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Personalized
Boutique
Newsletter Archives
Personalized Boutique Newsletter: July/August 2008 Here we are again! It's
summer, and summer means one thing down here in South Florida...Hurricane
Season!! Our payback for being able to swim outside in January. Wish us
luck!
If you've gotten jewelry
from us in the past and haven't sent in a photo of you rocking it for our
Show Us Your Style page, what are you
waiting for?!?
Feel free to
e-mail us
a pic, or you can snail-mail one in to:
Personalized Boutique
2612 Sawgrass Mills Cir #1511
Sunrise, FL 33323
Anyone who sends a photo and includes their return address will receive a
special gift from us!
Finally, if you think the month's between newsletters is just TOO long to
wait for my sparkling wit (or if you're really bored), check out my
jewelry blog:
http://personalizedboutique.blogspot.com/
As always, please feel free to
send your comments, suggestions or ideas for future jewelry articles/items to me,
your humble webmaster:
Robert@personalizedboutique.com
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Birthstones
One
common mistake many people make is thinking that birthstones correspond
to certain DATES of the Month, like Zodiac signs. They don’t. Although
someone born January 1st would be a Capricorn, and someone born January
31st would be an Aquarius, they would both have the same birthstone,
Garnet (although they might not get along, celestially speaking)
GARNET is January’s birthstone. Although
genuine garnets can come in many colors, red garnet is the color
associated with January. They are usually a deep red to reddish-orange
color, sometimes with a tinge of purple or brown. The name “garnet”
comes from the Latin word “granatus”, meaning “like seeds” because
garnets in rock look somewhat like the seeds in a pomegranate. In the
olden days it was said the wearer of a garnet would be protected in
their travels and kept in good health.
February’s birthstone is AMETHYST, a highly
prized variety of quartz. It’s color ranges from pale lilac to a deep,
royal purple. The name “amethyst” comes from the greek “Amethustos”,
meaning “not drunken”. In ancient times it was believed that an amethyst
wearer could never become intoxicated.
AQUAMARINE is March’s birthstone. Next to
the Emerald, it’s the most highly prized of the beryl group of
stones.The color of aquamarine is usually a clear, pale blue but can
also be a rich, deep blue or blue-green.
April’s true birthstone is DIAMOND, but it
is often substituted with other, less costly clear-white stones such as
white topaz (genuine) or cubic zirconia (synthetic diamond)
Garnet |
Amethyst |
Aquamarine |
Diamond |
EMERALD is May’s birthstone, and is one of
the most highly prized of all gems. It is known for a deep, rich green
color as well as natural internal inclusions called “jardin” (or
‘garden’ as they typically resemble leaves and branches). Emerald was
dedicated by the Greeks to the goddess Venus, and is the symbol of
immortality and faith.
June’s birthstone is ALEXANDRITE. Named for
the former czar of Russia, Alexander II, this color changing variety of
chrysoberyl is now one of the rarest and most expensive of gemstones.
Synthetic alexandrite, which mimics the color-changing properties of
genuine alexandrite, is almost always used in it’s place. These stones
have a red-violet, near amethyst color in incandescent light and a
blue-violet color in daylight. Pearl is sometimes used as an alternate
birthstone for June.
RUBY is July’s birthstone. Ruby is the red
variety of corundum, the second hardest natural mineral known to mankind
(diamond is first). It can be any shade of red up to almost pink. The
finest rubies known come from Burma, but they are also found in
Thailand, Sri Lanka and other areas.
PERIDOT is the birthstone for August. It is
a warm, soft olive or yellowish-green gem and is relatively inexpensive.
In olden times, peridot was thought to have medicinal value, and the
power to break evil spells.
Emerald |
Alexandrite
(daylight & candlelight) |
Ruby |
Peridot |
The birthstone for September is SAPPHIRE.
Sapphire is the non-red variety of corundum, and is well known among the
general public as being blue, although it can actually be nearly any
color. The term sapphire comes from the Latin “sapphrius”, meaning
“blue”, and the rich, deep blue color sapphire is most prized.
October has two birthstones, PINK
TOURMALINE and OPAL. As opal is a very soft, fragile stone (often called
a “hard luck” stone), pink tourmaline, which is a much more durable,
hard stone will more often be used in multiple birthstone jewelry. It
has a clear, pink to pinkish-red color.
CITRINE is November’s birthstone. The
primary source of this yellow quartz is Brazil. It usually has a rich,
golden color and it’s hardness wears well on rings.
Decembers birthstone is BLUE ZIRCON. Often
confused with cubic zirconia (simulated diamond) because of the similar
sounding name, zircon is actually a genuine stone that comes in many
colors, including colorless. The blue zircon associated with December is
a medium colored blue (darker than aquamarine, lighter than sapphire)
and is sometimes substituted with blue topaz.
Sapphire |
 
Pink Tourmaline & Opal |
Citrine |
Blue Zircon |
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Kustom Korner
Sometimes people
ask us to make something for them and we
end up liking it so much that we add it to our site. Like this Skull
Bracelet and these Diamond Skull earrings below that were originally
requests from two different customers.
