We saw today that ShopHQ vendor Pamela McCoy has a new jewelry line: Carbon Copy.
It’s a very clever name for lab-grown diamonds, a product we won’t be spending any money on.
Today she is featuring a large cross, which appears to be the same design of a real diamond cross we bought from her a few years ago.
Can us snobs, or idiots, but we don’t like lab-made or man-made when it comes to any of our gemstones.
Kudos to QVC for its diamond event on Thursday, where the home shopping network fully committed to disclosing and discussing the color and clarity of the stones used in its jewelry.
We have long complained that QVC would describe its Affinity Diamond pieces as being colorless or eye-clean but not say whether they were H-I or whatever.
The No. 1 home shopping network in recent months began releasing that info on some of its diamonds, but in its event this week it really went into color and quality for nearly all is jewelry.
And QVC not only offered its TSV rings in 14 karat gold, there were a smattering of pieces where for the first time the network set its diamonds in 18 carat gold!
Were these baubles cheap? No, we like seeing higher quality goods.
And QVC’s Peyton Kelley did a nice job of explaining what the various color grades on a diamond mean.
. kfstiecesllit
Celebrity stylist Michael O’Connor, who spent years on QVC presenting its Affinity Diamond line, has designed a collection for Jewelry Television. But it ain’t diamonds.
We hope to speak to O’Connor next week about why he decided to do faux diamond pieces for JTV’s Bella Luce collection, a collaboration that the shopping network announced on Wednesday.
The jewelry will debut Jan. 3 at 6:00 p.m.
Charming O’Connor has more than three decades of experience in the jewelry and fashion industry, and is a celebrity stylist and fashion commentator.
“Michael has always been at the forefront of jewelry trends and is someone who has influenced celebrity style for many years,” Jill Johnson, JTV’s vice president of marketing, said in a canned statement. “So we know our customers are going to love each piece in this new collection.”
Here’s the pitch from the press release:
JTV’s exclusive Michael O’Connor for Bella Luce collection delivers elegance and style day or night. O’Connor creates stunning jewelry with the look, feel and quality of luxurious red-carpet designs.
Each piece is crafted in sterling silver with Eterno accents and is stamped with O’Connor’s signature logo. Additionally, a pink Bella Luce jewel is tucked within the interior of many of his designs.
“As a brand for passionate jewelry advocates, JTV is the perfect partner for this collection,” O’Connor said. “This is an exciting time and I’m looking forward to sharing these pieces with the JTV family.”
Whenever anyone mentions diamonds, they get our attention. And HSN has. And we’re talking ethical diamonds here.
HSN is teaming up with jewelry designer Kara Ross to debut the Diamonds Unleashed collection, which supports women’s empowerment, on Dec. 13, the home shopping network said Thursday.
Diamonds Unleashed has partnered with She’s the First and Girls Who Code, and will donate all net profits from the sales of jewelry and products after expenses and has committed to make a minimum donation of $20,000 to each organization.
HSN said in its press release:
The brand will be brought to life through a collection of jewelry and other products, a powerful network of influential ambassadors, and a platform of compelling content that is educational and engaging.
“I was so excited when Mindy approached me and wanted to be the first retailer to launch Diamonds Unleashed,” Ross said in a canned statement.
“The network of women that HSN provides access to is so exciting for a brand like ours as we are trying to create a shift in mindset,” Ross said. “I want to do for diamonds what Victoria’s Secret did for lingerie. When people think about diamonds they think about love and marriage. We’re redefining the act of engagement: that of engaging with your community and with the world at large.”
The jewelry will debut on HSN exclusively Dec. 13.
Ross designed the Diamonds Unleashed logo as a symbol of female empowerment.
It’s the “the shape of two diamonds, one elevating outside the other; those two shapes together form a heart,” the press release said. “The heart symbolizes the unifying philanthropic power of women helping women, to help create the next generation of strong female leaders.”
“Kara Ross is an amazingly talented designer and visionary woman who inspires everyone she meets,” HSN CEO Mindy Grossman said.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Diamonds Unleashed By Kara RossS collection to HSN’s fine jewelry portfolio. This transformational brand not only features beautiful product, but it represents a movement that empowers, educates and entertains women. Diamonds Unleashed aligns perfectly with HSN’s core values and I am honored to be one of its ambassadors.”
The collection for HSN features 28 pieces necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets ranging in price from $129 to $1,399.
Each piece in the collection features genuine diamonds – diamonds that are ethically sourced from mines in Australia and Canada and manufactured to exceed minimum standards in: health, safety, the environment, human rights, quality management and financial capacity, as well as ethical and anti-corruption practices.
Cool.
