Zenith has an impressive history in watchmaking and has been responsible for some very influential breakthroughs in the field, including bringing together watchmaking artisans under one roof and creating the very first manufacture. Here, we round up Zenith’s most popular watch models to help you find the perfect next addition to your collection!

Zenith El Primero Chronomaster

The Zenith El Primero is history’s very first fully-integrated automatic chronograph—let that sink in for a moment. The importance of that watchmaking development cannot be understated when we think about other history-making chronographs—like the Rolex Daytona and the Omega Speedmaster—that have only been made possible via Zenith’s breakthrough chronograph. It’s only natural that, given this rare distinction, the Zenith El Primero Chronomaster is one of the brand’s most popular styles, beloved for its significant history and slick design.

Zenith Defy Classic

Born out of Zenith’s Defy Lab (the limited-edition watch that featured a super-high-frequency oscillator), the Zenith Defy Classic was released as an affordable everyday sports watch. The ideal entry-level watch for budding collectors, the Defy Classic has all the impressive trappings of an ultra-high end Swiss-made watch (especially if you opt for the openwork or skeletonized Defy Classic) but without the hefty price tag.

Zenith Captain Moonphase

If you love minimalist watches, the Zenith Captain Moonphase will definitely appeal to you. This watch is a handsome testament to Zenith’s heritage and impeccable craftsmanship, bringing together traditional watch stylings with innovative movements. The Captain Moonphase’s striking elegance is thanks to all its subtle and luxurious details: a guilloché dial, rhodium-plated applied hour markers, and a clear caseback.

Zenith Pilot Type 20 Chronograph

With a unique solid brass watch case and weathered leather strap, the Zenith Pilot echoes vintage watches from the World War II era. And the throwback stylings don’t end there: the Pilot Type 20’s large dial features retro Arabic numerals and black oxidized grooves for a more worn-in look and feel. The culminating result is a striking conversation-starting timepiece and a fan-favorite.

Zenith ELITE Classic

An absolutely no-frills watch, the Zenith ELITE Classic has an incredibly slim silhouette and a captivating minimalist dial. The ELITE Classic’s pared down look focuses on the fine details that watch enthusiasts will appreciate: a clear caseback that showcases a mesmerizing Elite 679 movement and a smoked ombré dial to add unexpected dimensionality. The ELITE Classic stands out for its gorgeously simple design and is a smart option if you want a watch that will pique interest at every occasion.

Fine jewelry is nearly always passed down among family members who treasure their pieces’ history and value. Inherited pieces of jewelry like this often come with stories tied to them: happy tales of anniversaries, birthdays, career milestones. However, for certain famous pieces, their stories are less than cheerful. From the collections of royals and thieves come these three famous pieces that are renowned for the horrible curses that are supposedly tied to them.

The Hope Diamond

The Hope Diamond is arguably the most famous cursed piece of jewelry in the world. Its origins can be traced back to the 17th century, when it was mined in Golcanda, India at 112.19 carats. It was first purchased by French traveller and gem merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who then sold the stone to King Louis XIV of France in 1668.

Louis XIV had it re-cut and -set, but could not enjoy it for long. Four years after he received it, in 1792, he and his wife Marie Antoinette were caught while they were trying to flee France and were beheaded.

That same year, the stone was stolen during a looting of the French National Treasury. The line of provenance gets murky here, but the diamond finds itself in the hands of King George IV of England, whose estate sold it after his death to settle his incredible debts in 1830. Its next owner is John Frankel from New York City, whose sons kept the stone until it was sold yet again to settle terrible debts.

In 1909, Pierre Cartier sold the Hope Diamond to Evalyn Walsh Mclean, an heiress and socialite  who’d known of the diamond’s cursed history but chose to ignore it, as she said “unlucky objects were lucky for her.”  In the years after her acquisition of the stone, her son died in a car accident, her daughter of an overdose of sleeping pills, and her husband in a sanitarium for brain atrophy due to alcoholism (but not before cheating on her first). Her family also had to sell their bankrupt newspaper, the Washington Post, before she died of pneumonia in 1947.

The stone was acquired by Harry Winston, who donated it to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. in 1958, and it has been on display there in its final 45-carat form ever since.

The Delhi Purple Sapphire

This stone’s haunted quality is quite cast in doubt, but it certainly does have an interesting story, whether the hauntings are true or not.

