THE BLING BLOG

Has Tacori Jumped The Proverbial Shark Tank By Getting In Bed With QVC Or Is It Just Good Business?

I am a loyal reader of the newish JCK Online blog called Behind The Counter, and in particular a big fan of writer Shanu Singh Guliani's ability to bring forth simple, yet thoughtful topics.  The blog is intended for consumption by those in the trade, but the subjects are disclosed in a manner such that anyone with a passing interest can understand and digest the information readily and also participate.

A couple of weeks ago she introduced a topic that I really believe has legs, and I wanted to wait to see how the comments would flesh out.  As expected, respondents are nearly evenly divided.  In her article Tacori: Are They Turning Their Backs On Independents? Shanu discusses how a little over a month ago, Tacori, an historically esteemed Los Angeles-based jeweler known for their intricate design work with platinum and diamonds, and perhaps equally known for their celebrity relationships and ability to cater to those with very deep pockets jumped into the sack with QVC.  Some thought it shocking and peculiar, but the more questions I ask, the more sighing and eye-rolling I encounter.  Take from that what you will.

This alliance brought Tacori's design elements together with QVC's "Platinum Clad" (sterling silver) and "Diamonique" (simulated gemstones) ostensibly to make Tacori affordable to the masses.  The result was a phenomenal success for both QVC and Tacori, having sold out of all of their merchandise in only 18 minutes.

I mean, Christ on a crouton, that's on par with ticket sell-out rates for the Rolling Stones.

Shanu asks some valid questions of store owners and salespeople,

It’s about a month later—how do you feel?  Do you dread the customer that comes in and says, “I bought my Tacori Ring off of QVC,” while standing next to another customer who has a $3000 Tacori ring on her hand debating if the brand is suddenly the right engagement ring to have, to bind her and her future husband’s eternal love.

Do you keep the line?  Send it back?  Never reorder again?  Or are you celebrating with Tacori?  Are you happy that now more of your clients know about the brand…  the name Tacori?  Or do you stash it in the back of the showroom hoping to pull customers to the side to take a look at this high-end brand that now sells on QVC?  On the other hand, who cares…  I’m a great salesperson, I have a great store, I love my customers and that’s the bottom line.

As I mentioned, the responses were nearly evenly divided.  Some jewelers are thrilled; some are disgusted.  One is saddened they'll have to part ways and terminate their relationship with Tacori.  One respondent was a civilian (non-jewelry industry type) whose wife's $9000 Tacori wedding ring set had been stolen and his insurance was only giving them a $1000 replacement and he was thrilled to have this option in the interim.  (That was actually very sad to read.  Bet he buys better insurance next time.  He said Tacori/QVC were super nice, accommodating and professional in getting him on the waitlist (!) for a QVC set (!) for his wife.)

Here's the thing.  Brands do this all the time.  Look at, say, Isaac Mizrahi.  He has three (four?) lines.  You can buy an Isaac Mizrahi shirt for $295 from Saks Fifth Avenue, one from Nordstorm Rack for $49 and one from Target for $19.99.  And shoes!  All at different price points.  Burberry carries different lines, too.  Ralph Lipschitz Lauren - my God, he has about eight or nine women's clothing lines.  There's a difference between, say, the RL polo shirt and the Polo polo shirt.  This is nothing new.

Does this dilute the brand?  Maybe, maybe not.  We could discuss this ad infinitum and never reach an agreement.  The only way designers make money is by diversifying and selling other stuff besides clothing, anyhow.  They must brand, as in a verb, themselves.  Perfume, baby!

My question for you is this:  would you have a problem if you had a $10,000 Tacori ring set and you were channel-surfing one night and saw "Tacori for Epiphany" being advertised on QVC and curiosity got the best of you and you discovered your exact treasured set (minus the precious materials) being sold for under $200, including shipping and tax?  And from all reports, the QVC stuff simply isn't garbage, much as we'd like for it to be.  It just isn't.  It's well-made enough stuff for what it is.  As long as you know what it is.