A little while ago someone asked about making a 14k gold Cheez-It
charm which kind of got our "snack food" mojo going. We now have our
own "cheeze cracker" and "tortilla chip" charms with more on the
way!
Goldfish anyone?
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Personalized Boutique Newsletter: Jan/Feb 2008 Welcome to the latest edition of the
Personalized Boutique Newsletter. What's new in the jewelry world?
Alternative metals like Stainless Steel and Titanium are showing up more &
more (likely due to record-high gold & platinum prices...more on this
later); "message" jewelry that carries a deeper meaning behind the style;
and retro jewelry trends like nameplates & name hoop earrings that WILL NOT
DIE!
We told you in our last newsletter that we supplied a 14k gold "Hilda" name
necklace for the ABC hit comedy Ugly Betty. Here's show co-star Ana Ortiz
sporting her new name necklace:
We're still putting together a photo page with
customers wearing our jewelry, so please keep those pictures coming in.
Feel free to
e-mail us
a pic, or you can snail-mail one in to:
Personalized Boutique
2612 Sawgrass Mills Cir #1511
Sunrise, FL 33323
Anyone who sends a photo and includes their return address will receive a
special gift from us!
As always, please feel free to
send your comments, suggestions or ideas for future jewelry articles/items to me,
your humble webmaster:
Robert@personalizedboutique.com
________________________________________________________________
You've Raised Your Prices!
Over the holiday's I received several
emails asking me why the prices of most of our gold jewelry has gone up
this past year. While I did my best to answer the question in an honest,
forthright manner (even to the person who called me names and accused me
of "profiteering" during Christmas), I thought it was probably a good
idea to use this forum to clear a few things up.
As someone who has been in the jewelry business for
over 20 years, I sometimes forget that many people just don't follow the
goings-on of the precious metals market as fanatically as we do. Like it
or not, although we jewelers like to think of ourselves as creators of
wearable art and NOT commodity brokers, the reality is that we DO deal
with precious metals which as of late have been reaching historic highs.
Below is a chart of the price per oz. of gold from the
year 2000 to the present:
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As you can see, gold spent the years 2000 to 2003
languishing in the $300 per oz. or below price range and even as
late as 2005 was under $500 per oz. As of this writing, gold is
priced at over $900 per oz.
As I explained to the person who wondered why she just
saw a video from 2004 with Steven Cojocaru on the Today Show saying
our 14k gold "Carrie" name necklaces were $125.00, but now she see's
that they are $175.00; gold was only $400 per oz in 2004. It's $900
per oz now. We basically had 2 choices: start making our name plates
much thinner and use thinner/lighter chains, or raise our prices
enough so we can still offer the same quality we have for over 25
years and be fair to both our customers and to us.
OK, glad I got this off my chest. I will say that most
of the people who had emailed me concerning this were very
understanding and appreciated the info. Many were just not aware of
the sharp rise of gold prices. As for the person who called me names
and never did respond to my reply email, I have 3 words:
use spell check.
;-)
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Kustom Korner
Our
Kustom Korner
page let's us show off things that aren't found on our regular
website. These are one-of-a-kind creations we've done for people who
want something a little different. Check it out...it's a great place
to get ideas.
Or just to kill some time :-)
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Personalized Boutique Newsletter:
Fall 2007________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the Fall 2007 edition of the
Personalized Boutique Newsletter. Don't know about you, but we're ready to say
goodbye to summer down here and are looking forward to cooler nights (and
lower electricity bills!). Although it's STILL 88 degrees outside as I write
this, cool weather HAS to be just around the corner, right?
Here's what's new: Represent your hometown in
style with your very own
Area
Code Necklace, available in 14k yellow & white gold and sterling silver.
We've added a few more styles to our
Wings Collection,
as well as funky new
Bamboo Name Hoop earrings that make a BIG statement! Last but not least,
due to popular demand we are once again making our classic script name
necklace in
14k Rose Gold.
Finally, if your a fan of the ABC hit comedy
"Ugly Betty", keep your eyes peeled this season for Betty's sister
Hilda...she'll be sporting a 14k gold name necklace made by
none-other-than your friends at Personalized Boutique!
We're still putting together a photo page with
customers wearing our jewelry, so please keep those pictures coming in.
Feel free to e-mail us
a pic, or you can snail-mail one in to:
Personalized Boutique
2612 Sawgrass Mills Cir #1511
Sunrise, FL 33323
Anyone who sends a photo and includes their return address will receive a
special gift from us!
As always, please feel free to
send your comments, suggestions or ideas for future jewelry articles/items to me,
your humble webmaster:
Robert@personalizedboutique.com
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What's In A Number?
Most people know to look for the "karat"
stamp on a piece of jewelry to discover it's gold content (10k, 14k
18k...etc), but do you know what some of the other stampings you may
find on jewelry actually mean?
Aside from the
14k stamp, a piece of jewelry may
alternately have "585" stamped on it (especially if it's a European
piece). "585" is another way of saying 58.3% pure gold, which is
equivalent to 14K. The other common number stamps are 417 (10k), 750
(18k) and 999 (24k, 100% pure gold)
Either type of stamp is considered legal for the marking of gold
jewelry.
