Claire’s has launched a line of jewelry and accessories inspired by the TV smash hit Glee – the line includes everything from rings, bracelets and necklaces to bags and even a bit of home décor.  The line of accessories was introduced in pop-up shops in just a few major cities prior to the official release and was scheduled to be on the shelves of more than fifteen hundred Claire’s stores across North America as of yesterday.

With the tremendous popularity of Glee and the fact that millions of kids across the country who are devoted to the show are heading back to school and in search of the perfect way to compliment their new outfits, this line is sure to be a success for Claire’s. 

As jewelry designers begin to see the success that can be had from a line of affordable accessories inspired by a popular TV series, we may very well see more and more jewels spawned from our favorite television series in the near future.  With just as many hot, high fashion looks portrayed on the small screen as there are on the big screen, there is a potential endless array of roads that creative designers could go down and with the help of high quality cubic zirconia and other lab created gems, even the most extravagant looks can be re-created at affordable prices.

Shoppers are always hungry for affordable ways to compliment their favorite outfits in every situation and cubic zirconia is the perfect raw material to help jewelry designers make that happen.  Whether the trends lean toward classic or modern or take inspiration from the movies, TV or the red carpet – high quality looks can be achieved at the right prices with cubic zirconia.

The amazing find is said to be similar in size and quality to the famed Catherine the Great Emerald that was sold at auction in April for more than 1.6 million dollars and though some of the value of the Catherine the Great Emerald may have come from it’s history, this amazing gem will surely bring it’s finders a sizable sum of money for their efforts.

Natural gems can be found in a number of areas in the U.S., but it certainly isn’t everyday that a 65 carat natural gem of any variety is unearthed at a U.S. farm.  Just because you can’t go out onto your property with a shovel and sifting pan to unearth incredible gems, that doesn’t mean that you can’t look the part of an empress.

Landing a natural gem that is as large as the Catherine the Great emerald or the “Carolina Emperor,” is incredibly rare, but lab created gems can be produced in virtually any shape or size and offer consumers a very affordable alternative to expensive natural gems.  Cubic zirconia is a high quality alternative to a natural diamond and it can be produced in a wide variety of colors to mimic the look of just about any type of natural gem.  Cz is durable, optically flawless and works well in any setting to produce the look of the finest and most expensive jewels at prices that someone on just about any budget could afford.

Serendipity 3, a restaurant in New York City that is frequented by rock stars, actors and a host of other celebrity types has just recently unveiled the Guinness Book of World Records’ most expensive dessert – a $25,000 ice cream sundae.  This overly excessive treat contains 28 different varieties of cocoa, 0.2 ounces of edible 23K gold, a truffle that sells for more than twenty-five hundred dollars a pound and it is served in a goblet that contains an edible gold lining.  At the base of the goblet is a beautiful gold and 1 carat diamond bracelet and the sundae is decorated with flawless white and “chocolate” diamonds.

While it would be nice to be able to afford to spend twenty five thousand on dessert and walk away with some stunning jewelry, not all of us carry quite that much in our wallets when we go out to dinner – but the good news is that you don’t have to spend quite that much money to get a good dessert and an incredible bracelet.

There are plenty of ice cream shops around that will make you a wonderful dessert treat that won’t cost you twenty five dollars, let alone twenty five thousand – and if you’re in the market for beautiful jewelry that won’t break your bank account you can always look for Cubic zirconia and lab created gem jewelry.

Cz has all of the beauty, shimmer and shine of a natural diamond but it costs a fraction of what a natural diamond does, without sacrificing quality.  If you want to save money, but still look like a million bucks don’t get your jewelry as part of the world’s most expensive dessert, get it from a retailer that stocks cz and lab gem creations.

In an effort to cut down on organized crime involving jewelry, the world’s most active online marketplace is partnering with the Jewelers’ Security Alliance.  The close partnership and free sharing of information between EBay and law enforcement is intended make it much more difficult for criminals to sell their stolen or counterfeit wares by eliminating one of the largest customer bases for the stolen product.  Identifying and catching criminals in the act of selling stolen and fraudulent goods and ultimately eliminating one way for them to quickly redistribute stolen property could go a very long way toward cutting down on the criminal activity involving fine jewelry.