But let's be honest, girl to girl.  You can't tell me this wouldn't get your goat just a little bit.  Get stuck in your craw?  But you would shake it off like a big girl, right?  Right?  Just don't let your husband see that QVC show.  Ever! 

You, however, may go shop at QVC.com and search for Tacori in jewelry and find a suitable travel bauble or two or perhaps a set for your next foray into Darkest Peru or wherever your peripatetic muse takes you.  Hell, just get something because you like the look of it...  $70 won't break the bank and if you don't like it when you see it on your mitt or your neck or your lobes, they have a liberal return policy.

Plus, you're fantastic.  No one will know it's paste.  Quite honestly, mixing these simulated pieces with your own genuine ones isn't a grand faux pas.  In fact it's done more often than you'd think.  Buying some for travel pieces is a superb idea.  If you are a woman who carries herself with elegance and good carriage, who is going to question the authenticity your jewelry selections?  Certainly no one else of proper elegance and carriage.

A few caveats to keeping your secret...  if you happen to run into me or my mother we might corner you and ask you about your jewelry.  We've been known to do that.  Not to verify authenticity or question your selection, of course not, but to admire and examine them more closely.  We'll keep your secret.  As well, avoid flashing these in fine jewelry stores and trying to pass them off as the real deal.  Stay out of those places.  And finally, don't take them off and hand them to anyone.  That's a dead giveaway.  That silver weighs far less than platinum.

My personal recommendation?  WWBBB?  What Would Bling Blog Buy?  I'd buy these three and stack them in this order.  The blue one comes in red, too.  Big look, small price.  And I'd keep them very clean.

(photos from QVC)

Elizabeth Hurley Finally Gets A Ring

So, uh, that lucky dog Arun Nayar got married to Elizabeth Hurley last week in England and again this week in India.

And what lovely events they turned out to be; so lovely in fact that even Hugh Grant who had nothing better to do since splitting up with Jemima Khan didn't show up.  The fact that Hughie didn't show up was almost as newsworthy as the wedding itself.  Heh.  (Go Hugh!)

Now, what was I talking about...  Oh!

Here's the ring, finally.  Remember when we last spoke about her she didn't have an engagment ring yet, was allergic to her intended's entire country and wasn't washing her hands?

Well, she's got one now and it's real purty.

It's a 15.09-carat Asscher-cut diamond set in white gold with a pavé band.  According to British Vogue the ring,

"...was bought by the couple from the "Haute Joallerie" collection at Chopard's Bond Street store. Elizabeth's close friend Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele, who is also the creative director and co-president of Chopard, designed the engagement ring especially for the occasion. The jewellers also created the bride's wedding band - 20 square-cut 3.91 carat diamonds also set in white gold."

Okay.  Two things.

1. Bought by the couple from Chopard?  No.  I think not.  Liz Hurley is a hired shill for Chopard.  She is forever seen wearing Chopard everything.  Earrings, watches, necklaces, rings.  Tiaras.  Especially tiaras if she can get her mitts on them.

2. Twenty square-cut 3.91-carat diamonds set in white gold for a wedding band?  Must be a typo.  Her finger would have to be the girth of my wrist to handle twenty nearly 4-carat diamonds in band form.  I think that's 3.91 carats total carat weight.

I hope you're all as thrilled as I am that this affair gave her the opportunity to dress up like a "pretty, pretty princess" (thank you, Bingley) and have many, many wardrobe changes over the course of eight or ten days.

As well it allowed her to drag her already spooky-looking-and-not-ironically-named-Damian kid, expose him to more flashbulbs all, I suppose, in the name of family.

Ugh, poor kid... with a mother like that and an absent sperm-donor priapistic billionaire for a father?

And now a new stepfather who says their life on the farm in Gloucestershire is rather idyllic:

"I'll take Damian out on the tractor while Elizabeth cooks.  It's a bit like the Waltons."

Right...  Just like that.  Can you hear it now?  I can.

Damian:  G'night Mummy.

Elizabeast:  Damian, have you seen Mummy's ring?

Damian:  Oh, no, Mummy.  What ring?

