Joystiq has you covered with all things Metal Gear Solid 4!
Posts with tag gold

EV Jewelry Masterpiece Collection


The designs from EV Jewelry's Masterpiece collection are meant to have a look that harkens back to ancient cultures and a time when jewelry had both aesthetic and spiritual meanings. EV Jewelry was founded in 2006 by master craftsmen Elias Vayas and Dimitri Mitsukos and each museum quality piece is designed, cast and set by hand. The Masterpiece collection features a variety of distinctive pieces, shown here on model Yamila Riaz. The ring is the Fteros which is an 18K yellow gold ring with webbed brown enameling and a large 35 carat citrine. This piece sells for $12,000.

On her wrist is the Cleopatra bracelet. The bracelet was inspired by scrolls dating back to the era of queen Cleopatra's reign. The gold surface is hand chiseled and the piece features a diamond-covered connecting lock which is set on either end with rubies.It sells for $65,000.

Hellmuth Jewelry


Simply good sounds more like a slogan for a food company but it's the motto of Hellmuth jewelry. Founded by Gert Hellmuth in 1983 and based in Pforzheim, Germany, the company makes a wide variety of pieces including bridal jewelry and large statement pieces. Celebrities who've worn Hellmuth include Aisha Tyler, Ali Larter and Britney Spear who wore a Hellmuth ring during her performance at the VMAs last year. Many of the Hellmuth designs incorporate crocodile or snake patterns but in a very abstract way that gives the pieces a luxe feel.

Gallery: Hellmuth Jewelry

PendantCitrine RingDiamond RingDiamond NecklaceDiamond ring

The Beautiful Designs of Henry Dunay

Walking through the room at the JCK Luxury show in Las Vegas was a dizzying experience, diamonds and gemstones glittering behind glass in every direction. In a situation like that beauty can become a blur but the designs of Henry Dunay immediately caught my eye. Henry Dunay has had a long career in the jewelry business. He started as an apprentice at the age of 14 in New York and has spent over 50 years in the jewelry business, launching Henry Dunay Designs back in 1965. Since then he was won dozens of awards for his designs (including being named the world's best jewelry designer by the Robb Report in 2000 and 2001) and his pieces have appeared in countless magazine spreads. Last year marked the publication of his coffee table book, "Henry Dunay A Precious Life."

Dunay creates both one-of-a-kind pieces as well as collection of earrings, bracelets, necklaces and rings which are sold at stores including Bergdorf Goodman. The gallery below is just a small sample of his designs which have a organic sculptural quality that makes them distinctive. Dunay also uses a finish on his gold called the Sabi finish which which is a hand-textured soft finish that he sometimes combines with a high-gloss finish for contrast. The designs are highly collectible and often fetch high prices at auctions and estate sales. The gallery below shows just a sample of this talented man's work.

Gallery: Henry Dunay Designs

Bird of PeaceDiamond MaskRuby Necklace

Emily Amey Seafan Jewelry


Jewelry designer Emily Amey takes her inspiration from nature's small wonders. A sprig of seaweed becomes a delicate necklace, the tendril of a vine coils to form a slim bangle, the tentacles of a squid are reimagined as dramatic hoop earrings under her keen eye. She designs in both gold and silver, using found beachglass in ethereal shades of blue-green as adornment. One of her biggest inspirations from the aquatic world is the lace-like seafan, whose image is shown in the three pieces above.

High Gold Prices, Faltering Economy Crush Gold Jewelry Demand


If you've stopped buying the bling, you are far from alone. The World Gold Council reports that gold jewelry demand decreased 21 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007. This was the lowest quarterly level since 1993. The rise in gold prices as wells as the economy were key factors. The demand for gold jewelry in the U.S. decreased as did the demand in Italy, the U.K., India, Japan and many key countries in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia. Where is the demand up? China's gold demand increased 15 percent, Russia also experienced a healthy increase as did Egypt. It is expected that the second quarter of 2008 will also likely be fairly grim for gold demand.

Chanel Joins the Gold Rush

On Friday, Women's Wear Daily released a sneak peek of Chanel fall 2008 beauty color collection and I have to wonder if the recent spike in gold prices were an inspiration to Peter Phillips, the new creative director of makeup. The collection will come out in July and will be followed in October by Philips' holiday collection. Phillips tells WWD that he choose gold because of the warm metallic colors used in Coco Chanel's apartment on Rue Cambon.

The collection includes Gold Fiction, the nail polish for $30; Facettes D'Or, a loose powder with a golden glow for $56; Gold Light Glossimer lip gloss, $26; Rouge Hydrabase lipstick shades in copper, plum and coral for $27 each, and a quad eye shadow palette with gold, coffee, ivory and dark green eye colors for $56. In a time of economic turmoil will women want to to wear gold on their fingers and toes? Chanel is hoping the new gold nail polish is the next Vamp or Black Satin but it seems an awfully opulent color for an uncertain time.

