Sparkle Lounge

Sparkle Like The Stars

2010-11-29T18:41:00.000-08:00

I've always loved Broadway shows, especially musicals. As a little girl I would beg my parents to take me and we would go, as a family, for my birthday treat. I can remember them all and the stars I got to see: Bernadette Peters in "Into the Woods", Betty Buckley in "Cats", Daphne Rubin Vega & Adam Pascal in "Rent" and more recently Idina Menzel in "Wicked" and my one of my all time favorites, "In the Heights" which introduced me to Robin De Jesus and Karen Olivo.

Imagine my delight when I got to meet the lovely Stephanie Klemons. Stephanie is an original cast member of "In the Heights" and the founder of a new social networking site dedicated to connecting people and businesses that want to do good with non-profits that need physical and financial support. Its called DidIDoThat.org and you can think of it as Facebook for benevolence. To launch the site, nothing less than a star-studded event would do and Broadway Broadcasts Hope was conceived. Like any fundraiser, they needed sponsors and that's where we got involved. Greenwich Jewelers was a proud sponsor of the event, donating a $300 gift certificate for one lucky supporter.

The night was truly magical. Stephanie called on her friends; actors, dancers and musicians from Broadway shows like The Lion King, Mamma Mia, Spring Awakening, RENT and many more amazing shows to come together for a night of music and dance with Broadway's brightest stars. The event benefitted 4 Charities: Sunride Day Camp, Katie's Art Project, Broadway in South Africa and R.Evolucion Latina.

We got to enjoy a night of intimate performaces by Tony winning and nominated performers and be inspired by four visionaries that shared the stories of turning their dreams to help others into reality. I got to meet Robin De Jesus (That's us to the left!) and be surrounded by people living their dreams and making a difference in the lives of others every day.

Thank you Stephanie for creating such an exciting and inspiring event and a place for benevolence to blossom. Please visit DidIDoThat.org for more information or to get involved. As the entire cast of "Broadway Broadcasts Hope" reminded us in the finale - DARE TO GO BEYOND!

With stars in my eyes,

Jennifer

We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to support such a worthwhile endeavor. Please visit DidIDoThat.org and tell your friends about it.

Last Week's Trunk Show: Rich Gems & Oxidized Silver from Lika Behar

2010-10-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

A snake, a horn, and some jewels- oh my! Last week, right before Halloween, designer Lika Behar graced Greenwich Jewelers with her exquisite jewels at our two-day trunk show and designer personal appearance. Shoppers at our store got to meet Lika and find out what inspires her richly cultural designs.

Lika's Turkish background serves as one source of inspiration. She uses iconic shapes like Hamsa pendants and "the eye." Some Middle Eastern cultures believe that wearing these pendants keeps away bad spirits.She often mixes traditional items with contemporary design, and I loved the chunky sterling silver chain necklaces. Layering these over a white v-neck tee with a pair of dark jeans immediately creates an outfit that feels comfortable but looks edgy and chic. I also adored the big, brilliantly colored gemstones that Lika uses in her rings and pendants. Check out these incredibly sparkly rings with diamond accents:

To see pictures of Lika and more of her fabulous jewelry at our trunk show, visit our Facebook Page.

Judging Jewels at the AGTA Spectrum Awards

2010-10-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

This week, the American Gem Trade Association announced the winners of this year's AGTA Spectrum Awards competition. Known as one of the most prestigious awards in the jewelry industry, the AGTA competition showcases the beauty of colored gemstones and recognizes the designs of established artists and rising stars of the jewelry industry.

This year, I was thrilled to be chosen as one of five judges of the competition. Alongisde fellow judges Tanya Dukes, Style Editor of Elite Traveler Magazine, Master Gem Cutter Glenn Lehrer and designers Mallary Marks and Robin Rotenier, we had the glorious task of choosing winners out of hundreds of outstanding entries in five categories.

Naturally, as someone who is more than a little obsessed with color, gemstones, and jewelry judging, this competition was like a dream come true. Never have I seen such a spectacular array of colored gemstone jewelry and such prestigious and innovative pieces in one place. The quality, craftmanship, and artistry of the entries were truly inspirational and gave me much excitement and anticipation for the future standards and trends these pieces are sure to set in the jewelry industry.