Elizabitch:  Mummy's shiny, shiny ring from her wedding.

Damian:  The ring you wore at the wedding that lasted for six thousand ten million months and years?

Elizzardbreath:  Yes, Damian, sweet Little Lord Fauntleroy, that one, where Mummy wore the tiara on nights 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7.

Damian:  The big knuckle-buster ring you wore at the wedding where they sacrificed the goat and Shilpa Shetty danced until she puked and some weird ladies painted me with mustard paste and Uncle Hugh didn't come because he has some sense?

Eslatternly:  Yeeeeees, that one.  Have you seen my pretty, pretty ring?

Damian:  Uhhh...  nope.  And neither has Paddington.

(photo from British Vogue)

Elizabeth Hurley Not Only Hurls And Hates India, But Doesn't Wash Her Hands Or Have Engagement Ring

Elizabeth Hurley, celebrity shill for Chopard and many others, is currently engaged to this poor bastard, Bombay businessman and cricket player Arun Nayar even though the water and food in India make her violently ill.  Sounds like a match made in heaven!

In preparation for her wedding, at which she sincerely hopes no pesky non-celebrities attend, lest they bother her and stare at her, she is, um, taking damn elephant-riding lessons.

Elephant-riding lessons?  Why?  The Insufferable One is taking elephant-riding lessons so she won't risk looking "inelegant" when she makes her grand entrance at her wedding on a damn elephant.  Elephant.  Oliphant.  Elefante.  Heffalump.  Dumbo.  Big guy.  Hard to miss.

On the largest land mammal.  So everyone can indeed stare at her after all.  Is it okay if celebrities stare at you, then, Liz?  I see.

Further, Elizabitch apparently has no engagement ring, which probably makes it easier for her justify not washing her mitts at parties.

God, she is a pain in the ass, isn't she?  Talk about inelegant.  Look at her in that Chopard tiara in that photo, arms akimbo.  Eek.  She's so...  ick.

He's all, "Where's a cute, young, impressionable Bollywood princess when I need her?  I'm sure she wouldn't complain about the kebabs or get sick."

(photo from Chopard)

Stone Oak Jewelers - San Antonio Jeweler Doing The Next Big Thing

In sharp contrast to a recent article in Idex Online which enumerated the rapid acceleration of specialty independent jeweler closings in the U.S., Dan Dement and his family at Stone Oak Jewelers in San Antonio are experiencing the opposite challenge.

Thanks to self-professed "gadget man" Dement's commitment to stay on top of advances in CAD (computer-aided design) software, RP (rapid-prototyping) devices and a hard-learned personal motto to "over-buy" when it comes to technology, Dement can say with confidence that he, "would hate to be a chain store and try to compete with me."

Dan Dement finished his GIA Graduate Gemology degree over thirty years ago.  Among his career highlights include putting together the Hixon Collection of Colored Stones in the Gem Vault, which is part of the permanent collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.  But what he is undoubtedly most proud of is his family, and his family business.

Dan and his son-in-law Mike Bowling man the store on a daily basis, and daughter DeAnna Bowling and wife Tobi Dement alternate days.  DeAnna tells customers how beautiful their ideas and concepts are, and her father Dan figures out how to make them work.  They play a fun game of sweet cop/all-business cop.

According to Dement, "New technology allows American jewelers to bring back quality to the jewelry-making process, while being competitive with the overseas manufacturers...  as long as you're manufacturing quality, you're okay.  The future of the independent jeweler is in rapid prototyping, especially for those who don't have the skills to do handmade wax molds - or even part cast and part handmade molds."

Dement showed me an example of this beautiful radiant-cut emerald ring which commanded over ninety hours of labor to create the "old-fashioned" way, meaning handmade wax molds.  He created ten in that particular series.  If they started in November, he and his staff of jewelers could probably execute three or four of them by Christmas if they were lucky.  That's simply the way it was done.

However, with new RP technology, the same exact ring can be made in only 25 hours.  And by Christmas, nearly everyone who wants their rings, earrings and necklaces can get them.

