Nersel’s Designer Trendy Gold Jewelry

Trends from the Emmy’s:

Jewel tone dresses

Jewelry in moderation, cuff bracelets, bold rings and dangling earrings

Naked neckline
Yellow gold

Dangly earrings paired with bangles or a cuff

Earrings stopping at the jaw level

Pins

Colored gemstones

Geometrically patterned openwork designs have been popular for many years. Designers emphasized white gold and diamonds for many years. However we see a drastic shift in the last couple of years. New executions look very different. They are more curvy , more colorful, lighter, organic, have ethnic inspirations. We see more yellow gold than white gold in the last two years. Instead of diamonds we see different, rare but inexpensive colorful stones such as tourmalines, opal, moonstones, coral, agate, garnets, quartz. We see a lot of white stones such as opal, white coral, white moonstone and white agate embedded into rich yellow gold and hammered gold.

Reference: Modern Jeweler, August 2007

1. Romance and Feminity: Circles of life, symbols of fertility and signs of abundance are the newest themes ( ( check out our pomegranate pendants on www.nerselirene.com ) as fertility, eternity and symbol of richnes)
2. Pink and Yellow gold
3.Eco-Jewelry: Recycled gold, gems that come from legitimate sources

4. Organic looking designs such as hand hammered details ( check out our hand hammered stable rings and other hand hammered jewelry on www.nerselirene.com )
5. Jewelry with non-symmetrical proportions

6. Gemstones like moonstones, agate, smoky topaz

7. Variations of yellow gold, 24K gold ( check out 24K hand hammered kilim pendant on www.nerselirene.com)
8. Super lux, super high end jewelry

9. Personalization, convertable jewelry such as pieces which can be worn more than one way

10. Small personal pendants, iconic symbols, hearts, initials, talismans, baby sized jewels ( check out our pomegranate pendants on www.nerselirene.com and evil eye pendant)

