My Diamond in the Rough

Well, jewelry hounds, she's here! Roxanne (Roxy) Parker Rataj was born on February 10th to the delight of her mom and pops. She came out 8 pounds 20 inches but has eaten her way to 9 pounds 6 oz and 23 inches in two weeks' time(!)

I think I have an over-achiever on my hands...

Wanted to share a few pics with you all so you can see what's been occupying my time since diamonds and divas have taken a back seat this month. Ain't she swell?

While my daughter's birth was perfectly timed for numerologists and folks who care about such things (2/10/2010 has a nice ring to it, right?), I did miss covering New York Fashion Week and was shocked to hear of Alexander McQueen's untimely passing. The fashion world will never find a replacement for his apocalyptic, whimsical, down-the-rabbit-hole stylings - - truly tragic.

But on to sunnier skies. Namely? Oscar! The party scene has been rolling non-stop leading up to the big night on March 7th, so I'm sure there will be lots of ground to cover next week. Stay tuned - and thanks for all of your good wishes and support during my brief sojourn. In the meantime, Roxy and I are busy prepping for red carpet gawking from our feeding spot on the couch.

xoxox
Laura

Madonna

Name: Madonna Louise Ciccone
Nick name: Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone Ritchie, Madonna
Birth date: 16-08-1958
Birth Place: Bay City, Michigan, United States
Genre(s): dance,electronica,Pop,dance-pop
profession: Singer,musician,songwriter,film producer,record producer, fashion designer, dancer, author, actress



In 1996, Madonna played the starring role in the film Evita, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Madonna's seventh studio album, Ray of Light (1998), became one of her most critically acclaimed, recognized for its lyrical depth. During the 2000s, Madonna released four studio albums – namely Music (2000), American Life (2003), Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) and Hard Candy (2008) – all of which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Departing from Warner Bros. Records, Madonna signed an unprecedented $120 million dollar contract with Live Nation in 2008.
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Drew Barrymore

Name: Drew Blyth Barrymore
Birth date: 22-02-1975
Birth Place: Culver City, California, U.S.
PRofession: actress, producer
Married to: Jeremy Thomas(94-95) and Tom Green(01-02)
Parents: John Drew Barrymore and Jaid Barrymore





Drew Blyth Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, film producer and film director. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was eleven months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered States in 1980. Afterwards, she starred in her breakout role in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. She quickly became one of Hollywood's most recognized child actors, going on to establish herself in mainly comic roles.


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Carmen Electra

Birth Name: Tara Leigh Patrick
Professional name: Carmen Electra
Birth date: 20-04-1972
Place of birth: Sharonville,Ohio,USA
Parents: Patricia and Harry Patrick
Sister: Debbie



Tara Leigh Patrick (born April 20, 1972), professionally known as Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, dancer and sex symbol. She gained fame for her appearances in Playboy magazine, on the MTV game show Singled Out, on the TV series Baywatch, and dancing with the Pussycat Dolls, and has since had roles in the parody films Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, and Disaster Movie.

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Name: Jennifer Love Hewitt
Birth place: 21-02-1979
Birth place: Waco, Texas, U.S.A.
Profession: actress, singer-songwriter
Years active: 1985 ─ present



Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress, television director, voice actress, singer-songwriter, and film and television producer. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated. She rose to fame in teenage popular culture via her roles in the Fox series Party of Five, as Sarah Reeves, and the films I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel, as Julie James.



As a singer, Hewitt has been signed by Atlantic Records and Jive Records. She is primarily known for her recordings in the pop genre and has a contralto vocal range. To date, her most successful single on the Billboard Hot 100 is the 1999 release "How Do I Deal", which peaked at #59. In addition, she has contributed music to the promotion or soundtracks of acting projects.
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Catherine Zeta jones

Name: Catherine Jones
Present name:Catherine Zeta jones
Birth date: 25-09-1969
Birth place: Swansea, United Kingdom
Parents: David and Patricia
Husband: Michael Douglas
Children: Dylan and Carys



Catherine Zeta Jones (pronounced /ˈziːtə/ "zeeta"; born 25 September 1969), now hyphenated as Catherine Zeta-Jones, is a Welsh actress, currently based in the United States. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of UK and US television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as The Phantom, The Mask of Zorro, and Entrapment in the late 1990s. She won an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for portraying Velma Kelly in the 2002 film adaptation of Chicago.
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Jessica Simpson

Name: Jessica Ann Simpson
Birth date: 10-07-1980
Birth place: Abilene, Texas, United States
Genre: Pop, R&B, dance-pop, adult contemporary
Occupation: Singer-songwriter, actress
Labe: Columbia, Epic
sister: Ashlee Simpson(a pop rock singer)



Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, and television personality who rose to fame in the late 1990s. She has achieved seven Billboard Top 40 hits, and has three gold and two multi-platinum RIAA-certified albums. Simpson starred with her then-husband Nick Lachey in the MTV reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. She ventured into the country music market in 2008 and released Do You Know.