The Delhi Purple Sapphire is, firstly, not actually a sapphire, but an amethyst. The stone was reportedly taken by a British soldier from the Temple of Indra in Kanpur, India in 1857. It found itself in the hands of Colonel W. Ferris, whose family began suffering from financial and health problems. “From the day he possessed it, he was unfortunate,” wrote Edward Heron-Allen.

Heron-Allen was a scientist, writer, and Persian scholar who came to own the Delhi Purple Sapphire himself in 1890 and faced a bout of bad luck himself, which he tried to reverse by setting the stone into a ring and “neutralizing” it with other blessed stones in 1902.

He later pawned the stone off on his friends, who, according to London’s Natural History Museum, were afflicted by a “trail of suicides, apparitions, disasters, and failed careers.” Eventually, Heron-Allen took the stone back, packed it inside seven boxes, and gave it to his bankers, who were instructed not to open it until 33 years after his death. With the stone, he packaged a letter detailing this terrible history of bad luck and bloodshed, instructing whoever owned it next to “cast it into the sea.”

His daughter was not nearly so superstitious and donated the stone to the London Natural History Museum less than a year after Heron-Allen’s death, and the museum’s researchers have deemed the letter a sham. Nevertheless, the stone comes with a fascinating history, and even if its stories were true, it is being displayed safely behind glass at the museum.

The Black Prince’s Ruby

Like the Delhi Purple Sapphire, which was not actually a sapphire, the Black Prince’s Ruby is not actually a ruby, but in fact a large red spinel, which is much less valuable. Because of this, the stone was labelled “The Great Impostor.”

The stone was reportedly mined from what is modern-day Tajikistan and taken to Spain, where in the 14th century it was taken by force from Granada by the King of Castile, Pedro the Cruel. Shortly after he acquired it, his half-brother attacked him and challenged his hold on the crown.

Sources differ on what happened next: some say Edward of Woodstock, the “Black Prince,” acquired it because of his success after the Hundred Year’s War in Europe. Others say Pedro the Cruel appealed to the Black Prince for assistance in holding off his brother’s advances on the crown and they were victorious, so the Black Prince was given the stone in thanks. Either way, the stone stayed in the Black Prince’s collection until his death of a mysterious disease nine years later.

The “ruby” reportedly lay witness to various battles and to the mysterious, disease-fueled deaths of its owners. King Henry V of England supposedly wore it during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, in which he nearly died. The stone stayed in the British Tudor family of royals until Charles I was beheaded for treason in 1649 and the stone was sold. It was bought back by Charles II, who nearly lost it when the crown jewels were stolen, but it was eventually set into the Imperial State Crown of England.

Apparently, some say that the curse continues, as the jewelers who re-set the stone suffered a fire in 1841, and the Tower of London, where the jewels are kept, was bombed in World War II, but for now, the Black Prince’s Ruby seems to be at rest.

On September 5th, 2018, luxury jeweler designer Mimi So opened her newest namesake store on Crosby Street in New York City’s Lower East Side.

So’s store is a self-described “urban wonderland.” The space appears as though it was decorated with a light hand: a pair of display cases for jewelry, some inviting plush armchairs near the front of the store, and a vintage park bench sits at the back under a large screen that displays the colorful artwork associated with the Mimi So brand and her signature Wonderland Collection. Every single piece in this minimalist space was not just hand-picked by So herself, but she also infused her unique sensibility for design into it as well.

The store is intended to feel like a comforting space; So wants her clients to come in and feel as though they’re walking into her own home. To that end, So placed items from her actual house (including delicate china and personal affects like a silver hand mirror and children’s books) throughout the display cases to infuse the space with homely touches. The quality of the furniture played a big part in creating that atmosphere for her.

“I am about materials,” she says. “The quality of maple wood, the finest textile embroidery from Italy, reclaimed wood floors. The integrity of a space is of more importance to me than many pieces of lower-quality execution.” This philosophy extends into the creation of her jewelry, as well.

Using high-quality gemstones, fine metals, and top-notch craftsmanship, Mimi So allows the caliber of her pieces to speak to her definition of luxury. More than that, both her jewelry and the new store that they now live in are born from her desire to make manifest her love for the whimsical and for the childhood she spent being exposed to the sights and sounds of New York City.

