Kate Gosselin Ditches the Wedding Ring

Well, she's not 'ditching' her wedding ring really, but rather 'switching it'.

Reality TV's Kate Gosselin admitted in a Today Show interview that she finally put away her wedding ring and exchanged it for the ring she received during the taped Hawaiian vow renewal ceremony that gave us all hope this TV couple might just make it after all.

What a difference a year makes.



I'm still not sure why Kate is hanging on to rings that symbolize a relationship that has decidedly gone very, very south, but I really like the idea she shared with Meredith Viera about ditching the wedding bling altogether and instead creating a ring to symbolize her commitment to her kids - a design with 8 diamonds (one for each spawn) and one mother-of-pearl stone.

Kate could be on the verge of creating an entirely new jewelry category for single mothers - and there are plenty of them out there, right? What do you guys think of her idea?

I think she's really on to something. And if she's smart, she'll start her own jewelry line instead of relying on TLC to bread her butter now that Jon is refusing to allow the kids to be a part of her show.

Just a thought. What are yours?

Jewelry Explodes on the Paris Catwalks

Jewelry hounds, we’ve got ourselves another jaw-dropping bling display courtesy of Paris Fashion Week.

Last year, Christian Lacroix blew my mind with his Alice in Wonderland-inspired runway jewels. And this year? The torch has successfully been passed to Lanvin.


What began as a rather restrained display of bling on frocks that ranged from the simple little black dress to the pleated jumpsuit, slowly evolved into an over-the-top fashion fiesta complete with dazzling carnation red dresses, dripping gold bracelets and bejeweled statement necklaces that had tongues wagging well after the show.


Critical darlings like John Galliano for Dior and Jean Paul Gauliter got solid reviews from the Paris onlookers earlier in the week, but it was the Lanvin runway that sent the sartorial tastemakers into a tizzy.


According to Style.com:

“Every Lanvin show has had a bijoux component in varying degrees, but yesterday, Elbaz amped it up like never before with a crescendoing glitz factor. There were wide enameled cuffs stacked over black leather gloves, slinky gold chains dangling Byzantine-inspired pendants, fat chain links studded with stones, and dramatically twisting Medusa-worthy snakes.”


Thank you, Lanvin, for finally giving me something to gawk at this year. And check out Jewelry.com's Facebook page for more Paris fashion fodder. You won’t want to miss Gaultier’s gold links and denim overall cone bras!



In the meantime, what do you guys think of the Lanvin jewelry display? Weigh in!

The Hope Diamond Gets Naked

The Hope Diamond, one of the world's most famous gems, is getting naked to celebrate 50 years at the Smithsonian. To honor the rare 45.52-carat blue diamond, the museum is designing three possible new settings for the stone, inviting the public to vote for their favorite by visiting:

http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/hope.

The winning setting will be announced this fall, and the gem will be shown in its new digs starting in May to celebrate the premiere of a Smithsonian Channel documentary on the diamond.

In the meantime, The Hope will be hanging out in the buff - a first for the storied gem.

"This is a rare and exciting opportunity for people to see the Hope Diamond as it has never been seen before," said museum director Cristian Samper.

Formed more that a billion years ago, the diamond was mined in India and is believed to have been part of the French crown jewels. It later came into the possession of Henry Philip Hope, whose name it carries.

The Hope Diamond was long thought to have a curse, bringing bad luck to its owners, but Smithsonian officials say it has been kind to them, drawing throngs of visitors.

Here's to another curse-free half-century!

Brooch Diplomacy - Madeleine Albright Communicates with Jewelry

If Michelle Obama is ushering in a new era of power brooch diplomacy, she wouldn’t be the first. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a tenacious negotiator, loved to communicate her mood and intentions through her brooches, and now the Museum of Arts & Design in New York will exhibit 200 of her favorites.

Albright "found that what she wore and how she presented herself had a lot of interpretive meaning to those she was with," said Holly Hotchner, the museum's director. "The pins became an added way that she communicated as secretary of state."

"Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection," scheduled to open today, comes 10 years after the museum presented "Brooching It Diplomatically," a show of pins created by contemporary artists inspired by the ones Albright wore.