Two of my favorites were:

Todd Reed's palladium cuff bracelet with aquamarine and diamonds, the Best of Show winner. The bright aquamarine stone really stands out against the unique color and texture of the palladium metal. I also love the combination of gray and white diamonds.

2nd Place winner in the Evening Wear category, Evelyn Clothier's 18K yellow gold earrings with Aquamarine briolettes and diamond accents. The size and quality of the aquamarine gem (50.95 ctw.) was astounding within itself, and looked beautiful inside the cage-like yellow gold structure.

All of the winners deserve to be seen; to view more of the Spectrum Awards' gorgeous pieces, visit the AGTA Facebook Page.

Sparkingly yours,

Jennifer

2009-11-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the holiday season,

recycle your gold for cash or credit

For this week only, take advantage of our special in-store offer:

Earn an extra 10% above the value of your gold in cash (Yes! Real cash!)

1.5 times the value in store credit (to use towards the purchase of something new for yourself or someone special.)

So raid your jewelry box for those broken, mismatched or outdated pieces and bring them to Greenwich Jewelers today!

Did you know? Greenwich Jewelers often re-purposes your old metals in its shop!

*Ends Nov. 14th. **Platinum can also be recycled.

Offer excludes sale merchandise; cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion.

Meet Melissa Joy Manning Today!

2009-05-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

Join us and get an exclusive look at Melissa's newest collection, launching at Greenwich Jewelers today from 12 - 5 pm.

Work with Melissa and her team to create a custom charm necklace with birthstones, initials & found objects. Or create a one of a kind raw diamond slice ring.

Take a break from the workday to have fun, be creative and meet one of the jewelry industry's most interesting women. In business for over 10 years, Melissa is a pioneer in creating fine jewelry from recycled metals, natural (untreated) gemstones, organic minerals and found objects. She is also devoted to supporting charities that give back to women's and environmental causes around the world. Plus, she's an incredibly fun and interesting person whom we are honored to host!

Greenwich Jewelers is located at 64 Trinity Place between Rector & Thames Streets in downtown Manhattan.

Greenwich Jewelers Virtual Tour

2009-04-13T13:10:00.001-07:00

Something Sparkly Your Way Comes (The April Giveaway is Online!)

2009-04-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm having a vision. It's you.on a bright sunny, day in May. And you're wearing a long silver chain that sparkles in the sunlight...

Today is your lucky day! For April's Make Life Sparkle giveaway we've chosen the Adina Reyter Tiny Disc necklace. At 36" its the perfect layering piece and can also be doubled and worn on its own. Adina is known for her timeless designs - their simplicity equals ultimate versitility.

Handcrafted in Los Angeles, her pieces are a favorite of Hollywood's elite including Brooke Shields, Cameron Diaz , Demi Moore, Eva Longoria & Reese Witherspoon. Valued at $375, it's worth taking a mini-break from your daily duties to sign up here.

Greenwich Jewelers at NY Magazine's Wedding Event

2009-03-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Are you a bride to be in NYC?
Then you really shouldn't miss the NY Magazine Weddings event on April 1st.

Greenwich Jewelers will be there talking to brides about the perfect wedding bands, bridal party gifts, jewelry for the big day and how to care for your most precious pieces of jewelry.

You can also enter to win a $250 gift card to Greenwich Jewelers and get a special discount usable towards a future purchase.

Meet New York's best wedding planners & experts, venue representatives, cake bakeries and dress retailers face-to-face.

For information and tickets click here. We hope to see you there!

Melissa Joy Manning Feels the Love in Marie Claire

2009-03-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

Check out Ginnifer Goodwin wearing the Rosebud ring by Melissa Joy Manning in the March issue of Marie Claire magazine. Ms. Goodwin shares the the pages with Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Aniston, her co-stars in "He's Just Not That Into You". In the picture she's wearing her ring on the middle finger which is exactly where I wear mine. Yes, I own the same ring in rose gold and moonstone. I love the shape of the rosebud cut gemstone which is a faceted dome that dislpays the internal beauty of the stone. This is especially cool with rutilated quartz which is a colorless stone with natural inclusions that look like shards of gold running through it. You can see the yellow gold & rutilated quartz version here.

