WGC announces Design Contest...

Entries are invited for a new all India jewellery design competition, ‘ATR Gold & New’, that is being organized as part of Lucky Lakshmi – India’s Jewellery Festival. The competition is being organized by World Gold Council (WGC), All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation of India (GJF) and ATR Institute of Jewellery Design (ATRIJD) and supported by Jewelbiz India.

The theme selected for the competition is “Fusion” – and contestants have been asked to create designs that marry ethnic charm with contemporary imagination. The designs should be of a necklace set (necklace and earrings) in plain gold of 22k and above.

Originality, interpretation of the ‘Gold and New’ theme, practicality, wearability of the finished piece and the style statement your design makes will be the criteria for judging the designs.

The contest is open to all. A prize of 100 gms of gold will be awarded to the overall winner and 50gms each to the 1st and 2nd runners-up. The remaining nine finalists shall receive 10gms gold each.

In the first round of judging that will take place in Mumbai in the 3rd week of October, the top 100 designs will be short listed, and in the second round held shortly afterwards, 12 finalists will be chosen from among these 100.

These 12 pieces will then be fabricated and the winner selected from among them in the final round of judging in early November 2006.

The last date for entries is October 9, 2006.

For more details please contact Nitin Bardia from http://www.atrijd.com

Attitude of Gold, Jewelry in Krrish and the September Birthstone, Sapphire

JEWELRY TALK SHOW HOSTED BY SURBHI S GUPTA ON EBC RADIO 1170 AM ON 13TH OF SEPTEMBER WEDNESDAY 10:00 AM TO 12:00 NOON.

To all you wonderful listeners of EBC radio, a warm welcome from your host, Surbhi. I would like to welcome you all to the world of “Jewelry with Surbhi”. Every week, Wednesday 10:00 –12:00 we will talk about a few precious things, about diamonds, about gold, about silver, and about the trends and designs happening in the jewelry industry. We will listen to a few songs and will talk about both these glamorous industries, Bollywood and Jewelry.

So, to begin the show, let me give you a hint of what to expect for today’s episode of “Jewelry with Surbhi”. Today we will talk about the jewelry worn in the movie “Krrish” and the upcoming trends for this fall in India as well as in NJ. Then we will take a brief recap on the Gold market. Followed by discussion about a very common kind of stone setting called “Prong Setting” and what is it that you should know while purchasing jewelry with Prong set stones. And then finally we will talk about the September birthstone, a stone which is conflicting and yet of great relevance to most of us jewelry wearers… Sapphire ie Neelam. So folks, lets begin this beautiful journey of “Jewelry, with Surbhi” with this beautiful song.

SAMA HAI SUHANA – ghar ghar ki kahani

Well friends, that was a lovely number picturised on Mr Rakesh Roshan. I'm sure you must’ve all heard about Rakesh Roshanji’s movie “Krrish”. And if you have seen this movie then you must’ve surely noticed the lovely jewelry worn by Priyanka Chopra. The jewelry in this movie is sponsored by D’damas, a fairly well known jewelry brand. This brand is associated with the World Gold Council and you can look up their collections on their official website, www.ddamas.com

Throughout the movie, Krrish, we see, very simple, everyday style of jewelry being worn by the lead actress. Most of the times, she has worn very simple Hoops, Studs and drops in a white colored metal and usually no stones are used. This could be white gold or platinum. Hritik Roshan has also worn a ring in white color metal, which looks very much like the trinity band. But most of the finger rings worn by Priyanka Chopra are in yellow gold.

Now since the conversation has already led itself towards gold, lets take a quick look on this week’s “attitude of gold”. This week, on the 12th of September, that was yesterday, we common consumers got relief from the increasing prices of gold after a long time. At 583 $ per ounce, this Tuseday saw a drop in the gold price, the lowest in the last 30 days. In the last 12 months the lowest that gold has been was 445 $ per ounce which was last year September 13^th.

For the last few months this steady increase in the gold prices has left us all very wary of buying gold. But despite all these ups and downs, with the gold buying season approaching, if we Indians still continue buying gold by even 20-25 % lesser than usual, then too, India and Indians will still remain the biggest buyers of gold all over the world.

The highest that gold reached for the last 30 days has been 637 $ per ounce on 5th of September and the highest since last year has been 725 $ on 12^th May this year. For most part, for the last several years, we have been noticing that gold is following the trend of commodities and oil prices, so while you keep a check on the oil and commodities market, we will keep a tab on the “attitude of gold” in “Jewelry with Surbhi”.

