Tagged: fine jewelry

Jewelry Styling: On Mixing High and Low

 

Growing up, my father would gasp in horror if ever I wore costume jewelry.  Having a jewelry designer for a father made for some interesting scenarios.  It was commonplace for me to run home in anticipation of this months W or Vogue and find it in tatters and holed away in his study already.  Was I destined to never hear the crackle of a fresh magazine binding?  Similarly, rather than being reprimanded for the usual offenses of an adolescent (not doing dishes etc.), I would get sighs of exasperation when I wore costume jewelry.  Keep in mind, the costume jewelry back then was nowhere near as fun as it is now.  Nevertheless, I would get lectured thusly, “Meimei, why do you wear that garbage when you have real jewelry?”  My poor mumsy would get in trouble for her jewelry styling choices, “Dolly, that’s not how you’re supposed to wear it!”  Head shaking.  I know, there are worse problems to be had.  Thanks jewelry tyrant daddy for training my eye but now I’m a grown ass adult and I can do whatever I want.  Mature delivery right?  I know.  Let’s turn jewelry styling on its head.  Lets go one step further than wearing costume jewelry–lets mix costume jewelry and fine jewelry together!  Gasp!  The horror!  Oh rebellious me!

Jewelry Styling: On Mixing High and Low

Somebody please tell me what is the point of owning fabulous jewelry if it’s tucked away in a safe all the time waiting for special occasions to see the light of day?  I first stumbled upon the idea of mixing real and faux together when I felt that wearing all real diamonds in broad daylight seemed a bit too formal.  My solution was to mix the real jewelry with some costume pieces to give everything a more of a playful quality.  Jewelry tyrant daddy would say something along the lines of, “But then everyone is going to think all your jewelry is fake!”  To which I respond: 1) costume jewelry is not “fake” jewelry, it’s real jewelry too; 2) great, no stranger will mug me because they will assume it’s all fake; 3) people who do know me get to play a super fun game of “find the real diamonds” and 4) if this is a way to get more wear out of my fine jewelry, it’s a win-win in my book.  Which pieces in the photo above are fine and which are costume?  Wouldn’t you like to know. . .

For more jewelry styling tips, click here.

Big Kiss and Bigger Diamonds,

JZP

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Baubles for Every Budget

 

Morning my lovelies!

Hurray for Friday!  Time to let down our hair, slip on some killer frocks, drape ourselves in diamonds and go out for some vicious cocktails!  For those of you who might need a little inspiration here is a little list of my faves.  There is something for every budget because Deliver Me Diamonds (DMD) Girls do NOT do “gold-digging”.  We consider it manual labor and terribly unsightly.

The Sky is the Limit: If you like to spoil yourself rotten, one of my FAVE auction houses, Phillips de Pury & Company, is showing a GORGE Buccellati piece.  Oh SWOON of the SWOONIEST SWOONS!  Click SWOON to check the auction.

Baubles for Every Budget
Designed as a highly flexible pierced openwork bib necklace, set with circular-cut diamonds, to the engraved gold interior border, mounted in 18K yellow and white gold, length 16 inches. Signed 'M.BUCCELLATI ITALY'

 

Under $1,000:  Uh, actually this is a tough price range.  The fine jewelry under $1k is “cute” but I haven’t seen anything really eye-popping and great Designer Costume Jewelry (“DCJ”) pieces can be had under $500 and I wouldn’t necessarily advise spending more than $500 unless you’re investing in real semi-precious stones.  Hmmm. . . I might have an idea for a line.  In any case, here is an Eddie Borgo piece, that is made of yellow turquoise which is an absolutely genius use of the stone and totally funky.  I would pair it with a Helmut Lang or Alexander Wang outfit and rock out downtown.  Find it on Net-a-Porter.

Baubles for Every Budget
Eddie Borgo, Silver-plated turquoise and hematite spike necklace.

 

Under $500:  Dannijo makes vicious costume pieces and I have to say, they rank among my top FAVE DCJ houses these days.  Here is a link to the Capucine necklace shown below.

Baubles for Every Budget
Measures approx 8.5" from clasp to tip, features an array of Swarovski crystals, Ox silver plated necklace.

Under $100:  One HUGE lesson I learned this year: Don’t knock eBay! I’m serious.  This year I gave up ciggies but got hooked on eBay.  I find the most DIVINE costume jewelry and sometimes I get lucky and even stumble upon some vintage designer pieces that are totally collectable.  This piece below is by a random eBay person who sells pieces that she has reworked using vintage glass parts.  My personal fave is this Egyptian icon necklace that is very Nicki Minaj.  You can bid here (And yes, I will be bidding).