Hopefully, in time, the partnership between EBay and the JSA will help make owning and selling fine jewelry safer, but in the meantime while crimes involving fine jewelry are soaring, many fine jewelry hounds and some jewelry retailers are looking to lab created gem jewelry as a safer alternative.

Cubic zirconia mimics the look of natural diamonds so well that only a trained professional can tell the difference between the two, but in terms of money cz has some unique advantages over natural diamonds for retailers and end users.  Due to cost and availability, cz doesn’t have the same resale value as a natural diamond, this makes a jewelry store that stocks mainly cz and lab gems jewels much less attractive to prospective criminals.  For the people who are actually wearing the jewelry, cz jewelry looks every bit as good as natural gem jewelry but because the cost is so low in comparison to natural gem jewelry it is usually reasonably easy to replace if it were to get stolen or lost.

Following a recent Alaskan cruise trip, a couple from California accidentally left what was probably their single most important piece of luggage in the back of a cab on the way to Vancouver International Airport.  The pack containing the nearly half a million dollars in jewels that were worn to special events on the couple’s vacation could have easily found it’s way into the hands of the wrong people, but fortunately for the couple, the very valuable piece of luggage merely took an extended ride in the back of the cab and it was returned exactly as it had been left.

Hearing this type of story, which isn’t as nearly as uncommon as you would probably imagine, is precisely the reason that many people (even those who can afford to own and wear exceedingly expensive pieces of fine jewelry) are turning to quality pieces crafted from cubic zirconia.  This couple spent more than a day without nearly half a million dollars in fine jewelry, wondering if they would ever get it back and that is a very scary situation to be in.

Even for those who don’t have a habit of losing, misplacing or leaving things behind – accidents happen.  High quality cubic zirconia jewelry lets you look every bit as stunning, glamorous and sophisticated as any piece of natural diamond jewelry but doesn’t carry nearly as large a price tag.  If you lose your favorite cz ring, pendant or pair of studs you’ll certainly suffer some disappointment, but cz jewelry is much easier for most people to replace than natural diamond jewelry.

Though being able to own this beautiful and historic piece of pop culture would be an absolute dream come true for some, fifty thousand dollars in an awfully steep price to pay for an accessory – even one that was worn by one of the biggest fashion icons of the last century.

Those of us who have budgets that won’t quite allow for fifty thousand dollar necklaces might want to take a cue from Jackie herself and look to simulated gems for accessorizing.  Of course, this particular piece of simulated gem jewelry is a bit pricier because of the former owner, lab created gems as a whole are much more affordable than naturally mined gems.

An engagement ring, a pair of earrings or a pendant with a natural diamond, ruby or emerald might cost several thousand dollars from a retailer, but the very same piece crafted from cubic zirconia could be had for a fraction of what the natural gem jewelry cost.  You won’t lose and beauty, any sparkle or even any quality from a lab created gem piece that’s in the same setting as a natural gem piece – but you will save quite a bit of money.  Cz and other simulated gems give all of us the opportunity to look like fashion icons and celebrities, without having to pay the astronomical prices of naturally mined gems.

Brinkley’s wears seem to have launched at the absolute perfect time – her line includes plenty of color, lots of movement and each and every piece is certainly capable of turning heads.  Christie Brinkley seemed to learn something from her past days in the fashion industry and has managed to stay completely current with today’s trends in her 1st attempt at jewelry design.

As an added bonus for shoppers on a budget, the Uptown Girl has managed to keep the majority of the pieces accessible to even those of us with overly wallets and purses  – with prices as low as forty five dollars, this is certainly a line that has the ability to sell despite the still lagging economy.

Affordability seems to another more recent trend in the fashion and jewelry world, and hopefully it’s not one of the ones that will be short lived.  More and more designers are recognizing that people simply don’t have the money to spend on accessories that they did a few years ago and are responding with excellent low cost efforts that don’t sacrifice quality.

Instead of using natural diamonds, rubies and emeralds, designers are turning to the much more affordable and readily available cubic zirconia and lab created versions of these gems to bring down the costs of their finished products.  Cz lets a designer put together a piece or an entire collection that is just as beautiful as anything with a natural diamond, and still make a profit with a much smaller price tag.  With Cz and other lab created gems, anyone can look like a celebrity or super model, regardless of their line of work.

