The University of South Florida issued the following news release:

A box full of exclusive and one-of-a-kind tiffanys jewelry arrived at the USF Athletics Department building last week. Inside were bowl rings for the entire football team and key staff members.

The gifts are given to the players that reach a bowl game, per NCAA rules, and come from the money allotted by the bowl hosts.

USF has been to four straight bowl games and won two, the 2006 Papajohns.com Bowl and the 2008 magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl.

USF associate athletics director Steve Horton is the man behind the design of the ring, which have been given after every bowl appearance in USF’s history.

Horton works with the representatives from Balfour to create a unique design each year for the players and staff of USF Football.

Then the final ring design is run by the seniors on the team for approval and input. Money Clips Each ring consists of the logo of the bowl game, the score (if the Bulls win), the players name and number.

Horton has been designing rings for years and admits that he “has never made the same ring.”

The players always get some choice on the ring that they receive; Steve sizes all of the student-athletes and takes into consideration what the players would prefer in the appearance of the ring.

The design this year has more of a football shape than years past and as Horton puts it, “more bling”, which was a request of the student-athletes.

Who has the biggest ring finger on the team you might ask? That would be senior linebacker Kion Wilson with a whooping size 16!For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar

Former H.Stern marketing director Andrea Hansen has been named the first chief executive officer of Ivanka Trump Fine tiffanys Jewelry.

Hansen, who worked for 24 years at H.Stern, begins in her new position July 27. She will report to founder and president Ivanka Trump and Moshe Lax, principal of Dynamic Diamond Corp., which joined with Trump to start the jewelry brand in September 2007.

Hansen will focus on maximizing the brand’s sales in its only store on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, expand collections such as a new yellow gold line, develop e-commerce strategies and prime the firm for global expansion. There is also talk of franchising, opening new stores and expanding into categories such as handbags, accessories and fragrance.

Andrea is a seasoned professional with international experience in all facets of the Money Clips jewelry business, said Trump, who is also executive vice president of real estate development at the Trump Organization. We feel the market is ripe for a smart brand like ours, passionate about intelligently marketing to a modern woman and appealing to her refined aesthetic with unique products of the highest quality.

Ivanka Trump’s company motto, Rock Tradition, speaks of heritage and her power to influence a new generation of consumers, putting a modern twist on the most desirable jewelry classics, Hansen said.

Hansen started at H.Stern in 1985 in its hometown of Rio de Janeiro, hosting factory tours and tours of the firm’s private museum for foreign visitors and dignitaries.

Her last position at H.Stern was marketing director, in which she helped cufflinks implement a new wholesale network, launching the brand in 20 additional countries.

The proceeds of the party will benefit the Corcoran Gallery of Tiffany jewellery Art/Corcoran College of Art and Design.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art, a privately funded institution, was founded by William Wilson Corcoran as Washington’s first and largest non-federal museum of art. The Corcoran incorporates both a museum and college of art and design. As one of America’s oldest art institutions, the Corcoran is “dedicated to art,” and continues its commitment to making its permanent collection and the emerging art of our time accessible to the broadest possible audience–through innovative exhibitions, educational programming, systematic research, and rigorous scholarship. Education is a central focus, not just in the Corcoran’s classrooms, but in its galleries and throughout the greater Washington region. As a Museum and a College, the Corcoran serves a wide variety of necklaces audiences. Students, children, families, teachers, scholars, and art lovers of all ages each have a place at the Corcoran and special programs designed for their unique needs and interests.

Patrons of the arts are invited to mingle and enjoy hors d’oeuvres with art, antique and jewelry dealers representing collections from several different countries. The preview party will offer guests the very first opportunity to view and purchase items that will be available to the public for the four day event. The first annual Washington DC Antiques Arts & Jewelry Show will showcase an incredible variety of merchandise similar to its sister event, The Original Miami Beach Antique Show, including 17th – 19th century furniture, porcelain, art deco and modernism pieces, objects of virtue, paintings as well as antique jewelry and time pieces will all be on display.

“We are excited and thankful to partner with such an established institution as the Corcoran Gallery of Art to host the preview party,” said Andrea Canady, fair director. “This is a great opportunity for serious collectors to be the first to preview and purchase fine art, antiques and jewelry before the general public.”