Also, you can see Melissa's unique pink cabaio calcite ring the same issue. I'm always facinated by the stones Melissa finds and uses in her designs. Some I've never even heard of before - and I'm a jeweler! But it's that element of surprise that keeps me coming back for more, season after season. There is always something beautiful and interesting to discover.

We will be having a Melissa Joy Manning trunk show in May and that means she'll be here for you to meet. Details are TBC. She's an absolute delight to have in the store - she always has great stories about how she finds her gemstones & creates her pieces. Here she is sizing a ring for a client at our last trunk show in December.

To see the entire collection of Melissa Joy Manning at Greenwich Jewelers click here.

Wrapping up 2008...

2008-12-03T14:18:00.000-08:00

Goodness me! Its been over a month since my last post! Forgive me, it's only because there is so much going on here at Greenwich Jewelers. Our "facelift" is finally complete! If you haven't been to visit us lately you are in for a real treat. We are still the same store but with the help of visual merchandiser/interior designer extraordinaire, Cara Hatch, Greenwich Jewelers now has modern environment that reflects our personality and is the perfect backdrop for the jewelry collections. I've created a slideshow at right that shows photos of our transformation.

This year we tried to think outside of the box for holiday, as well. I don't know about you but my mailbox becomes so cluttered with catalogs and promotional mail around this time of year. Besides the obvious environmental impact junk mail has, I also find that I just don't have the time to sit and read so much extra mail. So, I started thinking about it and I thought, hmmm... How cool would it be to have an online catalog? Something where all the pictures were clickable through to the website so if someone wanted to buy something they could do it right there. No extra steps or time necessary. Well, turns out I wasnt the first peson with this idea, the platform to do this already exists and was just waiting for Greenwich Jewelers to use it.

I'm so proud of the Greenwich Jewelers Holiday 2008 e-catalog. Thanks to our fabulous graphic designer, Leah Bird it looks and works beautifully. It's so easy to use and really highlights the truly special pieces and collections we have this year. From a personal standpoint, I'm so happy to have learned that we can create gorgeous ways to communicate with our clients and still be mindful of not contributing to waste or the destruction of our natural resources. One step at a time, we are becoming more and more aware, responsible and creative as a family and a business. And that's what I am thankful for this year.

Sparklingly yours,

Jennifer

The Phenomenal Factor

2008-10-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

It's easy to forget that gemstones are gifts, ordinary rocks that Mother Nature has chosen to exhibit a unique beauty. Some gems, classified as 'phenomenal', have extraordinary allure. These types of gems are among my personal favorites for thier natural, yet otherworldly effects.

My two best-loved are Labradorite and rainbow moonstone. Both are the common and abundant rock feldspar, but the type that has the phenomenal play of color as these two display is rare. Found in exotic locales including Brazil, India & Madagscar only adds to the captivating charm of these two incredible gems.

Thought to bring happiness and ease pressures, Labradorite is an unassuming gray stone. But in the hands of a talented cutter it reveals a blue/violet colored light called 'Labradorescence' that appears and disappears as the stone moves. So, when worn in jewelry Labradorite flashes its glamorous beauty, especially in earrings and pendants where it seems to glint on the skin. The combination of the neutral gray and bright blue/violet of Labradorite wears beautifully with chic, luxurious and tailored fashions.

Rainbow moonstone is the opposite in color, a milky, translucent white rock that emits rainbow iridescence. It appears to glow on the skin with a soft, dreamy quality. It is believed to ease sadness, increase intuition & add light to life. There is something fantastical and illusive about rainbow moonstone, as if the mere fact that you can see its beauty is a personal gift of Mother Nature. I love rings with this stone, so that I can gaze into the gem when I feel I need a pick me up! The ethereal quality of rainbow moonstone is the perfect compliment to feminine, bohemian and romantic styled clothing.

Want your own phenomenal talisman? Labradorite and rainbow moonstone can be found in the collections of Becky Kelso, Jamie Joseph and Melissa Joy Manning.

Sparklingly yours,

Jennifer

Win a pair of eco-FABULOUS earrings!

2008-10-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

To coincide with the arrival of the Toby Pomeroy silver collection at Greenwich Jewelers, we are giving away a pair of classic TP Eclipse 32mm hoops. Made of 100% recycled silver in his Oregon studio, each piece of Toby Pomeroy jewelry is hand forged from a single piece of precious metal using a hammer, an anvil and an artist’s touch. The Eclipse hoop has a dual finish: a bright polish on one side and hammered on the other, giving you the versatility of two pairs in one. Enter now!

