RIHANNA WEARING CHOPARD AND REPOSSI JEWELRY – Image source: http://instagram.com/chopard

Well technically speaking, diamonds do not shine, they reflect light, but seriously who gives a damn when you look like Rihanna? The 11th of december, Rihanna hosted and performed at her Clara Lionel Foundation’s first annual Diamond Ball, held in Beverly Hills, California.  She walked the red carpet wearing a stunning Zac Posen Fall/Winter 2014 off-the-shoulder gown in a rose hue. She paired the dress with some Manolo Blahnik’s but what really elevated this look was her stunning Chopard jewelry. The jewelry included a diamond necklace with an 123 carat pear-shaped rubellite offset with diamonds set in platinum, a 21 carat ruby cuff set in rose gold, and a pear-shaped rubellite ring. Both the ring and necklace are from the 2012 Red Carpet Collection. It’s not the first time she wore a piece from Chopard’s Red Carpet Collection.  At “The Concert For Valor” held on november 11th in Washington, DC, she wore a dazzling diamond necklace, this time from the 2013 Red Carpet Collection. It’s not really a Rihanna-look without some edge and that was taken care of by adding a Repossi ear cuff of the  Berbère collection, set with diamonds. As much as I like Rihanna, I’m not really a fan of the hand tattoo and unfortunately the beautiful cuff got lost against the backdrop of the tattoo. But honestly, I’m nitpicking. For the past four years, red carpet jewelry has become increasingly minimalist and understated, sometimes not even present at all. It’s a welcome change to see a piece of statement jewelry taking front and center.

December the 9th, Sotheby’s New York auctioned off the jewelry collections of Mrs. Estée Lauder and Mrs. Evelyn H. Lauder.  The Lauder collection was sold to raise funds for the The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. The collection, including jewelry from big jewelry houses like Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, David Webb, Buccellati and Oscar Heyman & Brothers, raised $44,151,251 dollars. Highlight of the collection was the truly iconic Tutti Frutti bracelet from Cartier. Seven bidders bid against eachother, driving the final price to $2,165,000 making it a new record price for any “Tutti Frutti” bracelet by Cartier.

Until march 15 2015, the Denver Art Museum is exhibiting the Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century show. Curated by Margaret Young-Sánchez, the show will exibit 250 jewels, watches and objects from 1900 to 1975. What makes Cartier so great is the fact that the jewelry house, during its 167 year existence, has created so many truly famous designs.  The Love Bracelet, the Tutti Frutti collection and the tiger jewelry collection all have become iconic designs. Even the wrist watch wasn’t mainstream at all before Cartier decided it needed to become a staple for every sophisticated gentleman and designed one for Alberto Santos-Dumont. It became an instant hit. As a designer you’d be more than happy to design one iconic piece during your lifetime, let alone several. The fact that Cartier continues to do so with talented designers and some great marketing, is what makes Cartier the brand it is today. Too bad I live nowhere near Denver, otherwise I would have certainly paid a visit.

Check out a day in the life of a jewelry designer. Intermix followed Vita Fede’s Cynthia Sakai around for a day.

Line & Jo launched another (!) new collection on december the 5th, called “PINS”. The collection, in sterling silver and sapphires, is available in their shop.

Jennifer Aniston made an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s talkshow to talk about her role in Horrible Bosses 2 and subsequently talked about the jewelry she wore in her role as a sex-crazed dentist. “They laid out the jewelry and I just gravitated towards that beautiful piece of jewelry. And I put it on and I’m like ‘this is unique and cool’ “. Turns out it was something else ;-) .