Our sympathy’s go out to the relatives and friends of Alexander McQueen who died this week.
Happy Valentine’s Day!!
This year the movie makers have gone to town with the film ‘Valentine’s Day’ starring an all star cast of top Hollywood Actors. They were photographed on the red carpet wearing a host of designer gear including Oscar de la Renta and Valentino. Anne Hathaway was wearing beautiful earrings by Georgina Chapman for Garrard Collection.
It is amazing to see how big Valentine’s Day is but perhaps for all the wrong reasons? I imagine Valentine’s Day to be the one day of the year where you can tell someone you really like them and it being a complete surprise to that person. It does not make sense to me that we only buy gifts for our partner because that is what we are expected to do. I think it is all about surprising someone instead.
London fashion week is upon us starting next Friday February 19th, check out the line-up here.
The most beautiful, flaweless and biggest blue diamond is currently being dispayed in Washington. Weighing 31.06 carats and worth £16.4 million, it is a rareity, especially because of the beautiful blue colour. This diamond will be displayed in London later on this year.
Alice’s Charms
What a marvellous new idea from Stella McCartney, a charm bracelet with charms to represent Alice in Wonderland. With the opening of Tim Burton’s latest film, the 3-D version of Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp, no wonder these charms are so popular. They are a great idea as they portray the ‘charm’ of Lewis Carroll’s bestseller.
Grace Kelly
The latest exhibition at the V&A in London is that of the actress Grace Kelly, exploring the style and Glamour of the beautiful actress. Van Cleef and Arpels are sponsoring the event which begins later on this year (April 17th – 26th September.)
I am amazed to hear that former Labour prime minister Tony Blair is soon to be an advisor to Louis Vuitton. Apparently he is friends with Bernard Arnault who is the LV owner. What’s next, Gordon Brown representing Topshop? Unlikely! He has however been voted as GQ’s worst dressed man, awwwwww, poor man, he deserves a bit of a break.
Tony Blair will have an advisory role, being paid $1.2million.
The beautiful work by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s which has even been referred to as ‘The Mona Lisa of the North,’ is a master work which uses the pearl earring as the focal point of the painting.
When one thinks of a pearl, it is viewed as an object of great desire, rarity, and value. It is produced in the shell of a mollusk. A natural pearl is one which is produced in the wild without any human intervention and this is very rare. A cultured pearl is one that has been formed by humans on a pearl farm and these are the type of pearl that is more common today. The colours of pearls vary, the most popular are white white or black pearls, but there are also pink, blue, green, champagne and purple.
There are some great offers to buy pearl earrings at the moment and it is a classic piece of jewellery to add to ones collection. Check out Astley Clarkes Park Avenue Pearl studs which are for sale at £85 (£40 off the original value). This offer ends on January 24th 2010. I would highly recommend that you take a look.
They have been all the craze in 2009 and continue to be in 2010. According to ‘The Express’ women of the recession are rushing to sell their jewellery at gold parties. It seems to be a good excuse for a group of woman to get together, sell their unwanted jewellery and trinkets, whilst sharing a bottle of wine, some nibbles and having a good old gossip.
The fad has been all the rage, starting in the US and slowly working its way over to the UK. One argument is that it is a good idea to get rid of unwanted jewellery and receive cash to help in these more taxing financial times? Or, is it just a good excuse to get together for a natter whilst pawning off your husbands favourite gold watch? According to the company Ounce2Pounds, the industry is very lucrative, with over £75,000 worth of sales a week. The hostess also benefits from the parties taking a cut of the profits.
I think that this is a good way to earn some extra cash, especially if the jewellery has been at the bottom of the jewellery box for years. Why not make a quick buck on rising gold prices? Who needs to buy/sell stocks….why not have your own gold party.
Links of London has cornered the market for charms and charm bracelets. They have been the no.1 best seller since the charms craze began in the past few years. The latest news is that the company’s profits have done so well this year, they are considering floating Links on the stock market. It just goes to show that even though times have been very challenging for a lot of company’s, some are still doing well. Links of London has managed to make sales of £76 million in 2009, a 28% rise.
Charms are still a wonderful accessory, popular as ever. Why not add a colouful charm to a silver collection that you already have?
According to Vogue.com the BFA accessory designer of the year award goes to Katie Hillier. She has been famed for designing accessories for Luella, Marc Jacobs and Loewe and she beat world famous brand names such as Mulberry to get to the top spot this year. Her cute and quirky style has been confirmed with her latest bunny rabbit design which has been made out of a paper-clip with a tiny diamond eye. It is simple but unique and one of many clever designs that she has come up with. Bunny rabbit charms are a great accessory, try one on a charm necklace or bracelet.