For more information about Diamonds Unleashed and the support of these organizations, visit http://www.diamondsunleashed.org/charity-partners.
People have long associated home shopping networks, and mocked them, for their sale of cubic zirconia jewelry. But The New York Times Sunday reported on a new kind of diamond simulant, made from gases, that don’t be distinguished from mined natural diamonds.
The story in The Times’s business section was headlined “When Diamonds Are Dirt Cheap, Will They Still Dazzle.” The article describes a new process, called chemical vapor disposition, that creates gems that even the experts can’t tell aren’t created by nature.
The story then poses this question: Will the price of natural-of-origin diamonds plummet when the market gets these new types of diamonds? You decide.
Home-shopping diamond lovers, hide your credit cards!
Looks like there are some interesting products coming our way in the ol’ diamond category (which is our birthstone, with our birthday arriving shortly, just FYI).
First, QVC will be bringing us an Argyle Diamond line. No, they won’t look like your dad’s socks. We believe they are a combo of white and champagne diamonds, if we recall the promo right. It featured a cross that immediately caught our eye.
Lisa Robertson referred this new diamond collection Friday night. We checked QVC.com, and could not find any of the jewelry posted yet.
And then last week we heard Victoria Wieck, HSN’s slightly lisping Beverly Hills jewelry designer, say that she is doing a new couture collection for the network. It appears to be higher-end pieces, diamonds set in 14 carat gold, and will debut in May, according to Wieck.
Here’s a real shocker for a Saturday morning: Celeb stylist and diamond expert Michael O’Connor is exiting QVC.
We got up today and went on Facebook and saw O’Connor’s posting about him no longer the home shopping network’s face for its Affinity Diamond collection.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-OConnor-Qvc/240234302695453?hc_location=stream
O’Connor — one of the classiest, most charming and knowledgeable guests to grace QVC — was thanking fans who — like us — were sorry he was leaving the network. It looks like Friday was his last appearance on the channel.
Here is his post:
YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!! Thank you all for the most lovely messages and comments that anybody could ever ask for. The decision to leave QVC was a VERY difficult one and I wish it could have been different.
Not only will I truly miss the great talents that I have the opportunity to work with but I will miss your calls into the show, your comments here on Facebook, the times you have stopped me in airports and stores and shared your own stories with me and all the times you’ve simply “liked” my posts here on Facebook.
You’ve made me feel very special and very lucky to have known you. I hope you’ll continue to keep up with me on Michael O”Connor Style – plenty of things on the horizon to share with you…. but for now, God bless and may the angels watch you always. XO Michael
We don’t know the scoop, but here are some likely scenarios. O’Connor may be so busy picking out jewelry for stars on the red carpet that he doesn’t have time for QVC. Or the home shopping network couldn’t come to terms on a new deal with O’Connor. Or QVC decided it didn’t need O’Connor anymore to hawk Affinity.
You decide.
Holy crap!
QVC has come out with a diamond line where it is actually telling customers the color and clarity of the stones it is hawking. The collection, Facets by Michael Beaudry, debuts Friday night at 9 p.m.
This may not sound like a big deal if you are not a home-shopping viewer. After all, if you go to a quality jewelry store or even a place like Bloomingdale’s, they will tell you the ratings on a diamond. But on QVC, HSN and Jewelry Television, you are not given the color and clarity.
Diamonds can range in color from “D,” which is the best and colorless, to “Z,” the worse. In clarity, the range is flawless, with no inclusions or blemishes, to I3, heavily included.
In the case of QVC and its Affinity diamond collection, hosts will often say the diamonds are “white” or “eye clear.” But QVC never provided their ratings.
But the Facets line is different, according to QVC.com.
“As part of QVC’s quality requirements, randomly selected diamonds from the Facets by Michael Beaudry collection have undergone a survey by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) to verify the diamonds are natural and at least H color and SI clarity,” QVC said.
“H” is a near colorless diamond, while SI clarity means slightly included.
QVC also offered some more details on its new diamond collection.
“Treat yourself to heirloom-quality diamond jewelry when you tune in for Facets by Michael Beaudry on QVC,” QVC.com said.
“Created by master diamond cutter and designer Michael Beaudry to accentuate each diamond’s singular beauty, this exquisite collection of rings, earrings and necklaces, all set in 14k yellow or white gold, features a mosaic setting in which the stones are virtually seamless with a master cut diamond crown as well as unique design techniques, that are the cornerstones of the Beaudry name.”
For truly remarkable jewelry designs, indulge yourself in the timeless, classic beauty and elegance of diamonds with Facets by Michael Beaudry on QVC. [Pron: Bow Dree]
Seamless Brilliance
Michael Beaudry, a master diamond cutter by trade, brings us this heirloom-quality jewelry collection featuring unique design techniques & distinctive settings in 14K gold. Plus, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has verified that these natural diamonds are at least H color & SI clarity.
