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Jewellery was one of the oldest forms of body dressing that we know of today, with beads that have been found that date back to 100,000 years ago. It is something that has been passed down through the generations and symbolises so much more than just a piece of jewellery.  It can show a person’s wealth, with the amount that a single piece of jewellery costs. It can show what type of music a person follows, a religion they may follow, a person’s culture, jewellery speaks far more than we sometimes realise.

Without jewellery men and women alike would have had to find a way of accessorising outfits without it.The crazes we have followed which has involved jewellery such as charm bracelets and the memories that are collected in each individual charm would not be passed down to further generations. So there would be no Pandora jewellery, no lovelinks jewellery or nomination jewellery? Companies such as Tiffany’s and Links of London would not exist!

Jewellery in some countries has been used as money to help purchase land, food, animals etc and without jewellery people would have had to work harder to buy such things.  In times of hardship it has often been allowed to trade in a piece of jewellery for cash.

Artists have also used jewellery for their work, as a metal it can be sculpted into a shape it has often been used within the art industry. Silver and gold are certainly hard wearing metals as we know and daily we wear items made of these two metals.

The dressings of buildings such as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace would not look like they do today without the use of gold. We may be living in a more simplistic way and not see the need to dress the things we own in such a way.

Even though the first pieces of jewellery would not have been made with silver and gold, this is where it leads to and this is where jewellery became a status of wealth.  Jewellery originally was made of teeth and hair and this is what began as the first of body dressing. Jewellery has since advanced to the use of glass such as murano glass, re-cycled jewellery such as aluminium, diamonds make up a large amount of jewellery with the main use for them being in engagement rings and wedding rings and all the gemstones that have been used in jewellery would not be there.

I think we can safely say people and life would be completely different and somehow not as colourful, jewellery has made a person feel dressed and especially for a woman can make them feel ready to go out into the world when they have a lovely piece of jewellery on.

Images sourced http://www.fotopedia.com/en/Samburu_people

“The Hope Diamond”

The deep blue hope diamond necklace is made up of 16 white diamonds which surround the blue and a further 45 more that actually make the necklace chain. The value you of this beautiful piece of jewellery would be in the millions today. However it is a piece of jewellery with history and it is the history behind this item that means not many will actually wear it.

What was originally designed to be one of the most extraordinary pieces of jewellery ever seen has now left a long legacy of deaths behind it, first starting with the person who had it he died of an unexplained illness and he had sold the necklace to King Louis XV. King Louise XV died and he left the necklace to his grandson who gave the piece of jewellery to his wife Marie Antoinette, these two were both beheaded during the French Revolution.

The list of deaths goes on and it was during this time a man called Sir Henry Thomas Hope, he did not believe in the curse and changed the name of the necklace to what we know as the “Hope Diamond”. But this did not stop the curse of the necklace and the Hope family went through many hardships and deaths within their family. It was the last owner of the Hope Diamond Harry Winston that actually decided to donate it to the Smithsonian Museum in 1958. Where now it is on display for the world to see and this exquisite piece of jewellery has only brought good news for the museum as it has increased the footfall as all want to see the most expensive piece of jewellery in the world.

It has intrigued many with its story and did in-fact inspire Titanic’s “Heart of the Ocean” necklace which is a replica of the Hope Diamond however this necklace uses cubic zirconia stones and for a sterling silver jewellery it gives the desired effect without having the price implication.

Jewellery heists aren’t just the stuff of movies. They actually do exist.

They may not be frequent or as straight forward as the movies would like you to believe and they do take a lot of careful planning and precision.

Now we are a jewellery store with two beautiful shops which we are very proud of, so in no way are we promoting the idea of stealing jewellery; however we thought we would look back at some of the biggest jewellery heists in history!

The Museon Museum Jewel Heist

December 2002 saw jewellery thieves pull off one of the most mysterious diamond heists of all time.