Sheryl Crow

Name: Sheryl Suzanne Crow
Birth date: 11-02-1962
Birth place: kennett,missouri,United States
Profession: Musician, singer-songwriter, activist
Genre: Rock
:Country
:Pop rock
:Blues-rock
:Folk
Years active: 1993–present



She has performed with the Rolling Stones and has sung duets with Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Luciano Pavarotti, John Mellencamp and Kid Rock, among others, and appeared on backing vocals for Tina Turner. Crow's recordings have appeared on the soundtracks to Cars, Erin Brockovich and Tomorrow Never Dies, among many others.

Baby On Board

Jewelry hounds, I have good news and better news. The good news is: I am just about ready to give birth to my first baby!

The better news? It's a GIRL!!! (Do they make Dior diapers? Just asking...)

The not so great news is: I will obviously be otherwise occupied for a spell while I welcome our little bundle of joy into the world (and get used to life as a feeding machine). But don't worry - I will be posting updates every now and again during the next month, and will be back to my regular weekday post schedule in March (defintitely in time for the Oscars!).

In the meantime, I hope you all continue to gawk at bling with wild abandon on the Jewelry.com homepage (peruse their Celebrity, Fashion and Jewelry News items), and on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

Until then, I remain your humble, diamond-loving, jewel-hunting, celebrity-worshiping, baby-birthing Jewelry Insider! Stay tuned!

Aishwarya Rai

Birth Name
Aishwarya Krishnaraj Rai

Nickname
Ash
Gullu
The Queen of Bollywood

Date of Birth
1 November 1973, Mangalore, Karnataka, India







Mini Biography

Born into a traditional south Indian family, Aishwarya started modeling at a young age. This green-blue-eyed beauty appeared in advertisements for many prestigious firms; the ones that brought her into the limelight were the garden sari and the Pepsi ad. Crowned Miss India 1994 runner-up, she was a hot favorite in the run for miss world title, which she won, her beauty and charm made her India's darling. Ash stormed into the Indian movie industry, where she has proven herself a brilliant & genuine actress. Her performance in Iruvar (1997) was critically acclaimed, and she won the Screen best female debutant award for her role in ...Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997). She was adored in movies like Taal, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, her item number in 'Bunty & Bubbly' had sent waves of rhythm across the nation. With her successful Bollywood movies & prestigious Hollywood projects lined up for release it is impossible to ignore this Indian diva in international scenes.
IMDb Mini Biography By: preetesh< preetesh_c@rediffmail.com>

Preity Zinta

Nickname
Preetam Singh

Date of Birth
31 January 1975, Simla, India





Zinta was the female lead in India's three highest-grossing films of 2003: The Hero: Love Story of a Spy, Koi... Mil Gaya and Kal Ho Naa Ho. The Hero, co-starring Sunny Deol and Priyanka Chopra, is a patriotic drama about a spy network involving terrorists and an Indian army officer. Zinta played the part of Reshma, a villager who falls in love with the officer and becomes part of this network. The film, involving stunts never seen before in the cinematic history of Bollywood, became the most expensive Hindi film ever produced at the time.
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Coleen Rooney, UK's Diamond Diva

In the world of celebrity jewelry boxes, there are diamond lovers and there are diamond fanatics. I just uncovered the latest entry to the latter category in one Coleen Rooney, wife of one of England's most beloved footballers, Wayne Rooney, of Manchester United.

The Daily Mail reports that the British celeb has a 'compulsive and impressive' diamond habit which began when Wayne presented her with a £25,000 diamond ring from Tiffany for her 18th birthday.

By 21, she had traded up to a £200,000 10-carat yellow diamond ring from Chopard, and her most spectacular piece to date is the bespoke wedding ring, said to be worth close to £350,000, which was made by Jacob & Co in New York. It's a band encrusted with more than 50 diamonds, topped off with a solitary rock that inspired the 'chicken nugget' reference.

