Luxe Jewelry blog

The U.S. Air Force Material Command issued the following press release:

By Ron MullanOklahoma City Air Logistics Center Public Affairs

For Carol Oakley, the POW/MIA tiffany and co bracelet tucked carefully away in her jewelry box for 14 years was near and dear to her heart.

The name on the bracelet was Maj. Frederick Ransbottom, an Oklahoman still missing in action from the Vietnam War. But for Ms. Oakley, F100 requirements flight chief with the 540th Combat Sustainment Squadron here, events would unfold that would make Major Ransbottom more than a name on a bracelet.

POW/MIAs have always had a special place in Ms. Oakley’s heart and prayers. She bought her first POW/MIA bracelet when she was in high school in 1970.

“I wore it for two-and-a-half years and never took it off,” Ms. Oakley said. “It was one of the early ones made of nickel and it began to develop a crack on the top of it.”

When the Soldier whose name was on the bracelet came home from the Vietnam War, she took off the cracked bracelet and put it in her jewelry box for safe keeping. In 1992, she discovered half of the bracelet on her patio.

“One of my children had gotten a hold of it and was playing with it,” Ms. Oakley said. “I never found the other half.”

The loss of the bracelet was distressing.

“That bracelet meant a lot to me, I wore it for a purpose,” Ms. Oakley said. “It was my way of supporting our servicemen and women. I wanted to get another bracelet.”

Later that year, while on a business trip to Washington, D.C., Ms. Oakley would get her wish.

“I was visiting the Vietnam War Memorial and off to the side was a Kiosk,” Ms. Oakley said. “They had POW/MIA bracelets and I bought one with the name of Maj. Frederick Ransbottom, from Oklahoma, on it.”

Though the war had been over for a long time, Ms. Oakley knew the major had not returned. Instead of wearing the bracelet, she took it home and placed it in her jewelry box.

“I wasn’t going to let another one break in half,” she said.

Over the years, she continued to pray for his return as well as others listed as missing in action.

A few weeks ago, she saw a news report that the remains of a Major Ransbottom from Oklahoma City had been recovered, identified and would be returned to Oklahoma for internment.

“I knew immediately that was the name on my bracelet,” Ms. Oakley said.

She called her daughter and told her that the name on the bracelet was that of the recently identified MIA Soldier. Ms. Oakley’s daughter is an executive news producer for a local television station. Her daughter called Ms. Oakley the next day and told Ms. Oakley that the station was doing an interview with Major Ransbottom’s mother, Laverne, who lives in Edmond, Okla. Ms. Ransbottom indicated that she wanted to meet Ms. Oakley.

“When we met, I presented my bracelet to her and told her that I thought it belonged to her and placed it on her wrist,” Ms. Oakley said. “We hugged and Laverne told me that ‘I’ve received a lot of bracelets in my life, but none prettier than this one.’”

The two women visited for an hour-and-a-half as Ms. Ransbottom talked about her son, his life growing up and her 38-year struggle to find him.

“Laverne has a corner of her hallway devoted to her son filled with pictures, telegrams and other memorabilia,” Ms. Oakley said. “She never gave up hope in finding him.”

When Major Ransbottom’s effects were returned to his mother, she invited Ms. Oakley to cufflinks come see them. Among his effects were his billfold, his dog tags and a class ring, undamaged, from Putnam City High School. The identification process was aided by the fact that his military identification card was intact.

“His name was clearly legible,” Ms. Oakley said. “Ironically, at the bottom of the card you could read, ‘If found, please drop in U.S. Post Office Box.’ Laverne thought that was kind of comical.”

Ms. Ransbottom plans to have a memorial service for her son in January 2007. Ms. Oakley plans to be there. She also plans on continuing the friendship. And she has already purchased another POW/MIA bracelet to replace the one she returned to Ms. Ransbottom.