The Washington DC Antiques Art & Jewelry Show will exhibit rare and unusual historical art collections and tiffany christmas tree antiques from around the world; original paintings and works of art spanning more than three centuries; fine American and European silver; highly sought 19th and 20th century art glass such as Tiffany, Lalique, Galle and many others.

When Cyril Clarke finds a treasure on the beach in his homeland of England, Tiffany jewellery it rarely gets returned to the original owner. But when he stumbled upon an American’s high school class ring, he knew it was a unique find.

Nearly a decade ago Clarke, 90, found the 1958 black onyx class ring on the beach in the county of Sussex, and decided to keep it in hopes of returning it to the owner. “I even mailed a letter to the [U.S.] president,” he said.

Clarke’s hope of finding the owner dwindled over the years. But a friendship he struck with an American pen pal in the Chicago area ultimately led him to a graduate of Oak Ridge High School in Tennessee.

Clarke met his pen pal, Michelle Schrag, during a conference in London and the two became friends.

After a year of exchanging letters, Clarke thought it would be a good idea to visit Schrag and make his first trip to America this summer. As soon as he arrived in Chicago, Clarke and Schrag started working to track down the ring’s owner.

Schrag found the ring’s owner, Ellie Tucker, through the high school’s Web site. High school key ring officials then found Tucker, who said she lived in England during the 1960s.

Tucker, 68, said she remembers getting the ring as a graduation present from her parents. “It must have some incredible magnetic attachment to me,” she said.

This isn’t her first time losing the ring. In the late 1950s, she lost the ring in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and it was returned to her a few years later.

Tucker isn’t sure how the ring ended up on an English beach, but she knows it’s hers because initials the “J and M” were faintly inscribed on the inside. Even though she remembers having three initials placed inside the ring, she said the last two letters represent her maiden name.

Tucker said she moved to England because her husband was serving in the Air Force.

She remembers always keeping the ring in a jewelry box, but she said there is a possibility it could have necklaces slipped off her finger or that it was borrowed by one of her children’s nannies.

Saturday, Clarke and Schrag plan to return the ring to Tucker, who will be visiting Chicago with her husband.

“I think these two people must be marvelous individuals. This is just an amazing story.” Tucker said.

This season’s Collection features stunning pink sapphire ombre pieces, the “big rocks” 35(th) Anniversary Collection and elegant watchpieces.

Come meet Hello Kitty Saturday, August 8th at 11 am to view Cooper Jewelry’s Kimora Lee Simmons for Hello Kitty jewelry collections (Cooper Jewelry is at 136-20 38(th) Avenue, Flushing, NY 11354-4233). Cooper carries a full range of fine jewelry from Cartier, Chopard to Chanel.

Gift bags will be given out to those who attend and a sneak peak of the Kimora Lee Simmons for Hello Kitty Collection is available to view on simmonsjewelryco.com

About Simmons Jewelry Co.

Simmons Jewelry Co. is where fashion meets fine jewelry. The company is quickly emerging as an industry leader and design innovator in all jewelry categories. SHR & Simmons Jewelry Group holds the licenses to Kimora Lee Simmons for Hello Kitty fine jewelry and watch collections (North America), Hello Kitty by Simmons Jewelry Co., Baby Phat Fashion Watch Collections, Simmons Jewelry Co. Steel Collection, Penny Pendants, SpongeBob SquarePants by Simmons Jewelry Co. and Brown Sugar by Justine Simmons. Simmons Jewelry Co. can be found in premier jewelers and fine department stores including Kay Jewelers, Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, Zales, Gordon’s Jewelers, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s Department Stores. For more information about Simmons Jewelry Co. and retail locations visit www.simmonsjewelryco.com

SOURCE Simmons Jewelry Co.

The New York Antique Jewelry & Watch Show, which opened two days before the JA New York Tiffany jewellery Summer Show, brought together more than 100 of the finest antique jewelry dealers from North America, Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

“We’re delighted that collectors and dealers alike attended this year’s New York Antique Jewelry & Watch Show to purchase many of the exquisite antique necklaces, cameos, tennis bracelets, diamond rings and other rare antique jewelry available,” said Andrea Canady, fair director for dmg world media. “We’re proud of the success of this show and are confident that our newest launch, The Washington DC Antiques, Art & Jewelry Show, will be just as successful.”

