riding high, a respected dealer and collector taking over the role of jeweler to the stars as the new owner of Fred Leighton. Charming and well-spoken, Esmerian was frequently photographed with famous actresses. In November, a different kind of photo appeared in major news outlets: a...
Now that they’ve won the Super Bowl, the Green Bay Packers have another challenge on their hands, literally – designing their championship rings. First step in the process was accomplished before the game even began. Packers coach Mike McCarthy had the team measured for...
Not that you have to get literal with the valentines, but there is something about that shape. It’s tempting to call the attraction sentimental, what with all those memories of second-grade valentine exchanges and heart-shaped boxes of chocolate at every checkout counter. But there are theories that the heart symbol sprang from more erotic...