If a piece is only "gold filled" then it must say GOLD
FILLED (or GF) after the karat stamp, or have something like
“1/20 14kGF”
to indicate the
percentage of gold in the piece.
"Gold Plated" items do not technically have to be stamped at all, but if
they are will generally have the words "PLATED" or "Gold Plated" on
them.
Sterling silver items are typically stamped "925",
which refers to the amount of silver required (92.5%) for a piece to be
considered "Sterling". If you have a gold colored piece of jewelry
stamped "925", chances are it's actually sterling silver that has been
plated in gold.
Finally, platinum jewelry will generally have the
amount of pure platinum stamped either before or after the word
"PLATINUM" or "PLAT". "950 Plat" and "850 Plat" are the more common
alloys used in platinum jewelry.
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"Diamond Studded Top" up for auction
JCK-Oct 04, 2007
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The $1.4 million diamond-studded top unveiled in
February during Milan Fashion Week will go on the
auction block in Dubai in mid December. The top was
created by the late renowned fashion designer Gianfranco
Ferre in a joint effort with diamond company Dalumi. It
concluded Ferré's women’s collection for fall/winter
2007/2008. Matched with black tuxedo pants and a black
silk cape, the outfit was worn on the runway by British
rock singer Skin.
More than 900 diamonds weighing more than 300 cts. were
stitched in curved horizontal rows across a sheer black
vest. The diamonds were of G color and VS and higher
clarity and were set in white-gold studs. A single Ferré
employee hand-stitched each diamond onto the fabric.
The glittering top was displayed in jewelry shows
around the world, including BaselWorld, The JCK Show in
Las Vegas, The Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair and the
Forevermark DTC event in Tokyo. Dalumi, in a statement,
said placing the top up for auction is the logical next
step. The auction is scheduled for mid-December in
Dubai. No other details were released.
"All the world will have the possibility to admire the
wonderful top," the statement read.
|
British singer "Skin"
with Diamond Studded Top |
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Kustom Korner
More Dog Tags! Last newsletter we
highlighted some of the special custom dog tags we created for customers. I
guess this inspired more people to get creative, so here's part two:
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Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone and
everyone you know who might enjoy it. You can subscribe to our newsletter
HERE.
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Pink Diamonds on view in New York
NJN-Oct 4, 2007
New York— Sixty-five of the rarest pink diamonds in the world are
currently on view under tight security in a posh Manhattan hotel suite,
as the 23rd annual Rio Tinto Diamonds Argyle Pink Diamond Tender makes
its annual New York stopover.
The collection—which was previously in Hong Kong and Perth, Australia—is
in New York City from Oct. 1-12. Attendance to the tender is restricted
to approximately 100 key clientele from around the world.
Diamonds included in the tender are extremely rare and valuable, and can
fetch more than $400,000 per carat. Robyn Ellison, communications
manager for Rio Tinto Diamonds, said the diamonds must be at least half
a carat in size and in the upper-end of the fancy-intense colors to be
considered.
Of the average 30 million carats of rough diamonds produced at the
Argyle mine in Western Australia each year, only about 8,000 to 10,000
carats of polished pink diamonds are produced—primarily in melee
sizes—with only a small fraction of the finest making it to the tender.
Gavin Pearce, senior sales executive for Argyle Diamonds, said the
collection will become even more rare in the years to come. The mine
will transition to an underground operation after 2008, cutting
production by half, and is expected to run out completely by 2018.
He says this year's stones are among the mot vivid and deep in terms of
color.
"I expect it to be extremely strong this year," Pearce said of the
tender.
Among the stones available this year are four extremely rare
purplish-red stones, including a 1.74-carat oval-shaped fancy purplish
red.
Pearce said there are usually one or two stones of this hue in the
collection.
Bids close on Oct. 17 at noon EST, and bidders are notified of the
outcome on Oct. 18. The company does not reveal the names of winning
bidders or prices.
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Personalized Boutique Newsletter:
Spring 2007
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Welcome to the Spring 2007 edition of the Personalized Boutique Newsletter.
See how I did that? By just calling this the "Spring" newsletter, I don't
have to send another one until Summertime! The "king of the procrastinators"
lives on :-)
Hope the winter wasn't too much of a drag
for anyone. Ours started out pretty mild, but we had some chilly days
towards the end, with some nights getting down to the 40's! (OK, don't
hate us too much you Northerners. We do have to suffer through 6 months
of stifling heat/humidity, so at lease let us enjoy our wimpy winters!)
Here's what's new: Our
Couples Rings have been a big hit! They also work great as
Mother's/Father's/Family rings as well. We've also added lot's of new charms
for our
Diamond Mesh Bracelet collection, so check them out. We have added a
new line of
hot but
affordable
Stainless Steel Jewelry, and will be adding more and more styles in
the next few months. Finally, we've been working on a new line of
Pet Jewelry, and you can get a sneak peek right now with more
designs to come.
We're still putting together a photo page with
customers wearing our jewelry, so please keep those pictures coming in.
Feel free to e-mail us
a pic, or you can snail-mail one in to:
Personalized Boutique
2612 Sawgrass Mills Cir #1511
Sunrise, FL 33323
Anyone who sends a photo and includes their return address will receive a
special gift from us!
