Tag Archives: celebrities

Bejeweled Icon: Remembering Joan Rivers

Yesterday comedic legend and fashion icon Joan Rivers died due to complications during a routine medical procedure. Celebrated for her sharp wit, and candid sensibilities, the Larchmont, New York native was iconic for openly slamming celebrities and for her riveting Red Carpet coverage and commentary, coining the phrase “Who Are You Wearing?”. Rivers began her career in the ‘60s but it wasn’t until 1965 when she appeared on the Johnny Carson show, candidly remarking on childbirth, abortion and feelings of inadequacy that her career skyrocketed into stardom with her controversial daytime talk show The Joan Rivers Show.

In addition to being accredited as one of the longest standing female comedians she had a natural gift for gaud. In the 2010 documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work filmed in her unabashedly Baroque home, she reveled about her adoration for extravagance as she deadpanned: “Marie Antoinette would have lived here if she had money.” Rivers even developed a line of jewelry and accessories for QVC for the past 24 years.

Spanning over a fifty year career Joan Rivers will always be remembered as a legend, elegantly armored to take on any Red Carpet occasion with her razor-sharp sass and unapologetic opulence. Let’s take a look at some of her most memorable moments.

The Jewelry Insider

December 2, 2008

How do you throw the priciest party the world has ever seen?

Fireworks in Dubai How do you throw the priciest party the world has ever seen? It’s simple. You build a billion-dollar hotel on a man-made island, invite a slew of celebrities and billionaires, fly in world-renown chefs and designers, and create a fireworks display so huge it can be seen from outer space.

And drop a cool $20 million.

The economic crisis was nowhere to be found in Dubai, as the Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the Executive Chairman of Nakeel, celebrated the grand opening of his $1.5 billion luxury hotel, Atlantis – The Palm, with a party rumored to be the biggest bash history.

“I’m thrilled and proud,” beamed the Sultan. “Five years ago where I am standing now was water.”

There was enough pomp and security for a royal wedding, as the 2,000 guests had to go through several check points to gain entrance to the soiree. The entire artificial palm-shaped island where the hotel is located was locked down several hours before the festivities began, and a special “exclusion zone” was established along the coastline, which banned boats from coming within two nautical miles of the shore.

Glittering guests brought our their best jewelry fashions, including Lindsay Lohan in a gorgeous diamond and onyx Y-neck with matching drop earrings; uber-model, Agyness Deyn, in a unique diamond statement necklace; and designer, Jade Jagger, in a layered series of pearl strands. And Lily Allen took the prize for the most ice, with a dazzling necklace of interconnected diamond circles.

Other A-list attendees included Denzel Washington, Robert DeNiro, Sir Richard Branson, Sarah Ferguson, Janet Jackson and fashion moppets Mary Kate and Ashley Olson.

The guests were treated to a banquet prepared by several Michelin-rated chefs, a private performance by Kylie Minogue, and an after party at the nearby Royal Afterglow bar, where DJs, including Samantha Ronson, played live sets.

Visit Jewelry.com for jewelry fashions to go with your very own glitzy holiday party dresses or take it down a notch with styles that suit a ‘home-for-the-holidays’ gathering in the comfort of your own living room.

Who needs fireworks when you’ve got stocking stuffers from Jewelry.com to light up your life!

More Celebrity News

Sporty Jewelry and Man Candy

Tiger Woods may have been the man of the night winning three trophies at the ESPY Awards – but come on who, reading this blog, cares?

What we care about is what did the stars sparkle in as this sporty event. The Becks were there with Victoria showing off a chisled gem on one hand and a ring on the other….

Hayden Panattierre was following this blog’s jewelry fashion advice with a black cocktail gem by Erica Courtney – she’s obviously not the only one with her ear (or ears) to the jewelry grapevine. Both Ashanti and Sophia Bush knew that this season it’s all about over-sized earrings and bare necks. For Ashanti, big means really big – you go girl.