Race For The Cure NYC 2008

2008-09-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

Unless you were out of town (or just plain out of it) you know that Mother Nature treated NYC to a brilliant day on Sunday, September 14th. Lucky for us The Greenwich Jewelers gals, along with some clients, friends and family members, were a part of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in beautiful Central Park. It was a great day; there were thousands of runners and walkers, many other teams, even kids & pets that had come together for one great cause.

The Greenwich Jewelers 'Make Life Sparkle!' Team (pictured here) raised $3500 in donations with the support of generous clients, friends and family members. See the hot pink papers we are wearing in the picture? These were placards that proclaimed "I walk in celebration of/in memory of" and allowed us to walk in honor of someone whose life had been touched by breast cancer. I think we all were humbled by the strength and commitment of the survivors and supporters who out in full force on Sunday. It was also exciting to see 'Sex and the City' star Cynthia Nixon & channel 2 news anchor Maurice DuBois who were on hand for the opening ceremonies.

We are eagerly looking forward to participating in the 2009 Race For The Cure and hope we can convince YOU to walk with us. Thanks again for all the support!

Sparklingly yours,
Jennifer

Guilt-Free Jewelry!

2008-09-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

Each month Greenwich Jewelers does our part to "Make Life Sparkle" by offering you the chance to win a piece of jewelry from one of our supa cool designer collections. September's bauble is the 18K gold vermeil 'Frida' necklace by Arena CPH. It has just the right mix of sweet & chic to be your grab & go, wear with everything piece for fall. Here's a picture, I can just see you wearing it with everything from a fab floral dress to cozy cashmere cardigan in the months ahead. Enter here.

So, what is Arena CPH? The CPH stands for Copenhagen where the Danish design team hails from. The company has gathered some of Scandinavia's most talented jewelry designers and asked them to design a capsule collection that is meant to work as a complete collection when shown alongside their fellow designers' pieces. Inspiration comes from "minimalist Scandinavian design traditions and strong graphic expressions." Translated that means the collection is full of simple and stylish pieces that can be worn season after season. To view the entire Arena CPH collection at Greenwich Jewelers click here.

There's a fun (and a little abstract) video From Copenhagen Fashion Week '08 featuring Arena CPH design team member Katrine Kristensen and managing director Mads Rostbjerg. See it here

Well, good luck my fellow Sparkle-istas! I'll be back soon...

Sparklingly yours,

Jennifer

Greenwich Jewelers 2.0

2008-08-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

It seems like everything is going "2.0" these days... So, I Googled "2.0" and got the usual terms, you know: web 2.0, tv 2.0, iPhone 2.0 but also some I hadn't even considered: lunch 2.0, school 2.0, women 2.0 and drama 2.0 (do we really need an evolution of drama?) And then I got to thinking, the term "2.0" has become synonymous with growth and change; the next step (or leap, if you will) for an industry, group, product, well, anything really...

2008 is the year of Greenwich Jewelers' 2.0 evolution; it started over a year ago with a new logo and developed into a project that would allow our family owned store to take the next step. Our goal? Modernize the business, both operationally and with fresh jewelry collections, establish a recognizable brand, create a store people will both feel comfortable in and inspired by, and spread the word about how jewelry can truly make life sparkle.

So, fast forward to today and here's the update: we are almost completed with our store renovation (touches of antique boutique and chic apartment); the website has been updated with touches designed to evoke the store experience. I'm blogging here in the 'Sparkle Lounge' and created a Greenwich Jewelers Facebook page (YouTube here we come...) and we're filling our cases with some of the brightest stars in American jewelry design. Last but certainly not least, our beloved shop is about to change hands, as my sister Christina and I get ready to take the helm Greenwich Jewelers and give our parents a well deserved break!

It seemed only fitting that for this first blog post, a product of web 2.0, we pay homage to the wonderful and wild ride we have been on for the past few years and that we'll continue to brave as we embody the next step in our history: Greenwich Jewelers 2.0. Hope you'll come along for the ride....

Sparklingly yours,
Jennifer Gandia