The Museon – a science museum in The Hague, Netherlands – were due to host a diamond exhibit to educate the public about the gems. There were a collection of gems on display, including Royal Pieces such as a wedding gift giving by King William III to Queen Mary II of England in the 1600s.

The Tuesday morning after the exhibit, museum officials arrived to find that six of the diamond exhibit’s 28 display cases were empty. They either disappeared on Sunday night or Monday morning as the museum is closed on a Mondays, making the theft undetected for at least one day!

Security guards were monitoring all entrances and exits 24/7 as well as 24 hour surveillance cameras that covered ever section of the museum. The glass cabinets were in a motion detection zone and the displays that housed the valuable pieces were made of reinforced glass.

To this day no one has any idea of how it happened. Nothing showed up on the video footage, and the guards saw nothing. The motion sensors never went off and the display cabinets had no evidence of being tampered. There was only one sign of a break in with a smashed window leading to the museum and of course the empty cases.

The complexity and precision of the heist proved that the thieves were receiving inside information but investigators weren’t able to make any connection between the museum staff and the robbery.

A price tag of $12 million was eventually put on the robbery; however the stolen pieces had historical significance making the haul completely priceless. The gems will probably never show up for auction as they are too famous to go unnoticed.

The case was reluctantly closed due to lack of leads.

Harry Winston Jewellery Heist

The Harry Winston jewellery store in Paris

One of the biggest jewellery heists in history was the strike on the Harry Winston store in Paris, when on December 4^th 2008; $118 million dollars worth of jewellery was stolen.

Four armed robbers arrived at the store just before it was about to close and requested an entrance over the intercom. Three of them were dressed in drag, with long blonde tresses, sunglasses and winter scarves.

The foursome rocked up with a small suitcase on wheels and pulled out a hand grenade and a .357 Magnum, smashed all the display cabinets, shouted orders to employees, many of them by their first name. In less than 20 minutes they made off with millions of dollars worth of emeralds, rubies, and very large diamonds.

Original suspects included members of the Pink Panther gang that operates out of the Balkans who have been involved in other high-profile jewel thefts in the past, however they were ruled out when on June 22, 25 suspects were arrested.

Nothing has been said about whether the jewels were recovered or not.

Carlton Jewellery Store

The Carlton Hotel in France where the robbery took place

Yet another robbery in France and one of the biggest heists of all time. In 1994 the Carlton Jewellery Store in Cannes was robbed of $60 million dollars worth of stock.

This heist was more like the action thriller movies which saw three men burst into the Carlton Hotel’s jewellery store firing machine guns into the air. Store employees and customers panicked as the thieves quickly packed nearly $60 million dollars worth of jewels into their bags before they made their escape.

It was later found that the rounds were in fact blanks and that the thieves and their jewels are still at large.

Antwerp Diamond Heist

The Diamond Vault after the robbery

Antwerp is one of the two diamond capitals in the world, the other one being Dubai, in the UAE.

Eighty per cent of the world’s uncut gems go through Antwerp and most of them are stored in the underground vault of the Antwerp Diamond Centre building.

In 2003 the world’s largest diamond heist took place in Anterwerp, Belgium. Around $100 million dollars worth of jewels were stolen, making the crime the biggest hauls in the whole of history.

Four people were supposedly planning the theft and had been for years. The thieves rented office space in the building in 2000 and analysed the alarm system and learned exactly how they could bypass it. And it is still not known how they pulled off the heist as the vault was thought to be impenetrable.

Protected by ten layers of security, including infrared heat detectors, Doppler radar, a magnetic field, a seismic sensor and a lock with 100 million possible combinations, the thieves obtained the keys and made copies.

The thieves recorded over the security cameras and inserted fake tapes into the surveillance system to cover their movements.

And out of the 189 safety deposit boxes only 100 were emptied. The thieves had too many diamonds to carry and were forced to leave the rest unopened.

Diamond Centre employees came in to find loose diamonds all over the vault.