As always, please feel free to
send your comments, suggestions or ideas for future jewelry articles/items to me,
your humble webmaster:
Robert@personalizedboutique.com
________________________________________________________________
Jewelry Metals: A Primer-"What's that thing made of?"
With the price of many precious metals reaching 25 year highs (as of
this writing, Gold was over $650 per oz, Platinum over $1,225!), I
thought it would be a good time to go over the different properties of
the various metals used to make jewelry.
Gold
One of the most popular materials
for fine jewelry. As pure gold (24k) is very soft, it is usually alloyed
with other metals such as copper and silver to make carat gold (14k,
18k...etc). Heat, moisture,
oxygen, and most corrosive agents have very little chemical effect on
gold, which is one of the reasons it is so widely used in jewelry.
Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver is an alloy
of silver containing 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, such as
copper and zinc. It is a very popular material for jewelry, because of
it's combination of durability and low cost.
As the
alloys used in sterling silver can oxidize (tarnish) when exposed to
moisture/oxygen, many sterling silver jewelry pieces are plated with
other metals such as nickel or rhodium to lessen the chance of
corrosion.
Platinum
Platinum is a naturally white metal, whose
wear and tarnish resistance
characteristics are well suited for making fine
jewelry.
In
addition to being extremely dense, is also a very heavy metal; a
six-inch cube weighs 165 lbs! Platinum is used to
make most types of catalytic converters in cars nationwide, and is also
used extensively in the field of medicine, for catheters, pacemakers,
and even anti-cancer drugs.
Rhodium
Rhodium is a hard silvery white
and durable metal that is primarily used as an alloying agent for
hardening platinum and palladium, and as a plating for other jewelry
metals. It is generally electroplated onto white gold and platinum to
give it a reflective white surface.
Stainless Steel
Stainless Steel is
an alloy that will not stain, corrode or rust as easily as ordinary
steel. In jewelry and watches, the most common stainless steel alloy
used is called 316L. It's use in jewelry has steadily increased, as it
is an extremely durable, lightweight yet inexpensive alloy which will
not oxidize or turn black as other metals can.
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'Teardrop' pin makes conflict-diamond
statement at Oscars
NJN-March 07, 2007
Los
Angeles—Amidst the many flashes of diamonds at the 79th Annual Academy
Awards, several of Hollywood's leading men, including Djimon Hounsou,
Leonardo DiCaprio and Ryan Gosling, chose to wear jewelry that makes a
statement about conflict diamonds.
The three Oscar nominees wore Ricardo Basta's 18-karat gold and red
enamel "Teardrop" pin in a show of support for the Amnesty International
USA and Global Witness campaigns that raise awareness for blood diamonds
and their impact on child soldiers.
Basta was asked to implement the teardrop design created by Alessandra
Gallo Jewellery. To complete the project, Basta donated labor and
materials and executed several handmade prototypes before the final
design for the gem-free, tear-shaped pin was approved.
The "Teardrop" pin, crafted by Ricardo
Basta in 18-karat gold and enamel, will be auctioned to
benefit rehabilitation programs for child soldiers. |
"As a jeweler who works with
diamonds every day, it is gratifying to be able to contribute to Amnesty
International's efforts to raise public awareness of conflict diamonds,"
Basta said in a statement.
Amnesty International USA is planning to auction the pins, with profits
going to the benefit of child-soldier rehabilitation.
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Kustom Korner
Dog Tag pendants and their variations
have been hot, for both men AND women. For this edition of Kustom Korner, I
thought I would highlight a few of the more unique dog tags' we've created
lately:
Aside from from our standard engraving we can
also engrave custom logo's, like this skull & crossbones we
did for one customer. |
This customer sent us this ghoulish image of
a zombie, and wanted the words "Haunted Corpse" to appear
underneath. Why? Sometimes it's best not to ask questions. |
This regal looking diamond dog tag has a
crown engraved over 3 initials. |
This customer had us create this dog tag with
a
"Rebel Alliance Symbol" and
special "Aurabesh" font for her husband, who's a HUGE Star
Trek fan.
As I said, sometimes it's best
not to ask questions ;-) |
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Largest natural blue sapphire for sale
NJN-January 17, 2007
New York— "You have to not only be wealthy to own this, you have to be
lucky to have the opportunity to purchase it," says gem cutter Michael
Arnstein of the Natural Sapphire Co., which is selling the largest
natural blue sapphire available in the United States.
This 69.53-carat natural blue sapphire, the
largest sapphire available for sale in the United States, is
being sold for approximately $417,000 |
Discovered in 1952 in the gem mines of Sri Lanka, the 129-carat rough
sapphire crystal yielded an 80-carat sapphire in its first cutting. It
was then sold to a British family and held in private ownership until
the late 1990s. At that time, it was re-cut into a more perfect shape
and with better symmetry to improve its light and color reflection.
The oval-shaped, brilliant-cut sapphire, now weighing 69.53 carats, is
in its best form and priced at approximately $417,000.
