Archive for the ‘rings’ Category

Cushion cuts a sleeper hit in bridal

New York–At Greenwich Jewelers in New York City, the accepted design cut of best a part of the abounding flush professionals who accept the 33-year-old lower Manhattan abode for their assurance ring arcade ability surprise: It’s the cushion.

But don’t just crop the chat of the owners, Jennifer Gandia and her sister, Christina Gandia Gambale. Just crop a glance at Gambale’s ring feel and see which design cut the adolescent banker herself chose if it came time for her to say “I do.”

“Out of the adorned shapes, cushions are absolutely our top adorned shape,” Gandia says, acquainted that at Greenwich, beanbag cuts accept pulled advanced of princesses in popularity.

In agreement of assurance rings, the alone cut of design the jeweler sells added of is the ever-popular round.

“I anticipate it’s New York,” Gandia says, if asked why the beanbag is such a hot annual in her store. She credibility out that the city’s women are apparent to a lot of commercial and, acknowledgment to New York City’s position as one of the world’s appearance hubs, they aswell get a contiguous attending at the arising trends that all the big brands are embracing.

To wit: Just endure week, at its New York City flagship on Madison Avenue, David Yurman apparent its conjugal collection, and “The David Yurman Signature Cut Diamond,” which is trademarked, was none added than a adapted cushion.

So should retailers all over the country apprehend consumers to alpha cloudburst into their food in droves, ambitious beanbag cuts? Not so fast: Statistics provided by gemological laboratories appearance that circuit still aphorism the design market, and that the a lot of accepted adorned appearance charcoal the princess.

But that doesn’t beggarly the cushion–a cut that dates to the 1800s and acquired its appearance from the actuality that aback then, cutters were not able of authoritative a altogether annular stone–isn’t growing as a category.

Still traveling round

Ask any of the allocation labs for their statistics on cut, and the abstracts will appearance the aforementioned affair beyond the board: Annular precious stones still aphorism the day, followed by the all-over angel cut.

At the International Gemological Convention (IGI) in New York, IGI USA Admiral Jerry Ehrenwald compares allotment of rounds, princesses and cushions submitted to both the IGI’s appraisement division, area stones are evaluated for allowance purposes, and the convention division, which grades stones.

In the appraisement division, the breakdown is about 52 percent round, 47 percent angel and 1 percent cushion, while in the convention division, it’s 55 percent round, 35 percent angel and 10 percent cushion.

“Rounds are aboriginal and foremost,” Ehrenwald says, abacus that angel cuts aisle at No. 2.

But ask lab admiral and New York design dealers akin what adorned appearance is authoritative a move in the design world, and they will acknowledge it’s the cushion.

At the American Gem Society Laboratory, Director Peter Yantzer noticed a actual slight uptick in beanbag activity, accretion 0.8 percent in 2009 over 2008.

“It’s not a big increase,” he says. “We see far, far added princesses than cushions in our lab.”

At IGI, Ehrenwald has apparent the bulk of cushion-cut stones that crawl through his appraisement analysis bifold amid 2008 and 2009, and amateur in the convention division.

And at addition New York lab, EGL USA, Director Mitchell Jakubovic says his beyond customers, acceptation beyond chains that do added accumulation merchandising, are afraid with circuit and princess-cut stones.

But there is a groundswell of grassroots-desire for the beanbag a part of those accommodating to abandon from the norm.

“For the specialty cuts, we’re seeing the beanbag has developed in popularity, and we accept apparent that over the accomplished year and a half. We’ve absolutely apparent a lot added cushions that accept appear in,” Jakubovic says.

Diamond dealers who acquire their accumulate trading stones in New York City’s Design District aswell agenda the beanbag craze.

Nicky Mehta of Design Days and Ronnie VanderLinden, admiral of Diamex Inc., both book up the trend to today’s consumers appetite something new.

“I accept they [consumers] wish to go with something altered besides angel cuts,” Mehta says. “They wish to accept some character in their centermost stones.”

Jonathan Birnbach, admiral of New York architect J. Birnbach, pins the added absorption in the beanbag on celebrity style.

“A lot of it has to do with Hollywood,” Birnbach says. “Celebrities accept been all-embracing the cushions and the Asschers for the endure brace years.”

Though the beanbag cut dates aback added than 100 years, these stones are award their way assimilate the fingers of adolescent and hot Hollywood starlets who just hit the quarter-century mark.

Canadian accompanist Avril Lavigne, 25, accustomed a cushion-cut assurance ring from her husband, Sum 41 advance accompanist Deryck Whibley, and singer-actress Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, 25, sports one address of her husband, artist Pete Wentz.

Then there is 21-year-old boyhood baby Kevin Jonas: If the Jonas Brothers affiliate popped the catechism to bride-to-be Danielle Delesea, he did so with a cushion-cut assurance ring.

But it’s not just adolescent Hollywood that’s animating this old cut.

At this year’s Golden Globe Awards, actresses Elizabeth Banks, Mary-Louise Parker of Weeds and Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon all donned cushion-cut diamonds.

Recession special?

While Hollywood is accepted for starting trends that ambit the nation, there could be addition annual abaft the ascent acceptance of this archetypal cut: cost.

Ehrenwald credibility out that one agency alive in the beanbag cut’s favor, besides celebrity status, is that cushion-cut precious stones crop added from asperous than a annular brilliant, acceptance manufacturers to amount them hardly lower and canyon those accumulation forth to the consumer.

A simple seek application Blue Nile’s “Search for Diamonds” affection shows this to be true.

A 1.04-carat, VS2, E-color cushion-cut design sells for $4,474 on the site, while a annular rock with the aforementioned characteristics is priced at $6,483, about absolutely $2,000 more.

But Jack Reiss, admiral and buyer of Jack Reiss LLC, refuses to accept that the acceptance of the beanbag cut has to do with annihilation but the simple adorableness of this archetypal stone, pointing out that all adorned shapes are beneath big-ticket than their annular counterpart.

“I wouldn’t say that [price] is the acceptance of the beanbag cut because again why not the pear shape? Why not the oval? It is the adorableness of the diamond,” Reiss says.

Seeing the charge to differentiate itself, Jack Reiss, a New York-based design manufacturer, has fabricated beanbag cuts its business over the endure four years and has apparent that business crop off, he says.

Cushions now annual for 70 percent of the company’s business, up from 10 percent to 20 percent 5 years ago.

Just recently, the aggregation launched a retailer-focused Web site, ReissCushionCut.com, aimed at educating abundance owners about the cut and branding themselves as the cushion-cut authority.

“People really, absolutely like these cuts,” Reiss says. “And I’ve been able to accumulate my branch active in these difficult times so there’s got to be something to it.”

How about a Juicy Couture Kind of Cocktail?

So … cocktail rings are enormously popular right now, right? And Juicy Couture is one of the hottest lines out there, as well. What happens, then, when you find a Juicy Couture cocktail ring?

Though Juicy Couture is classified as casual, there is no denying the fact that it is quite edgy as well, especially in terms of the pieces you can find in the label’s jewelry line. Maybe this has a little something to do with the fact that Juicy Couture is now owned by Liz Claiborne.

This is the Juicy Couture Filigree Ring. I would give my left arm to have it; that still leaves five possible fingers on my right hand for display.

Naturally the ring features gorgeous filigree, along with leaf detailing, rhinestones, and a beautiful resin cabochon. It even have a size adjuster inset within the ring.

One and three quarters of an inch wide, the ring is available for less than one hundred dollars.