Baubles for Every Budget
Rhinestone and vintage glass necklace from random eBay person. Length: 16.00" and extension: 3.50", center piece 5.20"

Happy Friday my darlings!

Big Kiss and Bigger Diamonds,

JZP

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All the Shiny Things Interview with House of Lavande Owner, Tracy Smith I’m Not Old, I’m Vintage Costume Jewelry! Everyone Needs a Litta Biita Venna Tiffany’s RUBEDO, a New Precious Metal or Marketing Ploy? 2012 Jewelry Trend Round-Up Jewelry Styling: On Mixing High and Low Why Neosporin Will Save Your Ears

Buying One’s First Diamond Earrings

 

Good morning-ish my darlings!

I received a question yesterday from a reader that I thought was absolutely brilliant and I feel it is my moral obligation to address it in a post.  The question was, “At what age should I have my first diamonds and what should my first piece of fine jewelry be?”  Brava my dear!  Excellent question.

You should have your first diamonds when you can afford to buy them for yourself!  Now, I have no problem with accepting gifts if a certain wonderful friend, boy, or family member decides to bestow you with diamonds.  By all means accept them graciously and write a thank you note.  However, barring the above situation, you should buy your first diamonds when you’ve been earning a steady income, have no credit card debt and are able to put a bit aside for savings AND save up for a pair of diamonds (thank you Suze Orman).  My darlings, one should be decadent and fabulous but lets all keep in mind that we should, above-all, be self-sufficient and responsible so that as we get older we can become MORE decadent and MORE irreverent.  Cheers!

Next, what piece of jewelry should you invest in?  Oh, a pair of diamond stud earrings of course!  Here is the reasoning.  You don’t want to buy yourself a solitaire diamond ring because if you’re single you don’t want to scare away the boys; and if you’re already engaged or married then you already have a solitaire and you should be looking for something with a bit more character.  Diamond studs are a very elegant staple piece.  They are also the perfect low-maintenance accessory–I sleep in my diamond studs so if I ever forget, or am too lazy to change earrings, my ears are adorned by default.

How big/how much/what color/clarity? GASP! So much to decide.  For diamond earrings, here is how the thought process should play out:

1.  Are you a size or substance girl? If push comes to shove do you care more about how big (i.e. carats) or clarity?  Decide and use that as your jumping off point to set your budget.

2. What’s your budget?  Keep in mind that one wouldn’t want one’s earrings to be bigger than one’s engagement ring until after one is engaged.  Why? Don’t intimidate the poor boy!  If he has a heart attack every time you wear your 2 carat studs how, much longer is it going to take him to propose?!?!  Yeah, thought so.  You’re welcome.  After you’re already engaged then you don’t have to worry.  Although I would say that even then, if your studs are bigger than your engagement ring, something went wrong.  My DMD darlings know that if one is faced with a decision to either upgrade one’s diamond earrings or one’s engagement ring, we always upgrade your engagement ring first because then you can match your old stone from the engagement ring with another and make a pair of studs!  It’s a sneaky way to upgrade both.

3.  Clarity is not as important as size or color when it comes to earrings!  No one is going to have their nose against your ear staring at your diamonds!  When looking at quality considerations for earrings, here is the order of importance: color, then cut, then size, then clarity.  What does that mean?  It means that you get the best color that fits into your budget and then see what clarity your budget allows for.  The end result is that you have a pair of white sparkly gorgeousness that are large, impressive and within your budget.

4. Don’t fret if your first pair is small. You can accessorize them or use the diamonds for something else when you upgrade them in a couple of years.  What you probably don’t know (yet) is that you have a lot of room to work with diamond studs.  Using a basic pair as a jumping-off point, you can later go to a jeweler and have him/her make jackets for your studs.  What is a jacket pray tell?  A jacket is a little accessory that you slip around your diamond studs to dress them up.  Jewelers can custom-make them (and they must be custom-made in order to fit around your particular pair of studs because every diamond is different) in all shapes, colors, stones.  I have a pair of rose gold jackets with pink diamonds that go around my white diamond studs.  It changes the look, gives you more accessories to play with and stretches your budget until you’re ready for your next upgrade.

Buying Ones First Diamond Earrings
These are my rose gold and pink diamond jackets that fit around my diamond studs. The post goes into the center hole you see there.
Buying Ones First Diamond Earrings
The studs with the jacket. SWOON!

As always, feel free to click on the “Ask JZP” button on the right if you have questions.  Until the next one my lovelies.