This October, Payless will inspire shoppers to wear their heart near their sleeve tiffany jewelry by sporting Payless’ specialty breast cancer awareness item — a slip-knot bracelet with a metal charm featuring the breast cancer awareness ribbon centered in a heart. The nation’s largest specialty footwear retailer is, once again, selling a limited-edition, must-have breast cancer awareness item for just $2 in all its stores and Payless.com(R) — enabling everyone to support the cause.

“As in years past, Payless is really making $2 count this October,” said Matt Rubel, chief executive officer and president for Payless. “We are on a mission to democratize fashion and design in the footwear and accessory category and our breast cancer awareness item is no exception. Our slip-knot bracelet is a must-have item of the season, and with its low price point and availability chain-wide, it is an affordable, easy and stylish way for women across America to show their support and contribute to this important cause.”

This is Payless’ fourth annual Taking Steps to Fight Breast Cancer program to benefit breast rings cancer research and outreach programs. Over the past three years, Payless and its customers have raised more than $1.5 million for the Susan G Komen for the Cure, the leader of the breast cancer movement. Payless said it will again donate 100 percent of the net profits from the bracelet sales to Komen for the Cure to support breast cancer research and community outreach programs.

To buy the $2 Payless slip-knot bracelet, consumers can visit http://www.payless.com or go to Payless stores beginning Sept. 27. This is a limited-edition item and available only while supplies last.

According to the American Cancer Society Facts & Figures for 2007, breast cancer is the most bracelets common cancer diagnosed among American women of all ages and is second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths. In 2007, an estimated 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States and more than 40,000 will die from the disease. An estimated 2,030 men will be diagnosed and 450 are expected to die of breast cancer in 2007. For more information on breast health or breast cancer, contact the Komen Foundation at 1-800.I’M AWARE(R) (1.800.462.9273) or visit http://www.komen.org.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, we have invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit http://www.komen.org or call 1-800 I’M AWARE.

About Payless

Payless ShoeSource, Inc., the largest specialty family footwear retailer in the Western Hemisphere, is cufflinks dedicated to democratizing fashion and design in footwear and accessories to inspire fun fashion possibilities for the family. As of the end of the second quarter 2007, Payless operated about 4,500 stores. In addition, customers can buy shoes over the Internet through Payless.com(R) at http://www.payless.com.

Payless is a business unit of Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS), the consumer-centric global footwear, accessories and lifestyle brand company, reaching customers through multiple price points and selling channels. Collective Brands, Inc. is the holding company of Payless ShoeSource, Stride Rite and Collective Licensing International. Information about, and links for shopping on, each of the Collective Brands units can be found at http://www.collectivebrands.com.

Tickets will be available beginning at 8:30 a.m. tiffany jewelry Monday.

The pageant will run Dec. 7-13 with performances at 6:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.

For more information contact Northside Baptist Church at 361-578-1568.

Chur

Northside Baptist Church’s annual Christmas rings pageant, known for its elaborate scenery and live animals, is turning 25.

“Silver Bells” is the theme for this year’s pageant, which tells the story of Jesus and will include modern-day holiday song and dance scenes.

“It’s what Christmas is all about,” said Sylvia Manning, who does publicity for the event. “It’s the birth, death and resurrection of Christ and friendship and fellowship and love.”

Manning said the event is suitable for all ages and anticipates bracelets available tickets to quickly run out. Although the project involves nearly 500 church members and is expensive to produce, tickets are free.

“It’s presented as a Christmas gift to Victoria,” Manning said.

More than 9,000 people attended the pageant last year, and similar crowds are expected for the 11 presentations scheduled for this season.

Tickets will be available beginning at 8:30 a.m. Monday. The pageant will run cufflinks Dec. 7-13 with performances at 6:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. For more information contact Northside Baptist Church at 361-578-1568.

Recent postal strikes have not deterred public from shopping online for presents. By Rosie Baker

Do you plan to do more or less of your Christmas Tiffany and co shopping online this year?

Despite the recent postal strikes, online retailers should be relieved that people plan to do more online shopping this year than in previous years, according to a MarketingWeek.co.uk poll.

