So Random Sketch Spoofs Real Housewives of New Jersey
Demi Lovato, Tiffany Thornton and Zora Lancaster of Sonny With A Chance spoof Bravo's Real Housewives of New Jersey show with this sketch called "The Real Princesses of New Jersey." Take a look:
Tiffany's New Teardrop Aquamarine and Diamond Earrings
Tiffany is introducing these teardrop-shaped aquamarine and diamond earrings. Totaling 89.06 carats, the dazzling briolettes contain sparkling aquamarines and 66 diamonds hand-set in platinum. The retail price is $16,000.
2010 Oscar Fashions: Kate Winslet's $2.5 Million Yellow Diamonds
Kate Winslet wore some amazing jewels to the Oscars this year. Tiffany & Co. custom designed a $2.5 million Art Deco-inspired necklace in platinum, based on jewels in the Tiffany archives. The necklace features a triple-drop pendant of a 13.09-carat and two approximately 6-carat fancy vivid yellow diamonds surrounded by 642 white diamonds. The drop earrings feature 10 total carats of yellow diamonds and her bracelets also feature yellow diamonds, all by Tiffany & Co.
Kate Winslet returns to the Oscar red carpet after her win for Best Actress last year. Kate looked beautiful and elegant in a silver and champagne gown by Yves Saint Laurent which featured a sculptured bodice and flowing satin skirt with a small slit up the front. Kate wore her hair down in a sleek side part. She accessorized her look with a $2.5 million yellow diamond custom-made necklace, 10-carat yellow diamond drop earrings and yellow diamond bracelets, all by Tiffany & Co. Kate carried a silver satin clutch.
Tiffany has created a delightful new ice skate box. It would be perfect for a young girl with Olympic dreams. The Tiffany Limoges porcelain box was hand painted in Tiffany's Paris studio. It costs $225 and can be purchased here.
Tiffany has launched a new line of Elsa Peretti cabochon rings. The rings contain precious metals and hand-carved cabochon gemstones. Each polished gemstone rises from a setting of 18 karat gold or sterling silver. Pictured above are cabochon rings in black jade in 18 karat gold, turquoise in sterling silver and green jade in 18 karat gold.
Reuters reports that Tiffany recorded positive sales figures in the last two months of 2009. These were huge improvements over plunging sales at the peak of financial crisis in late 2008.
During November and December 2008, Tiffany saw sales at its U.S. stores open at least a year plunge 35 percent in the wake of a global financial crisis that reined in even its most well-to-do customers.
During the same months of 2009, U.S. same-store sales rose 12 percent, with a 16 percent rise in November and a 10 percent rise in December.
The company's total same-store sales rose 8 percent on a constant exchange rate basis. The company's flagship store at Fifth Ave in New York saw sales jump 20 percent.
Net worldwide sales climbed 17 percent for Tiffany during November and December. Tiffany's sales were up but not all jewelers did as well in the 2009 holiday season. The WSJreports that some of Tiffany's rivals suffered from declining sales or smaller gains.
Jewelry designer Jean Schlumberger Monarch necklace contains pave diamonds that fall like glistening snow on leaves with 18 karat gold stems. A monarch butterfly nestles among the leaves. The butterfly's wings are color-saturated yellow sapphires. The Monarch necklace is part of the Schlumberger collection handcrafted by Tiffany & Co. jewelers in New York and Paris. The price is $155,000.
Tiffany is selling an adorable snowman charm for the holiday. The Tiffany snowman charm contains round brilliant diamonds, pink and blue sapphires in 18k white gold. He costs $600. Tiffany is also selling an attractive snowflake charm bracelet for $500.
Paloma Picasso Designs Chinese Zodiac Charms for Tiffany
Tiffany designer Paloma Picasso has created a collection of charms depicting each of the 12 animals that make up the Chinese zodiac. Paloma's Chinese Zodiac captures the vitality of each animal-and the human personality it represents. Pictured above is Paloma's Chinese Zodiac Tiger Charm in 18 karat gold and diamonds. The charm retails for $850.
"The Chinese zodiac is a wonderful birthday tradition," said Paloma Picasso. "We all have a curiosity about the zodiac and whether it influences our lives."
Tiffany & Co. kicked off skating season with this attractive sterling silver Skate charm bracelet. The bracelt contains charms of the season, from left: snowflake, blue and white candy cane with enamel finish, Return to Tiffany medium Heart Tag, skate with blue enamel finish, mini heart key, and shopping bag with blue enamel finish. Charms for the bracelet range in price from $80 to $150. The Oval link bracelet in sterling silver retails for $450.