Hello, lover.

While the couple is apparently going through a financial scandal involving funds withheld from their management company, they clearly have enough to (get this) send an assistant to New York to pick up - what else? - diamond jewelry worth around £450,000.

Is an Intervention in order? You be the judge.

Ring in the Super Bowl!

The most coveted piece of jewelry this time of year does not come from Paris Hilton's jewelry box or Tiffany's display window. Nope, it's the Super Bowl ring, symbolic of victory in the National Football League's annual overhyped, usually anti-climactic championship game.

Some players wear them. Some store them. Some have even sold them. But for the most part, it's the only piece of jewelry guys have ever really dreamed about. Welcome to our world.

Here is a snippet of a piece done in the New York Times a while back that gives interesting details about the coveted bauble. And while we're at it - - Go Saints!

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WHO GETS THEM?: Every winning player and coach. The N.F.L. pays for up to 90 rings, and then it's left to the team to buy more than that, or to add extra diamonds and other modifications that surpass the league's $4,000-a-ring outlay. "Jerry Jones said it cost the Cowboys $8,000 last year," said Jim Steeg, the league's director of special events, referring to the Cowboys' owner.

SIZING IT UP:This is jewelry for big, beefy men! Men with thick, often gnarled fingers! Men who fling and maul other men every Sunday for a living! The average ring size is a 13, according to Jostens, a ring-making company; that is two sizes above the average man's ring size. But there are men AND THERE ARE MEN. For his Super Bowl XX ring in 1986, William (The Refrigerator) Perry, the enormous former Chicago Bears defensive tackle, broke the mold at a 23, a ring so large that a half-dollar coin can pass through it.

WHO MAKES THEM?: Ring makers like Balfour and Jostens, which have made 19 of the first 27. There are general design guidelines, but teams add their own touches to personalize the ring, including bromides like "Harmony, Courage and Valor" (Green Bay Packers, Super Bowl I), "Winning Edge" (Miami Dolphins, Super Bowl VII) and "Team of the '80's," (San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl XXIV).

JUST THE BASICS: The N.F.L. approves of a ring with diamonds weighing 1.2 carats at a certain clarity, but each team can vary the points and clarity to its desire. Generally, the rings have the Super Bowl and N.F.L. logotypes; the words "World Champion"; a depiction of the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which goes to the Super Bowl victor, and the player's name and number and the team name.

LIZ TAYLOR MAY NOT HAVE ONE, BUT . . . Showy? Extravagant? Ostentatious? The Super Bowl ring is all these things. The San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl XXIV ring boasts three .35-carat marquis-cut diamonds and one three-quarters of a carat diamond set into a football-shaped white gold insert, surrounded by smaller diamonds. The ring celebrates the 49ers' four Super Bowl victories, and features four tiny Lombardi trophies, a depiction of the Golden Gate Bridge, the player's name and the team's 17-2 record.

The Bears' ring was quite a piece of work, featuring a half-carat diamond surrounded by 13 smaller diamonds in the shape of a "C," bordered by 26 smaller diamonds. And lest we forget, the Pittsburgh Steelers' ring for Super Bowl XIII showed a Lombardi Trophy rising out of the Orange Bowl, where the game was played, and the Miami skyline in the background.

LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT: Terry Bradshaw owns four of them from quarterbacking the Pittsburgh Steelers but never dons a single one. "I don't wear it," said Mr. Bradshaw, the irrepressible former CBS football studio show analyst who just signed on for the same role with the Fox Network. "Man, it's made of diamonds!"

Valentine's Day Deals on JewelClub

Let the Valentine's Day jewelry blitz begin! I'll be highlighting deals you won't want to miss (or tell your sig. other about) leading up to V-Day to help gift givers get hip to some serious fine jewelry steals.

My favortie sample sale site, JewelClub, just launched their latest promotion: 15% off a dozen of their most classic diamond styles. That's 15% off WHOLESALE, jewelry hounds.

The studs pictured here are $50 bucks, folks. The earrings about $70. And I'm loving those vintage-y right hand ring styles - most are pricing out at $1,000 or more off the retail price.

(insert 'lower jaw drop' here)

How do you play? Easy. Click here to get to the discount ad. Enter the code: INSIDER when you login, and you'll get access to an entire Friends and Family site that has great wholesale product in all fine jewelry categories. And they add new product all the time, so be sure to check back often.