But is it better?  Indeed it is, in nearly every way.

How?

Let's say your diamond has a "J.Lo" bulge in the girdle (a bumpy or wavy girdle).  In many machined, mass-produced ring settings, the "seat" for the diamond or center stone is not properly cut or shaped and whether you know it or not, you run the risk of losing your stone if it's not set properly.  With RP technology, Dement can make an exact fit for your stone.  Further, he can make heads and prongs for the stones as well.

Now what about the micro-pavé craze?  Can you do that with CAD/CAM and RP?  Yes, you can, and better than ever.  Dement favors the Matrix software, wherein all of the beadwork and prongs are precise and exact.  And get this - it can be cranked out in under a week - even with 200 stones.  At left is a sample of an actual Matrix micro-pavé computer rendering with hundreds of half-point diamonds.

And Dement's micro-pavé will last.  He prefers European shanks, and nearly never runs micro-pavé past the shoulders of a shank so you won't knock stones driving your car or washing dishes.  He likes to "Swiss-cheese" shanks, or do open-weave detail (see above ring) to allow light through make diamonds dazzle.

One piece that caught my eye was a 9.14-carat, certified, non-heat treated yellow sapphire set in platinum and 18K yellow gold with yellow diamonds.

It is a knockout.  The split-shank design is lovely and the diamonds match the sapphire perfectly.  As Dement would say, it's a "forever ring."  Wow.

His current favorites, this week, are the micro-pavé and palladium pieces.  "The palladium gives you a big look for less money than I could do for you last week.  Plus, no rhodium plating.  There's a learning curve there just like everything."

He has no problem telling you if you've got a problem on your hands, so to speak...  if your own diamond is in danger.  It's the good, all-business cop in him.

It's quite obvious, however, that Dan Dement is very grateful for his business and for his family.  "I've been very blessed.  Everyone I know told me I couldn't do it, but it did it.  But it's not me, it's my wife, it's my daughter, it's my son-in-law."  Perhaps that's why, when helping prospective customers make a purchase, he will ask them, "Which one of your great-grandchildren do you want to give this to?"

Beyond that, he makes a cooperative effort to share his .stl files and designs with other jewelers.  He figures the more American jewelers can work together to produce quality goods, the better.  And if he can be a part of that effort, he will.

If you're buying a diamond from Dan, all stones have a GIA certificate, a hearts and arrows mapping, a Sarin machine interpretation, and cut grading if available.

Technology is a wonderful thing.  And married with a traditional family business, Stone Oak Jewelers is a winner.  On a personal note, I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone or have them do some work for me.  In fact...  watch this space.

(all photos property of Stone Oak Jewelers)

Somehow This Is News: Princess Diana And Dodi Al-Fayed Were Engaged; Bought Ring From Repossi

Though it has long been suspected to be the truth, today Parisian jeweler Alfredo Repossi confirmed that he did indeed sell an engagment ring to Dodi Al-Fayed just hours before both Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales, were killed in a car crash.

Why would Repossi go "public" with the information now, nearly ten years later?  Isn't that kind of, um, unnecessary?

Didn't we already know that?  Is he some kind of snake?

This guy has been talking his mouth off, showing copies of his consignment book, leaking security video, having family members and employees accidentally-on-purpose reveal information, giving affadavits, talking freely, not talking at all, then saying oh-but-I-mustn't-talk, I-am-a-jeweler, the-nature-of-my-business, it-is-oh-so-private, then capitulating and saying he was coerced by Mohammed Al-Fayed, etc. for the last 9+ years.

This is news?

Evidently, or so he says, reports have alleged that the ring was bought by Al-Fayed for another woman, or that the ring was not an engagement ring, or have otherwise sought to discredit the nature of Dodi and Princess Diana's relationship.  On advice from their lawyers, the jewelers had not made the information public until this time.  And he's just here to set the record straight.  Riiiiiiight.

According to Repossi, Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed first found the ring in his Monte Carlo boutique in early August.  They then asked him to have it sized and ready to pick up in Paris by August 30, 1997.  He picked it up at the Place Vendome boutique hours before they were both killed.

