It's not the Tiffany heart, but a diamond-studded teddy bear charm has the same kind of following in Latin America as the well-known pendant from America's famous jeweler.
Designed and manufactured by Tous, a family-owned business in Spain, the bear necklace is one of the latest "must have" items among south Florida's bejeweled. In fact, the Spanish company now has two boutiques in south Florida: One in Aventura mall, which opened last year, and another in Dadeland mall, which opens this month.
The bear is available in white and yellow gold. With diamonds, it costs about $10,000.
Each year, Tous designs a limited edition bear for the holidays. This year's was unveiled last month. It's made of acrylic and flecked with gold shavings. Price: Small, $358; medium, $557; large, $890.
Rio World
A new design center featuring the works of Brazilian craftsmen and artisans opened last month in Miami. Its purpose: Boost Brazilian imports -- and introduce Brazilian jewelry design into the U.S.
Along with furniture from Brazil, the Terra do Brazil Design Center will also house a permanent showroom of Brazilian jewelry. Natural materials such as Brazilian woods, fibers, leather and even seeds are used along with gold, silver, diamonds and semiprecious stones to create a unique style.
"Brazilian jewelry uses traditional elements with the non-traditional," says Robson Oliveira, president of Terra do Brazil.
Belle & Jax -- and Saks
Jewelry designing partners Erica Domesek and Jackie Trebilcock never thought their fledgling business would take off the way it has. The twenty-something owners of Miami-based Belle & Jax have signed a deal with Saks Fifth Avenue, which now carries their line of vintage-chic jewelry.
Their designs are typically oversized with beads and rough-cut semiprecious stones, often paired with vintage finds. Earrings start at $60; necklaces at $500.
The two, who met while studying fashion at Lynn University in Boca Raton, are working on a special line for QVC.
Web of Diamonds
When it comes to jewelry, diamonds never go out of style. That's a good thing for Alan Lipton, whose online jewelry store, Diamond.com, will post $50 million in sales this year. The site, one of the first online jewelry stores, boasts a quarter-million customers. Lipton, co-founder and CEO, expects to launch an IPO in the first half of 2004.
"We're old-timers," Lipton says of the 4-year-old company.
Key to his success, he says, is pricing. Diamond.com sells diamonds and other jewelry at 30% to 60% off regular retail prices.
"You don't get a lot of novices shopping on the internet. Our customers understand pricing and value," says Lipton. "They know what they want to buy."
Lipton also owns e-commerce sites Ashford.com and WorldofWatches.com. The parent company, Odimo Inc., is based in Sunrise.
A Gem of a Write-off
Last month Port Royal Jewelers in Naples hosted a touring collection of celebrity jewels from the likes of Clark Gable, Eva Gabor and Howard Hughes. The tour is hoping to get the word out about an innovative program being offered by the Kazanjian Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by the well-known California-based jewelers, the Kazanjian Brothers.
The program gives people who have inherited estate jewelry -- but don't necessarily want to keep it -- another option besides selling it (often for less than its value) or storing it in a safety deposit box.
The foundation takes donations of high-end estate jewelry, sells the pieces for you and donates 100% of the proceeds to charity -- 70% to a charity of your choice, 30% to one chosen by the selling organization, such as the tour host. You get the tax deduction of a charitable gift.
At each stop on the tour, the hosting jeweler accepts donations of jewelry on behalf of the foundation.
The collection is now en route to Singapore and returns to the U.S. in January. The foundation expects to have a few more Florida stops scheduled by then. It plans to post a calendar on its website, www.kazanjianfoundation.org.