Picture credit: Uygur Yilmaz

]]> http://sirint.com/design/amateur-photographer-beats-pros-to-land-aop-prize.htm A missing section in D Jewelry Co.'s "Divorced Ring" signifies separation. By Catherine Dayrit

San Diego—Every retailer knows the marketing concept behind Journey diamond jewelry—that with every step, with every stone, love grows.

At the heart of Journey is a story that is easily digestible for consumers. And although there are buyers who know what they want upon laying their eyes on it, there are others for whom a story, or a personalizing, connecting thread, closes the deal. Many designers have clued into this personalization trend, sometimes in unconventional ways.

San Diego-based Houman Jewelry Design, for example, recently launched the "LUZ" collection at Neiman Marcus in Las Vegas. The line features rings and other pieces designed to convey love's various states—including some of its less cherished ones, such as anger, lust and breakup.

"There's not a single person who can not relate to one of those emotions," says designer Houman Omidifar, also the company's president and founder. "I was trying to come up with something edgy and sexy and that deals with the reality of life."

Narrative aside, the pieces stand on their own, with richly embellished designs crafted in platinum, 18-karat gold and sterling silver. In fact, Omidifar says, the LUZ story is sometimes not told to customers until as much as 30 minutes into a presentation, after the designs have lured them in.

"About 90 percent of the sales are people who are extremely attracted to the designs," Omidifar says. "The story is the icing on the cake."

The first piece in the collection is "Love," a square-shaped ring whose design was inspired by the four cornerstones of a relationship: love itself, passion, desire and boundaries. The edges are smooth, and rubies scattered at the four corners signify the passion that is a part of being in love.

The "Breakup" ring, by contrast, one of the most popular in the collection, is an edgy, sharper-edged piece that is the Love ring turned inside out and, as the designer says, "cut in half."

Additional pieces such as "Cheat" and "Alone" finally give way to "Luz," Spanish for "light," a style that can be formed into a wedding set. As the company states, "All love stories should have a happy ending and LUZ is no exception."

"Breakup" bracelets from Houman Jewelry Design's "LUZ" collection feature harder edges that signify the sharper sides of love. Shown in platinum, prices range from $19,950 to $25,300, depending on diamond color and men's or women's versions. (619) 437-7007 or LuzStyle.comTaking the idea a step further is D Jewelry Co. Though the "D" stands for "Divorced," a status not commonly associated with keepsakes, the line is about building self-esteem and symbolizing a new beginning, says Harold Thompson, company president.

"There have been comments for it and against it," he says.

One customer told Thompson that every glimpse of her ring reminds her of the best decision she ever made.

Crafted in sterling silver or 14-karat gold, the defining detail is that each band contains a small separation, marking the actual physical separation in the normal "never-ending circle."

Moments and mementos Other designers are crafting pieces that build everyday stories for consumers. Heather Moore Jewelry charms are engraved with everything from children's names and birthdates to lucky numbers, while musician Seal recently launched a collection for Mouawad consisting of matchbox-like necklaces that can be filled with cherished items, satisfying consumers eager for items that say something about themselves and go beyond metal and stone.

Allowing consumers to write their own story is designer Laura Gibson, who launched a new line at the JCK Las Vegas show that is actually called "Story Rings."

"In my case, the 'story' behind the rings is up to the imagination of the buyer," she says.

Gemstone-intensive, as per Gibson's usual style, the collection features stacking pieces, including bands with eight stones, rings with larger center stones and plain sterling bands as well.

"My idea was to allow women to buy what they are attracted to as opposed to what their birthstone might be," Gibson says, adding that if a buyer loves sapphires but it's not her birthstone, it might be worn in commemoration of a best friend's birthday or the month she took a great trip.

"[The rings] are really designed to commemorate 'moments' in life that they might attach a color to," she says.