The Mimi So store is full of surprises, but not just because of the unique jewelry it displays or the one-of-a-kind furniture that decorates it. Its address, 21 Crosby Street, is not exactly a destination for jewelry, but rather a street that is slowly evolving to cater to lovers of art and luxury.

“[Having] Rick Owens across the street [and] Opening Ceremony and luxury hotels as bookends really creates an exciting organic flow of people,” So says. Considering her A-list clientele (from Davie Bowie and Iman to Jennifer Lopez), it’s no surprise that she would choose a location oriented towards luxury, but 21 Crosby Street also lies at a fascinating intersection where it acknowledges both its luxurious future and its gritty, New York City past. That juxtaposition allows for some interesting traffic: she notes that some loyal clients have flown in to see the space while tourists trickle in from the Gucci store down the street and famous artists like Jeffrey Brosk stop by to say hello.

As with her unique pieces, Mimi So has created a space of her own in the heart of the Lower East Side, just blocks away from the street she grew up in. For So, 21 Crosby Street is both a way to bring her brand home and a portal into her inner beautiful, colorful world.

NOW OPEN
Mimi So
21 Crosby Street (between Howard and Grand Street)
New York, NY 10013
212-300-8620

A “push gift” is a present given by the expectant mother’s partner to celebrate the arrival of their newborn, a humble gesture to recognize and thank new moms for carrying the baby for nine months. (Admittedly, the term “push gift” feels rather indelicate for such a well-intentioned present.)

Push gifts in general are on the rise but a growing trend is more expectant and new mothers treating themselves to a gift post-delivery.

So whether it’s for you, your partner, or a loved one, here are our favorite baby gifts for new moms.

Cartier Trinity Collection
The Cartier Trinity Collection features interlocked bands of yellow, white, and rose gold that represent a different tenet of a strong relationship: fidelity, friendship, and love. This sentimental collection carries more emotional weight, as the three bands can also symbolize your new family of three.

Birthstone Jewelry
Commemorate your newborn’s birth month with a piece of jewelry that includes their birthstone. (Check out the complete list of birthstones by month here.) Birthstones are traditionally worn as a pendant necklace, but there is an incredible variety of settings and styles available to customize your look.

Three or More Stone Pendant Necklace
Gemstone pendants are a sweet keepsake and many new mothers like to have a string of pendants with a stone to symbolize each member of the family. Alternatively, opt for layer-friendly delicate necklaces and build upon your collection as your family grows.

Diamond Band
Another popular gift for a new mom is a classic diamond band which is worn with or in lieu of their engagement and wedding band. Alternatively, some modern moms are sporting a diamond band on the ring finger of their right hand instead of stacking the three bands together.

An Elegant Watch
If you’re not one for jewelry, consider a stately timepiece as a gift to yourself. If you want the watch to feel more personal, ask a professional if the watchcase can be engraved with your baby’s initials or birthday.

The primary birthstone for the month of October is a mineraloid that goes by the name of opal.

The Origins and Cultural Significance of Opal

It was believed the word “opal” was adapted from the Latin term opalus, though many modern references suggest it is adapted from the Sanskrit word úpala. 

In the Middle Ages, opal was sometimes considered a stone that provided the wearer with good fortune, good health, and love because it was believed that each gemstone color represented in opal’s spectrum allowed the stone to possess the powers and characteristics of them all. However, opal is also known to have a negative stigma attached to it. For example, there were countries in Europe that feared opals because they believed the stones possessed the “Evil Eye,” largely due to the fact that it looks like the eyes of animals and reptiles such as cats, snakes, and frogs, which were said to be used in spells cast by witches and warlocks.

Despite the negativity surrounding opals, there have been plenty of cultures that have credited the colorful gem with supernatural characteristics and healing powers. The ancient Greeks believed opals protected their owners from illnesses and even allowed them the ability of prophecy. Even some Arabic legends believe that opals had fallen from the heavens during lightning storms. 

Opals, unlike its birthstone predecessor sapphire, are for the most part not found all over the world. Most opals are mined in Australia, Ethiopia, Mexico, and parts of the United States (though smaller deposits have also been found in Brazil, Indonesia, Canada, Turkey, and other countries). In the United States, northern Nevada’s “Virgin Valley” opal fields produce a wide variety of precious fire opal, black opal, white opal, and lemon opal, with the largest producing mines of Virgin Valley being the Rainbow Ridge, Opal Queen, Royal Peacock, Bonanza, and WRT Stonetree/Black Beauty mines. 