When asked if they planned to do more or less of their Christmas shopping online this year, more than two-thirds (68.7%) said they intend to do more. Only 31.2% of respondents plan to do less Christmas shopping online.

Polling was carried out before the Royal Mail and the Communication bracelets Workers Union (CWU) called off further strike action between now and Christmas.

Strikes in September and October and the threat of more to come, led many e-retailers including Amazon.co.uk, John Lewis and Argos, to switch mail carriers.

Last week a report by the Centre for Retail Research on behalf of online comparison site Kelkoo predicted that internet retail sales would grow cufflinks 24% this year to pound 8.9bn and account for a fifth of all shopping during the festive season.

Recently a divergence between tree-ring parameters from temperature- buy tiffany limited environments and temperature records has been observed worldwide but comprehensive explanations are still lacking. From a dendroclimatic analysis performed on a high-altitude tree-ring network of Pinus cembra (L.) in the Central Italian Alps we found that site aspect influences non-stationary growth-climate relationships over time. A general increasing divergence between ring width and the summer temperature record (J-A) has been observed especially for chronologies from SW-facing slopes, whereas chronologies from N-facing sites showed stable relationships over time. The monthly analysis revealed that the decrease in sensitivity was mostly accounted for by the bracelets changes in the relationships with June temperature (decreasing correlations especially for S- and W-facing site chronologies), whereas trees from N-facing sites showed an increasing sensitivity to July temperatures. Our data suggest that at high altitudes, low temperatures at the beginning of the growing season no longer limit growth. We also found that our temperature-sensitive trees did not linearly respond in radial growth to the extreme heat event of summer 2003, and formed an annual ring of average width, resulting in a strong divergence from the temperature record. Our findings underline the importance of site ecology for tree-ring based climate reconstructions using temperature-sensitive cufflinks ring-width chronologies, and may help in solving the ‘divergence problem’. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

University of Colorado senior Richard Vigil ordered his $500 CU tiffany on Thursday — taking part in a once-strong collegiate tradition that has somewhat lost its luster among today’s generation.

“I wear this one every day,” said Vigil, pointing to the high school class ring he bought upon graduation from Palmer High School in Colorado Springs.

Glancing at his CU class ring, Vigil said, will remind him of his undergraduate years — cheering on the Buffs and hanging out on University Hill with his friends. Vigil is now applying to pharmacy schools.

Over the past decade, the university has switched to an official “CU-Boulder Ring,” which is reserved for students who are juniors or seniors, alumni and graduate students who have reached second-year standing.

About 200 students on the Boulder campus buy the rings every year, said Balfour promotional specialist Annette Denucci.

She sat with a ring case on the campus Thursday, showing off the jewelry and its iconic symbols, including Ralphie, the Flatirons and the CU logo.

Denucci said the economic downturn has squeezed rings out of some students’ budgets, although, she said, the ring supplier offers interest-free monthly payment plans.

Denucci has consulted with proud students who are the first in their families to graduate from college and others who admit their parents pressed them to buy the jewelry. The rings vary from $325 to $825.

Laurelyn Ashley, a CU senior anthropology major, said class bracelets were a big deal at the small private school, Randolph College in Virginia, that she attended before transferring to CU.

As a freshman, she was assigned to a “big sister” — and sisterly duties included arranging scavenger hunts for the upperclassmen to find their class rings.

But the tradition has lost its appeal with Ashley, who says a class ring feels like a “proof of purchase” for a college degree.

“I never wear my high school class ring,” she said.

CU leaders say the cufflinks – which were designed by students, alumni and administrators — can help celebrate achievements and the traditions at CU.

Before the official CU ring came about, there were a half-dozen companies selling rings with varying styles and icons, said Kent Zimmerman, former director of the Alumni Association.

“There wasn’t any continuity to identify CU-Boulder,” he said. “You couldn’t be on an airplane and look over and say ‘Oh, wow, you’re a Buff, too.’ That’s what we were looking for.”

Leah Venturoni, a senior studying molecular, cellular and developmental biology, is considering buying a class ring.