All the material that I am talking about today will also be published on the blogspot www.jewelrywithsurbhi.blogspot.com or you can even write to me at jewelry.Surbhi@gmail.com

After all this serious jargaon about gold prices, lets take a short break and let us listen to these couple of songs from the movie Krrish and after this break, we will talk about the jewelry worn in this movie.

KOI TUMSA NAHI – Krrish

CHORI CHORI - Krrish

After listening to both those beautiful numbers, and after all those gold price talks, lets come back to the jewelry worn in the super-boy movie, Krrish.

In the first song that we just played, “Koi Tumsa Nahi”, there is one particular necklace and earring set most likely in Diamonds and White Gold, which catches our attention. This diamond set is worn by Priyanka Chopra with a black evening gown. It is also featured in several trailers and ads of the movie. It looks lovely with its chandelier style earrings and very simply designed necklace, worn close to the neck. It has a sort of lacey design, which looks very pretty and delicate.

For those of you, who joined us right now, you are here with me Surbhi in this episode of “Jewelry with Surbhi” and we are talking about the jewelry worn in the movie Krrish. You are tuned in to EBC 1170.

Both the songs that we were just listening to were, from the movie Krrish and we are now going to talk about the jewelry worn in the song, “Koi Tumsa Nahi”

Throughout the movie at various instances, we see a beautiful ring, which Hritik Roshan finally presents to Priyanka Chopra in the song “Koi Tumsa Nahi”. This ring looks like a “U” shaped pipe with both ends trimmed off by 2 gorgeous looking blue colored stones. The ring is made in 18K yellow gold and the stones are most likely Sapphires, both oval brilliant cut. This ring is also sponsored by D’damas and is a part of their “commitment range”. You can get a glimpse of it on their website or in the trailers of “Krrish” on www.ddamas.com or www.krrish.com

As I just mentioned, the stones sort of “block” the pipe like design with a Bezel set for each end. They are set at an angle and face upwards, and this is what makes this ring so interesting and different. The stones are set in bezel setting or bucket setting which is a fairly strong setting so the ring can bear enough daily grinds and still remain intact. We will talk in detail about this kind of setting in upcoming episodes of “Jewelry with Surbhi”, but for the time being, we will talk about another kind of setting, i.e. Prong Setting, after these couple of songs from movies picturised on Hritik Roshan.

DEEWANA HAI DEKHO

SOCHO KI JHEELON KA SHEHAR

Welcome back friends to this episode of “Jewelry with Surbhi”. And I am your host, Surbhi. I am a Graduate Gemologist and an Accessory Designer with specialization in Fine Jewelry design. I practice as a Freelance Designer and Trend Consultant in Fine Jewelry for various companies and individuals. And of course, right now I am also your host and will join you every Wednesday 10-12 in “Jewelry with Surbhi”. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, I would love to hear from you at jewelry.Surbhi@gmail.com . I will look forward to your feedback so that with your suggestions, I can further direct the material, music and temperament of the show, in the upcoming episodes of “Jewelry with Surbhi”.

As of now in today’s show, we have already discussed the jewelry worn in the movie Krrish, and about the “Attitude of Gold” this week. Now we are going to talk about the September birthstone i.e. Sapphire or Neelam.

Amongst all the Blue gemstones that we know of, Sapphire is considered the most valuable or precious and is priced very high. Sapphire is called, “Neelam” in Hindi after its Blue or Neela color. It is a fairly hard stone, 9 on the Mohs scale, which means that it does not get scratched too easily and so it can be conveniently worn for everyday jewelry.

Sapphire is a very important stone historically. We have heard several stories about famous stars, celebrities, kings and Royalties associated with sapphires. Of these, the “Peacock Throne” from the Mughal Era takes the lead. This beautiful throne features a peacock, with an elevated tail adorned by rich blue sapphire and a few other colored stones. Before we go on abut the historical relevance of this blue gem and famous personalities who prefer Sapphire, let us listen to this Peacock song and another one related to the rainy season in India.

MORNI BAGA MA MOLE… Lamhe

NEELA - bluffmaster

As blue as the color of a peacocks blue neck, sapphire is a stone that symbolizes sincerity, royalty and faithfulness. And it is also an excellent choice for engagement rings. In fact, Prince Charles gifted Princess Diana, Prince Albert to Queen Victoria, and also Michael Wilding gave Elizabeth Taylor Sapphire jewelry at various occasions.