The thieves were later identified as a group known as the School of Turin – renowned for not using violence. The investigation made its way to Italy were most of the group were arrested.

One of the thieves had left his DNA on a half eaten sandwich among diamond carry bags dumped in a ditch around the crime scene.

Another thief’s DNA was found in the vault.

Leonardo Notarbartolo the leader of the gang had been storing diamonds at the Diamond Centre for years and had somehow passed all background checks.

He was later released from prison based on circumstantial evidence.

The $100 million dollars worth of gems have never been found.

If you are looking for your own jewellery that doesn’t break the bank then you need to get your hands on the beautiful charm bracelets from AllCharms.co.uk.

Their website has a wide collection of bracelets to suit everyone’s tastes including nomination charms and Italian charm bracelets to suit your taste and budget.

Visit AllCharms.co.uk today.

We are seeing a lot more celebrities starting to wear this wonderful colour and we question why?  The colour purple is often associated with royalty and nobility. It is a strong colour and is not too overpowering, if you don’t need it to be. The variety of shades that purple has to offer means that no matter what the tone of skin or colour of hair there will certainly be a type of purple that will suit.

What is great about purple it will suit you no matter whether you have never worn it, adding it to your wardrobe with a few simple accessories will look fantastic.  However because it is a colour too much of one thing can be too much, so make sure you don’t go head to toe in the same colour and make sure mix and match it up a bit.

The stunning collection of lovelinks jewellery is a great way of adding the colour purple to your outfits.  They have a fantastic collection of purple murano glass charms with a variety of shades so you are always sure to find something to compliment your outfit.  Their jewellery collection is extremely stylish and their range of mix and match jewellery allows you to have your favourite purple murano glass charms in the earring range they do without having to buy a new pair every time.  The necklaces have a similar theme so if you are not daring enough to step out in a purple dress, top or shoes try jewellery first and enjoy experimenting with a colour that will compliment anyone!

Here at AllCharms with offer every customer a great selection of Lovelinks charms, the quality of charms is second to none with all charms being sterling silver.  Whether purchasing the item for yourself or as a gift we personally wrap all items purchased and provide lovelinks packaging so that you can give the perfect gift in the packaging it deserves. Enjoy browsing our collection of charms and email our friendly staff should you require any further information.

Taylor Swift this year has been experimenting with her own sense of style, as a young singer who is growing up in the media she has noticeably been changing over the last year.   She is no longer someone who follows trends however more so setting the trends for others to follow.  Initially she had been a huge success in America however over in the UK we had not really heard of her until the MTV Awards and her clash with Kanye West, where she was about to do her acceptance speech for an award and Kanye interrupted to say he felt Beyonce Knowles should have won.

Even though this would have been a huge shock in some ways it has probably given Taylor Swift more coverage and a launching pad to enable her to be recognised within other countries. She is an American Country Pop Singer and is already earning around $18 million dollars, so this girl is surely doing something right.

With only being 21 she is of a great age where her fan base want to capture and follow her every move and want to be wearing what she is wearing.  Taylor was recently seen wearing a sterling silver necklace with a key on it, she seems to be a great fan of sterling silver jewellery and it really does compliment her.  This has become such a fashion look now and it is great for all those young girls who don’t necessarily have a lot of money but what to be wearing what their pop idol is wearing.  All they simply need to do is purchase a sterling silver necklace which can be picked up for around £5 or there maybe one from a another necklace that could be used, and ask their mum for a old silver key they no longer need and pop it on.  With the mix of gold and silver being in trend this season simply putting a gold key on the necklace would give a great mix and match look.   It is an extremely quirky piece of jewellery and a very simple style that anyone can do.  It does looks great on Taylor Swift  as she has opted to wear it as a casual piece of jewellery and will no doubt look great for anyone else too!

Despite jewellery becoming a universal gift for both men and women, it is still classified as a woman’s accessory and lovelinks are seen as a perfect gift for anyone you love and care about.

