Best in Jewelry 2011

My Top Ten list of the best jewelry pieces, moments, and milestones of 2011:

1) The Elizabeth Taylor Jewelry Auction at Christie’s

This year, the world lost a beautiful woman and humanitarian when Elizabeth Taylor passed away. Her jewelry collection went up for auction in December, and raised a record-setting $115.9 million for her AIDS Charity. I was lucky enough to attend the viewing premiere at Christie’s and was absolutely floored by the magnificent collection of jewelry on display. It felt like a museum exhibit, not a single woman’s private collection! Highlights included the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, a 33.19-carat D Flawless diamond, and a Cartier necklace containing La Peregrina, a 16th-century perfectly symmetrical 55.95 carat pear-shaped pearl.

2) Michelle Obama wins Charm & Chain’s “Best Bejeweled” Award

First Lady Michelle Obama continued to be a style icon for the American public, constantly championing jewelry as a necessary component to one’s wardrobe. Her love of unique statement pieces from the likes of Erickson Beamon, Alexis Bittar, Kara Ross, and Shourouk makes me certain that she would do very well on the Charm & Chain website!

3) Project Accessory

Molly Sims, who has quite the eye for baubles, became the host of Project Accessory, a new reality show focused exclusively on accessories. For those of us who love jewelry, this was a big moment! There have been so many fashion-related reality shows over the years, so it was nice for jewelry to finally have a chance in the spotlight. Charm & Chain designer Kara Ross even served as a guest judge for one episode.

4) Alexis Bittar’s Resort Lookbook

Just when we thought Alexis Bittar couldn’t be more talented, he published a surrealist lookbook for his 2012 resort collection, with images that rival those any coffee table book. “This season we decided to go towards a surrealist vision that evoked a combination of the sailing scenes from the movie Gilda and a bit of Fellini, with a little bit of 1980s thrown in for good measure,” Bittar explained. The result is, hands-down, the coolest display of jewelry I’ve ever laid eyes on, complete with scenes from outer space, taxidermy, and of course—a sunny-side up egg. View the entire lookbook here.

5) Alexander McQueen “Savage Beauty” Exhibit

A record-breaking number of people flocked to see the “Savage Beauty” exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which celebrated Alexander McQueen’s extraordinary contribution to fashion. His boundary-pushing designs—including accessories—were truly the works of a creative genius. I think the skull jewelry trend that we’re seeing a lot of for Spring 2012 is largely influenced by the house’s trademark skull detail.

6) The Hottest Party of the Year: The Arm Party

2011 was the year of The Arm Party, a concept coined and made popular by one of our favorite bloggers, Leandra Medine, aka The Man Repeller. The Arm Party, which refers to the act of piling on (often mismatching) bracelets to create a personalized layered look, had women everywhere clamoring for an invite. Gone are the days where less is more, especially where the wrist is concerned—stack watches, friendship bracelets, and bangles of all different metals, materials, shapes and sizes to get the look.

7) Shourouk lands in the US

I’ve made no secret of my obsession with uber-talented French designer Shourouk Rhaiem ever since I discovered her a few years ago in Paris. And it appears our clients feel the same way—the line’s neon, jewelry-on-acid creations arrived on Charm & Chain this year, and we sold out of everything, immediately! Fear not, our reorder and Spring 2012 shipment is arriving later this month. The necklace above is a sneak preview of what’s to come in Shourouk’s latest collection.

8) Rachel Zoe Launches “AccessZOEries”

Rachel Zoe, the ultimate purveyor of style and “excess-orizing,” took her love of jewelry and accessories up a notch and in October, launched AccessZOEries, a daily newsletter for accessories addicts. With the tagline “More is More”, AccessZOEries features one carefully-edited designer accessory every day (frequently her jewelry picks are from Charm & Chain designers) along with suggestions on how to complete the look. Thank you, Rachel, for assuring us that it’s ok to pick accessories before clothing.

If you don’t get AccessZOEries in your inbox yet, subscribe here.

9) Sophia Vergara at the 2011 Emmys

Out of all of the award show attendees in 2011, I thought Sofia Vergara, breakout star from Modern Family, had the best red-carpet jewelry. These oversized diamond and emerald Lorraine Schwartz earrings that she wore to the Emmys were absolutely stunning.

10) My Engagement!

I had to throw this in! On a personal note, I got engaged this past August to my longtime boyfriend, who proposed to me with a ring that’s too magnificent not to share.

Meet Ring Irene (named after the hurricane that visited NYC on the day of the engagement and upheaved all of my fiancé’s plans for the proposal!). She’s composed of a fancy yellow oval diamond, surrounded by clusters of pink sapphires and a row of micropave single-cut diamonds, and set in platinum and blackened rhodium.

The love and planning that went into designing this ring was more tremendous than just the combination of materials—the stone selection, sketching (see sketch above), wax molding, and detailed handiwork together made for what I think of as my very own little masterpiece (and definitely provided for my best jewelry moment of 2011!).
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So looking forward to seeing what sparkle is in store for 2012!