ShopNBC vet Pamela McCoy debuted her diamond jewelry line this morning on Jewelry Television. We were at work and could not see it live, but we checked the goods online.
McCoy had already posted photos of some of her jewelry on Facebook, and it drew fire because the diamonds looked so cloudy. And McCoy declined to disclose what the quality rating of her diamonds was.
The stuff was not cheap. The least expensive item we saw was $100, and the priciest was $734, a diamond bracelet.
Here is what JTV had to say on its website about McCoy, who looks a hell of a lot difference — and younger — than she did when she was a host and vendor on ShopNBC.
Fashion and jewelry have always been directly related and very much in tune with each other. With that in mind, Pamela McCoy brings to JTV her passion for fashion and high-class jewelry with Pamela McCoy Diamonds. Pamela McCoy, a fashion icon as well as trend and jewelry expert, has more than 20 years of design experience and holds graduate certificates in diamonds, colored gems and precious metals.
Her collection features dazzling diamonds set in sterling silver wrapped in 14kt gold and rhodium with a fashionable twist of individuality, texture and upmost (sic) quality. Pamela’s love of both jewelry and fashion offers you a dazzling, aspirational look that you can both love and afford. Her pieces are classic with a contemporary attitude, topped with diamonds that maximize every facet. Indulge in this exclusive line of fine jewelry.
Ex-ShopNBC host and vendor Pamela McCoy hasn’t even debuted her new diamond line on Jewelry Television yet, and it is already causing a controversy.
McCoy’s jewelry will bow on JTV Jan. 31, and the physically rejuvenated ex-host has posted photos of several of her pieces on Facebook, two rings and a bracelet so far.
But she had no sooner posted them than someone had the same complaint that we had when we saw the shots: The diamonds in the pieces look extremely cloudy. That prompted a nasty back and forth among suspicious jewelry buyers, McCoy and her defenders.
“What grade diamonds are you using Pamela?” one woman asked.
The cloudy and controversial ring
“Pamela, Your taste in diamonds is as exquisite as your beautiful outerwear,” another woman wrote. “I am so excited for you and can’t wait until you debut your new collection. Hopefully,this beautiful ring will be affordable. It is simply stunning and I can’t wait to own it!”
McCoy responded.
“Thanks for all the kind words!” she said. “I really love this ring! JTV does not give diamond quality unless they send a lab certificate with the piece. But I can say that the diamonds are very white and beautiful! I think I have created the perfect balance of wow and price!”
Our reporter’s bullshit detector was activated by McCoy’s comment, and apparently you don’t have to be a journalist to have that same BS alarm. In fact, posters got a little feisty on McCoy’s Facebook page.
Another McCoy JTV item
“Pam you did not answer the question,” wrote one woman. “What color and clarity are YOUR diamonds used in your new jewelry line. We are looking for a letter like G,H,I and a clarity like Si1 or Si2 hopefully not the I3 I4 Clarity. Saying they are white is not an accurate statement of color or clarity. If you are the designer and manufacturing these pieces you should KNOW what Color and clarity diamonds are being used.”
“No way will they be anything more than I3 quality,” wrote another skeptic. “JTV has crap diamonds unfortunately and Pam’s prices are right in line with the other JTV pricing.”
“I remember your beautiful jewelry line before: What are the diamond stats?” another woman begged.
“White as in milky white, this piece is very similar to a another piece on ShopNBC!!!” snarked another poster.
McCoy and JTV did have their defenders.
“Why don’t you go somewhere else and shop and let the people enjoy what they can afford,” wrote one McCoy fan. “You certainly didn’t come from a very good family if they didn’t teach you not to insult someone’s jewelry. We love Pamela and wish her the best!”
Another cloudy McCoy JTV ring
By that measure, we guess we didn’t come from a very good family, either.
The critics, whose mamas apparently didn’t raise them right, either, didn’t let up.
“Ring nice, diamonds cloudy.”
“Beautiful ring setting! Whats the quality grading of the diamonds, Pam?”
“Would you wear a ring with poor quality diamonds like this one? I don’t think so…… We want top quality and are willing to pay for it.”
“Too cloudy for me.”
JTV has officially heralded McCoy’s arrival.
“We’re excited to announce that Pamela McCoy will be joining JTV with her new line – Pamela McCoy Diamonds! Tune in for her first show on January 31st from 10am to 12pm EST. Welcome Pamela!”
Welcome, indeed.
Homeshoppingista's Blog By Linda Moss 