Farrah Fawcett, it was good to know ya!

Farrah Fawcett, an american actress and pop icon passed away yesterday after a long fight against cancer. She was instantly recognizable anywhere, in part for her beautiful hair that we all wanted to copy back in the '70's. She was in so many TV shows, notably Charlie's Angels in 1976 and starred on Broadway as well. Our time together was brief but memorable. I was a new jewelry designer at the time, and one of my designs was was featured in InStyle magazine. The phone ring and it was Farrah herself! She'd seen the magazine and she saw the necklace and wanted to buy it but, she explained that she had 'special proportions' and that the necklace needed to hit her in a certain spot. So, she said "wait a minute" and put her phone on speaker and proceeded to shout out all her measurements, to make sure I would make the necklace the right size to fit exactly where she wanted it to. She was very real and and very funny, and a pleasure to work with.

When she received the earrings and necklaces she called to say they were perfect! In the photo she sent me, she had dropped an earring, and got help to find it.

A while later, I received an outline of her foot in the mail in order to make her an ankle bracelet. Even though she had a busy and productive schedule, she took the time to write to me (there was no email back then) every time she got something and was so sweet-she would always say to me "i can't believe i am talking to you". Can you imagine, Farrah Fawcett was happy to be talking to me- while I was jumping for joy!

To this day, she was by far one of the most gracious and appreciative “celebrity” I have known and worked with. She regularly sent me handwritten “thank you” notes, fun pictures of her wearing the jewelry, sometimes sent me daily up-dates of her whereabouts and activities, along with photos! I still can't believe that a star of her magnitude kept in touch with me. She took time from her busy schedule with a phone call just to say hello to me, Roberta…WOW!!! Farrah had a way of making you feel extra special!!

It was a real blessing to have known her, my association with her gave me so much pleasure and encouraged me to continue my work as a designer and produce jewelry of such a high style and quality that someone like Farrah Fawcett would want to wear my designs. In some ways, my career as a designer got jump-started by my relationship with Farrah.

If you look on my website, that necklace I made for her, in her special size, is still on sale. We renamed it the Farrah's charm today in her honor. Farrah Fawcett was a lovely lady, a real person who inspired so many as she bravely fought the cancer that eventually took her life. I will never forget our interactions, and am honored that she took a liking to me and included me in her life, if just for a while.

She will be missed by many so many people who knew her personally and by all of her fans. God bless you, Farrah Fawcett, and thanks. Ciao.

Excel-lent !

I can't believe it- I just finished checking the website to see how the contest is doing, and I am really amazed. The summer of luxury contest is attracting people from all over. It is fun to have a contest, I always enter ones whenever I want the prize. Thomas Nguy has provided the designs associated with the contest (chicklet talked him into it), he is one interactive designer who is a great art director, too. I've also got a new camera setup to take better photos of all our jewelry.

But, really- we are thrilled people are entering the contest, the number of people entering is just amazing. During the day, and now, late at night, my favorite activity has become checking the Excel entry database, seeing how many entries have come in each day. The web department gave us a link so we can see the number of entries on an Excel spreadsheet.

It's amazing to see what hard work will do. Unfortunately, here in New York, the state government has gone nuts. Check any newspaper, things are not right in the Capitol.

So, you guys- many of you are there for years, you should end this embarrasing chapter and finish your work. The rest of us are working, whether or not we all get along so you guys should get back to work and stop this silly fighting. Most senators should know what does and doesn't work, get focused and figure it out. Do the right thing and get back to work. My brother goes to Albany, he could tell you a few things!
If you senators get together to finish the legislative session, maybe I'll reward you with a chickie girl or a sweet pear. It might help to break the tension if you put on an earring or bracelet. I don't think we care if you like each other or not, you ran for the job as our representative- so represent us already! I know that one of you pictured here (with the sweet pear earring on) has useful experience, represents his district well (and he really does live here, I've met him). We feel he has a reputation as a really hard-working guy, a leader. I hope you are doing all that you can to get this sad chapter over and done with.

I guess while you are not governing, you can check out our site and order some stuff, our buy 2 get one free sale is still going on till the end of the month. It's hard to believe that while everyone knows things are expensive, income down, taxes up, etc. you can still find some jewelry, made in america, that tickles your fancy.

It's summertime, and there are so many bright new jewels on the site. And, if you look at the magazines, like Family Circle, OK, inTouch, People style watch, and more, you will find beautiful and affordable things you must have. Don't you love this headline? And don't froget to enter the contest while you are there. Ciao!

whats new?

New York is starting to heat up for summer, although you'd never know it from the weather. It's been so rainy we all feel moldy! I've been spending as much time outside as I can, getting some exercise and taking long walks with my pups all over manhattan. It is one way for me to get some inspiration- New York is full of tourists and you want to see what they are wearing. It's funny, in the past you could tell who the tourists were by the fact that they were so well dressed, in smart, modern european fashions.

These days, the guidebooks must be telling potential tourists that baggy pants and t-shirts are just fine. Maybe on the weekends, or at the Bronx Zoo, but midtown Manhattan is full of business people who, for the most part are a pretty fashionable bunch.