"She started acquiring pins because of their inherent messages, their whimsical and pictorial quality," said David Revere McFadden, the museum's chief curator. "It's not about jewels and gems, it's about jewelry as a communication device."

The collection is diverse, ranging from Americana styles — including flags and eagles — to ones with flora, fauna and insect themes. She always brought a selection with her on her travels so she could be ready for any situation.

For instance, Albright chose to wear a bee pinwhenever she felt talks amounted to "something like a sting," McFadden said.

"It's a very gentle way of saying to whomever she is speaking to: 'Listen carefully because I'm kind of telling you where I think this conversation is going,"' he said.

When she thought negotiations would likely go well, she would wear a balloon pin. Another pin, made of stainless steel, shows the head of Lady Liberty with two watch faces for eyes, one of which is upside down. The pin allows both her and others to check the time.

I wonder how many times Albright said the word ‘pinhead’ during the Bush administration?

The exhibition, running from Sept. 30 though Jan. 31, 2010, will be accompanied by a book, "Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box," written by Albright.

Mariah's New Record and Record-Breaking Diamond

With all the buzz about Khloe Kardashian's 9-carat diamond ring cluttering the airwaves, it's easy to forget about other celebrity bling that made our hearts skip a beat.

Now that Mariah Carey is running around on all the talk shows promoting her latest album, I am reminded that this diva has a rock to rival them all.

Do you remember the 17-carat pink diamond ring she got from Nick Canon back in 2008? The impressive sparkler from Jacob & Co is valued at a whopping $2.5 million and with a center stone weighing in at 10-carats – a little smaller than a dime.

"I wanted to do something extremely special, something that Mariah would really appreciate," Cannon told PEOPLE back in the day. "We got the pinkest stone we could find, surrounded by other diamonds."

Carey definitely approved. "It's so clear, you can see my finger through it," she said.

According to Jacob Arabo of Jacob & Co., Cannon "was very involved," in picking the ring, which has an emerald-cut fancy light pink center stone surrounded by 58 intense pink diamonds, flanked by two half-moon diamonds.

Stop! It's too much to bear...

Who wears your favorite celebrity enagement ring bling? Weigh in!

Khloe Kardashian's Engagement Ring Bling

Well, jewelry hounds? I found the Khloe Kardashian diamond ring low down for you.

The wedding that has everyone in Hollywood buzzing went down yesterday evening between Khloe and her LA Laker bf, Lamar Odom - and of course Ryan Seacrest was there to film the fiesta for his Keeping Up With The Kardashians reality show (why that show gets ratings is beyond me).

Actually, I do see at least one angle of interest here. Khloe's whopper of a diamond engagement ring was finally spotted, and the 9-carat radiant cut bauble rivals that of fellow Laker wife, Vanessa Bryant (wife of Kobe).

While Vanessa lost in the carat count (she has a mere 7) she does win the dating game - hanging with Kobe for a marathon 6 months before walking down the aisle. Way to take your time, ladies.

Anywho, check out Jewelry.com for details of the wedding itself. Lots of celebrity guests, white roses, gourmet food and the like - and of course plenty of reality show cameras there to make sure America watches.

What's next? Hospital bed footage when sister, Kourtney, delivers her baby? I think I'll pass...

Khloe Kardashian's Engagement Ring MIA

What's more outrageous than a 9-carat diamond engagement ring? Getting a 9-carat diamond engagement ring and not wearing it!

Reality star Khloe Kardashian is stealing the spotlight from her famous sisters this week with news of her last-minute wedding to LA Laker, Lamar Odom, after dating him for only a month.

"I'm thrilled to finally be able to tell you that the news is true...Lamar and I are getting married on Sunday!!!" Kardashian wrote on her Celebuzz blog Tuesday. "I couldn't be happier and I'm so excited that I can finally share the news with all of you."

Maybe his 4-year $33 million-dollar deal motivated her? Or perhaps the rumored 9-carat diamond ring sealed the deal? But the ring is nowhere to be found! What gives?

Apparently, the diamond dazzler is being sized so it's ready for the pending nuptials this Sunday. You can bet I'll be tracking it - once it makes its debut it will be hard to miss.

What do you guys think of Khloe's decision to walk down the aisle? Is she marrying for the money? Or do you think it's true love - with (some major) benefits?