Articles and News
Brand News From Goldstein Diamonds, Mark Patterson, Alpina, Frederique Constant, Mastoloni, More August 13, 2014 (0 comments)
Product Spotlight: Goldstein’s Three-Stone Diamond Ring
Scottsdale, AZ—Goldstein Diamonds introduces this platinum, 18k gold and yellow gold three-stone ring featuring a fancy yellow radiant cut diamond, 8.10 cts., set between two trapezoid-cut white diamonds, 0.80 cts. Suggested retail, $400,000. For more information, visit www.goldsteindiamonds.com
Josette Patterson Gets Fired Up
Corona Del Mar, CA—Every year, Josette Patterson takes a two-week hiatus from designing jewelry with her husband, designer Mark Patterson, and she goes to play with mud, so to speak.
A sculptor and artist in her own right, Patterson makes an annual trek to go wood fire her sculptures and some of her other wares. Those wood firings have taken her from Peters Valley, NJ to Flagstaff, AZ by way of Las Vegas, NV, and over the years she has met countless artists; students who like her are hooked to a technique that is at the very root of civilization.
Josette Patterson with one of her wood-fired clay sculptures.
On her blog, she recounts this year’s experience with wood firing at Northern State Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. Read her adventures in her own words here.
Chuck Zopfi Joins Mastoloni Sales Force
New York, NY—Mastoloni has appointed Chuck Zopfi as sales associate for the brand's TOLA states, plus the New Mexico, Colorado, and western Kansas regions.
Zopfi joins the firm with years of experience in both the pearl and fine jewelry industries. "Chuck is a wonderful addition to our rapidly expanding team. We are confident his contributions will make a significant impact and be of incredible benefit to our retail partners,” says brand partner Ray Mastoloni.
Spot Envy Offers Three Ready-Made Commercials
Toledo, OH—Spot Envy offers jewelers three new emotion-based television commercials ready for fall advertising. The three are titled “Green With Envy,” “Spot On,” and “Reel Deal.” Click here for more information.
Frederique Constant Sponsors Concours d’Elegance
Lake Tahoe, CA—Swiss watch manufacturer Frederique Constant returned as a title sponsor for the 42nd Annual Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance, a collectors’ wooden boat show held August 8-9. This year’s event featured nearly 100 vintage and classic boat entries from runabouts and racers to unique utility boats and custom built wooden yachts, dating back to pre- and post-World War II. Each boat was restored to its former glory of hand-polished wooden hulls and chrome accents.
“Frederique Constant has been proud sponsor of the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance since 2010. The beautiful classical wooden sports boats are inspiration for our super successful Runabout watch collection, and exemplify the company’s core challenge to “Live Your Passion,” said Frederique Constant CEO Peter Stas.
The watchmaker partnered with Concours d’Elegance to award two Runabout timepieces to the winners of the Best in Marque Class and Best in Show categories.
The brand also has continued its partnership with the Riva Historical Society, honoring the classic boat designs of Carlo Riva. As a salute to the iconic Riva watercraft, Frederique Constant introduced the 2014 limited edition Runabout Chronograph Automatic Collection, featuring two models with only 2,888 of each produced.
The limited-edition FC-393RM5B4.
Both are powered by the FC-393 automatic chronograph movement, with 28,800 beats per hour. Both have 25 jewels and a 46-hour power reserve and are water resistant to 50 meters. Functions include hours, minutes, seconds, date, and a mechanical chronograph.
Case diameter is 42mm with convex sapphire crystal, and both models feature a see-through case back. The Riva Historical Society flag is etched into the case back glass.
The FC-393RM5B4 comes with a rose gold plated case and a contrasting silver dial with guilloche decoration in the center and white hour and minute hands. The Arabic numerals are finished in rose gold and hand-applied. A croc-embossed calf leather strap in dark brown with a folding buckle completes the model.
