Now, this video needs a little zing, but it is interesting to listen to southwestern jewelry artists, James Olson, discuss his unique work. It's not your typical turquoise jewelry (not that there's anything wrong with that). But, I like how he isn't trying to make native american jewelry but instead is using materials such as river stone and pottery pieces as part of his jewelry designs.

You can see more close-up style images of his work at TwinRocks.com such as a few of the pieces below.

I recently mentioned a holiday show in Toronto where you could find, among many other vendors, jewelry designer Ayala Raiter and now you can also see her jewelry in a video she has posted over at YouTube.com:

I think this is an excellent way for jewelry designers to get themselves out there more on the Internet and connect to their customers. You can really get a good look at her gemstone and beaded jewelry designs, and you get the added touch of having a mini-interview with the designer herself.

Can you believe the end of October is tomorrow?! Yikes! And, me with no Halloween costume to wear.

If you are in the mood for some scary Halloween jewelry, then flip over to the new video posted at the Metal Chik web site. Victoria visits Halloween Adventure and Gothic Renaissance located in New York City.

Among the freaky stuff she checks outs in the jewelry department is this wacky cabochon necklace pictured above. Yes, that is a necklace! Watch the video and you'll see what I mean. As pictured, it looks like a bunch of wires tossed around a rock, but when you see it better in the video it does finally look like a necklace, or at least I think it does.

So, enjoy your candy and spooky day tomorrow! At the very least, I guess I can throw a lot of beads around my neck and hoop earrings on my ears and be a gypsy for the day.

Metal Chik has an excellent new video up (episode #6) on its site that discusses diamonds, quality, settings, and some of the hot new trends in diamond rings. For example, vintage ring settings (as you probably know if you've been reading my blog for any length of time) are one of the more popular choices for many brides these days. Victoria, aka Metal Chik, meets up with a rep from Solitare Creations, and get's the scoop on diamond rings.

I like how she moves from the traditional diamond district and back to her own studio to show us how the diamond would be set in one of the rings shown earlier in the video.

This isn't a fancy video, though it does have some semi-interesting camera shots, but what Martin Rapaport, CEO of the Rapaport Group, has to say I think is nice to hear. The Rapaport Group is also the publishers of Diamonds.net by the way.

In this video clip, Mr. Rapaport address conflict diamonds and the idea of fair trade, in general, for diamonds and jewelry. He makes a connection between the guy digging the diamond from the Earth, which we often tend to forget about, and the salesman behind the jewelry store's counter where we might purchase the diamond.

I'd like to see more videos like this!

If you've been following the new World Jewelry Center currently under construction in Las Vegas, Nevada, then here's a fairly long informational video, 8 plus minutes. It includes a lot of big wigs, including the city's mayor, talking about the center, what they hope it will do, like bring in lots of jobs. They also announce some of the first jewelry companies to sign on as tenants:

World Jewelry Center Officials, in conjunction with the City of Las Vegas today, unveiled several jewelry industry leaders who have committed to becoming the first key occupants in this one-million square foot mixed-use World Jewelry Center (WJC). These ten high-profile business leaders are the first to commit to doing business in the fifty-plus story high-rise building. The World Jewelry Center will combine the corporate offices of domestic and international gem and jewelry companies in a trade tower that will be one of the tallest office buildings in Las Vegas, along with a separate, free-standing gallery of retail Jewelry Stores with broad middle-market appeal. The WJC is planned to open for business in late 2009 to mid 2010.

The first ten tenants of the World Jewelry Center include: Lucent Diamonds, Inc., with CEO Alex Grizenko; Robert Wan Tahiti, with CEO and founder Robert Wan; Estet Jewellery Company with President and founder Gagik Gevorkyan; Kazanjian Bros., Inc. with CEO and Chairman Michael J. Kazanjian; Chow Tai Fook Group with Owner Dr. Yu-tung Cheng; Super Bell Jewelry with Principle Lo Huang; Tycoon Inc. with President Toros Kejejian and CEO Toros Z. Kejejian; SimplexDiam Inc. with Chairman and CEO Yogesh K. Madhvani; Alan Friedman Designs with President Alan Friedman and Vice-President Layna Friedman; and JPI Packaging., Inc. with President Paul Gao.

I'm adding this post under my Jewelry Videos section, even though it's really more of a slide show than a video about making jewelry. Over at Links of London they have an interesting sort of web presentation that brings you from the point of inspiration through to the sketching and construction of some of their jewelry designs. I know as a jewelry lover myself, that is one of the elements that drew me into the world of jewelry and jewelry designing – I love to see how it is made, and I find it fascinating how an idea can develop from a simple thought or rough sketch into a finished piece of wearable art.

Links of London is known for it's eclectic designs in sterling and gold that really just about anyone can wear. Here are a few pieces I discovered from the Faith & Purity Collection and Serenity Collection on their web site.

Here's a showing of Anthony Alexander's jewelry and belts. Combining design elements from both jewelry pieces – bracelets and necklaces especially – with belts really works in this collection. I could do without the guy yapping, but it's worth watching for the jewelry.

I actually managed to find his web site called Cowboy Outfitters of all things. Funny because I would have never thought of his work as "cow boy" like. It comes off as kind of edgy to me. Maybe that's becaue of the models he used – no cow girls or cow boys there. But he describes himself as: Anthony Alexander western cowgirl jewelry. Cutting edge jewelry designs from leading jeweler Anthony Alexander.

So what do you think? Cow boy style? Or more up-town?