Reference: Jewelry Information Center, Trends from Las Vegas 2007

Color-Change Diaspore by David Federman Before it was Zultanite, before master lapidaries like Steven Avery cut it, and before no more than a few stray souls saw any reason for excitement about it, Turkish diaspore caught jewelry artisan Diana Stern’s roving eye at the Tucson gem show and she paid $200 per carat for a 3 carat stone. It was one of the few good stones they had,she recalls of the purchase more than a decade ago, and I knew it was preposterously overpriced. But you know the old story about finding something new that no one else has and wanting to be the first person to own one. When Stern first saw the stone, she was impressed by what she describes as its “dusty pink champagne color studded with flecks of scintillation.? Not yet realizing it was a color-change stone, she insists she would have bought it even if it only exhibited one color state. Remember, this was before we had stones around like sphene that display all those big flashes of color, Stern says. It took to the gem’s fireworks. Nevertheless, once she saw the gems light cypress-green in sunlight, she began to think of it as Turkish alexandrite,which is what she likened it to when she sold it mounted in a ring at a crafts fair. I hated to part with that stone, but I reassured myself I would be able to find another as good. A dozen or so years later, at the 2006 Tucson show, she finally did. I thought I had caught the first wave of supply,? she says with a laugh. Little did I know I wouldn’t see the second wave for at least a decade.Stern was the only person I ever met for whom Turkish diaspore kept the lavish promises made for it when first introduced into America in the mid-1990s. Hailed as a major new phenomenon gem, this magazine devoted a Gem Profile to the material, but the article was based on hype and hope. Somehow I was talked into believing this gem would earn the praise its first promoters heaped on it. Apparently, Stern and myself weren’t the only ones who bought into diaspore’s bright future. Murat Akgun sank much more than $100,000 of his own money into the venture”and had no other way to recoup his investment than by turning his faith in the gem into fact. To do so meant finding new partners and throwing even more money into his dream. Now that dream is beginning to pay off. ROUGHING IT Diaspore is a relatively new gem, first faceted in the 1970s and then mainly as a curiosity.
The highest grade deposit known is found 4,000 feet up in the mountainous remotes of Anatolia, Turkey, miles away from the nearest village. When Akgun first became involved with diaspore, he believed his partners owned the mine. They didn’t. And it has taken him years to obtain a lease of his own. In the meantime, locals were poaching material and selling it in poorly-cut form that did nothing to improve its reputation or prospects. Akgun admits there is a still a backlog of these inferior goods on the market and that it makes his job all the harder. But starting in 2005, he began to sell superbly crafted diaspore under the new brand name of Zultanite, which is a vaguely Turkish-sounding reference to the sultans who founded the Ottoman Empire. Akgun formed a company Zultanite Gems LLC, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and entrusted the cutting of his best stones to top-notch lapidaries who were not intimidated by its perfect cleavage and able to orient stones to maximize color change and sparkle. Of course, this meant huge sacrifices of rough, but the final beauty more than made up for loss of bulk. With a hardness of 6-1/2 to 7, diaspore doesn’t present any more problems for wearers than, say, tanzanite”another gem known for shifts of color in different lights. Although Akgun characterizes diaspore’s color change as going from kiwi-green in sunlight to rhodolite pink under incandescent light, this writer has seen lots of intermediate shades that range from what might be called dusty avocado and sage-green to light pinkish terra cotta and soft flax-brown. Both green/olive and pink/brown color states fit right in with popular earth-tone color schemes. Having attracted justified publicity for Zultanite, Akgun is focused on making a market for his brand. Akgun sees the stone as a designer gem”perfectly suited for one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. But at this year’s Tucson show, the most interest was paid by buyers from shop-at-home TV networks on the constant prowl for new products. Some even took large samples of goods back to headquarters for evaluation. If Zultanite becomes home-shopping air ware, will that be good for its image as a designer gem? And even if Akgun can develop dual mass and collectors markets for diaspore, can what is still a small, primitive pick-and-shovel mining operation back in Turkey support two tiers? A year ago, when Akgun had a more modest inventory, the answer would have been no. But now that mining is getting organized, he believes he can satisfy such demand. Let’s hope so now that the trade press is paying generous attention to Zultanite. For sure, the company’s booth was a must-see attraction at this year’s Tucson show. Says Stern, who keeps a scrapbook of the friendly write-ups the gem is getting: I want to say, See, didn’t I tell you so”

The strong trends we have tracked in the past few issues were in Vegas in force: rose cut diamonds and a surprising variety of rose cut sapphires, rubies, amethysts, citrines, iolites, and other gemstones were everywhere. Blackened metals including silver, gold, steel, and other materials added drama to many designs. Gold jewelry continues to feature textured finishes, from the hand-hammered looks so important last year to new hand-engraved and distressed surfaces. Warm tones, especially browns, are still very important and the use of rose gold is growing in diamond and colored gemstone jewelry. Hoops dominate the earring category. Bangles and cuffs are still important. Black and white continues on. Necklaces are still long, longer, longest, and pendants, especially circular medallions with cut-out designs, are the most important item. And many smaller trends expanded: agates are featured in many new designs, monograms add a personal touch to many collections, enamel adds color, and reliefs like coins, cameos, and intaglios continue to be very directional.

Ethnic inspired, handcrafted, organic and bold!

Bold is better in current gold jewelry trends. Instead of huge diamonds the latest pieces shine with textured metal, such as hand hammered gold, and carry a hand crafted touch. The most fashion forward pieces display an earthy and organic sensibility with a hint of ethnic inspiration. Necklaces and bracelets featuring long, open links remain particularly important and take on a fresh air when paired with shorter gold chains or simple pendants. Angelina Jolie is one of the celebrities who follow this trend. She wore hand crafted indian jewelry to the golden globes and is mostly pictured wearing yellow gold ethnic jewelry rather than big blings.