Tiffany Expanding its Diamond Cutting and Polishing Operations
After avoiding getting involved in the diamond sourcing, cutting and polishing business for 172 years, Tiffany and Co. has changed course. Earlier this decade jewelers were concerned about a dwindling supply of diamonds. So Tiffany headed to Africa and invested in the supply end of the diamond business.
Tiffany's is an extreme example of an industry shift that started during the recent luxury boom. Like most other diamond retailers, Tiffany long bought the vast majority of its diamonds pre-cut and pre-polished from industry middlemen. But with global diamond jewelry sales soaring earlier this decade, Tiffany and others worried they would soon be fighting over dwindling supplies.
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The retailer invested in mine operators, and in 2002 it began opening cutting-and-polishing plants in Canada, Belgium, South Africa and Vietnam. In the past two years it added similar operations in China and Mauritius. The in-house unit Tiffany founded in 2002 to run these plants, Laurelton Diamonds, now employs 1,100 workers, or 14% of the company's work force. It will supply more than 50% of Tiffany's diamonds this year -- up from 40% last year and none in 2003.
Others have made similar bets. Privately held retailer Graff Diamonds International owns a majority stake in a South African diamond wholesaler and polisher with facilities from Antwerp and New York to Botswana. Suppliers have made incursions on retailers' turf. Mining giant De Beers Group operates retail stores in a joint venture with LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA. Canadian miner Aber Diamond bought a controlling interest in retailer Harry Winston in 2004. Indian jewelry manufacturer Gitanjali Gems Ltd. transformed itself into a global retailer starting in 2006, buying U.S.-based Samuels and Rogers jewelry chains.
Some industry analysts see risk in running operations that span from mining and manufacturing to high-end retailing and marketing. "[They're] all totally different types of activity -- and one needs tremendous expertise, skills, infrastructure to be truly competitive" in each, says Chaim Even-Zohar, principal of Tacy Ltd., a Tel Aviv-based industry consultant.
Now that the bottom has fallen out of the luxury jewelry business, Tiffany's has had to drop the retail prices of its diamonds. The mining part of the business has not gone well for the company and it was forced to write off a $12.4 million investment into a mining operation in Sierra Leone.
But the company says it is quite happy with its cutting and polishing operations. In fact, it plans on expanding those operations in Botswana, where the government is happy with its policies of training local workers in the trade. And when the market turns, Tiffany says it will benefit from in-house stocks and trained cutters and polishers that will be able to meet Tiffany's exacting demands.
Tiffany's designers are thinking green with these gorgeous green tourmaline drop earrings. The stones are over 15 carats each and carefully matched.
They are accented with diamonds and are set in 18k gold and retail for $35,000. Lovely, aren't they?
Chambord Offers Luxury Breakfast For Breakfast at Tiffany's Production
The Telegraphreports that the makers of Chambord, a French black raspberry liqueur, have created a fabulous luxury breakfast to coincide with the opening of the West End production of Breakfast at Tiffany's, which stars Anna Friel as Holly Golightly.
The meal includes a hand-decorated bejewelled croissant, covered in edible gold and diamonds, Bar le Duc hand-seeded redcurrant jam and a cup of Kopi Luwak coffee washed down with a Chambord and champagne cocktail worth more than £20,000.
The luxurious breakfast costs 22,000 pounds, which is about $35,000. The Telegraph says the breakfast is available on request from Chambord at chambordbydonaldedge.com. Tickets for the West End production of Breakfast at Tiffany's can be purchased here.
Tiffany Announces Design Details for New Las Vegas Store
Tiffany & Co. has announced design details of its upcoming store at CityCenter, an urban resort destination under development in on the Las Vegas Strip. The two-level Tiffany store will face Las Vegas Boulevard and will be located in Crystals, CityCenter's 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment district designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind and Rockwell Group.
Tiffany's 10,000-square-foot store will feature an 85-foot-high glass facade that is canted slightly over the street and shaped like a diamond. The façade incorporates the store's entrance of polished black granite framing deco-inspired stainless steel doors. The store's interior contains a spiral steel and glass staircase and curved, multi-layered ceiling.
Tiffany's CityCenter store will open in December. You can read more about the plans for the store here and here.
Reuters 
The Telegraph 