Major jewelry retailers like Zale’s often have a wide enough selection of inventory that jewelry lovers can “shop around” without having to travel to a bunch of different stores, but despite that feeling of convenience many smaller scale jewelry retailers are starting to grow and make names for themselves in this rough and competitive business.

Par t of the reason that smaller sized retailers can thrive in an industry that is dominated by retailers with large store fronts is the evolution of internet retailing.  Over the course of the last decade or so, smaller jewelry retailers have learned that they can increase their “showroom” infinitesimally with the use of the World Wide Web.  Internet sales can let you show each prospective customer thousands of pieces, without having to pay the rent of a store front.  As long as you have enough space for storing your items (which takes considerably less space and effort than properly displaying them) you can offer more than enough inventory to satisfy a wide array of customers.

Another big step for small retailers comes in the willingness to stock pieces crafted from cubic zirconia and other lab created gems.  For a long while, fine jewelry stores were reluctant to carry lab gem pieces because they were often considered to be of a lower quality than pieces containing natural gems.  With the recession came an increase in demand for more affordable jewels and that helped open the door for smaller jewelry retailers. 

When inserted into a high quality platinum or gold setting, cubic zirconia can easily rival the beauty of any natural diamond, and with a much lower material cost cz jewelry can be offered with a much smaller price tag.  With the recent success of many cz lines and more and more innovative designers choosing cz to work with, it probably won’t be too long before a larger portion of the inventories of even the largest fine jewelry retailers are filled with cz and lab gem pieces.

Jewelry Television has a Gemstone Adventure Series collection of DVDs and Tanzanite is the latest gem to be highlighted.  The forty-five minute documentary style film will take viewers  on a journey to Eastern Africa, the lone place in the world that Tanzanite is naturally mined and then follows the process through to India where stones are cut, faceted and polished in preparation for sale.

This documentary will no doubt be very entertaining for fans of not only the incredibly rare gem, but for jewelry lovers, designers and retailers as well – and once the documentary has been available for view for a little while it will certainly spark even more interest in Tanzanite.

Due to the fact that there is only one place in the world that Tanzanite is naturally mined and that the natural supply is very limited, the buying price for naturally mined Tanzanite can be pretty high, but there are alternatives for jewelry lovers who are on a budget.

Cubic zirconia Tanzanite is every bit as stunning as it’s naturally mined counterpart and like all cz gems, cubic zirconia Tanzanite has a hardness of 8.5 on the Mohs scale so it is very durable.  In fact, the only noticeable difference you’ll be able to see between naturally mined Tanzanite and cubic zirconia Tanzanite will be in the price.

Cubic zirconia can be produced to closely mimic a wide variety of natural gems allowing jewelry lovers of virtually any individual taste procure the jewelry of their dreams for far less than it would cost to buy a piece containing natural gems.

The numbers don’t reflect “necessary” jewelry like watches  and research has shown that the majority of the purchases have not been made as gifts – so why, during a time when so many people are struggling to make ends meet are some men feeling the need to splurge on fashion accessories?

Perhaps more and more men are realizing that fine jewelry can really work to improve their overall appearance and that looking better can do wonders in terms of making you feel better.  With so many problems and so much negativity going on, some people can really benefit from the extra push that looking better will give – and one of the easiest ways to improve your outward appearance is by putting on a gorgeous accessory.

The perfect ring or necklace, a brilliant bracelet or even something as simple as the right cufflinks can immediately make a man feel more confident and better about himself and those feelings can translate into an elevated mood and better performance.

For those of us who want to reap all of the wonderful benefits of accessorizing with fine jewelry but who can’t quite afford a naturally mined diamond pinky ring, there are affordable alternatives.  A ring crafted from cubic zirconia or a stunning pair of cz cufflinks will accomplish the very same goal of enhanced appearance that natural diamond jewelry will, but cz jewelry will come at a much more reasonable price.  For men who want a splash of color in their “look better” accessories, cz can be crafted in a wide variety of colors to capture the look of just about any natural gem.  Cubic zirconia lets any man, even those on a restricted budget; quickly improve their outward appearance to both look and feel better and to be able to stand out from the crowd.