The Jewelry Insider

June 29, 2008

Recently some star-studded events have been a case of ‘spot the jewel’ as opposed to ‘sunglasses out’. The mega-bling look this year is definately on the outs as stylists and celebs generally prefer the more demure look. But, as they say, there has to be an exception to prove the rule. The exception was on Saturday night in a rather overcast UK country estate. The estate belonged to none other than Elton John and David Furnish, the event was their 10th annual White Tie and Tiara Ball, which was supported this year by Chopard and naturally the bling was outstanding.

Some 630 party-goers paid about $6,000 to glitter and gawk at some major jewelry pieces on some major Hollywood celebs.

There was the whopping 180-carat sapphire – one of the largest in the world – worn by Chopard co-president Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele’s, pictured here in the red satin Dolce & Gabbana corset-gown.

Singer Natalie Imbruglia decided more was better when she chose this pendant that featured a 23.59ct spinel cabochon, a 41.06 emerald cabochon and a 180.65ct sapphire cabochon.

Actress Zhang Ziyi, literally dripped in diamonds – her necklace featured an astounding 98.18 carats worth – then of course there were her pear diamond drop earrings (6.59ct) and a large white gold bangle bracelet set with diamonds almost 8 carats worth.

Elizabeth Hurley made sure she stayed in the spotlight – after all there was heavy competition that evening – by wearing a fancy shaped diamond tiara weighed down with a total 192.2carats, diamond drop line earrings and a diamond cuff bracelet and of course, let us not forget Ms Anger Management herself, Naomi Campbell, wearing diamonds, diamonds and more diamonds.

The Jewelry Insider

June 18, 2008

Some of Hollywood’s fiercest females were honored in LA at the annual Women in Film awards – otherwise known as the Crystal + Lucy Award gala.

The 2008 Lucy Award went to the ultra-smooth Salma Hayek, not for being one of the sexiest new moms of the year, but for her work as executive producer of Ugly Betty. While the Awards recognize women’s creative, social and innovative work in the movies and t.v. – like any other awards, it was what they were wearing, as opposed to what they were doing, that dominated the reviews (and I hate to say it, but I’m no exception).

It’s an official award trend now – black with splashes of white. Salma, Debra Messing, Meg Ryan, Lisa Edelstein, Jennifer Morrison and Gennifer Goodwin were just some of the stars opting to go black and white.

Earrings were either black or gold, drops or studs – but definately NOT colorful. Necklaces – well necklaces weren’t invited this year.

Never one to

follow the crowd was Cameron Diaz who matched the red-carpet in a

summery red and white dress with a stunning white enamel and diamond cuff bangle by David Webb.

The Jewelry Insider

June 18, 2008

Some of Hollywood’s fiercest females were honored in LA at the annual Women in Film awards – otherwise known as the Crystal + Lucy Award gala.

Earrings were either black or gold, drops or studs – but definately NOT colorful. Necklaces – well necklaces weren’t invited this year.

Never one to

follow the crowd was Cameron Diaz who matched the red-carpet in a

summery red and white dress with a stunning white enamel and diamond cuff bangle by David Webb.

The Jewelry Insider

June 9, 2008

Who would have thought back in High School, that the library was the place to be seen? Well, we probably weren’t thinking of the New York Public Library and we definitely weren’t thinking of fashion’s top awards. Recently, the ultimate list of fashionistas, stylists, editors and critics gathered in the City to celebrate the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) awards.

The Womenswear Designer of the Year award went, for the second time, to Calvin Klein’s head designer, Fransisco Costa. For the guys, the man responsible for the most fashionable suits, trousers and general metrosexual head-to-toe was Tom Ford and winning in accessories was Tory Burch – the women behind the ballet shoe and metallic emblem that is (or should be) a staple of every female’s wardrobe.

But, as always, it was who was attending and where they were wearing that caused the most chatter. Victoria Beckham, Eva Longoria Parker, Tony Parker, Kim Cattrall, Hillary Duff, Mandy Moore, Lauren Hutton, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler were some of the ‘celebs’ paying homage to designers such as Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Vera Wang and Carolina Herrera.

Even New York Mayor Bloomberg attended the stylish night out. He was honored, (not for his fashion sense I hasten to add) but for his commitment to keeping the city’s garment industry thriving. On his accepting his award Bloomberg, in a lilac-colored bow tie, panned that he would have worn something more stylish, but “my skinny jeans are at the cleaners and my gladiator sandals are being resoled.”

