10. Mikimoto

While many luxury jewelry houses are specializing in diamonds, Mikimoto has always focused on pearl jewelry. One respondent said, “If you like pearls, this is the best quality.” Another respondent said, “The brand pays meticulous attention to detail – I am extremely fond of the Mikimoto pieces I have purchased.” Last year, Mikimoto teamed up with Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto to create an exclusive jewelry collection. This joint venture jewelry collection consists of 3 groups with about 20 pieces each.

9. Bulgari

Bulgari is an Italian jeweler and luxury goods retailer under French control since 2011 . The trademark is usually written “BVLGARI” in the classical Latin alphabet , and is derived from the surname of the company’s Greek founder, Sotirio Voulgaris . Although the company made a name for itself with jewelry, today it is a recognized luxury brand that markets several product lines including watches, handbags, fragrances, accessories, and hotels.
Bulgari jewelry design is distinctive and often imitated . In the 1970s, many of the more expensive Bulgari pieces (such as necklaces, bracelets and earrings) were characterized by instantly recognizable, bold, almost brutal designs combining large and weighty gold links with black-surfaced steel. Genuine Bulgari watches have a unique serial number that is registered with the company.

8. Chopard

Chopard is a Swiss based luxury watch, jewelry, and accessories company founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard at the age of 24. Chopard initially concentrated on developing precise pocket watches and chronometers based upon innovative ideas. Chopard is regarded as a manufacture, in other words that they make many of their watches and movements in-house rather than using the base movements of other manufacturers. Chopard, which also has production facilities in Fleurier, is one of four participating brands in the Fleurier Quality Foundation, which certifies a very high level of quality to manufactured watches . The “Qualité Fleurier” standard is meant to compete with the Geneva standards such as the exclusive Geneva Seal manufacturing standard.
The Chopard Company has developed a variety of watch collections, including quartz and mechanical timepieces, gem-set and technically complicated models, classic and sporty ones. The list of the leading Chopard collections is the following: Mille Miglia, L.U.C., Happy Diamonds, Happy Sport, Happy Spirit, Classiques, Your Houre, La Strada and Haute Horlogerie.
Chopard Mille Miglia watch collection comprises mechanical timepieces of sporty style. These timepieces appeared as a result of the brand’s partnership with Italian car rally, the Mille Miglia. The Chopard Happy Sport ladies’ collection features timepieces that unite sporty style with precious stones and bright colors. The L.U.C collection features massive sporty-styled chronometers and elegant classy men’s watches.

7. Cartier

Cartier S.A., commonly known as Cartier, is a French luxury jeweler and watch manufacturer. The corporation carries the name of the Cartier family of jewellers whose control ended in 1964 and who were known for numerous pieces including the “Bestiary” (best illustrated by the Panthère brooch of the 1940s created for Wallis Simpson), the diamond necklace created for Bhupinder Singh the Maharaja of Patiala and in 1904 the first practical wristwatch, the “Santos.” Cartier SA is headquartered in Paris.
The company has a long and distinguished history of serving royalty, as well as stars and celebrities. One Prince of Wales hailed Cartier as “Joaillier des Rois, Roi des Joailliers”. Cartier received an order for 27 tiaras for the coronation of the future British King. King Edward VII was crowned in 1902 and in 1904 he honoured the Company with the Royal warrant of supplier to the Royal Court of England. Similar warrants soon followed from the courts of Spain, Portugal, Russia, Siam, Greece, Serbia, Belgium, Romania, Egypt and finally Albania, and also from the House of Orleans and the Principality of Monaco.

6. Piaget dimonds

As more and more Americans and Europeans buy diamond watches, Piaget is seeing more and more growth. Traditionally known for their diamond watches, Piaget creates diamond jewelry with their diamond studded Hearts & Charms collection and their Limelight collection which features gemstones like purple and pink sapphires.

5. Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co. is an American jewelry and silverware company. As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue, which is a registered trademark.
Tiffany designs were worn by such famous US families as the Astors, the Vanderbilts, Posts, Huttons and the Morgans. Athletes, Hollywood stars, and even European royalty adored these diamonds. Museums valued the Tiffany designs, which ranged from the Art Nouveau period to Art Deco to today’s modern styles.
A Tiffany’s gemologist, George Frederick Kunz, was instrumental in the international adoption of the metric carat as a weight standard for gems, and the Tiffany standard for sterling and platinum have been adopted as United States Standards.
The 128.54 carats (25.71 g) Fancy Yellow Tiffany Diamond is usually on display in the New York City flagship store.

4. Graff Diamonds

It was founded in London by Laurence Graff in the 1960s and now has worldwide operations which range from cutting the raw stones and manufacture of jewelry to the final retailing from their 26 boutiques. They specialize in stones of exceptional quality, and are said to have handled more important gems than any other dealer in the world.Graff Diamonds in New York. The company is expanding its presence in East Asia as China emerges with growing economic wealth.
The Paragon is a 7-sided diamond of 137.82 carats (27.564 g), cut and owned by Graff Diamonds. It was worn as part of “millennium” necklace of round, pink, blue and yellow diamonds by Naomi Campbell in 1999. Graff bought the uncut 603-carat (121 g) Lesotho Promise for $12.4 million in 2006.[6] The Promise was cut by a team of 35 using computer-controlled lasers into 26 D-flawless diamonds totaling 224 carats (45 g), the highest yield from a single stone. From the same mine as the Lesotho Promise, Letseng diamond mine operated by Gem Diamonds, they bought the 493-carat (99 g) Letseng Legacy. Graff also cut the 100-carat (20 g) Star of America, and the 40-carat (8.0 g) Sun King.

3. Van Cleef & Arpels

Van Cleef & Arpels is a French jewellery, watch, and perfume company that was founded in 1896 by Charles Arpels and Alfred Van Cleef. They opened their first boutique in 1906 at 22 place Vendôme, Paris. Van Cleef & Arpels are renowned for their expertise in precious stones and have won particular acclaim for a groundbreaking gem-setting procedure known as the Mystery Setting.
In 2009, the company released a line of luxury perfumes called Collection Extraordinaire, comprising six fragrances.In 2010, launch of a new high jewellery collection during the Biennale des Antiquaires called Les Voyages Extraodinaires de Jules Verne. CVan Cleef & Arpels is owned, through Richmont, by the South African Rupert Family.
Faithful to the spirit of their founders, each piece of Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery is designed to enhance the beauty of exceptional stones. Although Van Cleef & Arpels has purchased exceptional pieces, it has also brought rare stones, such as aquamarines, mandarin garnets and rubellites, to light. Van Cleef & Arpels sometimes choose to highlight the poetry of more unexpected materials, such as mother-of-pearl, snakewood and lacquer.

2. Buccellati

Buccellati is an exclusive luxury jewelry brand. The firm is known for their engraved brushed-gold and platinum jewelry embedded with fine gemstones including rubies, emeralds, diamonds and sapphires

1. Harry Winston

Harry Winston was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade, and traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963.
Winston’s jewelry empire began with his acquisition of Arabella Huntington’s famous jewelry collection. The wife of railroad magnate Henry Huntington, Arabella amassed one of the world’s most prestigious collections of jewelry largely from Parisian jewelers such as Cartier.
When Winston purchased the collection after her death, the designs of the collection were quite old fashioned. Winston redesigned the jewelry into more contemporary styles and showcased his unique skill at jewelry crafting. According to the Huntington museum, “He frequently boasted that Arabella’s famous necklace of pearls now adorned the necks of at least two dozen women around the world.”Winston was among the most famous jewelers in the world, well-known to the general public. In the 1953 musical film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” includes the spoken interjection “Talk to me, Harry Winston, tell me all about it!” The Lauren Weisberger comic novel Chasing Harry Winston was published in May 2008.
Today, the Harry Winston Diamond Corporation operates eight salons in the U.S., in New York, Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, Dallas, Honolulu, Bal Harbour, Chicago, and Costa Mesa and twelve salons in other countries.

Save The World

Friday, February 24, 2012

Top 10 Jewelry Brands