What cap­tures the light, enhances color, and exudes bril­liance? A col­ored gem­stone that has been cut by a mas­ter stone cut­ter. This week the Amer­i­can Gem Trade Asso­ci­a­tion cel­e­brated its 25^th anniver­sary of the Spec­trum Awards. Win­ners in the com­pe­ti­tion are rec­og­nized for their inno­v­a­tive use of col­ored gem mate­r­ial and pearls in the categories […]

They want us to shop. Retail­ers have been prey­ing on our snail and cyber mail­boxes with dis­count coupons, codes, and extended-day sales try­ing to, as True Blood’s Sookie Stack­house would say, glam­our us. Instead turn your gaze away, be brave and fathom the dark recesses of your clos­ets. Dig deep within those draw­ers and dusty […]

Before I begin this post, I have news that I would like to share with you. Jew­el­his­tory is expand­ing! You will see adver­tise­ments as well as addi­tional pages that have con­tent devoted to your (and my) favorite sub­ject. The tran­si­tion will be slow, but hope­fully steady over the course of the next few months. I […]

Enti­tled Together/Apart, Aaron Faber Gallery’s newest exhi­bi­tion brings the cloy­ing taste of the suite to its sac­cha­rine end. The pre­sen­ta­tion is on view until Novem­ber 30, 2008. This idea of coor­di­nat­ing three or more pieces of jew­elry, which is the def­i­n­i­tion of a suite — or parure (tech­ni­cally this term indi­cates four or more kin­dred ornaments), […]

On Novem­ber 19, 2008, Sotheby’s in Geneva will be auc­tion­ing off a trio of gems that will pull at your patri­otic heart­strings. This mod­i­fied fancy red dia­mond of 1.92 carats (red dia­monds are sel­dom, if ever, more than a sin­gle carat, and are prob­a­bly the rarest found in col­ored dia­monds) is esti­mated to be sold […]

Bar­bara Hut­ton was once dis­cov­ered wear­ing her tiara while sit­ting in bed. She was con­va­lesc­ing and loved this head piece so much that she decide to adorn her­self appro­pri­ately for the occa­sion. Not many of us would be so moved by a jewel that we would don our dear­est fin­ery while recoup­ing. How­ever today I […]

The Louis Vuit­ton show in Paris five days ago was about what house designer Marc Jacobs referred to as, “the Parisi­enne Princess”. Fash­ion is clan­nish but this pre­sen­ta­tion gave a whole new mean­ing to the word tribal. Chic as it was, Jacobs gave us eth­nic jew­els the size of…well…the size of Queen Elizabeth’s royal collection. […]

Eliz­a­beth Banks, in a entic­ing shade of deep plum, sported a Vic­to­rian (19^th cen­tury) dia­mond fringe neck­lace from Fred Leighton while a guest on The David Let­ter­man Show yes­ter­day. She paired this ensem­ble with turquoise and dia­mond rings and ear­rings. Turquoise and plum — an unusual color com­bi­na­tion –quite strong on its own, per­haps too […]

While tak­ing in the gor­geous foliage that New York is famous for in Octo­ber, be sure to spend a day in the city to see all the incred­i­ble jew­elry exhi­bi­tions that will be ongo­ing dur­ing the month. Begin­ning tomor­row at Aaron Faber Gallery and run­ning to Novem­ber 15^th is: From A to Zobel: 40 Years. […]