The Natural Sapphire Co., founded in 1939, is a gemstone company
specializing in fine-quality, natural untreated sapphires. The company
has offices in Bangkok, Thailand; Colombo, Sri Lanka; New York; Mumbai,
India; and will soon open an office in Tokyo.
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Personalized Boutique Newsletter: Oct-Dec 2006
__________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the October-December 2006 edition of the
Personalized Boutique Newsletter.
OK, I'm not even going to pretend anymore that
these newsletters are coming out on any kind of schedule. I'll just admit to
being the king of procrastinators and we'll leave it at that :-)
I hope you all are having a great year so
far. Can you believe that it's October already?!? Thankfully it looks
like we've made it through the hurricane season this year completely
unscathed...which after the last two years is great news! Now it's full
speed ahead to the holidays...
What's new? Our
Personalized Wedding Bands have
returned, and we've also added some more affordable styles to the mix. We've
also added some new 3D styles to our world famous
Name Necklaces. Our new
Sport Number Dog Tags are a great
gift for the athlete in your life. Finally...skulls are hot now, but we've
actually been making unique skull themed jewelry for years! For something a
little different, check out our "Skulls"
Collection.
Our "Kustom Korner"
page, which showcases some of the unique jewelry we've custom made over the
years, has become a popular place for people to browse for ideas. Now we
thought it might be fun to add a page with photos of people WEARING the
jewelry we've made for them. So this is a call out to any of our customers
brave enough to send in a photo of themselves wearing something we've made!
You don't have to show your face if you'd rather not, and feel free to make
them as creative as you'd like :-)
Feel free to e-mail us
a photo, or you can snail-mail one in to:
Personalized Boutique
2612 Sawgrass Mills Cir #1511
Sunrise, FL 33323
Anyone who sends a photo and includes their return address will receive a
special gift from us!
As always, please feel free to
send your comments, suggestions or ideas for future jewelry articles/items to me,
your humble webmaster:
Robert@personalizedboutique.com
__________________________________________________________________
'Blood Diamond' trailer released on the Internet
JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone -- 9/20/2006 7:53:00
PMA trailer for the movie Blood Diamond
has been available on several Web sites for the past few days. You can
view it
here.
The adventure thriller, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou,
is set in Sierra Leone during its brutal civil war in the late 1990's,
according to a plot summary on the Internet Movie Database.
DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a South African mercenary, and Hounsou
plays Solomon Vandy, a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but their
histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in
a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their
lives.
The movie is planned for a mid-December release nationwide.
The trailer shows several violent scenes, including bombs exploding,
someone being hacked with an axe, and a child in military uniform
pointing a gun at the two main characters.
The narrator in the beginning of the trailer says:
They say it came from the heart of the Earth to test the hearts
of men. A stone so rare, men will do anything to possess it. Wars will
be fought in search of it. And all who touch it are left with blood on
her hands.
You can download the trailer by Right clicking the link below and
selecting "Save Target As":
http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/m.markus/BloodDiamond.mov
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Kustom Korner
For this edition of Kustom Korner, I
decided to highlight some of the "corporate" jewelry we have done. While we
are primarily a design house specializing in one of a kind pieces, we
occasionally get requests from companies looking to incorporate their logo
into a piece of wearable art. These are usually used as gifts for employees
or clients, and we try to come up with a piece that will keep the companies
identity and still be something someone will actually want to wear ;-)
This California winemaker commissioned several 14k yellow
and 14k white gold slide pendants of their logo for
corporate gifts. |
Record label "80 Proof",
14k white gold pendant |
Sterling Silver pendants made a bold statement for this
company. |
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Weekly Gem
There are surprise presents, and then there is the gift
given to Mariah Carey last week by the Sultan of
Brunei's admiring son. According to news reports around
the globe, Prince Azim unexpectedly sent Carey millions
in diamond jewelry. News reports of the ring and
necklace's value range from $4 million to $5.4 million …
either way, just a small token for the son of a man
worth $32 billion.
________________
Emmy jewelry gets colorful
AUGUST
28, 2006 -
Los Angeles --
While platinum and diamonds remain the traditional choice for the biggest
award shows, many of those attending the 58th Annual Emmy Awards Sunday
night opted for yellow gold and gemstones.
A-listers like Sandra Oh, Cheryl Hines and Heidi Klum all donned yellow gold
jewelry, either worn alone or mixed with pieces and elements in white gold
or platinum. Actresses accessorizing with gemstones included Tina Fey, Helen
Mirren and Stockard Channing.
Jewelry styles overall signaled a continued withdrawal from over-the-top "bling"
in favor of a more understated glamour.
While many celebrities, including Ellen Pompeo, Tyra Banks and Geena Davis,
opted for diamond-intensive looks, they went for pieces that appeared more
elegant than opulent.
Trends included navel-grazing necklaces, thick diamond cuff bracelets and
oversized cocktail rings. No singular earring style emerged, as various
celebrities selected studs, hoops, chandeliers and stilettos.
Popular jewelry designers on the Emmy red carpet this year included Neil
Lane, who dressed Pompeo, Hines, Jamie Pressly and Judy Reyes; and Harry
Winston, who provided jewelry to Jennifer Love Hewitt, Chandra Wilson and
Sara Ramirez.