"Dodi Al-Fayed went to the Repossi boutique on the Place Vendome (Paris) to collect the engagment ring, which came from the 'Say Yes' collection, to give it to Princess Diana."

According to Mohammed Al-Fayed, she did "Say Yes" and the whole car accident was a British plot to kill them so Diana wouldn't marry a Muslim.  Seems unlikely, but who knows.  Repossi, at times, claims, he was coerced into leaking video and making claims it was an engagement ring by the elder Al-Fayed.  And now?  Well, now, evidently, it's an engagement ring after all.

I think the "public statement" is a bit shrill.  We already knew that.  He made the public statement(s) already.  Ad nauseum.

Don't get me wrong, the guy's body of work is impressive.  His client list is probably more so.

Yeah, that's his black and white diamond snake with emerald eyes up there at the top of the page.

He's obsessed with India.  His bio talks about his many trips to buy stones and gain inspiration.  Look at the majarajah-inspired piece at left.  No doubt a pigeon-blood ruby of the very finest quality.

He's the Official Supplier to HSH Prince Rainier III and the Grimaldis, which means he gets to dress up that trainwreck Princess Stephanie and whatever circus performer she's married to, too.  Which is probably punishment enough for these "public statement" shenanigans.

What I want to know is when will Mohammed Al-Fayed show us the ring?

My guess?  August 30, 2007.

(photos of Repossi jewelry from Casas & Gente)

Tony Parker Is Engaged; Eva Has Nice Engagement Ring, Too

Here in San Antonio, the big news is that Tony Parker and Eva Longoria are engaged.  Notice that the emphasis is on Tony, not Eva.

Because in this town we all live in fear that she is going to turn into the Yoko Ono of the San Antonio Spurs.

Eva Longoria is essentially Corpus pageant trash whose mouth runneth over with egregious, embarrassing sex talk, is someone who fancies herself the next great erotic bestselling writer, someone who also has a bizarre sense of entitlement, and perhaps most charming of all someone who conveniently forgets that she is, in fact, a Mexican, while hurling a racial epithet at a "Mexican bike cop."

She is the Diva of South Texas.  She is the Duchess of The Drainage Ditch.

Tony, however, we like.  And Tony has good taste.  In jewelry.  Ahem.

Last July he commissioned Parisian jewelry designer Jean Dousset to make Miss Thing a 5-carat, emerald-cut engagement ring made of white gold, set with 248 micro-pavé diamonds on the shank.  Dousset also suggested that Tony handwrite a private romantic message for Eva, which he then engraved on the inside of the shank.  That's kind of sweet, no?

Dousset said he designed the ring with Tony's help and trust, and with Eva's personality in mind:

She has a strong will, is very feminine, very loving and a loyal friend.  That ring is strong because it is covered with diamonds. I ran out of space for more.  And it is also very curvy, like her.  So, you see, the ring requires a big personality to pull it off, which she has. On her, it looks amazing.

Ewwww.  She totally paid him to say that.

Local San Antonio appraisers estimate that the ring may be worth as much as $500,000.

We love a great classic emerald cut here on this channel.  What with all the Asschers and modified emeralds in style these days, it's nice to see a classic cut trotted out.  And it's gotta be a good one not to look like grey glass.  It truly looks like a good one.  Very high color, probably E, perhaps D.  Can't speak for the clarity or the cut, but if it's been bought by an NBA baller for a carnie and reports of a value of a half mil are being thrown out there...  it's probably top drawer.

Hope she doesn't lose it in the drainage ditch researching her sex book.

(click on photo to enlarge for detail)

(photo from MySA.com)

The WE Channel's "Platinum Weddings"

Sunday night television has some really craptacular selections as far as so-called entertainment is concerned.

Generally we go for the good writing and solid acting of Grey's Anatomy or revel in the crazy gorillas training to be SEALs on the Military Channel's Elite Forces/SEAL BUDs Training.  Good stuff.