Exhibitors at the show had favorable reports with regard to attendance and sales.

“The show was superb! We were able to cultivate strong contacts and big ticket sales,” said Steven Fearnley, necklaces owner of J.S. Fearnley in Atlanta. “Our sales highlights from the show included a 7 1/4 carat emerald and diamond Edwardian ring and 8 carat diamond studs.”

“This year’s New York Antique Jewelry & Watch Show was excellent! We sold a diamond Cartier rose from the 1950′s,” said Olivia Garary, owner of Olivia Garary Vintage Jewelry in New York City. “The show’s staff is always very helpful, provide the best treatment and service. We look forward to participating in next year’s show.”

The show was a hit with the media as well. A live interview on the New York Nightly News with Chuck Scarbrough and nearly 20 representatives from national, regional and trade publications within the New York metro area attended the show.

The 2010 New York Antique Jewelry & Watch Show is scheduled for July 23-26, 2010, at The Metropolitan Pavilion. tiffany christmas tree The next show on the U.S. calendar for dmg is the Washington DC Antiques, Art & Jewelry Show held October 15-18, 2009, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Tickets can be purchased online at www.washingtondcantiquesartandjewelryshow.com for a one-time admission of $15 valid for all four days of the show. A Preview Party benefiting the Corcoran Gallery of Art will be held the evening of October 14 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

A 60-year-old woman, a career burglar, faces new charges after police caught her leaving a Bentwood Road home Tiffany jewellery with $400 worth of stolen jewelry in her pocket, latex gloves and a screwdriver, police said Wednesday.

Oksana Lysenko has 40 convictions and has spent numerous stretches in Connecticut prisons since 1983, records show.

“We’ve been arresting her for years,” police Capt. Joseph Lasata said of Lysenko, who was arrested Friday when police responded to a resident’s tip about suspicious activity at a neighboring home.

Lysenko is accused of using a screwdriver to force open the door to the house, which police said she picked at random.

She was being held, with bail set at $500,000, and is due at Superior Court in Hartford on Aug. necklaces 20 to answer charges of fifth-degree larceny, third-degree burglary, second-degree criminal mischief and possession of burglar’s tools, police said.

Her record includes convictions for burglary, larceny, possession of narcotics and escape from custody. She has a fourth-degree larceny case pending at Superior Court in Hartford resulting from an arrest April 16 by West Hartford police.

During one West Hartford burglary in September 2003, Lysenko was confronted by a resident of the Dover Road home as she climbed through a window to get inside.

She walked away without saying a word. She stuck the man in the hand with a sharp object when he followed her but was captured quickly by police after the man used a bystander’s cellphone to call police.

In a Courant story on Sept. 6, 2003, about the Dover Road case, police said that Lysenko frank gehry had been arrested more than 60 times.

Lysenko was sentenced in December 2003 to 55 months for the Dover Road burglary, court records show.

Adding another iconic name to Roseville’s distinguished list of retailers, Tiffany jewellery. opened its doors Friday to dozens of excited shoppers.

Joelle Speed of Granite Bay said she and her daughters came to find a present for her husband. She said she was happy she didn’t have to go to the San Francisco Bay Area to browse.

“I like their selection. They have everything from classic to modern. It stands the test of time,” Speed said.

The opening — giving the region its first chance to bring home a “Tiffany Blue” bag without going to the Bay Area — comes at time when purveyors of luxury goods, including Tiffany, have seen their sales squashed by the recession.

“Jewelry is a disaster,” said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of the national retail and consulting investment banking firm Davidowitz & Associates.

About 2,000 jewelry stores, including time-honored brands, have gone out of business since 2008, Davidowitz said.

Tiffany has been taking its lumps, too. Sales for the New York-based company pendants declined 22 percent in the first quarter, and earnings dropped $40 million from the same quarter in 2008, the company announced recently.

In addition to other cost-cutting measures, the company decided to reduce the number of stores opening this year to three, down from six in 2008.