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Personalized Boutique Newsletter-January/February 2006
Welcome to the January/February 2006 edition of the
Personalized Boutique Newsletter.
Well, of course it's been longer
than I planned to get this newest newsletter done but hey...we're busy over
here!! At the start of our last newsletter I mentioned that Hurricane Season
was in full swing, but I had no idea what lay ahead. There were a record 27
named storms in all, and it felt like just about every one of those storms
went right through our backyard! Thankfully, we were spared the total
devastation many in Louisiana and Mississippi endured,
but we did have a little gal named Wilma basically shut us down for about two
weeks, right before the start of the holiday rush.
Hello winter :-)
We've added lots of new, exciting
items to our site. Check out our newest in-house design, the "Wings"
collection, including the Flying Heart and Angel Wing necklaces. We also found
a terrific new collection of Sterling Silver & Diamond Bangle bracelets, as
well as Sterling Silver, Leather & Diamond Bracelet and Necklace sets!
Finally, our latest "brush with
show-biz" is a special piece we made exclusively for the UPN show "Eve". The
first show to air the piece will be the week of Feb 9th, but you can get a
sneak peek and read all about it in this issues "Kustom Korner" below.
As always, please feel free to
send your comments, suggestions or ideas for future jewelry articles/items to me,
your humble webmaster:
Robert@personalizedboutique.com
JFK watch believed to be
a gift from Monroe sold at auction
JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone -- 10/19/2005
A gold Rolex watch believed given by Marilyn Monroe to
the late President John F. Kennedy has been sold for $120,000, an
auction house said on Monday.
Bill Panagopulos, founder of
Connecticut-based auction house, Alexander Autographs, said on
Monday an American collector outbid a European for the watch and
case, Reuters reports.
Panagopulos said the watch was kept
secret for decades, Reuters reports. He said documentation showed it
was handed down through the family of Kennedy's late presidential
aide, Kenneth O'Donnell, and the former president appeared
uncomfortable with the gift.
The watch is reportedly inscribed "Jack
with love as always Marilyn May 29th 1962," Reuters reports. The
watch was sold with a poem titled: "A heartfelt plea on your
birthday," typed in black on a paper disk placed at the bottom of
the gold case containing the watch. The two were rumored to have had
an affair about that time.
A letter sold with the watch at
Saturday's auction, titled "The Unwanted Gift," said: "This watch
was given to my late father in 1962 by President Kennedy in person
with the instruction 'get rid of it,'" Reuters reports.
The gift was dated about the same time
as Monroe's seductive cooing of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to
Kennedy at his 1962 Madison Square Garden party in New York.
Kustom Korner
This month's Kustom
Korner involves the UPN comedy "Eve". In October I was contacted by an
associate with the show in regards to making a special piece of jewelry. On
the show the main character, singer Eve, has a clothing business called
DivaStyle. In the script for an upcoming episode Eve is to receive a gift, a
diamond "DivaStyle" name necklace.
The producer of the
show wanted a REAL piece of jewelry, something that would definitely say "bling",
but that would also say "class". They faxed over a few preliminary font styles:
and gave me more of an idea for what they had in
mind. We decided to go with a 14k white gold 3-dimensional nameplate
around 2 1/2" wide and filled with mostly 2pt fine quality diamonds.
And of course, because this was Hollywood they needed it ASAP.
Action!
The final product was a
smash hit! In fact, the producer of the show liked it so much that
he had us make another exact one (all 1.25ct TW worth) to give as a
gift. The first show that will air the necklace will be on or the
week of Feb 9th (check your local listings). "Eve" is broadcast on
UPN (Thursdays). Eve will be wearing the necklace beginning in that
episode, and most likely anytime from then on.
Don't forget to watch :-)
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Fed-Ex impostors swipe $4 million in Diamond District heist
NOVEMBER 30, 2005 -
New York
-- Two armed men
posing as Federal Express workers pulled off a midday heist of a
reported $4 million in goods yesterday from jewelry wholesaler
Doppelt & Greenwald Diamonds at 580 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan,
according to The New York Times and other published reports.
One robber held out a gun while his accomplice tied up five
employees and two customers, according to the Times report.
The robbery of the heavily guarded building in the heart of New
York's diamond district —home to numerous wholesalers, the
Gemological Institute of America and the New York Diamond Dealers
Club—brought the area to a standstill.
The thieves spent at least five minutes in the wholesaler's office,
but never fired a shot, according to police. The culprits filled a
duffel bag with diamonds and other jewelry before calmly leaving the
building through the employee entrance on West 47th Street, police
said. The thieves were caught on video surveillance tape as they
left the building.
New York Police Capt. Stephen Hughes told the Times that a
worker at the wholesaler managed to free himself from his restraints
and alert a building security guard, who then called 911 at about
12:50 p.m. Officers from the police department's emergency services
unit arrived on the scene shortly afterward, barging into the
building wearing shields and helmets and carrying sledgehammers and
high-powered rifles, the Times reported.