This very rare and flawless blue diamond is the most expensive precious jewel of its kind ever sold.  The gem is 6.04 carats and sparks with an unusual blue hue. It was bought at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong in 2007. The combination of the rare blue colour and the large carat weight for a blue diamond make this an exceptional stone among world-class diamonds.

Jeweller to the stars, Harry Winston designed the third most expensive diamond jewellery in the world. The earrings were made in 2006 and consist of two pear-shaped diamonds in a platinum setting with a total of 60.1 carats.

This Chopard Blue Diamond Ring is 18-carat and valued at $16.26 million. About $1.7 million per carat. The thing that makes this diamond so expensive is its rarity. Blue diamonds are among the rarest of naturally coloured gems which are extremely difficult to find.

This stunning white diamond belonged to the Sotheby’s auction house and has a 100.1 carat. It was initially sold for $16 million but its actual value reaches $23 million.

Fabulously expensive, this diamond bikini was created by Susan Rosen with Steinmetz Diamonds and has more than 150 carats of D Flawless diamonds. The item is not only the most expensive bathing suit, but also the most expensive diamond jewellery.

Desperate housewives has been running many years and many women are addicted with the programme that shows the lives of individual women through the eyes of their dead neighbour.  They face all the struggles of any women today, financial crisis, relationships, crimes and the lives that continue behind closed doors. Set in the beautiful surroundings of Wisteria Lane anyone would love to live there as it looks perfect however as the show opens the door to its viewers we see this street is far from perfect.

Looking into the main characters:

Teri Hatcher plays Susan Mayer

The accident prone one in the series she always seems to end up getting herself in a mess, however she does bring a lot of laughter when her naïve side always likes to see the good in people. She is also a hopeless romantic and generally always has a man by her side.

Susan is care free in her ways and her fashion style is similar, unlike some of the other ladies in the show Susan does not have to look the best and she has a fairly casual style in the way she dresses.

Eva Longoria Parker plays Gabrielle Solis

Gabrielle who was brought up with not very much thankfully had her looks to get her places and landed a modelling career where she started to make her money.  Married to Carlos a successful businessman these two are not shy about spending their money or showing their wealth.  Gabby even though is very materialistic is very kind by nature and will not see her friends struggle she is a very loyal person too with all of her friends.

The most fashionable one out of all the desperate housewives she has a very stylish dress sense and often parades around in the latest jimmy choo shoes.  Her style for jewellery is of always the latest trend so surprised we have not seen her wearing a nomination charms bracelet yet.  We know her style would reflect her love for handbags, shoes and money within the charms collection!  Her earrings and necklaces are often kept simple with just a single diamond stone.  She really does capture style in every aspect of her fashion wardrobe.

Felicity Huffman plays Lynette Scavo

Lynette is your everyday working woman who will do everything for her family and kids.  She has four children and in this series we see her pregnant with her fifth.  Before having her children she was extremely successful in the business world and even though she often feels as though she is not as successful with her kids she is someone who never gives up.  We have seen her battle with cancer and overcome and Lynette unlike some of the other ladies in the show has had some of the toughest story lines but has portrayed them extremely well and with the support of her husband in the show Tom Scavo.

Lynette whilst at work she has a great business style, at home she does not appear to make the same effort and is often very casual in approach to clothes, hair and make up.  However at work she wears fantastic suits, her hair is great and she wears make-up she often looks like a completely different woman.

Marcia Cross plays Bree Van de Kamp

Often seen to the others on Wisteria Lane as the perfectionist, we as the viewer get to have a look behind the closed doors and see everything is not so perfect.  She is a successful business woman with her own business in catering; she is often the first point of call when there is an event on.  She does like everything to be in its place and what we would recognise this as OCD and she certainly likes everything to be clean.  There is another side to Bree though where she does offer great advice to her friends and even though she does have a perfect outward appearance when she is wrong with things we do see this softer Bree coming through.