“It’s something that’s tangible that you can look at and recall memories,” she said.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at 303-473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com.

“Last week the price of gold reached $900 an ounce,” said Ian Shiell, Founder of GoldPawnShop.com. ” buy tiffany With the release of Gold Price Grabber, consumers can now track the price of gold daily. If gold happens to hit $1000 an ounce, they can sell gold jewelry right away, allowing them to capitalize on the high gold prices as they occur.”

“With over 500 million applications downloaded in less than a year, and more than 15,000 applications in the iTunes store already, the App Store has proven to be an effective way to reach consumers on the go,” said Gregg Weiss, CTO of Blue Whale Web Solutions, Inc.

Pawn Shops around the country have seen a significant increase in business bracelets due to the economic conditions consumers are facing these days.

The Gold Price Grabber application for the iPhone and iPod Touch was designed by Tommy Spero for Soul and developed by cufflinks Blue Whale Web Solutions, Inc., an iPhone application developer based in South Florida.

Call it a sign of the times: celebrities have fine jewelers tripping over themselves to loan them some of the world’s rarest and most expensive pieces, but more and more actresses are opting for costume Tiffany jewellery.

The big, bold costume jewelry pieces provide an impact on the red carpet and that’s good news for consumers eager to emulate the look without spending too much money.

It seems counterintuitive, said Elena Kiam, owner of Lia Sophia, one of the country’s largest direct sales jewelry brands. Celebrities can borrow or buy anything they want, yet so many of them choose to wear costume.

Lia Sophia isn’t available in stores, but each collection is launched during events such as the Sundance, Toronto or Cannes film festivals, when actresses like Sienna Miller and Kerry Washington get first dibs and often wear the pieces to red-carpet events the same day.

I don’t think some actresses knew whether it was fine or fashion rings jewelry and they don’t care. They just want the look, said Kiam of the line’s bold, chunky cuffs and necklaces.

Prices for the line range from $150 to $1,300, with an average price point of $300.

For actors and for the rest of the world, most people would never know if something is real or fake, and you can achieve a lot of the drama for not a lot of money with good costume jewelry, said stylist Rachel Zoe, who has been collecting vintage costume jewelry for 20 years.

In this economy, some people are veering away from so much glitz, Zoe said. I think it’s totally appropriate [for the red carpet]. My clients don’t care if something is couture or from H&M.

Melinda Spigel, designer for Melinda Maria, has noticed a shift in consumers’ attitudes toward fine jewelry.

There has been a change in people’s mentality, Spigel said. Even if you are going to a big gala, it doesn’t mean you have to wear diamonds. In this economy, it’s a really important message. People are rethinking where they put their dollars.

With the price of gold running high, it has become cost-prohibitive for many fine jewelers to create large, weighty pieces.

There is not a lot of contemporary fine jewelry that is bold, said Decades owner Cameron Silver. When it comes down to having a look, you can’t find that in fine jewelry. To me, a Tom Binns piece sort of trumps a Cartier million-dollar piece because it has more impact.

And just because costume jewelry retails for less than $1,000 doesn’t mean it has to look inexpensive.

Australian designer Samantha Wills, whose namesake line retails in Nordstrom for $60 to $1,500, said, Costume jewelry does not have to be cheap creativity combined with attention to detail defines luxury, thus fashion jewelry can evoke the same confidence in the wearer as fine bracelets jewelry.

Aussie actress Melissa George recently wore a set of $99 gold-plated Samantha Wills bangles to the Whitney Art Party.

Whether or not celebrities are mindful of their pocketbooks, shoppers seeking to copy their looks certainly are.

People are looking for value, no more empty spending, said Ashley Dodgen-McCormick, designer of Asha by ADM, which retails in Saks Fifth Avenue and Calypso for $200 to $900. Actresses Anna Paquin and Selena Gomez recently chose Asha chandelier earrings to wear to the premieres of their latest films.

Big pieces add drama and just show up more, said Dodgen-McCormick.