While diamonds remain as a gift that must come from a man to a woman, fine gemstone jewelry has a greater appeal to fashion conscious female self purchasers. Women are mostly looking for fashion forward and designer jewelry according to one jewelry business owner in NY. They are looking for jewelry they can wardrobe with different outfits. It seems like women are much more likely to buy colored gemstones for themselves than they are to buy diamonds. Colored gemstone jewelry seems to be even more prominent as fashion keeps a focus on accessories but continues to move away from the over the top diamond intensive bling jewelry that has dominated the industry in recent years. While ruby, sapphire and emerald are still te big three gemstones, semiprecious stones now constitute a mainstay of retail gemstone jewelry. According to another jewelry store owner in LA people are really ready for color. Gemstone designs over the past few years have become much more fashion forward as retailers look into exciting and fresh looks. Women don’t want to be too matchy-matchy anymore says one NYC jewelry designer. They might want a bold color, but then they want to wear another neutral gemstone like smoky quartz or champagne topaz with it. There is a lot of neutral, taupe, cream and white in fashion but accessory colors are purple, coral, blue, and yellow which are good for gemstone jewelry. Pieces that are especially fashion forward feature geometric designs and chunker gemstones in larger settings of yellow or rose gold.Coctail rings and bib shaped necklaces have all become increasingly popular styles of gemstone jewelry. Retailers also report that gemstone earrings, including studs, simple drops, embellished hoops and updated chandeliers have all caught cosumers’ attention this season. It is not enough anymore to have plain, round, gemstone beads or diamonds. Faceted gemstones have taken us to a whole new level. Colored gemstones are a lot more affordable than diamonds and jewelry with gemstones look more unique and different. They are sparkly and catch the eye. A people are becoming more fashion conscious they want to express themselfes and color is the way to do it. Gemstones are not the norm and thus they can set the wearer apart from the crowd.

Reference: National Jeweler, February Edition

Check out our colored gemstone earrings on www.nerselirene.com

According to the fashion forward Italians in the Vicenza show the new jewelry trends are:

• Colored gemstones such as green tourmalines
• Unusual gemstones, tourmalines, sapphires of all colors and gem carvings
• Purple and teal tourmalines from Africa
• Yellow gold- this year’s to sales at Saks Fifth Avenue
• Increased focus on rose gold
• New unique designs
• Charm rings, coctail rings, long open-link chains
• Extra ordinary texture, hammered surfaces

There was a huge variety of jewelry at the awards this year. Big spactecular earrings were striking on the red carpet. Chandelier earrings and earrings with colored gemstones were very popular. All the cast of desperate housewifes were wairing big colorful earrings. Stars who chose to wear more simple but elegant gowns were wearing large necklaces.

Drew Barrymore and Hilary Swank opted for bare necklines and pieces of ice decorating the arm or hair. Barrymore wore an Asscher-cut diamond weighing 50 carats from jeweler Leviev on her finger. Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank chose a brown and white diamond orchid brooch weighing 53 carats from jewel house Chopard for her hair, which was worn loose.

Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Lopez and Sarah Paulson went for more brightly hued gems from Lorraine Schwartz. Beyonce set off her golden Elie Saab with a gray and yellow cocktail ring weighing 20 carats. Lopez finished off her Marchesa gown with crushed gold chandelier-style earrings featuring 10-carat yellow diamonds.

Penelope Cruz didn’t need a necklace with those big jewels in her ears. The yellow and white diamond flower earrings from Chopard are 10 carats each.

Sienna Miller’s earrings were a pair of Cartier private collection diamond chandeliers. They are simple, elegant and gorgeous.

My personal favorite was Angelina Jolie’s jewelry. Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie strayed from the Hollywood set, choosing to go East for a more exotic look. She set off her gray St. John gown with a 22 karat yellow gold jewelry set designed by Bochic for D’Orazio & Associates. The set was comprised of a vintage-style uncut diamond necklace with matching danglers and bangles. The pieces chosen by Jolie were made by Bochic craftsmen who used skills passed from generation to generation. Each handcrafted piece of jewelry reportedly takes several hundred hours to make.

1. Layered necklaces
2. Long Chains with precious and semi-precious stones
3. Yellow Gold
4. Bohemian jewelry still in
5. Mix and match the colors
6. Contrast colors with your outfit
7. Heavy jewelry, bangles and big cuffs
8. Big and bold rings
9. 22K and 24K Gold
10. Ethnic earrings