The fashionable diamond is both casual and smart
The fashionable diamond is both casual and smart
By Parvathi Nayar Narayan
JAKARTA (JP): This just in from the fashion brokers: it's no
longer gauche to wear diamonds with blue jeans. It's chic.
The De Beers Diamond Information Centre and GoldMart Jewelry
are adding new designs to their collection, Diamonds for the
Modern Woman, which pioneered the concept of simple, wearable
diamond jewelry two years ago in Jakarta. These new styles for
diamond earrings, pendants and rings, all set in gold, debuted at
a recent fashion show at the Grand Hyatt Jakarta.
One new family within this collection is known as Diamonds and
Blue Jeans, proving that diamonds are not only for formal
occasions. Models showed how the sparkling gems can be casual or
playful or smart. One model demonstrated how diamonds make one's
Dolce & Gabbana Jeans even more chic.
The Diamonds and Blue Jeans collection features the simplest
jewelry designs, always a single stone, accented by a tiny swirl
or stick of gold. Though very small, these settings display the
diamonds with elegance.
Another part of the collection was called Diamonds and Batik,
and was shown with clothes styled by Kisoon Harto. While these
designs were more complex, they were not fussy. Particularly nice
pieces were those with tiny circlets of diamonds, often heart
shaped, and drop solitaires that often sparkled in the light.
The last part of the collection, Diamonds and Velvet, was
displayed with black velvet from designer Donna Karan. Some
featured diamond studded crosses, again with sparkling drop
solitaires, reminiscent of Paloma Picasso's 'X Pendants' for
Tiffany's. One elaborate pair of earrings simulated a twisted
coil of rope set with a row of diamonds graduated in size.
The collection is not large, but what it lacks of range it
makes up for in elegance. These new, simple designs are aimed at
women between the ages of 18 and 35, and can be worn by anyone
heading to the boardroom, or a discotheque, or riding a
motorbike. Glamorous gals like Cindy Crawford and Sharon Stone
enjoy wearing a diamond solitaire.
The stones in the Diamonds and the Modern Woman collection are
all between 20 and 40 points in size (one carat is a 100 points),
and range in price from Rp 500,000 to Rp 3,500,000.
Nanny Budiman, manager of Diamond Information Center in
Jakarta, which is maintained by De Beers, the world's largest
diamond retailer, believes that the prices are within the reach
of many Jakarta consumers. Diamond jewelry prices in Jakarta are
competitive, and possibly even cheaper, than in overseas markets.