Red-carpet fashion is nothing if not of the moment and costume pieces can capture that.

I think that celebrities are catching on that statement pieces are designed for a moment in time, Wills said. That moment is precious. The cufflinks jewelry doesn’t have to be.

For more images, seeWWD.com.

Call it a sign of the times: celebrities have fine jewelers tripping over themselves to loan them some of the world’s rarest and most expensive pieces, but more and more actresses are opting for costume jewelry.

The big, bold costume jewelry pieces provide an impact on the red carpet and that’s good news for consumers eager to emulate the look without spending too much money.

It seems counterintuitive, said Elena Kiam, owner of Lia Sophia, one of the country’s largest direct sales Tiffany jewellery brands. Celebrities can borrow or buy anything they want, yet so many of them choose to wear costume.

Lia Sophia isn’t available in stores, but each collection is launched during events such as the Sundance, Toronto or Cannes film festivals, when actresses like Sienna Miller and Kerry Washington get first dibs and often wear the pieces to red-carpet events the same day.

I don’t think some actresses knew whether it was fine or fashion jewelry and they don’t care. They just want the look, said Kiam of the line’s bold, chunky cuffs and necklaces.

Prices for the line range from $150 to $1,300, with an average price point of $300.

For actors and for the rest of the world, most people would never know if something is real or fake, and you can achieve a lot of the drama for not a lot of money with good costume jewelry, said stylist Rachel Zoe, who has been collecting vintage costume jewelry for 20 years.

In this economy, some people are veering away from so much glitz, Zoe said. I think it’s totally appropriate [for the red carpet]. My clients don’t care if something is couture or from H&M.

Melinda Spigel, designer for Melinda Maria, has noticed a shift in consumers’ attitudes toward fine cufflinks jewelry.

There has been a change in people’s mentality, Spigel said. Even if you are going to a big gala, it doesn’t mean you have to wear diamonds. In this economy, it’s a really important message. People are rethinking where they put their dollars.

With the price of gold running high, it has become cost-prohibitive for many fine jewelers to create large, weighty pieces.

There is not a lot of contemporary fine jewelry that is bold, said Decades owner Cameron Silver. When it comes down to having a look, you can’t find that in fine jewelry. To me, a Tom Binns piece sort of trumps a Cartier million-dollar piece because it has more impact.

And just because costume jewelry retails for less than $1,000 doesn’t mean it has to look inexpensive.

Australian designer Samantha Wills, whose namesake line retails in Nordstrom for $60 to $1,500, said, Costume bracelets jewelry does not have to be cheap creativity combined with attention to detail defines luxury, thus fashion jewelry can evoke the same confidence in the wearer as fine jewelry.

Aussie actress Melissa George recently wore a set of $99 gold-plated Samantha Wills bangles to the Whitney Art Party.

Whether or not celebrities are mindful of their pocketbooks, shoppers seeking to copy their looks certainly are.

People are looking for value, no more empty spending, said Ashley Dodgen-McCormick, designer of Asha by ADM, which retails in Saks Fifth Avenue and Calypso for $200 to $900. Actresses Anna Paquin and Selena Gomez recently chose Asha chandelier earrings to wear to the premieres of their latest films.

Big pieces add drama and just show up more, said Dodgen-McCormick.

Red-carpet fashion is nothing if not of the moment and costume pieces can capture that.

I think that celebrities are catching on that statement pieces are designed for a moment in time, Wills said. That moment is precious. The jewelry doesn’t have to be.

Brooke Mortensen and her family gathered around the television on July 13 to watch ABC’s “The Bachelorette.” Sure, they were interested in which guy Jillian Harris might choose as her true love, but they were far more interested in the choice of tiffanys jewelry around the reality star’s neck.

During the July 13 episode, Harris wore a silver and turquoise pendant, stamped with the letter “J.” The jewelry was handmade by Mortensen, of North Ogden.

“It was pretty exciting, and just a little bit surreal,” Mortensen said of seeing her work on television. “It got a lot of good airtime, because on one of her dates, she wore it the whole time.”