But a couple of weeks back I came across a refreshing show on the WE Channel (I know, I know, can you believe it?) called Platinum Weddings.  Unlike the horrid, Jerry Springer-esque offerings on the same channel like Bride vs. Bride and the deplorable Bridezillas, Platinum Weddings is all about decent folks with good taste and seemingly unlimited budgets who are trying make wonderful memories with a beautiful wedding.

There is nary an hysterical, insufferable, despicable bitch bride or drunken, panty-chasing groom in the lot.  No histrionics.  No tantrums.  And tears?  Well, yes, but they're sweet, sincere tears of joy.

And I watched six episodes before making this conclusion, so you're safe.  You won't be offended.

There are gorgeous gowns, cute, likeable couples, charming, proud families, amazing catering spreads, towering cakes, generous charitable donations, world-class entertainment, compelling meldings of intriguing cultures, hypnotic floral arrangements, internationally-reknowned hair and makeup artists, genius photographers, and impeccably orchestrated party planning.

And the jewelry?  Ay, caramba!  Engagement rings, wedding rings, wedding gifts of jewelry, tasteful tiaras, diamond necklaces, family heirlooms, oh my!  Beautiful things.

Before you get nuts and say something like, "Well, of course they're pleasant and placid, they've got it made in the shade.  They can afford to be calm.  Money is no object."

Then I will quickly direct you Exhibits A-Z:  Hollyweird carnie-folk, for whom money is also no object.  And for whom every day is another excuse to act like entitled, hysterical, attention-starved children for the cameras.  Really no different than the Bridezillas and their icky grooms, just with better DNA, agents, stylists, managers and a curious ability to cultivate a fan base.

Check it out if you can.  Refreshing, truly.

Much Ado About A Crappy Diamond Ring

I was catching up on days missed reading some of my favorite blogs, and I came across a veritable screed of hysterics is the comments section over at Luxist regarding a cheerful piece about a diamond ring by contributor Anne Metz.

Anne seems like a very bright, lovely, irreverent and interesting woman with fairly great taste in most things.  Which is why I have no problem forgiving her for drooling over the really, really awful center diamond in the ring she lauds.  She doesn't clearly know any better.

She was awestruck by the shiny (not really - okay, not at all) bauble and marvelled at its price.  Metz compared its relatively inexpensive tag ($31,750 for a 7.03-ct. stone) to others ($4.7 mil for Paris Hilton's ring or $1 mil for J. Lo's ring).  The disparity in price is tremendous, I agree.  But sometimes, in life, you do get what you pay for.

This is not to say that you'd be getting much if you paid Papa Hilton $4.7 mil to take his eldest off his hands.  Her ring was spectacular (24+ cts, D color, IF) and I hope that sad little Greek boy got it back and bought a yacht or three.  But I digress.

The lesson here is that the ring she showed is not inexpensive at $31,750.  In fact, it's highway robbery.  To be fair, really the jeweler ought to pay someone to take the thing off her hands.  It's so rotten and riddled with problems, I won't even show a picture of it here.

In an effort to throw the jeweler a bone, she does vaguely disclose the myriad issues with the stone.  However, to the layperson, such descriptors like "JK" color, "SI3" clarity, "small laser marks" won't mean much.  To someone like me, they're a bear trap.  Not so much the first two, those are color and clarity, which are fairly straightforward.  But the "small laser marks" thing?  Ho-ly crap.  To me this says laser drill marks, perhaps made in an effort to blast out surface imperfections on a stone so obviously cut for size and not quality?

Craftsmanshipwise, it's poorly executed.  The gazillion one-pointers in the micro-set mounting are of an entirely higher color quality and likely higher clarity.  It's like wearing a dingy yellowy-greyish dirty blouse with some cleanish white pants and calling it "my white outfit."  It's not your white outfit, sweetie, you don't match at all.  The center stone is sort of offset in a cattywampus, sloppy manner.  It's not good.  Just toss it and start over.