The FC-393RM5B6 features a polished stainless steel case with silver dial and guilloche decoration at the center. Hand-applied indexes are pearl black Arabic numerals. This model has a deep blue croc-embossed calf strap with white stitching and a folding buckle. Each comes in a specially designed gift box, complete with a miniature replica of a wooden Runabout.
Philip Stein Offers Stress-Beating Bracelets
New York, NY—Philip Stein, the luxury wellbeing technology brand, offers new accessories this season that contain its proprietary natural frequency technology, fine tuned to promote wellbeing. Wearers report feeling less stressed, less anxious, and calmer when the brand’s bracelets or watches are worn on the wrist. The natural frequency technology, which works similar to an antenna, channels the frequencies naturally found in the environment toward our bodies to promote overall wellbeing.
Philip Stein's wellbeing bracelets have a special chip (right) that help the body tune to natural frequencies.
The Horizon bracelet promotes overall wellness during the day and the Sleep bracelet is designed to help wearers get a more peaceful night’s sleep. The Horizon bracelet comes in a variety of colors with an elegant wave buckle, starting at $225 and is available for both men and women.
The Sleep bracelet uses natural frequency technology to help improve the quality of sleep. Wearers report falling asleep faster, sleeping more deeply, and waking up more refreshed. Engineered for nightly use, the Sleep bracelet has an ultra-soft hypoallergenic micro-fiber band with perforated holes to allow skin to breathe more easily. Quick-release mechanism makes interchanging bands a simple task. The Sleep bracelet retails for $395.
Alpina Partners With Ice Legacy Explorers To Save Glaciers
Svalbard Archipelago, Norway—Alpina Watches is helping to sponsor explorers Borge Ousland and Vincent Colliard as they cross the 20 largest glaciers in the world over the next ten years.
Launched August 5, the Ice Legacy Project aims to raise public awareness about the importance of preserving the earth’s glaciers and ancestral ice, and to collect data for the scientific community. The explorers will begin with the Spitsbergen glacier, one of the highest glaciers in the Arctic Ocean, located halfway between the North Pole and continental Norway in the Svalbard archipelago. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude, and from 10° to 35° east longitude. About 60% of the archipelago is covered by ice, but it also features many mountains and fjords. It has an Arctic climate, although with significantly higher temperatures than other areas at the same latitude. The area is a breeding ground for many seabirds, reindeer, marine mammals, and polar bears, the iconic symbol of Svalbard. There are about 3,000 polar bears in the Barents Sea region, and they are dependent on sea ice for food.
Alpina Watches is helping to promote the protection of the glaciers, an environmental and climate issue of enormous importance for the future of our planet. Ousland and Colliard will test their Alpiner 4 watches in extreme and magnetic field conditions to give Alpina information for further technical development of the model. Additionally, the explorers will post a daily expedition journal with map positions, texts, and photos for public access on icelegacy.com, alpina-watches.com, and Icelegacy 's and Alpina' s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
The Alpiner 4 watch from Alpina will be put to the test on glacial exploration.
Stuller Adds Synthetic Melee Screening Device
Lafayette, LA—Stuller, a DTC sightholder, is one of the first two jewelry companies in the United States to install De Beers’ long-awaited automated melee screening device, designed to detect all synthetic diamonds and diamond simulants in parcels of melee. The only device of its kind available to the jewelry industry, it verifies the authenticity of natural melee diamonds ranging in size from 1.3 mm (1 pt) to 3.8 mm (20pts). The instrument is fully automated, handling up to 360 stones per hour, or 500 carats, at any given time.
Stuller will be using De Beers' melee synthetic screening machine.
“This innovative machine offers us yet another way to give our customers trust, confidence and security when buying diamonds from Stuller,” says Stanley Zale, Stuller’s vice president of diamonds and gemstones. “We’re proud to be among the first in our industry to use this technology and operate within the guidelines and best practices set forth by De Beers.”
In addition to the new melee-scanning device, Stuller scans for synthetics on any stones larger than 20 points, using the HRD D-screening process.
For more information, contact Stanley Zale at (800) 877-7777 ext. 4510.