Friday’s opening, then, was a vote of confidence in the Westfield Galleria at Roseville, which has continued to attract high-end tenants despite the downturn.

Margaret Quattrochi, director of the new store, said Tiffany was attracted to the area because many of its customers live there.

Tiffany enjoys some tony company in the recently expanded Westfield Galleria, sharing a corner with Louis Vuitton, Burberry and high-end sunglass outlet Ilori. It’s the kind of combination that creates a shopper magnet.

“This is the mecca of retail,” said Stephanie Ringey, the mall’s marketing director.

In November, Westfield opened the first phase of a $240 million expansion with 48 new stores. Another 51 stores will be added by November of this year, Ringey said. With the exception of one store that decided to open at another area mall, retailers are neither backing out nor slowing up openings, she said.

Retail consultant Doug Fleener said it makes sense for Tiffany to position itself for a turnaround in the economy.

“Jewelry is going to come back. For Tiffany & Co. it’s a good thing to get good locations and be ready for when we come out of the slump,” said Fleener, managing partner for Dynamic Experiences Group LLC, a retail and customer-experience consulting firm.

While other retailers won’t survive the downturn, Davidowitz said, Tiffany appears to be in relatively strong financial shape. It remains “solidly profitable,” according to a press release issued with its last earnings report.

“If you believe in the future, maybe it’s not such a crazy decision,” Davidowitz said of the decision to open a new store.

There was no talk of the economic downturn at Tiffany’s 5,600-square-foot store Friday.

Speed wore a Tiffany Key necklace and had a Tiffany engagement ring.

“I love my wedding ring as much now as I did 11 years ago,” she said.

As Quattrochi moved around the store, all of her sales clerks seemed to be engaged, showing off a ring, a necklace or a handbag.

Some customers visiting Tiffany on Friday looked the modern picture of couture — earrings complete with miniature dog in tow. Others, wearing T-shirts and jeans, enjoyed some free coffee, pastry and a look around.

While the store does carry high-end pieces, including a $100,000 aquamarine brooch, the retailer offers more moderately priced items as well.

Quattrochi, transferred up from the chain’s Carmel store, said the store will adjust to the local market.

“We do business with people who are celebrating. People do not stop celebrating,” she said. “They don’t celebrate less — they celebrate differently.”

According to an abstract posted by the World Intellectual Property Organization, in the invention a “magnetic jewelry clasp is described including a first body member having a magnet defining a first magnetically attractive surface, an a second body member having a magnet defining a second magnetically attractive surface. The first and second magnetically attractive surfaces connect magnetically to define a first locking arrangement of the clasp. The clasp includes a safety catch having a protuberance adapted to open and close the safety catch. The safety catch includes a second protuberance that fits over the end of the second body member defining a second locking arrangement of the clasp.”

The invention carries International Patent Publication No. WO/2009/102413 on Aug. 20.

The wearing of talismans or charms comprised of knots was held by many Tiffany jewellery ancient cultures to offer protection and bring good fortune to those who wore them. Taking this ancient belief as inspiration, Laura Alexander has designed the interwoven knot as a symbol of love that connects us all. Several designs within the collection feature a four-sided star, a universal symbol of hope, radiating from the center of joined hearts. These evocative talismans provide an enduring symbol of the infinite nature of love and life and remind us that we, as part of the Universe, are all interconnected.

“We are very excited about this new collection. It symbolizes the new consciousness to connect with something profound. My intention was to create a modern version of talismans that personify age-old truths. Each talisman is an expression, and a reminder to the wearer, of ancient wisdom that we are a vast net of glittering jewels — each reflecting the light of all the others in an infinite interconnected harmony. The LOVE & LIGHT(TM) Collection, an embodiment of the enduring strength of love and life,” said Laura Alexander, LAURA ALEXANDER COMPANY President.

The LOVE & LIGHT(TM) Collection offers pendants, rings, and earrings in semiprecious gemstones such as amethyst, blue topaz, citrine, black onyx and olive quartz. Designs without gemstones featuring only sterling silver, 18K gold and diamonds are also offered in all sterling silver and diamonds.

The LOVE & LIGHT Collection(TM) will be available in time for the holidays in fine rings jewelry and gift stores across North America. Retail price range: $385.00 – $6500.00