E-mail: cdayrit@nationaljeweler.com

Editor's note: This story first appeared in the July 2008 print edition of National Jeweler.
]]> http://sirint.com/design/story-inspired-designs-spin-sad-and-happy-tales.htm Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif is the new face of Nakshatra, a Gitanjali Group brand. Mumbai, India—Gitanjali Group brand Nakshatra has named Bollywood's reigning queen, Katrina Kaif, as its new brand ambassador.

Kaif has starred in such Bollywood hits as Namaste London, Race and Welcome.

The Gitanjali Group, India's largest integrated diamond and jewelry manufacturer and retailer, said in a media release that the company feels strongly that Kaif epitomizes what Nakshatra stands for.

"Katrina is the perfect representation of the young, trendy and fashionable woman that Nakshatra targets," Gitanjali Group Chairman Mehul Choksi said in a media release. "Nakshatra...epitomizes the expression of love and affection in a woman's life. Not only were we enthusiastic about the brand fit, but we feel that Katrina lends a refreshing look to the brand. We are excited about having her on board as the new face for Nakshatra."

Three collections are available under the Nakshatra brand: "Nakshatra Collection," "Eternity Collection" and "Solitaire Collection," with the pieces in the Nakshatra collection featuring unique floral designs with multiple diamonds encircling a single large diamond to signify a constellation effect.

Nakshatra is available in 18-karat gold with diamonds certified by the International Gemological Institute.
]]> http://sirint.com/design/bollywood-star-face-of-gitanjali-s-nakshatra.htm Lowepro has added two new lines to its collection of camera bags, and has expanded three existing lines with new models. The new Terraclime bags are made of eco-friendly materials and designed not to look like camera bags, while, at the other end of the spectrum, the new Luxe bags are made of leather and come in colors such as eggplant, teal, and pink. Both new series include small pouches designed for point-and-shoots, and the Terraclime line also offers shoulder bags that are large enough to hold digital SLR gear.

New additions to existing camera bag lines include the Primus Minimus AW, CompuPrimus AW, SlingShot 350AW, and Flipside 400 AW. The two Primus AW backpacks are made with 51 percent recycled materials and are designed to carry SLR gear. Both the CompuPrimus and the sling-style SlingShot 350 AW can accommodate a laptop in addition to camera gear, and the CompuPrimus comes with a removable laptop sleeve that has a built-in LCD hood for shielding the screen from bright light. The large Flipside 400 AW backpack holds a pro SLR with a lens attached, along with additional lenses and other equipment. Lowepro's Flipside bags have a back-entry design that makes it easy for the photographer to access camera equipment quickly but prevents the main compartment from being opened when the bag is worn.

Full details on the new bags are available on Lowepro's Web site. Their retail prices are as follows:

Terraclime 10 $19.99
Terraclime 30 $22.99
Terraclime 50 $29.99
Terraclime 100 $79.99
Luxe $39.99
CompuPrimus AW$349.99
Primus Minimus AW $249.99
Flipside 400 AW $189.99
Slingshot 350 AW $179.99

PhotoReview have reviewed the Canon EOS 1000D, a new entry-level, 10 megapixel DSLR camera with Live View mode.

“Overall performance from the test camera was in line with previous Canon DSLR cameras we’ve reviewed. Autofocusing was fast and accurate under most conditions, although there were times when the camera selected an unsuitable focusing point and we had to resort to manual over-ride (the user manual warns you to expect this). In dim lighting, ‘hunting’ was negligible without the AF-assist light (which uses the built-in flash and only operates when the flash is up).”

Website: PhotoReview - Canon EOS 1000D Review

Designed for automatic snapshot photography, the E60 provides numerous scene modes, face detection autoexposure and autofocus, an Auto Picture mode that evaluates scenes and automatically selects one of six shooting modes, and Pentax's Green mode for fully automatic operation. Its automatic light sensitivity setting runs up to ISO 6400, and it has a 1/2000- to 4-second shutter speed range. The camera's other notable features include a mode that alerts the photographer if someone blinks in a shot, a voice recording mode, smooth VGA video recording with sound, autofocus tracking, a panorama mode, and an Image Recovery function for retrieving accidentally deleted photos.

The E60 will be available in October 2008 for under $140.