The famous Hollywood personality, Mary Pickford owned 2 of the largest and most beautiful sapphires – the 182-carat, Star of Bombay, as well as the over - 500 carat, Star of India. As you can probably figure out from the names, both these huge priceless rocks have origins in India.

These were a few tidbits about the Stars of India. But did you know that the Bollywood star, our own Shehanshah, our Sarkar, Amitabh Bachchan Ji also has a great affiliation for Sapphires. That’s right friends, Amitabh Bachchan Ji also wears Sapphires and does not hesitate to wear his beautiful rocks for the shoots. The most recent movie in which we get a glimpse of his sapphire was “Kabhi Alvida na Kehna”. One of the blogspots that I recently visited said that he actually wears 2 sapphires on his right hand middle finger. That is a rather powerful combination.

It is said that Sapphires do not suit every bodt. Just like diamonds, Sapphire is an extremely powerful stone. We will discuss further about Sapphires and their astrological harms and benefits after a couple of songs featured on Amitabh Ji.

MAIN HAR EK PAL KA SHAYAR HOON

BHALA BURA

Welcome back friends to Jewlery with Surbhi. right before these beautiful songs I was telling you about Amitabh Bachchan Ji and his Sapphire rings which are often seen in many of his movies and also in Kaun Banega Karorpati

Sapphire ie Neelam, is worn to reduce or neutralize the pressure of Saturn or Shani. It is recommended that sapphire be set in 18K yellow gold and worn in the right hand middle finger for people who need to neutralize the Saturn in their charts. Usually 2 carat stones are recommended. The deeper the color the better or more powerful it is. The color of the sapphire should be a rich blue and neither pale or watery nor too dark or inky. It should not be opaque and should have least amount of inclusions possible. This stone is said to be of equal and opposite power to diamonds so they both more or less neutralize the affect of each other.

In Christian beliefs, Moses was given the Ten Commandments on a tablet of sapphire, rendering it a sacred gemstone. Because of this, sapphires came to be associated with divine favor and became the choice gemstone for kings and rulers. This is why Sapphire is granted the title of “The Divine Gemstone’.

Sapphire in its rich blue color is truly the Gem of the Heavens. Ancient Persians even believed, that the earth rested on a giant sapphire and its reflection is what granted the sky a blue hue.

Let us listen to a few songs before we go on with the various enchanting colors of sapphires. The first song I am about to play for you is one of my personal favorites, “Ma rewa”, sung by the band Indian Ocean and the other is a new version of Jai Jai Shiv Shankar.

MA REWA

JAI JAI SHIV SHANKAR

Ma rewa… tera paani nirmal… khal khal behta jayo re. That was a beautiful number by the band Indian Ocean. You are listening to Surbhi in this weekly episode of “Jewelry with Surbhi” and right now we are talking about Sapphire, which is also known as the Gem of the Heavens, or the Divine Gemstone or Neelamin Hindi. Sapphire is the birthstone for the month of September.

Because sapphire symbolizes loyalty and sincerity; it is often used in engagement rings. Just in case you have not yet gifted this priceless blue beauty to your spouse on your engagement, then you still have a chance to make it a choice of gift for your 5^th or even the 45^th wedding anniversary.

Sapphire is used in creating all sorts of jewelry including pendants, rings, earrings, nose rings, bracelets, etc. The highest selling products in Sapphire are finger rings. It can be set in almost any kind of setting and we commonly see it set in Prong, bezel and pave setting. It comes in various shapes such as round, oval, princess i.e. square, baguette i.e. rectangle, trillion i.e. triangle and other fancy shapes such as heart etc. It is also cut in cabochons, which are un-faceted or smooth on the top.

Jaipur is famous for sapphire beads faceted or cabochon, so we procure several sapphire chains from there in graded or even sizes. The way a Sapphire is cut can make a lot of difference to its color. The cut can enhance the color or cause light leakage and destroy the color so it is important that while buying a sapphire you look out for the cut besides just the regular carat and color. While buying a sapphire you must make sure that it is not too watery to look at and also that it is not too dark. It should be of a rich blue color while resting against your skin. If the stone is being used for earrings, then a darker stone can also make do because light will pass through it from the bottom.

So this was all about the cuts of sapphire. Now it is time for another couple of songs and you are here with Surbhi and I will talk to you about the colors of sapphire when we get back. If you are interested in any more details about sapphire or anything related to jewelry, you can write to me at jewelry.Surbhi@gmail.com . Stay tuned to EBC Radio, arbitron rated south Asian radio network 1170 am.