Her fashion style is simple and nothing revealing at all.  Often wearing knee length skirts and matching jackets with a blouse or jumper, there does not appear to be any difference when she is off work to when she is at work with how she dresses she is always of a smart approach.  Her jewellery style she often wears pearls, a string of pearls around her neck and a simple pearl in each ear. The one great thing about pearls they look great and will never grow old so a perfect choice for Bree.

Gold jewellery has been around for years and over the past couple of years there has been a decline in the sales of gold jewellery, whereas there has been increase in sterling silver jewellery being sold.  Gold especially this year has become extremely expensive and although this is the case the sales for gold jewellery has once again started to pick up.

When looking at fashion trends and especially charm bracelets, brands such as Pandora and lovelinks jewellery are expanding their collections to bring the customer more gold/ silver and gold charms, part of their mix and match range.

They originally started of with a wide selection of sterling silver charms and over the last couple of years even though the silver charms have expanded it is the gold and silver charm that they offer that has really increased.

Gold has once again become a luxury to have and even though the recession has seen a lot of families struggle, women have been investing their money into a gold charm which they can treasure forever.

A lot of women may think they do not suit gold purely for the reason they have always worn silver and yes silver does compliment anyone, however the mix and match of silver and gold does not give too much of either and looks great on everyone.  Especially during the summer month’s gold is a lovely colour against the silver and really stands out.  What is great with these two brands they have both brought out other pieces of jewellery such as rings, necklaces and earrings to compliment the silver/gold look of the charm bracelet.

This is the best way to go about achieving the look for 2010 by simply introducing small pieces of silver /gold and then once you are happy with it you can introduce a bolder look of silver and gold.  Look at any magazine or jewellery brochure this is the new look and it is certainly going to be around for a while.

Becoming one of the UK’s favourite current rap stars Tinchy Stryder has done many collaborations in his short life of fame with people such as N-Dubz, Amelle Berrabah and Taio Cruz.  It was his collaboration with Taio Cruz “Take Me Back” that made us really notice him and since then he has been going from strength to strength.

He has currently got the attention from the likes of Jay-Z who has recently signed the young Tinchy to his record label Roc Nation. Now Jay-Z has brought him under his wing we know Tinchy will go very far over here and within the US.  Jay-Z the man behind Rihanna certainly knows what he is doing and is extremely good at what he does.

Tinchy Stryder is recognised by his dress sense the oversized tops, baggy jeans and his oversized sterling silver jewellery too.  His jewellery has brought a lot of attention to him, the sterling silver necklaces with 100’s of diamonds has recently been the attention of theft, where he has just had £10,000 worth stolen from him.  Even though it is a shame to hear of such things, this era of young male artists are showing their wealth in such expensive pieces of jewellery and therefore leaving themselves open to problem such as this.

In just a year this singer has gone from no-one to someone everyone knows and with Jay-Z and others now behind him we know this next year for him will be another successful year. He has since signing with Roc Nation met Beyonce, so maybe there is his next collaboration if Jay-Z allows

When looking to find something unique and stylish the opportunities really are endless when it comes to jewellery. Most women enjoy wearing jewellery it can dress up or dress down an outfit, it can bring attention to it, it can be toned down and blend in with whatever else is being worn.  Unlike hair jewellery can be taken off and put on as and when needed.

It really does not matter so much if pieces of items clash either, it still looks good.  Jewellery especially sterling silver jewellery looks great either on its own or teamed up with stones, murano glass or wood etc.

What is great about jewellery is the amount of things that can make jewellery take earrings for example they do not have to be sterling silver earrings , as the image shows copper can be used and watch pieces to create a very stylish set of earrings and certainly unique. However silver generally is ok with everyone to wear whilst copper may react.  Though experimenting and trying out silver with different metals you never know where it could lead.

The great thing about jewellery is everyone owns at least one item and everyone will always wear at least one item too in their life.  With jewellery really coming on the fashion market as accessories to fashion, the more outrageous and a unique a piece will be really keeping up-to-date.

All images -sourced by flckr.com