Oscar jewelry fashion at the 2011 Academy Awards

Oscar jewelry fashion at the 2011 Academy Awards was a smattering of surprises paired with the usual classic diamond deluge. Fasten your seat-belts, jewelry hounds. Here's my glittering recap to the red carpet Super Bowl. Here are my top ten looks of the night:


1. Anne Hathaway Oscar Jewelry

Some might say Tiffany diamonds and a red dress are safe Oscar bets. I say - that's the kind of red carpet fashion we jewelry hounds are looking for (and dare I say) expect from the A-list. And Annie's jewelry looks just kept on coming throughout the show.

Hathaway set off her bare neckline with a $10 million Tiffany Lucida Star Diamond necklace set with a total of 94 carats of diamonds. The necklace was paired with 10-carat diamond earrings, also from Tiffany, and a 5-carat diamond ring.

  

2. Nicole Kidman Oscar Jewelry


How can you make a stunning 150-carat Fred Leighton diamond necklace look even more beautiful? Put it on Nicole Kidman and have it DRAPE DOWN HER BACK! Win!

Best actress nominee Nicole Kidman matched her Dior Couture gown with a 150-carat 19th Century Riviere diamond necklace by Fred Leighton and wore the long strand of old-mine diamonds as a choker, with a string of sparkling stones trailing down her open back.

3. Marisa Tomei Oscar Jewelry


Van Cleef & Arpels is responsible for these sapphire, diamond and emerald statement stunners. And her Charles James dress from 1950 almost made Tim Gunn hyperventilate, bless his heart. She's never looked better.

4. Natalie Portman Oscar Jewelry

Best actress award winner Natalie Portman accessorized with a Tiffany rubellite tassel earrings set with rose-cut diamonds, an Elsa Peretti Diamonds by the yard bracelet, diamond earrings worn as hair accessories and a diamond ring, both by Jean Schlumberger.

5. Gwyneth Paltrow Oscar Jewelry

Speaking of G-Pal - only she could pull off this Calvin Klein silvery sensation of a dress paired with these unique Louis Vuitton gemstone (bird?) earrings from their L’Ame du Voyage collection. A bold choice and a big win!

6. Helen Mirren Oscar Jewelry

Actress Helen Mirren was nearly all Cartier, wearing a classic silk gray gown designed by Vivienne Westwood in collaboration with Cartier jewels. She complimented the shape and color of her dress with a vintage platinum necklace from 1907 set with diamonds and pearls, and a large diamond and platinum bracelet from Cartier’s Archive Museum Collection. 

7. Reese Witherspoon Oscar Jewelry

The actress Reese Witherspoon looked lovely in 35-carat emerald drops by Neil Lane, her jewelry totaled $1 million.

8. Jennifer Hudson Oscar Jewelry

Jaws dropped when this dream girl stepped on the red carpet in a 'tangerine/red' Versace number and Neil Lane diamonds. And I am telling you. You don't have to go anywhere, sister.

Jennifer Hudson wore a fancy colored diamond and platinum ring, platinum and diamond earrings, a wide 50-carat diamond and platinum bracelet, and a platinum and diamond leaf bracelet all by Neil Lane. 

9. Mandy Moore Oscar Jewelry

The 'less is more' win of the night for me went to this pretty diamond cluster earring on Mandy Moore. The overall look is the perfect example of how to wear jewelry with a sparkly dress. Just lovely.

10. Amy Adams Oscar Jewelry

Such a bold choice to wear navy, no neck line and this Cartier emerald and diamond wrap necklace and a 30.75-carat carved emerald and diamond bracelet-watch worth $1.025 million. Everyone is talking about her jewelry - despite the fact that it belonged with a different ensemble.

Amy Adams jazzed up her deep midnight blue L’Wren Scott sequined gown with a Cartier emerald and pearl necklace that layered over the navy blue beads of her dress and a striking platinum houte joaillarie secret watch bracelet set with several rows of colorless diamonds and featuring a large carved emerald watch face in the center, also by Cartier.

Red-hued frocks with elegant diamond looks were a big trend (Anne Hathaway, Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Hudson), along with emerald jewels (Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon, Annette Bening), knock-out necklaces (Nicole Kidman, Helen Mirren), and colorful earrings in surprising silhouettes (Marisa Tomei, Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman).

While there was a very real fear that the 'less is more' trend would dominate the night - (Michelle Williams, Mandy Moore and Jennifer Lawrence all opted for minimal jewels - among many others), Oscar always brings out the best in some of our go-to fashion divas.

