Emerald Tiara Smashes Auction Record

LOWER JAW DROP ALERT! Everything's coming up emeralds these days - from the couture at the Cannes Film Festival to fashion frenzy at The Met Gala.

So it comes as no surprise that one heckofa crown jewel - an emerald and diamond tiara - sold at Sotheby's Geneva auction last week for a price-busting $12.76 million - the highest price ever achieved for an emerald jewel.

Model, Bianca Balti, wears emerald jewelry at the Cannes Film Festival

"It is needless to say a world record price at auction for a tiara," said David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's Europe and Middle East jewelry department.

The bauble originally belonged to German prince Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck, who commissioned it for his second wife Katharina around 1900.  (With a name like that, you better have a budget for bling. Yikes.)

An anonymous bidder from North America is the lucky owner of the royal green gem. Oprah's got some down time coming her way. Maybe she wanted a crown to go with her Queen of Daytime moniker?

Rihanna wears emerald earrings to The Met's Costume Institute Gala

But who needs Oprah (sorry, Gayle) when you've got me to bring you buckets of bling on a budget, right? To that end, I give you one of my favorite emerald styles on the NEW Jewelry.com. I like it because it could be a great fashion piece - OR - an alternative bridal look.

And at just over $200 for real emeralds and 1/4ct of diamond ice? Well, let's just say you don't have to marry a prince to bring one home for your own collection.

Not your style? Check out Jewelry.com's entire emerald jewelry treasure chest here. Go green or go home, jewelry hounds!

Emerald: May’s Symbol of Spring

If April birthday girls have it best with the diamond as their designated birthstone, May certainly comes in a close second.

The emerald is May’s birthstone, and if you’ve been following the red carpet the past few years, you’ll notice stars like Angelina Jolie and Julianne Moore are making us all green with envy as they bring the bauble back into the spotlight.

Emerald is a green variety of the mineral, beryl, and has been prized for thousands of years for its lush green hues and rare beauty. Throughout the ancient world, emerald symbolized eternal hope, rebirth and the arrival of spring - and some cultures believed the gem rewarded its owners with love, intelligence and eloquence.

The ancients ascribed numerous magical and mystical properties to this precious green gem. In ancient Rome, for example, emeralds were believed to have a soothing effect on the soul. Modern scientists have since shown this myth to have some basis in fact: tests indicate that the human eye is more sensitive to green than any other color.

Middle Age seers used emeralds to foretell the future, as well as to ward off evil spirits and cure ailments ranging from bad eyesight to infertility. The stone was also said to improve memory and bring great wealth to its wearer.

Derived from the Latin word for green, "smaragdus", emerald is also the traditional gift of choice for couples celebrating their 20th and 35th wedding anniversaries.

The finest emeralds have traditionally come from Colombia; both the Incas and Aztecs mined rich emerald deposits in the rugged Andes Mountains. But Russia's Ural Mountains also have produced top-quality gems. Brazil is by far the world's largest producer of emerald, with a wide range of sizes and quality.

Emerald's precious green color is caused by small amounts of chromium and enhanced by traces of iron. Emeralds come in a variety of light and dark shades - often with subtle background hues of other colors like yellow, blue, brown or gray. Generally, the purer and richer the green, the more valuable the emerald.

The gem ranks 7.5-8 on the Mohs hardness scale. This means that emerald, while relatively hard, can still be scratched, chipped or split fairly easily. Most emeralds have numerous flaws, or "inclusions", which weaken their structure. Flawless emeralds are exceptionally rare, and therefore command great prices (in some instances, higher than diamonds).

Take that April!

Visit Jewelry.com for a bevy of birthstone bling – including hundreds of emerald styles for your favorite May birthday girl. And be sure to watch their Daily jewelry giveaway for your chance to nab one - for free!

Julianne Moore's Golden Globe Emeralds

Update: I was able to confirm that yes, indeed, these are the very same emerald earrings Julianne Moore wears in the Bulgari campaign. All $3 million dollars worth! Holy jaw drop!

Well, jewelry hounds - we have another emerald earring red carpet jaw-dropper. Julianne Moore just showed on the 2010 Golden Globe red carpet with (what I assume) are the Bulgari emerald earrings she wears in their latest campaign. And, as I expected, they are even MORE magnificent than Angelina Jolie's emerald earring stunners at the Oscars last year - if that's possible.

These Bulgari masterpieces are 115 carats (!) of pure Colombian emerald bliss, folks. I die!

Stay tuned for more Golden Globe coverage...the A-listers are still on their way!

Angelina’s Oscar Emeralds…on Nicky Hilton?

Jewelry hounds, I need your peepers. Is it me or is Nicky Hilton wearing THE SAME emerald earrings that Angelina Jolie made famous at the Oscars this year? The horror!

The giant teardrop-sized stunners are cut in the same shape as Angelina’s green gems, but I quite simply can’t imagine anyone who would want to trod that same hallowed jewelry ground. Especially someone low-key like Paris’s younger sib.

Hilton was walking the red carpet of sister Paris’s narcissistic, I mean, self-titled documentary, Paris, not France last week when the emeralds made their appearance.

It is possible that Lorraine Schwartz accessorized both Angelina and Nicky with the same emeralds, but any stylist worth their salt would surely know that repeating a history-making jewelry moment – and one made by Angelina Jolie no less – is anything but a wise choice in today's shark-infested fashion waters.

Mon Dieu!

What do you guys think? Are they the same earrings? Or are they look-alikes? Regardless, should she have steered clear of the fashion faux-pas or are the emerald earrings fair game for anyone who wants to be a…well..wannabe?

Oscar Jewelry Styles for Less

Let's face it. We're all still drooling over Angelina Jolie's jaw-dropping emerald earrings. Am I right?

We're all wondering how much they cost - and most importantly - how on earth can we afford a pair of our own?

While I am still researching the Lorraine Schwartz price for those jewelry hounds who are gluttons for punishment - I have great news for folks who want to get the same Angelina emeralds for a fraction of the price!

The new Jewelry.com has a brand new feature called, Celebrity Style, where they focus on important celebrity looks you can get for a lot, lot less. Angelina's emeralds, Kate's diamonds, Heidi's earrings and more are featured in the freshly posted Oscar feature.

Check it out here!

Emeralds, Oscar and Angelina Jolie

I'm still sifting through the glittering jewelry looks from last night's Oscar extravaganza, but I'd like to just take a moment to revel in the beauty of Angelina Jolie's shocking Colombian emerald jewelry. If the jewels, the Oscar nomination, the front row seats and the arm candy wasn't enough to put Jennifer Aniston over the edge last night, I don't know what will.

While I am admittedly a card carrying member of Team Aniston, the quiet elegance of Angelina's black Elie Saab gown was perfectly complimented by her Lorraine Schwartz 115 carat emerald teardrop earrings and her silver dollar-sized 65 carat right hand ring. Bravo.
























Despite America's wish for a more dramatic Jen-Angie showdown, it appeared as if the main characters in our favorite media-contructed love triangle weathered the awkward Oscar storm well. Jennifer got through her tepid animation schtick right in front of the stoic couple without stumbling, and Brad and Angie mastered their "I'm so interested. No. Really." for her benefit.

But the emeralds, people. I'm thinking those green Colombian beauties will go down forever as one of Oscar's best jewelry moments. Am I wrong here? Have Angelina's wiccan ways seduced me over to the dark side? Who do you think won the showdown last night?

And stay tuned for more Oscar jewelry gabbing from the red carpet to the glittering after parties. The Amy Adams gemstone lobster bib look has me on the fence. Totally glam or unfortunately gaudy?