As for what they were wearing, when it comes to jewelry, it was a matter of quality over quantity. Cute black diamond studs, elegant gold hoops and of course ole Posh Spice (aka Mrs Beckham) who prefers size (just not in clothes) over all else.

The Jewelry Insider

May 23, 2008

This month is gold month so there’s no excuse for not wearing the gold of gold – a simple golden pendant. Nicole Richie’s designing her own, Rihanna’s making sure hers stays dry under her umbrella and Jodie Foster won’t leave home without it. No outfit is perfect without a pendant. Remember, you’ve only got a few days left to win your favorite golden jewel at www.jewelry.com/gold.

Another golden star is, of course gold hoops. Whether they’re thin and oversized like Cindy Crawford’s favorite jewels, thick and squiggly or bejeweled and flowing like this pair on Alicia Keys – gold hoops are set to be summer sizzlers.

On the wrists, forget keeping it simple – pile on the gold with stacks of golden bracelets and cuffs like the paparazzi’s golden girl Paris Hilton.

Fortunately, it’s not only the celebrities that can bask in gold’s glittering hue. From golden hoops to delicate pendants and stacks of bracelets, there’s a golden story for everyone.

The Jewelry Insider

May 20, 2008

The Cannes Film Festival is just as much about the frocks and the rocks as it is the movies and the art. It may be Europe’s powerhouse movie fiesta, but it’s just as much a fashion fete. A-listers, B-listers and the ‘who are they’ run to the Riveria to be seen in their sparkly best. It doesn’t matter whether they have a movie showing or not. It’s more about their showing than any ‘art’ showing.

This year, glam is simply a case of black and white. Colors were mostly muted with many of the silver screen’s beauties opting for black or white or a mixture of both.Jewelry was, as has been over the past 12 months, focused on the ears.

Oversized drop earrings were the take home winners of the day, with once again, necklines baring all.It is Europe though and that means chic – especially Chanel-style chic reigns. Pearls were out in force under the Southern French sun.

From large drops framing the face to Dita Von Teese’s ultra swank necklace, it was a perfect place to be a pearl.

Diamond Journey Couples

Diamond journey pieces are everywhere. The styles features a series of diamonds gradually increasing in size, representing – so we’re told – the growing love of a couple’s journey.

Next year will see the release of the diamond separation pieces – apparently you just turn a ‘journey’ piece upside down and figure out the representation for yourselves.

Anyway, cynicism aside, I decided to do a quick review of some really mindless mags and and see which celebrities can call the past 12 months– their ‘journey year’.

Bend It Beckhams
Hate ‘em or love ‘em – it’s been an incredible year for the Beckhams. From Madrid to LA, Mrs and Mrs Beckham are on a mission to conquer the world. With new BFFs, Tom and Katie Cruise, the Bs and their kids are now fully ensconced as Tinseltown royalty.

Rihanna
Rihanna’s had a rocket-style journey lately. The world seemed to be humming her ‘ella’, she won award after award and became a Cover Girl. All that before she hit 20.

Eva and Tony
A definite shoe-in for wedding of the year. When Eva Longoria said “oui” to Tony Parker, diamond sellers around the world cheered. It was a diamond fest like no other. The Desperate Housewives star’s band was made from 18K white gold with two rows of 80 brilliant-cut diamonds. These were separated by a row of 27 square-cut diamonds, for a total of 107 jewels. Mario Lopez obviously knew how much the couple loves their jewels. Wishing them a happy marriage, he presented the new Mrs. Parker with an 18-carat white-gold bracelet from the Kwiat Solaris Collection. The bracelet, adorned with 102 round diamonds, weighs a whopping 2.03 carats — and is valued at $8,150. Mr. Parker wasn’t forgotten, he unwrapped a 1.27-carat diamond tiepin, also from Kwait.

Baby Boom
It seems Hollywood is all about going ‘mama’. J Lo, Halle Berry, Nicole Richie, Naomi Watts, and Salma Hayek, were just some stars taking on the most important role of their life this year.