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Designer Jewelry
The Academy Awards is the most prestigious award giving body in entertainment. Every year, the top honors in various categories associated to film-making are handed out to one of the top five in their genres. This is often anticipated by movie buffs and critics. An Academy Award boosts the career of the winners (also the nominees) and most of them continue to be a staple figure in the entertainment industry.
As the years progressed, the Academy Awards has also become the hottest red carpet in the fashion industry. As soon as the nominations are announced six weeks prior to the day itself, the nominees call up designers for the best gowns. That also includes the best jewelry.
Try browsing through Oscar picks now and check out the bling-blings on the ladies. They are so sparkly you sometimes wonder how much they cost. Then again, that would just be a trifle for these A-listers. Surely they could afford it. However, one of the perks of being a celebrity is that the designers of the jewelry they are wearing approached them to wear their creations – for free.
Simply put, celebrities borrow the jewelry. When Joan and Melissa Rivers ask them, “Who are you wearing?”, they’ll mention the designer of their gowns. The follow-up question is usually, “And your jewelry?”
One of the top jewelers in Hollywood is Harry Winston. In fact, in Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues,” one of the replies to the question, “What would your vagina wear?” was “Harry Winston diamonds.”
When Halle Berry picked up her award for Best Actress for “Monster’s Ball,” she was wearing Harry Winston diamonds. Other actresses who stepped up onstage to receive their golden bald guy are Gwyneth Paltrow for “Shakespeare in Love” in 1999.
Sissy Spacek wore Harry Winston’s pearl bracelet and diamond earrings when she was up for “In the Bedroom.”
The year of “Titanic,” singer Celine Dion might be wearing the Heart of the Ocean, a replica of Kate Winslet’s character’s necklace in the movie but it was Gloria Stuart, who played old Rose, who came with the bodyguards. Harry Winston lent her a 15-carat blue diamond necklace which costs a whopping $20 million.
The deal is for celebrities to plug the jewelry. In a way, Harry Winston’s creations are promoted on the red carpet and for those watching the world over to hear.
A misunderstanding between the Rodeo drive based jeweler and a celebrity went down in history. Sharon Stone received a $400,000 worth of necklace from Winston which she would wear to the Oscars when she was up for Best Actress for “Casino.” The actress claimed that the necklace was a gift. When Winston was asking for it back, she didn’t want to return it. Instead, she sued him for $12 million with the stance of breach of contract.
Another hot jeweler often mentioned during the Academy Awards is Beverly Hills based Michael Katz.
At the recently-held Academy Awards, Keira Knightley who was up for Best Actress for “Pride and Prejudice” was donning a vintage Bulgari necklace. The chandelier gem has precious stones attached like sapphires, emeralds, rubies and diamonds. The colors were so prominent.
Happily married Jennifer Lopez wore dangling earrings and gold necklace from Fred Leighton. Other celebrities wearing designer jewelry from Fred Leighton were Dolly Parton, who was sporting his brooch and earrings.
Up for her second Best Actress nod, this time for “North Country,” Charlize Theron wore stunning tawny earrings from renowned jeweler Chopard. Best actress winner for “Million Dollar Baby” Hilary Swank wore diamond earrings also from the same jeweler. Presenter Jennifer Aniston who only made an appearance and didn’t stay for the whole program was wearing a Chopard necklace. Other celebrities wearing Chopard on that special awards night were presenters Jessica Alba and Queen Latifah, nominee Felicity Huffman and Best Supporting Actress winner for “The Constant Gardener” Rachel Weisz.
Just as a store in Beverly Hills imitate the designs of the gowns worn by celebrities who traipsed the red carpet, some stores also gather inspiration from the designer jewelry these actresses wear. The reason for this is that they know celebrities are usually trend-setters and most people are their followers. By coming up with gowns and jewelry of the same design, people might actually buy these – all because it is sold at a lower price.
So you see? In that way, you can have designer jewelry all for you.
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