Back to Anne.  The ring is crappy, not Anne.  She is quite obviously an erudite individual with diverse interests and tastes and entirely undeserving of the lashings she got in the 49+ comments.  But I'd read them if you have the time because they're pretty funny.  Lots of clearly ignorant comments, some links to better stones being sold at Costco (true, they are better), people trying to sell their own stuff, people debating the merits of love vs. money, etc.

On the other hand, it's sort of refreshing to see a number of people appalled by this ring, its price, and its appearance on a luxury goods website.

Now, carry on.  (sorry!  couldn't help it!  very excited for PR tonight!)

Conflict Diamonds? At 0.2% I Like My Chances, Okay?

Intrepid and completely non-gullible reader Wendy B. from Canada wrote to me a while back about a topic that continues to chafe at me like a sand-filled diaper would on a beach-bound toddler.

She attached an article from Diamonds.net (which you absolutely MUST read) for my amusement consideration with this thoughtful letter:

Susie...

Help me, I'm confused!  So you donate your potentially but really not likely to be conflict diamond* (*I have read estimates from .2% to a high of 15%) to a charity that will auction it (so someone else can wear it for what in all likelihood will be less than its value) and Use the Proceeds for Good?  I understand people not wanting to finance brutal wars in Africa.  Why not make a charitable donation of 15% of the cost of your diamond (the maximum figure I've read for percentage of conflict diamond rough in the total rough traded)?  That would be, if you choose/chose a diamond at all...

Sign me, Bewildered

Wendy graciously continues to edify me (now us) with more facts from Modern Jeweler:

In 1999, conflict diamonds ­(rough diamonds that are used by rebel movements in parts of Africa to finance wars against legitimate governments) ­represented 4 percent of the world’s rough diamond output. To stop this illegal trade, the diamond industry worked with the United Nations, over 45 countries, and several NGOs, to help stamp out the atrocities and violence.

On January 29, 2003, the United Nations adopted Resolution 1459, the Kimberley Process, endorsing a method of verification intended to stop the sale of conflict diamonds. The effort has been remarkably effective. Today, the number of conflict diamonds has dropped to a fifth of one percent (0.2 percent).

Seriously, sign me bewildered, too, Wendy.  There are so, so many things in that first article that get me flustered.  But let's just stick with the facts, ma'am.  And you've already very conveniently illuminated them and sourced them for me so I won't have to.

So let's get to the part that is the variable part.  Obviously if this gentleman thinks that a diamond (a diamond that you've demonstrated might have a 0.2% chance of being a conflict diamond) is in any way a representation of his relationship to his wife, he is certainly entitled to think so.  And he is certainly entitled to give it away to a charity.  That will sell it.  To someone else who doesn't give a rip about/know about conflict diamonds and/or likes his 99.8% odds that he's being a decent citizen by buying a diamond for his sweetie.

And Austin?  No mistake that charity is based in Austin.  The newspaper there, technically The Austin American-Statesman, is known to most folks in Texas as The Austin American-Spaceman.  Enough said.

Thanks again, Wendy.  You rock.  But not like a diamond.  Or at least not a conflict diamond.  A nice, friendly Canadian diamond!

Steven Kretchmer, Creator of The Tension Ring Dies

According to the JCK Group, jewelry designer Steven Kretchmer has died.

Kretchmer was the creator of the fantastic and much-emulated Tension-Set ring design.  His designs are especially close to my heart as my brother Tom gave his bride Brenda the platinum Omega.  Tom knew long before he ever met Brenda that this was the ring his intended would receive.  We discovered the rings in New York City in 1994; they married in 2000.

My good friend Erica from high school also has the platinum Omega, given to her by her husband Steve.  And my friend Melanie has the rose gold Omega, gifted to her by her husband Mark, affectionately known to my family as The Grub.

Take a minute and read about the Tension-Set on Kretchmer's site.  It's a marvel of engineering.  It is incredibly elegant in its simplicity.  12,000 pounds of compression per square inch.  No prongs.  Just pressure.  Lots and lots of pressure.  Amazing.  Graceful.  Sturdy.  Modern.  Timeless.

Thanks, Mr. Kretchmer, for helping make enduring memories for those I love.