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BRAND NEWS: STEPHEN WEBSTER AND LIZ TAYLOR, VAHAN ON PARADE, LKI IN GLOBAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE February 22, 2012 (0 comments)
Stephen Webster to Host Liz Taylor Photo Retrospective
Beverly Hills, CA—Elizabeth Taylor is the subject of the latest of the series of exhibitions hosted by Stephen Webster’s U.S. flagship store on Rodeo Drive here. The store’s ‘No Regrets’ lounge with play host to Elizabeth Taylor, a collection of photographs of the legendary star by British photographer Richard Young.
The exhibition opens Wednesday, February 22, and comprises 18 iconic images in both color and black & white, a limited edition collection spanning almost 40 years of the star’s life. For the duration of the five-week exhibition, 5% of all of the proceeds generated will be donated by Stephen Webster and Richard Young to Elizabeth Taylor’s charity, amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.
Stephen Webster’s early career took him to Silverhorn gallery in Santa Barbara, CA, in the 1980’s, where Taylor discovered his dramatic designs. The jewelry-loving Hollywood icon commissioned the young designer to create a rose gold ring engraved with flowers and set with a lavender chalcedony, together with a bracelet, to match her famous violet eyes. Since then, Webster has gone on to design one-of-a-kind pieces for many more famous celebrities, including the likes of Madonna, Sharon Stone, Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Jay Z and Christina Aguilera to name but a few.
“[Young] became friends with the people he photographed because he was such a warm person,” Webster comments. “Richard met everyone and became their friend, catching them in the perfect moment with his camera.”
Concurrently, celebrity stylist Nikki Pennie, a native Brit who has contributed to the style of Kate Middleton, will be creating a window installation as a tribute to her most influential role model. The installation, titled ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’ will incorporate Richard’s work along with a selection of Stephen Webster jewelry.
Starstruck: Three Celebrities Wear Erica Courtney, Vahan on Parade Cover
Hollywood, CA—Actresses Meagan Good and Katheryn Winnick both chose Erica Courtney jewelry to wear to the Vanity Fair and Juicy Couture “Vanities” 20th anniversary party this week, part of the festivities leading up to Oscar Night on Sunday. Good wore platinum and diamond blue-green beryl earrings with fleur-de-lis drops and a platinum, diamond, and aquamarine ring; Winnick wore Courtney’s platinum and diamond “Alexandra” necklace and platinum and diamond aquamarine cross hoop earrings. Actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, who stars in “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” wore Courtney's platinum and diamond hoop earrings and platinum, diamond, and black diamond “Present” ring to the NAACP Image Awards, where she won an award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Rudy Huxtable is all grown up and still funny.
Meagan Good in Erica Courtney's ring and earrings, above. Below, Katheryn Winnick (left) and Keshia Knight Pulliam (right).
Separately, Vahan jewelry was featured on the cover of Parade magazine last week (below left). Madeleine Stowe, star of ABC’s “Revenge,” wore a suite of the company’s bracelets, including a 12 mm flat bracelet with a sterling silver band and 14k gold bars inlaid with 0.7 ct. of diamonds; the Celtic Weave, shown below right, featuring 0.56 ct. of diamonds on a 14k gold intricate braid pattern with sterling silver; and another 12 mm bracelet with 14k gold, sterling silver, and 1.1 cts. of pave diamonds.
Finally, in London, internationally acclaimed recording artists Nicole Scherzinger and Jessie J attended the BRIT Awards this week wearing Stephen Webster jewelry. Nicole Scherzinger, below, wore Webster’s classic 3D hoop earrings in yellow gold and white diamonds, together with a selection of cocktail rings from his Superstud, Murder She Wrote, and Jewels Verne collections.
LKI Botswana MD Invited by Hillary Clinton to Global Business Conference in Washington
Washington, DC—Alfred Dube, managing director of Lazare Kaplan Botswana, has been invited by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to represent Botswana in a high-level gathering of senior U.S. officials and global businesspeople here this week.
The invitation is in recognition of Dube’s standing within the Botswana business community, following lengthy diplomatic service stints as ambassador to the United Nations, the United Kingdom, and China; as well as Botswana’s Special Envoy for Diamonds. The invitation also reflects LKI’s role in pioneering American investment in Botswana, dating back more than two decades when it opened the first large-scale diamond beneficiation venture there apart from De Beers.
The “Global Business Conference”, on February 21 and 22, brings together one business representative from each participating country to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Obama’s national security advisor, and senior officials from US agencies such as OPIC, the Export-Import Bank, and the Department of Commerce. The goal is to develop stronger ties between the U.S. private sector, U.S. business support organizations, the U.S. government, and the domestic business communities of participating nations.
Dube’s contribution will focus on areas identified by Botswana for potential breakout development, including diamond beneficiation and diversification into financial and other services, all building on the country’s sustained, exemplary record of economic management.
Lazare Kaplan’s record of innovation has been ongoing, most recently encompassing a public-private financing project with the U.S. government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) that is scheduled for rollout in 2012. Ata G-20 Summit, President Obama referred specifically to Botswana and emphasized the importance of trade-finance programs such as the one LKI is working on with OPIC and the Botswana government in an effort to contribute to job creation and diversification of the economy.