Whew! So what do you guys think of my Top Ten Oscar jewels for 2011? Who did I miss? Weigh in your opinion here or on our Facebook page.

World’s most expensive purseworth $3.8 million

This heart-shaped bag made of 4,517 diamonds is sure to be a girl's best friend

If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, then there will be few women in the world who won’t swoon over this handbag. Crowned by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most expensive, the "1001 Nights Diamond Purse" is valued at $3.8 million.

The heart-shaped bag is encrusted with more than 4,517 diamonds  – 105 yellow, 56 pink and 4,356 colorless. The diamonds on the bag weigh a whopping total of 381.92 carats.

“The Mouawad 1001 Nights Diamond Purse is designed to mesmerize with its lavish attention to detail and elaborate workmanship incorporating thousands of diamonds,” said Pascal Mouawad, co-guardian of the House of Mouawad, which was founded in 1890.

The bag was handcrafted from 18-carat gold. It took 10 artisans, working over a period of four months, an incredible 1,100 hours to create the purse.

But this isn't the first time that Dubai-based designer Mouawad has gone out on a limb with its diamond creations. The Dubai-based jewelry design house has created several bras made out of diamonds, including the Very Sexy Fantasy Bra for Victoria’s Secret.The bag was handcrafted from 18-carat gold. It took 10 artisans, working over a period of four months, an incredible 1,100 hours to create the purse.

The purse was on display at the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition over the weekend of Feb. 20. There has been no word yet if anyone has bought the purse.

How to Read a GIA Diamond Report

GIA Diamond Grading Report Provides Most Respected Diamond Analysis

Items of significant value typically come with important documentation. Houses have deeds. Vehicles have titles and registration. Purebred pets have pedigree papers. And a college education is validated with a diploma. But what about something as important as a diamond? The answer is that independent support documentation is available for diamonds, too, to verify their quality and provide positive identification.

The most widely used and recognized means of verifying a diamond’s quality is with a GIA Diamond Grading Report™ or GIA Diamond Dossier®, provided by the internationally recognized, nonprofit Gemological Institute of America (GIA).

A report from GIA provides an expert analysis of the quality of a diamond based upon the 4Cs of diamond grading: color, cut, clarity, and carat weight. The GIA Diamond Grading Report also includes a plotting diagram which depicts the diamond’s unique clarity characteristics, such as inclusions.  In addition, since GIA is not affiliated with any commercial enterprise, the public is assured the world’s most impartial and accurate analysis of a diamond.

The GIA Laboratory employs hundreds of highly trained diamond graders, gemologists, and research technicians and scientists to ensure the highest caliber of analysis for every diamond submitted for grading. Some of the world’s most famous diamonds have been graded by GIA Laboratory experts, including the legendary Hope Diamond (45.52 carats) and the De Beers Centenary Diamond (273.85 carats).

GIA only grades unmounted diamonds, and the fee for services varies based on the weight of the diamond. For an additional fee, the unique GIA Report Registry number can be micro-laser inscribed onto the diamond’s girdle (thin outer edge). This unique number provides added security to the diamond’s owner. The owner can also choose to inscribe a personal message, such as “I Love You,” a special date, or any message of choice. The number or wording is permanently registered in GIA’s archive database.

Diamonds weighing 1.99 carats or less can be issued a GIA Diamond Dossier®. This report provides the same information as the GIA Diamond Grading Report, except for the plotting diagram. The micro-laser inscription of the diamond’s unique GIA Report number is included for each diamond receiving a Dossier at no additional charge.

The most convenient way for the public to obtain a GIA Diamond Grading Report or Diamond Dossier, or to request laser inscription services from the GIA  Laboratory, is to request services through a local fine jewelry retailer. Retail jewelers are more familiar with the care and handling of diamonds and jewelry, are better equipped to facilitate service arrangements, and are uniquely qualified to advise the public on the importance and interrelationship of features discussed in a GIA Grading Report.

A consumer information report in The Wall Street Journal noted, “Every diamond should come with a grading certificate from an accredited gemological laboratory; the jewelers we talked to agree that the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), an independent nonprofit organization, is the most trustworthy.”

GIA, established in 1931 and regarded as the world’s foremost authority in gemology, is noted for such achievements as inventing the modern jeweler’s loupe (1934), creating the 4Cs (late 1930s), and establishing the International Diamond Grading System™ (1953) – which is recognized worldwide as the standard for diamond grading.