Notable Opals

The largest and most valuable opal found to date is the Olympic Australis, found in 1956 at what is known as the “Eight Mile” opal field in the outback opal gemstone mining town of Coober Pedy in South Australia. Weighing roughly 17,250 carats, the Olympic Australis was named for the Olympic games which were held in Melbourne, Australia the same year the stone was discovered. Valued at $2,500,000 AUD, the gem currently resides in Sydney, at the offices of Altmann & Cherny Ltd.

The Properties and Hardness of Opals

Coming in at a 5.5 to 6 rating on the Mohs hardness scale, opal is much softer than many of the other birthstone gems and should be worn sporadically and stored carefully to avoid being damaged by other gems or jewelry.

Because of its colorful characteristics and wide array of prismatic displays of varying hues, opal can look appealing whether it is set in white, yellow, or rose-colored metals. Oval shaped opals are often seen as jewelry centerpieces surrounded by a halo of white diamonds, but Boulder opals and black opals in funky shapes look just as inviting set into high carat yellow gold and enhanced with colored gemstones that are reflected in the opals, themselves. 

The Love Bracelet is Cartier’s signature jewelry design and arguably the most popular piece in Cartier’s vast collection.

The Love Bracelet’s distinctive design features perfectly spaced screws. This unique detail was inspired by the medieval chastity belt folklore and is meant to symbolize devotion and faithfulness. In turn, the Love Bracelet includes a screwdriver so only your significant other can “unlock” the bracelet.

While you may be very familiar with this iconic bracelet, you may be a little nervous when it comes to screwing it open and closed the first few times. Here’s a video tutorial to show you how to easily lock your Cartier Love Bracelet and the thinner new Cartier Love Bracelet, Small. Plus the video shows how to pull open and push closed your Cartier Juste un Clou!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY5QuW_oSbU

How to Lock Closed Your Cartier Love Bracelet, Size Small
1.Put the two halves of your Cartier Love Bracelet, Small around your wrist.
2. With the provided Cartier Screwdriver, turn the screw at the closure one half turn counter-clockwise. Once the screw matches the other rivets, the bracelet is locked.

How to Lock Closed Your Cartier Love Bracelet
1. Put the two halves of your Cartier Love Bracelet around your wrist.
2. Use the provided Cartier Screwdriver to turn the screw the screw roughly two full turns clockwise.
3. The rivet of the locked screw does not need to match the other rivets in order to be locked.

How to Put On and Take Off Your Cartier Juste un Clou Bracelet
1. To wear your bracelet, simply snap the bracelet shut.
2. To remove your Juste un Clou, lightly press on the release mechanism on the underside of the bracelet to open it.

To learn more about how to spot a fake versus real Cartier Love bracelet, check out our post here.

If you’re shopping for an engagement ring, the very first question any jeweler will ask you is, “What is your budget?”

While this may strike you as a very forward question, it’s posed to help the jeweler focus your engagement ring search. While jewelers will begin with budget and then pin down the style, most couples shopping for rings know the design they want but haven’t considered exactly how much they want to spend.

How Much Should I Spend on an Engagement Ring?
There is an incredibly antiquated calculation that you should spend three months’ salary on your engagement ring. By today’s standards, that means Americans earning the median household income of $56,616 would spend over $14,000 on an engagement ring! That said, in 2017, Americans spent, on average, $6,351 on an engagement ring—so clearly few couples are abiding by that dated adage.

So how much should you really spend?

You should only spend what you can comfortably afford on an engagement ring. Truth be told, your wedding day is going to be a major expense—a worthwhile one, of course—but likely to take out a big chunk from your savings. Start your life together on the right foot and budget responsibly when it comes to your engagement ring.

3 Ways to Save on an Engagement Ring—Without Compromising on Style or Diamond Size
If you still want an impressively-sized ring that won’t immediately deplete your wedding budget, here are three ways to save on an engagement ring.

1. Consider a “very slightly included” diamond.
Lots of couples think that they need the highest quality diamond in order to have a beautiful engagement ring. Flawless (FL) or Internally Flawless (IF) diamonds, as their rating names suggest, do not have any inclusions visible under 10x magnification, let alone to the naked eye. FL- or IF-graded diamonds are very rare and therefore very expensive.

