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Kimora Lee And Russell Simmons In Saddle River, Estate of the Day

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping


A recent post on the Real Estalker inspired me to take a look at the real estate doings of Kimora Lee Simmons. Simmons and ex-husband Russell Simmons have a variety of properties. Kimora made our slow sellers list for a home in the Beverly Hills Post office area that she was trying to sell for over a year but after knocking the price down to the price she bought it for ($5.9 million) it has been pulled from the market. Meanwhile Simmons has put a modest three-bedroom ranch-style home in East Hampton, New York on the market for $800,000. The simple home has none of Kimora's ostentatious style and may have been used for guests.

For a real look at Kimora's style check out the Saddle River, New Jersey home that Kimora Lee and Russell have been trying to sell for a few years. We've been talking about this home for a few years but never given in full estate of the day treatment. It was once listed for $23.888 million dropped to $19.888 million and then pulled off the market. But as Homes of the Rich pointed out last month, the exes are giving it another trying, relisting the lavish mansion at $16.5 million. The 10-bedroom home famous for its cinema-worthy home theater, professional fitness center, wine cellar with bar seating and painted rotunda has made the rounds of various television shows and magazines. It has both indoor and outdoor pools, staff quarters, a pool house and a security system designed by the White House security company.

Russell Simmons Gave Me a SpongeBob SquarePants Alarm Clock Radio

Filed under: Jewelry, Men's Style

He lives in a Swarovski crystal studded pineapple under the sea.Russell Simmons gave me a SpongeBob SquarePants alarm clock radio. No, I did not dream this.

I was recently at an event for Simmons Jewelry Company when who should walk in but Russell Simmons himself, wearing a glimmering SpongeBob SquarePants pendant! He was very cordial and said I looked familiar. I said he looked familiar, too. He said "I'm Russell Simmons."

The event was to celebrate and exhibit the new Simmons Jewelry Co. collections that will be coming out this fall and for the holidays, and there is a whole line of luxury SpongeBob SquarePants jewelry for men and women.

"Why SpongeBob?" I asked Russell. His answer was simple: "SpongeBob is the Hello Kitty for men."

Genius! As you may know, Kimora Lee Simmons of the Simmons family has had a line of Hello Kitty jewelry for quite awhile now (you can read Rigel's article about the Zodiac collection here) -- and even designed the $50,000 Hello Kitty necklace Britney Spears wore in her music video for "Do Somethin'." There's a lot of great new Hello Kitty stuff coming this fall, too -- including Swarovski crystal studded earbuds and a USB drive I've got my eye on.

For now, let's have a look at the SpongeBob and Bikini Bottom items, which come in sterling silver, 18kt gold plating, enamel work and Swarovski crystals (as shown). Who knows? Maybe they'll make a $50,000 one for Justin Timberlake!

As for the alarm clock radio in the gift bag? I gave it to my landlord's kids.

Buyers Bounce to Beach, ArtHamptons Flops

Filed under: Events, Art

The artists are blaming the weather. Despite the fact that we're in a pretty nasty art slump, the optimistic believe that three days of sunshine lured potential art buyers to the beach instead of the ArtHamptons fair in Bridgehampton, Long Island this weekend. Purchases were made, but in general, they were disappointing. Realistically, the sales made sense, given what we've seen at auction over the past year.

Several celebrities did attend the art fair, but they brought little excitement, it seems, beyond their appearances. Jon Bon Jovi, personalities from The Real Housewives of New York City, Kelsey Grammer and Russell Simmons were all spotted, but Bloomberg didn't report any purchases.

The biggest name at the ArtHamptons fair, of course, was Michael Jackson – a creation by Andy Warhol. Originally, Vered Gallery had hoped to sell it via silent auction, but the gallery yanked the portrait late last week ... claiming that collectors were looking at the piece but "needed more time to assess the value."

Or, maybe they were just at the beach, like everyone else, apparently.

SpongeBob SquarePants Fine Jewelry

Filed under: Jewelry


The allure of cartoon characters on jewelry eludes me but there must be a market for it since we've seen a fair amount of it on the market. Simmons Jewelry Company, Russell Simmons's company and Nickolodeon have partnered on a new fine jewelry and watch line inspired by SpongeBob SquarePants, The line will include pieces in gold, silver and enamel and products will sell for $150 to $75,000. The line will debut in the fall. The 12-carat total weight diamond-encrusted SpongeBob pendant shown here will be auctioned off for charity with proceeds benefiting Simmons's Diamond Empowerment Fundwhich funds schools in Africa. Simmons Jewelry is also the creator of the Hello Kitty fine jewelry line.

Russell Simmons Speaks at JCK Las Vegas on the Diamond Empowerment Fund

Filed under: Jewelry, Charity


Greetings from the JCK Jewelry Show in Las Vegas. The show is one of the jewelry world's major events where manufacturers and wholesalers show their latest wares to retailers and industry professionals. The keynote speaker this morning was Russell Simmons, the hip hop impresario behind Def Jam Records and Baby Phat and now Simmons Jewelry and the Diamond Empowerment Fund. Simmons first became interested in the jewelry business a couple of years ago. He began thinking about jewelry when his then wife, Kimora decided it would be a good idea to make jewelry. His initial response was that he would never buy her fur coats or diamonds, two things he associated with hurt and damage to others.

He changed his mind after doing more research with the Clinton Initiative and other groups and taking his own trip to Africa where he met with Nelson Mandela and learned that while diamonds have caused a lot of pain and suffering they also can do good in the world. He found that in some areas people would starve without the sales of diamonds. This led to the formation of the Diamond Empowerment Fund. DEF works to promote higher education for Africans and so far has raised $9 million for a school in South Africa, the CIDA school which serves 3300 students, It is a four-year school,which is basically a college to teach students and send them back to the townships as teachers. It offers liberal arts education and business classes and the students do all the work at the school except teaching.

Russell Simmons Sells Green Jewelry

Filed under: Jewelry, Celebrity Shopping


Simmons Jewelry Company, the company owned by Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee Simmons, is going green. They are launching the Green Initiative, a line of jewelry that raises money for the Diamond Empowerment Fund, whose mission is to raise money for African communities. The designs feature steel, rubber, diamonds. At the Academy Awards, Forest Whitaker wore the Los Angeles stainless steel and green rubber cross bracelet with laser engraved logo and diamonds. 25% of the proceeds from this piece and most of the others in the collection go to the Diamond Empowerment Fund.

The Green Bracelet shown here features malachite beads and a rough diamond, catching on to the current trend for rough diamonds in jewelry designs. 50% of the proceeds of the piece go to the Diamond Empowerment Fund. Each bracelet comes with a Kimberley Process certificate, a Gem Certification Assurance Lab certificate, and a DVD message from Russell Simmons with footage from his trip to Botswana and South Africa last year. Prices for the collection range from $200-$35,000.


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