Several tenants of the building told the Times that the
building had installed a new security system six years ago that
included color video surveillance cameras at all entry points,
elevators, hallways and other common areas.
"Every person entering this building is identified," Joseph Weinfeld,
a jewelry wholesaler with offices in the building, told the
newspaper. "All the visitors, tenants, deliverymen—security knows
who they are and where they're going. Or at least they're supposed
to." |
|
Personalized Boutique Newsletter-August/September 2005
Welcome to the Aug/Sept edition of the Personalized Boutique
Newsletter.
Well, hurricane season is now in
full swing down here in sunny South Florida...wish us luck! I realize that
it's been a LONG time since our last newsletter, but we've been busy adding
new items and jazzing up the website.
After many, many requests, we
finally added a few styles of
Personalized Body Jewelry. We also have a great new item for moms and
grandmothers, the
Diamond Heart Locket. We also had many requests for the new
Diamond Threader Earrings, so we added a few styles to our
Diamond Earring page. Last but not least
check out our brand new item, the funky Sterling Silver
Famous Art Pendants. Also, check out some of the new custom pieces we've
made lately at our
Kustom Korner.
Hope you all had (are having) a great summer!
Personalized Body
Jewelry |
Diamond Heart Locket |
Diamond Threader Earrings |
Famous Art Pendants |
As always, please feel free to send your
comments, suggestions or ideas for future jewelry articles/items to me, your
humble webmaster:
Robert@personalizedboutique.com
“This ring turned my finger black!”
Has it happened to
you? A piece of jewelry that is clearly stamped “14k gold” starts blackening
your skin or clothing? Well, before you call out the ‘karat police’, you
should understand that there are several common reasons for 14k gold jewelry
to discolor (or cause discoloring).
The most common reason
is metallic abrasion, caused by makeup on skin or clothing. Cosmetics often
contain compounds harder than the jewelry itself, which wear or rub off very
tiny particles. Very finely divided metal always appears black rather than
metallic, so it looks like a jet-black dust. When this dust comes into contact
with absorbent surfaces such as skin or clothing, it sticks, forming a black
smudge. To prevent this, you should always remove rings and other jewelry
while applying cosmetics, and clean skin areas in contact with jewelry with
soap and water.
Another cause of
discoloration is actual corrosion of the metals. Now, pure gold itself (that
is, 24k gold) does not corrode, but remember, karat gold (14k, 18k etc.)
contains other metal alloys such as silver or copper, which CAN corrode. These
various alloys can form very dark chemical compounds, especially under moist
or wet conditions. When we perspire, fats and fatty acids released can cause
corrosion of karat gold, especially when exposed to warmth and air. This can
be more prevalent with lower karat alloys, hence 10k gold will have a greater
chance of this happening than 14 or 18k gold. This problem can be worse in
seacoast and semitropical areas, where chlorides combine with perspiration to
form a corrosive element that discolors skin. Smog fumes gradually attack
jewelry, and are evident as a tarnish that rubs off on the skin. Yuck!
How can this be
prevented? It’s always a good idea to remove your jewelry before using soaps,
cleaning compounds or detergents. You should also clean your jewelry
frequently, either at your local jeweler, or at home with an over the counter
jewelry cleaner (or a simple homemade solution of 5 parts water, 1 part
ammonia, and a little scrubbing with an old toothbrush will do wonders).
Special care should always be taken with porous stones such as pearls or
opals. It’s also very important to dry your jewelry THOUROUGHLY after
cleaning, paying close attention to any nooks and crannies where moisture
could be trapped.
Following these
corrective actions should solve most discoloration problems. In addition,
these simple guidelines will result in an additional bonus…your jewelry will
look great!
Kustom
Korner
This issues Kustom Korner is a gem lovers
dream. A very good customer sent in a bunch of different gemstones she's been
collecting, and told us to go wild! She knew she wanted a white gold necklace
incorporating the various stones, but the design was totally up to us.
First, we mapped out the layout for
the stones, and placed the individual settings for the various gemstones on a
wax sheet.
Next, we laid
the gemstones in the settings, and matched it up against the white gold
necklace we planned on using.
Finally, we soldered
all of the settings together, attached them to the necklace and set the
stones. The final result...a stunning Ruby, Tsavorite, Citrine, Tourmaline, Tanzanite, Moonstone, Topaz,
Garnet necklace. Whew!
|
Alabama family finds part of a hidden treasure
JCK 7/29/2005
A token redeemable for an $8,500 bejeweled ladybug was recently
found by an Alabama woman.
Susan Peplinski, 28, of Grant, in the northeast
part of the state, found the gold, leaf-shaped token in a knothole
of a tree in a Kentucky state park, the Birmingham News reports.
The token was the seventh found as part of a
real-life treasure hunt for bug tokens interwoven into the fairy
tale A Treasure's Trove, by Michael Stadther, which debuted last
November.
The tokens, representing bugs based on the forest
creatures in the book, are hidden on public property nationwide, the
newspaper reports. Of the dozen bugs, valued at more than $1 million
together, the most expensive is a $450,000 spider, set with jewels
including a 6.36-ct. Kashmir blue sapphire and more than 21 cts. in
yellow diamonds.