Barbie Rocks, Barbie Jewelry Goes Luxe


We've seen jewelry lines that feature Hello Kitty and Tweety, now the childhood icon Barbie is getting in on the act with Barbie Rocks, a new collection by Layna and Alan Friedman. The new collection, which launches this month features pink diamonds, precious and semi-precious colored stones and rare metals. Both Mattel and Layna and Alan Friedman will donate a portion of the proceeds from each item in the Barbie™ Rocks by Layna and Alan Friedman collection to the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation.

The first collection is the Silhouette collection that shows the classic ponytail, long eyelashes and ski-jump nose profile. It features two necklace styles: the "Luxe" Barbie™ Pendant and Barbie™ DogTag, in 18K white, yellow or rose gold, with white or black diamonds or yellow or pink sapphires; and the "Classic," which is done in sterling silver. The Barbie bracelets are available in sterling silver with 18K rose gold charms. The jewelry collection is currently bing sold at the Alan Friedman boutique in Beverly Hills and online with pieces ranging from $185 to $15,000.

Gallery: Barbie Jewelry



Gallery: Cartoons Go Glam

Barbie RocksHello KittySuperman RingSpeedy Gonzales JewelryVacation Like the Flinstones

Joan Hornig Jewelry, Beauty for a Cause


This idea is tremendous, jewelry designer Joan Horning has created a jewelry line where 100% of the profits on each piece go to the purchaser's charity of choice. The Joan B. Hornig Foundation provides support for registered charitable organizations throughout the world. Purchasers are able to direct the donation to a charity of their choice, in their honor. Sales have generated contributions to over 200 different organizations around the world. The designs include gold and silver earrings, bracelets and necklaces. You can also tell the world how you feel with the black lucite bracelet shown above which sells for $245.

Gallery: Joan Horning Jewelry

Twinkle Twinkle EarringsSaturn EarringsOnyx petalsDogwood BraceletGold Double Waffle Cuff

Daphna Simon's New 'Untamed Jewels' Collection


Daphna Simon, an Israeli-based designer and artist, is making her American debut sharing her love of nature with her new collection, 'Untamed Jewels', at West Hollywood's Roseark. Her gorgeous 18K gold interpretations of both animals and the natural environment are stunning. The three-dimensional jewelry is meant to interact with the wearer, completing its representation of the grizzly bear, leopard or other chosen character. Whether you are looking for earrings, bangles, necklaces or rings, Daphna's distinctive style is bound to speak to you.

Gallery: Daphna Simon's Untamed Jewelry

Bear Cub EarringsLeopard Signature RingLog Hoop EarringsLog EarringsGrizzly Earrings

IceLink Floating Diamonds Watch


IceLink is showing off a new version of their bling-laden six-time zone watch at Baselworld. The watch has a the same basic style as previous models, in an 18K pink or white gold case with six carats of diamonds spread out over the face. This one has a high fidget factor. There are diamonds in the middle left tank that float in a mysterious liquid known as IceFuel. The bottom left tank features the gold IceLink lion in a calendar feature. The rest of the tanks feature four different time zones (three are labeled, New York, Tokyo and Moscow) in different styles. The dial is mother of pearl and the band is black crocodile. While the floating flurry of diamonds is cool to look, I think it would be hard to respect someone I met who was wearing this watch. It makes a distinctive statement, I'm just not sure it is a statement most people want to make. It sells for $54,500.

Gold Prices Prompt Jewelry Sell-Offs


With the prices of gold flirting with the $1,000 mark, more and more people are starting to look at their old jewelry and see serious dollars signs. The Wall Street Journal's Ann Zimmerman recently went on an odyssey to sell back some of her old jewelry. She found that gold refiners, wholesalers and jewelers have found that more people are wanting to cash out their jewelry lately because of the dual-pronged hit of rising gold prices and a slumping economy. Even some jewelry stores,suffering from economic pressures, are selling their old stock to refiners.

Zimmerman consulted David Firestone, of esteemed Boston jewelers Firestone & Parson, who said she could get at least 90% of the gold's value based on that day's price on the open market. Gold prices are based on 24 karats (pure gold) and most jewelry ranges from 10K to 18K so therefore the jewelry is worth a fraction of the 24K price. Any jeweler or gold dealer will also take a share of the profits so it pays to shop around. Zimmerman found that some jewelers were set to offer her 50% of the total or even less for the pieces.

Pawnshops are doing brisk business lately with many people dropping off their gold jewelry for a quick loan. The loans are often for around three months and most of the property is reclaimed by the owners.