In reality, all diamonds are slightly imperfect. So you can make your budget go further if you look at diamonds graded as Very Slightly Included (VS) or Slightly Included (SI). Considered the diamonds with the best value, VS or SI diamonds have inclusions that are visible under 10x magnification but not the naked eye. Therefore, on the hand, SI or VS diamonds will look stunning and flawless!

2. Add a halo around your center stone.
A halo is the row of pavé or micro diamonds that frames your center stone. This detail was particularly popular during the Art Deco era and gives a ring a cool, vintage-inspired flair.

Adding a halo is also a clever way to make your center stone appear bigger without taking a bite out of your budget. Because a halo is made up of lots of small diamonds, they’re a fraction of the cost of a single diamond of the same total carat weight. But, visually, this detail will add more sparkle and pump up the size of your overall ring design to give it more oomph!

3. Shop pre-owned engagement rings.
First off, let’s table the idea that pre-owned engagement rings are haunted by the doomed relationships of its past. The truth is, most diamonds in even new engagement rings are recycled from other engagement rings, retired designs, or estate jewelry.

That said, you stand to save a lot of money if you opt for an engagement ring that is pre-owned. The retail price on engagement rings is significantly marked up—and depreciates the moment you step out of the store, just like a new car driven off the parking lot. You can not only bypass but also benefit from that drop-off if you shop pre-owned jewelry. The quality is exactly the same; the only difference is the price!

For more on why you should shop pre-owned engagement rings, check out our post here.

The Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the film industry and a strong predictor of who will take home the equally illustrious Academy Awards’ Oscar. Here we take a look at how the design of the award has evolved over the years into the Palme d’Or’s distinct modern design, created by Chopard.

The Early Palme d’Or Award Design
The Cannes Film Festival began in 1946. Initially, winners received a “Grand Prix” in lieu of the traditional awards statue or plaque we know of today. The Grand Prix was a piece of modern art, designed by a rotating contemporary artist.

In 1954, the film festival’s directors put out a bid to several jewelry designers, asking for award submissions that prominently featured a palm frond, a reference to the city of Cannes’s coat of arms and the tropical palm trees that line the Promenade de la Croisette, where the film festival is held. Ultimately, jeweler Lucienne Lazon’s design—which featured a palm frond set in a terracotta base—beat out the competition. Lazon’s Palme d’Or design was used until 1964 when the film festival temporarily resumed awarding a Grand Prix.

The Palme d’Or award design was reintroduced in 1975 and, by 1984, had a noticeably modified shape; the base of the award went from a rounded triangle to a severe pyramid. In 1902, French jeweler Thierry de Bourqueney further modernized the Palme d’Or’s design, swapping out the terracotta base for a hand-cut crystal pedestal.

Chopard’s Inspiration for the Modern Palme d’Or
Chopard’s co-president and creative director, Caroline Scheufele, designed the current Palme d’Or in 1997, after admiring the former design in the office of Pierre Viot, who was then the director of the film festival. Viot invited Scheufele to refresh the Palme d’Or and Scheufele, a film lover herself, enthusiastically threw herself into the project.

Preserving the award’s symbolic palm frond motif, Scheufele and the Chopard atelier sculpted a new frond with more movement, “as if [the leaflets were being] ruffled by a gentle breeze,” and a stem that subtly forms a heart at the base. The modern frond is made of 125 grams (or more than a quarter pound) of 18-carat fair-mined gold. 

The most significant change Scheufele made was to the pyramid-shaped crystal base. She scrapped that rigid form in favor of a crystal, hand-cut in the vein of an emerald-cut diamond. Each crystal is unique and, in its raw form, weighs roughly seven pounds.

It takes Chopard’s seven craftsmen roughly 40 hours to complete a single Palme d’Or award.

2017 Palme d’Or Design
To celebrate the Cannes Film Festival’s 70th anniversary, Chopard upped the ante of its now signature Palme d’Or design. Chopard’s artisans gave the crystal base a “frosted” effect and added 167 diamonds to the leaflets of the frond to give it an extra dose of glamorous sparkle. True to Chopard’s standards, the gold used was 100% fair-mined and the diamonds were responsibly sourced through an ethical supplier, certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council.

This elevated take on Caroline Scheufele’s Palme d’Or award design is a spectacular tribute to the history of the Cannes Film Festival, the inspiring region, and Chopard’s premier craftsmanship.