The ladybug, which the sisters plan to give to
their mother, features retractable wings and is set with six Burmese
rubies and 51 diamonds. Stadther, who previously owned a software
company, is providing the 12 jeweled pieces, including three from
his private collection. The other nine were created by jeweler
Robert Underhill, and designed by Underhill and Stadther.
The nine tokens for the ladybug, hummingbird, ant,
firefly, caterpillar, grasshopper, snail, dragonfly and butterfly
have been redeemed, the newspaper reports. The bee token is missing,
and the spider token has been found, but not redeemed. The
rhinoceros beetle is still at large.
Peplinski discovered A Treasure's Trove in
February, when she read about it in People. magazine, the newspaper
reports.
"I like to work on puzzles, so I went online and
ordered the book," she told the newspaper.
Next thing you know, it was a family affair,
including her mother and six sisters.
"They all bought the book, and we worked on it
together," Peplinski reportedly said. "We'd call each other and
e-mail each other and say, `Oh, did you try this?' and try and
figure out the clues."
After several months, they hit paydirt in June
when they solved a puzzle that revealed the clue "paintsvillesp,"
which they researched online and decided probably stood for
Paintsville State Park in Kentucky, the newspaper reports. Peplinski;
her mother, Polly Hammett; and three of her sisters, Sylvia
Phillips, Sarah Hammett and Sheena Hammett, decided to go for it.
"We all jumped in the car," Peplinski reportedly
said. "We drove overnight on Saturday, and got there on Sunday, real
early, like 3 in the morning. We got a hotel room, but none of us
could sleep because we were looking at the book. As soon as the sun
came up, we were at the park."
An hour later, they found an overlook—a clue to
the token's whereabouts—where they thought it might be. When they
spotted a familiar-looking tree, they knew they were on the right
track.
"There was a tree there that looked like the tree
in the book," she told the newspaper.
The women tried to reach inside a knothole in the
tree, but their hands didn't fit.
"We got a stick and kept digging," Peplinski
reportedly said. "We pulled up the stick and there was the token,
hanging on the end of it. ... It was unbelievable." |
|
Personalized Boutique Newsletter-October/November 2004
Welcome to the Oct/Nov edition of the Personalized
Boutique Newsletter.
Wow, this has certainly been a crazy summer down
here. We had FOUR hurricanes hit our poor little state this season...Charley,
Frances, Ivan and Jeanne! Thankfully our family and friends made it through
relatively unscathed, but our thoughts go out to our neighbors a little
further North who really got slammed. Oh well, just another perfect day in
paradise :-)
This past Sunday, VH1 held it's first annual "Hip
Hop Honors" show in New York City (first airdate Oct 12th), in which the
legends of Hip Hop are honored by today's brightest stars. Among the gifts
that each and every honoree, performer and presenter receives will be a custom
14k gold Photo Dog Tag created by yours truly!
14k white and yellow gold Photo Dog Tags with VH1 HipHop
Honors logo, created exclusively for VH1 |
Aside from our fabulous new
Photo Dog Tags, we've added
a few other pieces to our Dog Tag line, including a new "Jumbo" size dog tag
and Diamond Dog Tags!
If you haven't visited the site lately, you really
should put aside some quality time to check out what's new. We've added
a huge new selection of Diamond Charms, as well as several new styles of
Charm
Bracelets to hang them from. We've also added the fun new
Envelope Locket, new
Diamond Stiletto Earrings, and our hot new
Pink Gold Name Necklace!
As always, please feel free to
send your comments, suggestions or ideas for future jewelry articles/items to me,
your humble webmaster:
Robert@personalizedboutique.com
Gemstone Mania
This past year I have
noticed increasing interest in unusual gemstones. I'm not talking your
run-of-the-mill Ruby's, Emerald's or Sapphire's, but lesser-known gemstones
such as Ametrine, Mystic Topaz, Appetite and Pink and Yellow Sapphire. Also
more common semi-precious stones like Amethyst and Blue Topaz cut in
dramatically different shapes. These beautiful stones can now be purchased
from a variety of different sources, from TV and Internet Shopping Networks to
cruise ships!
While these gemstones
ARE beautiful, the question then becomes; "What to do with them?". Well, the
obvious answer is...send them to a jeweler! This past year we have done many
awesome pieces with customer's stones. It's a fairly simple process. The
customer will send the stone (or several stones) in, along with a rough idea
of what they would like (a pink gold ring, a two-tone slide with small
diamonds...etc). Once we agree on the basics of the piece we will then make a
model of it in wax, and once the model is perfect for the particular stone, we
cast it in the appropriate metal, polish and set the gemstone.
This can be a rather
time-consuming process, and some custom pieces might take several weeks to
complete. Also, a certain amount of trust in the design skills of the jeweler
is required, as he or she is basically trying to combine the customers ideas
with their own talents and the constraints of the stone in question.
Ultimately, you should end up with a truly one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry to
be handed down from generation to generation.
Below, you can see a
few of the recent creations we've done:
Laser-cut Amethyst bezel-set in 14k Rose Gold ring |
|
Matching ring and slide created for two trillian shape
Mystic Topaz |
| |
