Brad and Angelina turn designers
Hollywood A-list couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have created their own jewellery line.
The limited-edition gold and silver capsule collection is called The Protector for Asprey and features silver baby gifts, pendants and rings with a twisting snake motif.
High-end items include diamond and emerald rings, bracelets, earrings and cuff links.
Designed by Brad and Ange themselves, all net proceeds will go to Jolie’s organisation, Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, which helps educate children who are the victims of war and natural disasters.
“These are the children who most need a safe place to learn, a place to heal, a place to learn reconciliation, a place to build a better future,” explained Jolie in a release.
The line is sold at the exclusive Asprey jewellery stores in London, New York, Dubai, Tokyo and Beverly Hills.
Jamie Oliver bakes thief’s confession
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was credited recently for encouraging a jewellery thief to confess his crime.
The thief, chef Tom Baisden, 28, told a UK court how Oliver had advised him to confess to being the “inside man” in a £3 million jewellery heist, as he gave evidence at the trial of three other men who allegedly helped to conduct the raid. Baisden pleaded guilty to his part in the robbery.
Baisden helped organise the theft of a consignment of Cartier watches, jewellery and handbags in May 2001 while working in a customs warehouse.
He decided to confess after earning a place in Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen project, which gives troubled youngsters the chance to make a living through cooking.
More stars design jewellery for charity
Hollywood celebrity couple Courteney Cox and David Arquette have collaborated with a US jewellery manufacturer to create a jewellery collection for charity.
In a bid to raise money for children suffering from epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a rare genetic condition that affects the skin, Cox and Arquette have designed the Satya EB Charity Collection, featuring a range of mid-market, butterfly pieces.
Largest jade Buddha
A well-renowned Vietnamese jade sculptor has announced plans to carve a 15-ton Buddha statue from a 35-ton block of jade.
Artisan Dao Trong Cuong, vice director of Vietnam’s Gemstone and Jewelry Institute, said the Buddha would be the world’s largest.
The rough jade piece – 3 meters high and 2.4 meters thick – came from Myanmar and was purchased for $US1.45 million.
Gold chicken stuffing
An employee at a South African jewellery company has been arrested after attempting to steal gold from his workplace, smuggled inside a cooked chicken.
Prominent retailer Browns, the Diamond Store, caught the man at one of its security checkpoints, according to a report on IOL News.
The fourth of its kind in two years, the incident has prompted store management to implement strict preventative measures.
Preceding the arrest, a security lock-down took-place at the company’s head office, with staff instructed not to have any connection with the outside world.
Female employees, as part of new company policy, were not allowed to wear underwire bras, so as not to activate the new, highly-sensitive metal scanners.
Giant pearl on sale
What is believed to be the world’s second-largest recorded pearl was set for auction on December 6.
The five-pound “Palawan Princess” pearl was discovered off the coast of the Philippines.
Bearing an “uncanny resemblance to a human brain,” according to auction house Bonhams and Butterfields, the pearl is thought to be smaller only than the 14-pound “Pearl of Allah,” a 31,893.5-carat pearl that, like the Palawan Princess, was the product of the giant clam shell Tridacna gigas, according to a report in National Jeweler.
Gold demand drop in UAE
According to a report from the World Gold Council, demand for gold in the United Arab Emirates has declined significantly, prompting concerns of jeweller closures.
Demand in the UAE dropped by 39 per cent in the third quarter of 2009, compared to the third quarter of 2008, the WGC report said.
“A combination of high gold prices, declining tourist numbers and a sharp downturn in the property sector were responsible,” read the report, released in late 2009.
De Beers’ copy-cat crack-down
De Beers has announced it will take legal action against jewellers who produce designs reminiscent of its Everlon diamond jewellery.
The new diamond designs, based on the Hercules knot, has been trademarked by the company along with the “Everlon” name.
Sally Morrison, interim US director in charge of the De Beers account at ad agency JWT, told National Jeweler that De Beers would defend its trademark, because its sightholders and retailers were paying for part of the program.
Royal Asscher supports Diamond Empowerment
Diamond supplier Royal Asscher has partnered with the Diamond Empowerment Fund – a non-profit organisation aiming to raise money for education of economically disadvantaged people in Africa where diamonds are a resource.
Pledging a minimum donation of $US50,000, the company will be contributing to the DEF Scholars Program – sponsoring students from Sierra Leone to attend the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, according to JCK.
The donation came from sales of the Stars of Africa by Royal Asscher jewellery collection.