The Jealous Husband: A Beautiful Calder Piece

1976: Anjelica Huston wears "The Jealous Husband" made from brass wire, c. 1940, now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Calder's jewelry used to sell for $5-$15 at small galleries in the middle of the 20th century. The sames pieces fetch the price of a mercedes or a modest home today.

Designer Stephanie Wells Launches The Earring Style Book in NYC

Sought after jewelry designer and author Stephanie Wells held an unforgettable launch party for her celebrated new book The Earring Style Book last Monday...and the contributors to jewelry dose daily were honored to attend.  This exclusive event which was co-hosted by Alisa Rottenberg, Sam Jones, and Caitlin Burke, fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar (international) was held at NYC's ultra-chic Norwood Club.

Stephanie Wells and Alisa Rottenberg of Double Happiness Jewelry have designed jewelry for celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and Eva Longoria and have been featured in several fashion magazines including Cosmopolitan and Bazaar.  The Earring Style Book by Stephanie Wells has been a tremendous labor of love; one which will make her original, sexy, and successful jewelry designs attainable by women everywhere.

Designer Stephanie Wells (center)
with guests wearing Double Happiness Jewelry

The same loving energy that went into The Earring Style Book could be felt by all that attended the launch where the gracious hosts treated all like family.  We certainly felt it!  The Norwood Club's fabulous staff and atmosphere coupled with tracks spun by international DJ extraordinare Peter Munch yielded a recipe for an evening we'll never forget!  The delicious wine and hors-d'oeuvres selections were just icing on the cupcakes (yes they had cupcakes)! 

The Norwood Club's upstairs loft would, however, reveal the treats that really stole the show.  There we were able to sample the out-of-this-world styles featured in the The Earring Style Book first hand as well as surprise pieces from Stephanie's up and coming company Elli!

Alisa Rottenberg (second from left)
This co-owner of Double Happiness
ensured that our eveing was
freakin' fantabulous!

Familiar faces at the event included Ralph Lauren's Chris Collins, Derek Reed, Emmy winner Wendy Benbrook, and Daniella Kallmeyer, designer's choice award winner from Bravo's The Fashion Show with Izaac Mizrahi among several others. Several guests were wearing styles from Double Happiness and The Earring Style Book., and I'm not kidding when I say they are STUNNING. Whether you create or purchase these pieces, you are truly recreating Hollywood style.

One of the best parts of the event was getting an inside tip from Stephanie herself who informed me that The Earring Style Book will be available for a fabulous price at Amazon.  No matter where you buy this book, you aren't going to be able to stop staring at it.  The book is conveniently divided up into sections to help you match your style, but I love them all.  Hopefully you'll be able to stop staring long enough to create one of the little beauties from its pages yourself. 

To see the book for yourself which will be available on August 17th, you can order through Amazon.  To learn more about Stephanie A. Wells and the Double Happiness Jewelry team you can visit the Double Happiness Jewelry website..

...oh and don't forget about Stephanie's up and coming Elli (you heard it here first)!  To get involved in the up and coming company, visit The Elli Company page.  I'll be sharing more about Elli with you in future posts!  This is the  kind of thing you don't want to miss. <3

Battle of the Bling: Which housewife jewelry line “wins?”

So I’m sorry to make you wait until the midnight hour on this one! It’s time for a little fact finding…I mean serious Friday night action in the ring…I mean...ok maybe they aren’t really competing with each other at all – but since conjuring up an uncalled for cat fight is the very spirit of the show we'll still imagine a “battle” in honor of that. [ding!]

Let's take a look at Ramona Singer’s jewelry line. Ramona Singer had some great odds right out of the gate with this. Her husband, Mario, is pretty famous for being the owner of an already established jewelry and awards wholesale company. Most of you have seen the True Faith line on the show. Ramona, a very ambitious business partner, undoubtedly took a couple pages from the family book when she established her line of “affordable” rings, necklaces, and earrings that are designed to “look like they cost thousands of dollars.” Ramona and HSN are a genius pairing. When the line debuted it was immediately a customer favorite. Ramona’s line gets points for classic designs, variety, and sterling silver.

Teresa Giudice’s jewelry is available on her website.  Teresa, since I’m from New Jersey, I'm comfortable with you like the girl next door, but since this jewelry is a collection rather than an exclusive line, I have to ask you to step out of the ring. Although if this was a real battle, I’d place my bet on you (although Kelly has major reach advantage!)

Kelly Bensimon teamed up with one of the world’s most famous jewelry designer/manufacturers (not a bad idea). Kelly scored points when she won the famous battle of the owl. She also scores points for the iconic themes that run throughout her older pieces as well as for going with the underused Navaho theme for some of her newer pieces, although, I’m not sure of my love for the use of feathers. Kelly’s pieces are costume and fairly affordable. Her website is chic and her jewelry has received placement with high-end retailers such as Kitson. To learn more about Kelly, visit her website.

Lynn Curtain began her jewelry line as a sort of arts and crafts project a few years ago. I am giving her points for having originally assembled the cuffs right on her kitchen counter, although it did often seem like those glues were making her a bit tipsy. Lynn’s company is still up and running and you can check out her website. Lynne’s disadvantage in this contest is the price point vs. materials. I give her points for having a plan and sticking to it, i.e. being one of the few companies to exclusively design cuffs...although, there is a bedding line now in the works. Hm.

Lisa Wu Hartwell’s jewelry line, Wu Girls launched back in 2008. I have to give Lisa special points for her cute spunky personality and business names such as “closet freak.” I’ll also give her points on her past collaboration with Essence.Com as well as for her extremely reasonable prices on solid gold cuffs. You can see more of Lisa’s piece on Essence, however, the company has gone out of business, and for now, these pieces are no longer for sale, an immediate disqualification from our battle!

...a final shake down

With Teresa Giudice and Lisa Wu Hartwell Disqualified, we are left with Ramona Singer, Kelly Killoren Bensimone, and Lynn Curtain. The price point vs. materials is a bit too large a strike again Lynn to keep her in this battle.

…so here we are left with diehard Ramona Singer and Kelly Killoren Bensimone! This one really isn’t a hard call for me.

...And the winner is…


                                                             Kelly Killoren Bensimon.

Although her reputation on the show has left her less than favorable in some public eyes, you have to hand it to her when it comes to her apartment and her jewelry line. Although she has "people", I feel that is evident that Kelly is really very picky and serious about what goes into her collection. Like it or not, design and beauty have clearly played a major part in Kelly’s life for decades. Being surrounded by beautiful icons undoubtedly seeps into your soul. Although I’m not personally big on the real feathers, the Navaho channeling in her pieces is very nicely focused. I do believe she’ll be the front woman for some more goodness in the future. Of all the housewives I’d declare her the most designer-esque designer…and there you have it.  Not all pieces are available on her website but I'll be letting you know where you can find more soon.