Big Kiss and Bigger Diamonds,

JZP

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Monday Morning What to Wear: Knuckle Dusters

Is there anything more badass than a well placed knuckle duster?  I think not.  Lets be clear, I would never use any of these as weapons or for unprovoked violence, but it is nice to know that if I my Monday morning goes sour I could theoretically “cut a bitch” with my McQueen knuckle duster clutch, my Jean & Alex pink, yellow and white diamond bubble rings or my Knucklecase for iPhone.  Granted wearing all three together may be overkill but a combo of any two of the above with a deconstructed Maison Martin Margiela blazer and jeans or with Junya Watanabe’s cotton cape for S/S/2012 and The Row white stretch leather pants would be DIVINE!  Gets you out of bed on a Monday morning just a little faster doesn’t it?

Big Kiss and Bigger Diamonds,

JZP

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Engagement Rings: Size or Substance. . .and Other Considerations

I’ve just been asked my opinion on engagement rings and realized that I can streamline this approach and make the process so much more rewarding (and the diamond so much bigger) by addressing this on DMD!  Here is what you have to know about yourself before you drop hints about the kind of ring you want to your future fiancé (oh who are you kidding, everyone does it):

1) Are you a size or quality girl? Where is your sweet spot?

Very important.  If push comes to shove and you (or your boyfriend) is faced with a budget, whats more important to you, size or quality (i.e. color/cut/clarity)?  Now obviously if money is no object, you get the best and the biggest diamond there is but I mean, come on. . . even then you are limited by what the diamond mines choose to produce.  For the rest of us mere mortals, I find there is usually a threshold.  Meaning if you’re given a budget be it $3,000 or $3,00,000, there will be a sweet spot–a point at which you feel that you’ve gotten the best size and quality for your given budget.  Insert really impressive Venn diagram here (use your imagination)!  You need to know where your sweet spot is.

2) What’s your aesthetic

You need to know who you are and what you like (not who you wish you were or wish you looked good in).  Here is my point:  If you’re girly, never saw a shade of pink you didn’t love, and swoon for Nina Ricci and J. Mendel, you need to be aware of your girliness.  Own it and take it into consideration when choosing a ring style.  If you’re slightly eccentric and like to mix avant-garde with a touch of preppy and add a bit of fantasy and structure—Galliano meets Maison Martin Margiela meets Lanvin, you probably have a strong idea of your aesthetic already; but can you verbalize it, find it or know how to make it come to fruition in a ring?

3) How much risk do you want to take in the design?

Are you fickle or indecisive?  If so, you might not want to take too many risks on your ring design .  It’s very likely that you will quickly tire of an outlandish design and fall out of love with your ring.  This may happen over time anyway, in which case you can have your diamond re-set or find a matching stone, turn the pair into earrings and upgrade your ring (SWOON).  But let’s try not to get bored with your ring or have doubts before your wedding date shall we?  On the other hand, if your style is steadfast and you choose a timeless design, you can gaze lovingly at your ring for years to come (or until you decide to upgrade to a bigger ring)! Note to self: diamond blindness is an actual thing–remember not to stare at your diamond too long without blinking.

4) Whether you go retail or bespoke, find someone who gives it to you like it is.  You’re not paying a sales person flatter you into a bad decision.

I always prefer a sales person who keeps it real rather than kisses my ass.  Don’t tell me I look divine to close a deal.  If I ask for your opinion, give it to me straight! I could go on a rant here but suffice to say: I appreciate professionalism, knowledge and honesty.  Don’t ever let a salesperson sugar lip or bully you into a bad buy.  Guilt is not a consideration in a purchase!  If you feel pushed, go to someone or someplace else.  I mean it—choose the person you buy your ring from wisely and hold fast to your opinion.

5) Unless you are in love with a ready-made piece that you’ve already seen always go bespoke

It is a misconception that bespoke jewelry is more expensive than buying retail.  In fact, most people “in the know” will have jewelry custom-made for them rather than shopping pret-a-porter.  When you go bespoke you are paying for the diamond, materials, design and labor.  When you buy retail, you also pay for the overhead: inventory costs, real estate, sales staff etc.  The only situation in which I would buy jewelry from a retail establishment is if there is a piece I’ve seen already and absolutely love—I don’t believe in copying other brands and violating other brands’ intellectual property and copyrights.  Grrrrr!  Other than that, I would always go the private order route, which is why I am in this line of work–makes things exceeeeeedlingly convenient.

Engagement Rings: Size or Substance. . .and Other Considerations
Engagement ring I was commissioned to design for my best friend. 2.14 carat Pear shape diamond set in platinum with diamond embellishment.

OK, I shall leave you with that my darlings.  As always, feel free to contact me (see the “Ask JZP. . .” button on the right hand side of the page) if you have any questions or would like any recommendations.

Big Kiss and Bigger Diamonds,

JZP

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