So, fellas? Flowers and chocolates are fine and all, but why spend the bucks on a perishable when you can get a V-day gift that will last forever? And there's free shipping with every order.

So that happened.

In Defense of Diamonds

Jewelry hounds, I don't have to convince you that wearing shiny things is a great way to feel fabulous. And while our gawking at 10-carat rocks on celebrity ring fingers isn't getting us any closer to a solution to global warming, it's good harmless fun for the most part, right?

Sometimes, though, jewelry can bring with it its share of controversy.

Many potential diamond jewelry buyers, for example, might be turned off by the prospect that the stone they purchase could unknowingly support a terrorist regime in Africa (aka: 'blood' or 'conflict' diamonds).

We all saw the Leo movie, 'Blood Diamond'. Many of us saw the 60 Minutes expose a few years' back. And recently, we've all seen the 'eco-friendly' adverts pumping up the 'conflict-free' status of their jewels and gems. And good for them.

However.

While one blood diamond sold to a consumer is one diamond too many - there's too much misinformation about the 'prevelance' of these stones on the market than is warranted by all the media coverage.

Conflict diamonds captured the world's attention during the extremely brutal conflict in Sierra Leone in the late 1990s. During this time, it is estimated that conflict diamonds represented approximately 4% of the world's diamond production. Not 40% or even 14%. 4%.

Through UN measures like The Kimberley Process and other national regulations, the truth is there are very few conflict diamonds slipping through the system these days - less than 1%, according to DiamondFacts.org. In other words, I'd have a better chance of understanding an episode of 'Lost' than unwittingly purchasing a conflict stone.

Again, I'm not advocating that we shouldn't get that less than 1% stat down to zero - but consumers should know that the diamonds they buy from major retailers like Zales, Sears, JCPenney, Macy's, Kay Jewelers and most independent jewelers all abide by the regulations that have been in place for over seven years now. So you don't need to go to a 'green' jewelry outlet or sift through vintage styles when you want a politically correct, shiny new diamond piece to add to your wardrobe - 99% of the diamonds on the market today fit that bill.

And for you do-gooder divas who still aren't convinced, consider this: The vast majority of diamonds come from countries at peace in Africa. These countries have been able to invest the revenue from diamonds into the development of infrastructure, schools and hospitals for the good of the communities in which diamonds are found. Check out Russell Simmons' worthy charity, The Diamond Empowerment Fund for more on that.

So, ok. End of soap box. Diamonds don't need a defense attorney - they need to be worn, loved and enjoyed - especially this time of year (Valentine's Day hints should start now, ladies). I just read one too many 'eco' diamond ads, and had to vent.

What do you all think of the topic? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Grammy Jewelry: Glam, Gauche and Gaga

Diamond jewelry was the big hit on the Grammy Awards red carpet last night, with lots of pendant earrings, icy studs, cuffs and a few statement necklaces thrown in for good measure.

Gone are the colorful gems of the Globes and SAGs - which should come as no surprise since the music industry is more bling-obsessed than the thespian set. And while there were some stunning looks to applaud, there were a few fashion missteps from some of the red carpet's most reliable stars.

Taylor Swift (despite her unimpressive duet with icon, Stevie Nicks) looked lovely in 12 carat diamond pendant earrings from Lorraine Schwartz. And Pink one-upped her teen competition with, oh, a mere $2.5 mil worth of ice from Neil Lane.



The statement necklace brigade was represented by Shawn Colvin. And simple diamond studs made Rihanna's unfortunate gown choice a little less, um, poofy?

Speaking of poof, Jersey Shore's Snookie showed up in basic hoops (sans the hair bump) and a Seaside-inspired mini that outclassed Britney Spears' unfortunate frock choice with what appears to be fishnet overlay. Oh, sister.

The biggest disappointment for me was the night's big winner, Beyonce, in these gaudy, oversized, yellow gold Lorraine Schwartz earrings and nude Stephane Rolland frock. Not a good color combo and a she crossed the glam line to gaudy. Agree?

And of course, Lady Gaga, in a category all her own - didn't disappoint with her fashion statement or her performance. The show could only go downhill after her incredible opening number with Elton John and the red carpet suffered the same 'gasp' vacuum as well at the end of the day.

What do you guys think? Are you as gaga for Gaga as I am? Are you thumbs up with the Beyonce choice? Weigh in!