Jewelers are finding that buying gold is suddenly a large part of their business and even stores that would shrink from dealing in gold selling in the past are now eager to take part. People are scavenging their jewelry boxes for stray, outdated and broken items in a way that hasn't really happened since gold's big spike in the mid 1980s.

The hot gold market isn't just luring sellers, buyers, fearing the instability of the stock market and inflation are investing in gold bullion coins. But for the most part jewelers are doing a more brisk business among the sellers, hanging out the "we buy gold" sign and wanting for the eager to roll in, jewelry in hand.

Jill Albert Vintage Ribbon Ring

If you are a clothing and accessory addict, them most likely when you were a little kid, you loved to play dress up in your mom's closet. Personally, I distinctly remember a pair of my mother's brown slouchy leather boots and oversized sunglasses that I loved. Oh, how I wish I still had them today. Jill Albert's Ribbon Ring featured here, is so reminiscent of those times - when you played dress up and searched for something that wasn't necessarily beautiful or ugly, but was eye catching and would make a powerful statement for your outfit. Albert's Ribbon Ring is made of gold with tiny turquoise stones scattered throughout. This vintage ring is one that you would certainly find in your mom's closet, or perhaps in your grandmother's closet, and keep until you were of age to carry it off properly with style and sophistication. Price $340.

Italian Goldsmiths Facing Troubling Times


Times are hard for the traditional artisans of Italy. Back in December I wrote about Italian luxury fashion labels dealing with higher manufacturing costs. An International Herald Tribune article points out that the fact that the same factors are also affecting Italian goldsmiths who also have to deal with the rising price of gold. Italy, which has been producing beautiful gold jewelry for thousands of years (as is shown by the bracelet from ancient Pompeii above), was once tops in gold jewelry production but now China, India and Turkey are all offering serious competition. So far the larger luxury brands have been saved because they buy gold in advance but for smaller companies which buy their own metals each week are more likely to feel the pinch sooner. The good news is that most luxury companies continue to keep jewelry production in Italy. There is good reason for doing this, surveys of luxury consumers show that they care where their products are manufactured. A recent Unity Marketing survey regarding habits of luxury consumers showed that over two thirds of the 1,300 consumers polled show a preference for goods made in the USA, Italy, France and Germany and associate China with poorer quality luxury goods.

Wear Your Investments With A $275,000 Gold Coin Gown


This one isn't going to win any points for fashion design in my opinion but as an investment it might be pretty smart considering recent gold prices. Yesterday Japan's largest bullion house showed off a gleaming gown which is covered with hundreds of gold coins. Pity the poor model wearing it. Mayuka, the model weighs around 110 pounds and the dress is close to 18 pounds. The dress was made using 325 Austrian gold coins issued to commemorate the Vienna Philharmonic and is valued at $275,000. There are no plans to offer the dress for sale.

A Fiat 500 Pepita Painted with 24k Gold and Swarovski Crystals


Luxury cars are usually about a fast engine, a smooth ride, and extra features for comfort and convenience, but this luxury vehicle is all about the bling. It's a Fiat 500 Pepita and it's all decked out with a 24k gold paint job, Swarovski crystal studded gear shift, hand brake, and foot pedals, cashmere floor mats (cashmere on the floor?!), and gold painted alloy wheels. Plus you get a choice of seats made of crocodile, snake, shark, skate or lizard leather and an assortment of precious gems to add to the interior. €60,000

Gallery: 24k Gold Fiat 500 Pepita




Via BornRich

Next Page >

Categories
Apparel (594)
Art (185)
Auctions (438)
Big Givers (22)
Books (24)
Celebrity Shopping (608)
Charity (212)
Charity of the Day (135)
Children (26)
Cigars (200)
Cosmetics and Fragrance (165)
Decor (1777)
Dining (708)
Estates (2118)
Events (218)
Gadgets (946)
Garden (36)
Green (132)
Handbags (1138)
Holiday Guides (34)
Jewelry (852)
Journeys (1455)
Men's Style (35)
Pets (136)
Preferred (13)
Real Estate Developments (68)
Services (269)
Shoes (191)
Spas (231)
Spirits (480)
Sports (86)
The Classicist (11)
Timepieces (696)
Water (618)
Wheels (937)
Wine (860)
Wings (490)
Writing Instruments (149)

RESOURCES

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

Sponsored Links

Luxist bloggers (30 days)

#BloggerPostsCmts
1Deidre Woollard1563
2Rigel Gregg754
3Jared Paul Stern490
4Laura Malesich303
5Lisa Palladino190
6Star Sutherland130
7Marsha Reid10

Most Commented On (60 days)

Recent Comments

More from AOL Money & Finance

Weblogs, Inc. Network

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: