Halloween Jewelry for Your Inner Goth

Blasphemy! Lechery! Blood! My jewelry box is crying out for a little death and destruction today, so let's get in touch with our inner goth in honor of the year’s creepiest holiday.

If you worshiped The Cure, wore black in honor of Morrissey’s interminable depression, or call The Nightmare Before Christmas your favorite holiday film, you’re already way ahead of the game. For those of you who need a refresher, here is a doom and gloom jewelry primer.

Cross necklaces are the building block of any Goth girl jewelry wardrobe. No, not the dainty little gold cross you might see on your sweet Aunt Linda. We’re talking large, layered, chunky cross necklaces that are definitely NOT a statement about how ‘devout’ you are.




Skulls: According to the experts at FIT,

“The human skull is the type of object once treasured as a memento mori (a reminder of death), later collected as a scientific specimen, and (is) now ubiquitous as an inspiration for gothic accessories.”

Diamond skulls are my favorite skeletal incarnation, but you can find them in an array of precious metal options.





Spikes: Instrument of death meet jewelry accessory. ‘Nuff said.








Chokers: Necklaces generally fit snug around your neck if you’re a goth princess. Perhaps to protect against your run-of-the-mill vampire or to show off your close relationship to a world without oxygen.








Bats and Spiders: Bats are big these days what with vampire chic taking a bite out of the fashion world, but you can expand the category to include spiders, webs, and any matter of the creepy and the crawly.













Rubies: Blood is big in the underworld, people, and what other gemstone could possibly represent the vampire elixir better than the ravenous ruby. Find them on a cross pendant or a spiked cuff, and you’ll double down on the all-important death and destruction factor.

So whether your true persuasion is uber-angelic or devilishly devious, Halloween is the perfect night to accessorize like it’s going to be your last. In the meantime, I’m off to dig up my Siouxsie and the Banshees concert T and that pesky white foundation.

Diamonds and Dial Tones - The Dior Phone Rules

Jewelry hounds, you all know that I J'adore Dior. So like any Charlize Theron wannabe, I'm falling in love with their latest round of blingy phone products due out just in time for the holidays.

Last year, Dior blew all the other designer phone brands out of the water with their Dior Phone Diamonds (Glorious Black) set with a whopping 641 diamonds, weighing in at 3.251 carats. Not enough bling for you? They threw in 34 black sapphire crystals for good measure for a pricetag of a mere $28 grand (yup, that's three zeroes).


This year, the recession must be affecting their price points since the new diamond phone offerings run from $7900 (red Zelie model) to $13, 400 ((white Zenaide model). No word yet on the carat count, but if you'd rather not have a diamond blingtone, there's a sapphire and gold-plated clamshell option covered in black PVD for $6500.

See? They're being reasonable.

I've already added this little ditty to my Christmas list - but one can apparently only get ones hands on the Dior dazzler by special order - so sharpen those claws and start praying to the fashion gods now. Santa doesn't have quite the pull in this arena.

50 Cent Downsizes Diamonds

Whether your jewelry box is full of costume pieces or icy diamond jewels, the recession is forcing everyone to take stock of their stash with a discerning eye - including hip hop stars. In fact, rich rapper 50 Cent recently confessed that his diamond habit has taken a hit due to these tough economic times (the horror!)

Is he turning in his diamonds in for dollars? Putting the bling away for good business? Hosting gold parties at the mansion? Not really. He's just had to sell some of his old diamonds before buying new ones, according to The London Telegraph. Life's tough.

“The credit crunch has hit rap,” 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, said.

“I buy diamonds on a very regular basis, but now I am selling my old stuff before I get something new. “These are times when you learn about the value of money.”

50 Cent said he has lost "a few milion." in the past year:

“If you don’t lose money in this recession, it means you didn’t have enough to start off with,” Fitty explained. “Sure, I lost a few million, but that’s because I have so much. This is a time that will sort out the strong from the weak."

I'm heart-stricken by his loss.

The Hershey Kiss Meets Diamond Glitz

We jewelry lovers usually pair our diamond fetishes with other decadent delights - say, designer jeans, overpriced shoes, and - of course- chocolate. And lots of it, right? Now, thanks to our friends at Hershey's, jewelry hounds like ourselves have the perfect way to show the world what makes our hearts skip a collective beat.

From Carrie Bradshaw's signature 'Carrie' necklace to Rachel Zoe's panther ring, jewelry has always been used as a way to express our personalities to the world. That's why I'm really digging this little kiss of a jewelry statement - what better way to say you like your life both shiny and delicious?

According to a National Jeweler interview with the Hershey Kiss manufacturer, World Trade Jewelers, more than 400 independent jewelers are carrying the Kiss jewelry line, in addition to a special collection that's sold at Zales. Pricepoints range from the reasonable ($49 for simple sterling silver designs) to the royal ($10,000 for a more diamond-heavy Kiss).

Seal your style with a kiss at Dylan's Candy Bar at 6:30pm tonight in Manhattan if you're in the hood to check out their new designs, or shop here for some lip smacking styles on Jewelry.com through our retail partner Zales.

Ivanka Trump’s Wedding Jewelry Low Down

Ivanka Trump jewelry is all the rage right now – from her stunning cushion-cut diamond engagement ring to her eponymous jewelry line, The Ivanka Trump Collection.

So it comes as no surprise that jewelry mavens like us are darn near apoplectic to find out what kind of diamond bling the lucky bit%@, I mean, lucky bride wore to her wedding this Sunday.

Here are the diamond-filled deets, my hounds:

Ivanka wore three pieces of custom-made platinum and diamond jewels. The first? A platinum mixed-cut diamond hair piece to accent her veil weighing in at 6.38 carats for a mere $45,000.

Next? Tasteful platinum mixed-cut cluster earrlings at 9.67 carats and $130,000. (Click here for diamond clusters like Ivanka’s that don’t have so many price point zeros.)

Finally? A truly stunning art deco fancy link diamond and platinum estate bracelet at 26 carats worth $90,000 that went perfectly with her Grace Kelly-inspired Vera Wang gown.

Her bridesmaids were appropriately adorned in Ivanka Trump Collection diamond jewelry to go with their Carolina Herrera gowns (searching for pics, so stay tuned).

Well-heeled New Yorkers from the publishing, real estate, and jewelry worlds rubbed elbows with the likes of Russell Crowe and Natalie Portman. Ivana mingled with The Donald. Regis mingled with Babs Walters. Oh, to be a fly on the wall…

Before heading back to their important careers and fairytale lives, the newlyweds are going to spend some time honeymooning in Africa. Of course.

What do you guys think of the happy couple and the diamond bling? Weigh in! I thought it was tasteful and non-Trump like. Not too over-the-top at all.

And now back to our regularly scheduled lives....

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