Mortensen says she was a little disappointed the initial wasn’t shown close enough to be read, but she’s pleased overall.

“It’s been insane,” she said of the number of jewelry orders she’s received because of exposure on the show. “My head is spinning, but in a good way.”

Trendsetter

Mortensen’s mother, Terry Eagleston of Huntsville, says her daughter has always loved jewelry.

“When she was 18 months old, she’d go into stores in the mall and I’d always find her at the jewelry, looking at big colorful earrings and stuff,” Eagleston said, adding. “She was always starting trends in school.”

Mortensen wasn’t a “crafty” youngster, but knew what she wanted — and if she couldn’t find it, she’d try to make it.

“I’ve always had ideas,” she said. “Before a lot of different colors of nail polish came out, I was putting food coloring into white nail polish.”

So when her parents gave her a pendant as a gift, she did what came naturally.

“I knew that I wanted to change it, and make it my own and, to me, better,” she said.

She began experimenting with metals and techniques, creating the bracelets jewelry she now sells.

Perfectly imperfect

Mortensen sells some jewelry at local shows, but mostly through Etsy, an online shop for handcrafted items.

Each of the pendants is made from melted metal, stamped with an initial or design, painted and buffed.

No two pendants are alike. Mortensen likens the pendants to the people who wear them.

“No one is perfect, but we are all beautiful. These pendants give the feeling of being beautiful, unique and rough around the edges at the same time,” she states Web site, www.RitzyMisfit.etsy.com. “My work reflects the wonderful, flawed idiosyncrasies in us all.”

Customers choose the level of flaws, or “character,” in their pendant, from almost perfect and round to quite uneven. Buyers also get to choose the color, and how much paint is used.

“They have no idea what it’s going to look like until they get it, but they like it because the time and care I put into it shows,” Mortensen said. “I don’t send it out if I don’t love it.”

Prime time

Mortensen says a lot of customers request a pendant cufflinks “just like Jillian’s.”

The connection with “The Bachelorette” came about when a customer contacted Mortensen because she’d lost her pendant and wanted a replacement.

“I told her I would send her one for my cost. I would think that normally that was not a very smart business move, but it turned out that she was a costume designer,” said Mortensen.

The designer offered to show Harris the Ritzy Misfit Web site.

“Twenty minutes later, I got an e-mail saying Jillian loved it,” said Mortensen.

Mortensen won’t give out the name of the designer, saying she doesn’t want to be a bother. The show’s stylist, Cary Fetman, confirmed the use of Mortensen’s pendants.

“I was thrilled to see a collection of pieces that Brooke had sent for me to preview while we were shooting. She was sweet enough to include several of her favorite pieces, and I loved them,” Fetman said in an e-mail to the Standard-Examiner. “I couldn’t wait to have Jillian wear her necklace while we were in Hawaii.”

Mortensen says she’s flattered, and grateful for the boost to her business.

A mother of two young children, Mortensen says she makes her kids her first priority. But when the kids are napping or playing in their rooms, she’s working on jewelry to fill orders.

“Just in my Etsy shop, I’ve sold almost 500 in the last couple of months,” she said. “I do work very hard. If somebody worked any other job this many hours, they’d be making a lot of money. But I’m proud to be able to pay a lot of my bills, and not have to ask my husband for money.”

Self-expression

Mortensen likes the independence her business gives her, and also the opportunity to be creative.

“I’m trying to introduce my pieces into other pieces of jewelry, like bracelets,” she said. “I haven’t had much time to stretch my creativity muscles, but I have to do that or else I’ll get bored.”

She’ll soon be offering pendants with a ribbon stamped into the surface. Customers will be able to specify the color on the ribbon, from yellow to show support of U.S. troops to pink for breast cancer research.

“I’m excited about that, because I really think people like to represent things they care about,” Mortensen said.

Mortensen will be selling her jewelry at Mindy Mae’s Market, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Aug. 7 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 8, at Destination Homes, 3377 N. 1375 West, Pleasant View.