SAJNA HAI MUJHE

MERI BINDIYA

Welcome back friends, you are listening ot this edition of “Jewlery with Surbhi” and we are talking about the colors of Sapphire or Neelam.

Sapphires come in a very vivid range of colors. From yellows to reds, blues, pinks etc, this stone belongs to the corundum family of stones. Technically, only a Blue colored sapphire is written off as “Sapphire” which falls in the range of greenish blue to bluish purple hues. Beyond that, a yellow colored is sapphire is written as “Yellow Sapphire” and in hindi it is called “Pukhraaj”. An Orange colored Sapphire is written as “Orange Sapphire” and in Hindi it is called “Padprasha”, which is a very rare stone when real and untreated. A red colored sapphire is actually a ruby which is another precious stone, but I’ll talk about rubies in detail in another episode of jewelry with Surbhi. Besides these a pink, purple, colorless, green or any other color Sapphire is mentioned along with its color.

Sapphire is one of the 9 stones set in Navratna Jewelry and sits directly across a Diamond of equal power. Sapphire is astrologically prescribed in order to neutralize the effects of shani or Saturn, so if your chart requires you to wear one, please do so. But for those who love wearing sapphires and do not need to wear it, you can still wear it in a way such that it does not touch your skin and preferably the rays from the stone also do not fall on your skin. You can achieve this by wearing Sapphire jewelry made in Flush or Closed Bezel Settings.

In Flush setting, the stone is completely buried in the metal so the metal on the bottom is the only thing that touches your skin. And again, in closed bezel setting, the metal bucket is deep enough and also the backing does not permit the stone to touch the skin.

Time for a Blue song for this blue stone. We will be back with more to do with Sapphire so stay tuned to this episode of Jewelry with Surbhi on EBC radio.

NEELE NEELE AMBER PE

NEELA AASMAN

Those were two lovely blue songs dedicated to our “blue stone of the month” – Neelam or Sapphire. And you are tuned in to EBC Radio 1170, Arbitron Rated South Asian Radio Network. Since 10 o clock in today’s episode of “Jewelry with Surbhi”, we have been talking about the jewelry worn in the movie Krrish, about the “attitude of gold” and the September birthstone, Sapphire. You can read all this material that I am talking about on www.jewelrywithsurbhi.blogspot.com and you can also write to me at jewelry.Surbhi@gmail.com

The oldest mines of Sapphire are situated in Sri Lanka ie Ceylon. Ceylon sapphires are fairly easily available in the markets. The highest selling commercially selling Sapphires come from Thailand and Australia. Australian sapphires are usually very dark in color and are described as “inky blue”. These stones are usually “Heat treated” to improve the color.

Heat treatment is very much legal, easy to perform and it makes the stones look better so you will find Heat treated Sapphires very commonly in the market. However, saying that, it is also important that we know that absolutely untreated sapphires are always higher in prices. So do not get fooled and buy a heat- treated stone for more.

On the contrary to heat treatment, color treated stones have to be declared. So, it is a good idea to buy your jewelry from a known brand or any other reliable source.

Sapphire look-alike stones are also commercially available in the market. They are sold by several misnomers to deceive the consumers, but if you are careful about what you are buying and buy it from a reliable source then you will be pretty safe and will get a good deal for your money. Synthetic sapphires are also very easily available in common mall shops. These stones also look lovely with all their synthetic perfection. But the aspirational and the material value of these stones can not stand at par with real sapphires.

Tanzanite is another very beautiful looking blue stone, which was also used in the movie “Titanic”. Besides this, some other very pretty blue stones that we commonly use in jewelry are Aquamarine, topaz, turquoise and iolites. We will talk about these blues in the next episode of “Jewelry with Surbhi”.

The most expensive and priceless sapphires come from Kashmir. Due to the tense environment there, these sapphires of “velvety” sheen are no longer easy to get and are priced higher than any other kind of sapphires that we know of other than maybe a few real padprashas or orange sapphires.

Today we have discussed a lot about sapphires, “attitude of gold”, and the movie Krrish. The information shared in these series of “Jewelry with Surbhi” is published on www.jewelrywithsurbhi.blogspot.com I hope you all enjoyed today’s episode. Please do send me your feedback on jewelry.Surbhi@gmail.com . I will look forward to presenting more information and playing more music for you on EBC radio 1170. I am your host, Surbhi signing out for the day. Stay tuned to EBC and have a great day.

RIND POSHE MAAL

YE HASEEIN WAADIYAAN