I just love meeting people visiting the city, so many come to my jewelry counter at Henri Bendel, we get some time to chat and I can show off my newest designs. I've met a few brides-to-be, thanks to the great press from Brides Magazine, The Knot and Modern Bride; my jewelry is featured in the issues on the newsstands today. Brides today want something 'super special' for themselves and their bridal party, and I've just started selling the grand super nova earring that really fits the bill.

It's an elaborate earring made with a micropave treatment of the swarovski crystals on the cage of the earring and it is stunning. These tiny swarovski crystals are so beautiful and sparkly, and micropave is a technique that you won't find from many designers, it is quite hard to make. The larger stones are inspired by the current trends in wedding and engagement rings, these are the most popular cuts and shapes out there today.

So, whatever ring the bride might be wearing, these earrings will complement it for sure. There are also some fun new items now available, the lucky 7 bangles is the perfect summer bracelet and comes as a set of 7 to give you the look that is so hot these days. We made it with many colors of stones so it's impossible not to find one you'll just love.

If you want to see some really outlandish beads and stones, be sure to head over to Coney Island. Today is the annual Mermaid Parade, it's sort of our answer to Mardi Gras. You won't believe the costumes, and the crowd goes wild when they see so many people dressed up as exotic sea creatures. There are lots of floats too, as it is undeniably hard to walk when you have fins where your legs would normally be! Check out this only in New York event, today at Coney Island, Harvey Keitel is the parade king this year. We hope to be out there with our cameras, see you there! Ciao.

It's time for the Summer of Luxury

Memorial day has come and gone, marking the unofficial beginning of summer. We spent some of the time enjoying the long weekend, and then it was back to the studio and the computer to launch a contest! I love contests, and enter them all the time. The first step is to decide what to do for prizes, after all, who would be interested if there weren't great prizes? Luckily, my friends at Amazing Cosmetics liked my idea, and generously contributed gift certificates and some great summer makeup items to be part of the prize packages. I love to buy their products, winning them would be even better!

We lucked out with my partners at Swarovski, they send me copies of Unbridaled, the marriage of tradition and avant garde. This coffee-table book features more than 100 designers from areas including fashion, jewelry, interior lifestyle, and they worked to create a "celebration of marriage". They define it as a fairy tale dream come true, and when you look at the beautiful photography you'll know they are right. I was honored to have my jewelry used for some of the shots, and this book is just wonderful to sit and look at for hours.

To make it a really great contest, I have some limited edition jewelry to give some of the prize winners, and decided to make the grand prize worth $1000 in order to give people a real good reason to enter.We've found that customers often come to my retail website to see what what is trendy, they may have seen my jewelry in a magazine or on TV. When there is a contest going on we get more visitors, and more interest in our products than usual. To top it off, if someone can win something spectacular you know it will surely make people happy.

It's the most rewarding thing about being a jewelry designer, to make products that put a smile on your face when you wear them. So, check it out and enter, after all, you never know.. .. .. Ciao!

a memorable memorial day

Today is Memorial Day, and I hope you took a moment out of your day to remember those brave men and women who gave their lives so that we may live in freedom. We should never forget the sacrifices that our soldiers made for us and our country.
We were lucky that what is said to be the largest Memorial Day parade in the country is just down the road from my brothers home in Douglaston, Queens.

The weather was perfect and the parade route was packed. The mayor was there, along with all the local politicians, marching bands, and veterans from all branches of the military.
The local cub scouts marched, and chicklet, who never met a kid she doesn't want to run towards, had to be kept under close supervision! After most of the marchers passed our observation post on Northern Boulevard, we headed over to the house for "the first barbecue of summer". It was a beautiful day, with great food and good company.

I was happy to have some time to relax, it has been such a busy week (in a really good way). Our trip to Florida to show my HSN collection was a success, and I have to say it is always a pleasure to work with the HSN staff. Rachel Huber is a great host, we had super models on the set. I was worried about the time slot, it was pretty late for the east coast, but the orders came in like crazy.

You'll never know how exciting it is to be sitting there when the last item of the batch has been sold. There is a bell that rings, the lights flash, the people taking orders have to stop in mid-stream and start saying "I'm sorry, the item has sold out" and my heart just skips a beat. I love what I do, and like most artists and designers, there is no greater validation of your work than to have people want to buy it. The feeling that came over me when I saw so many of my pieces sell out on the HSN show was one of pure joy. I hope every person who bought some of my jewelry is as happy as I felt during that show when their order is delivered!

Designing this collection was a challenge for me, as we don't usually have to make a design for a specific price. The whole idea of working with HSN is to offer people a high fashion item that is affordably priced. Sometimes, when you have an idea in your head about what a bracelet should look like, you are not always worried about how many stones to use, how thick the metal should be, what type of clasp will you use, because the idea is to design from the heart. Of course, this means that the design might end up to be more costly, and I'll sell less of them, but when we work with HSN the concept is a bit different- we want to give the best design money can buy, but carefully choose the stones, settings, and manufacturing process so that the jewelry will be reasonably priced. In this case, I think everyone connected with the collection agreed it was a hit.

I love a challenge, and making this collection with specific prices in mind was a biggie, but it worked out well in the end. I was thrilled to see the "Best Dressed" earrings sold out even before they got a chance to air and they were made a customer pick. That was so exciting and I am still smiling, I really liked designing that one, and to see that so many people liked it is amazing. The show went so well that we've booked a few more later in the year, and I've got to go back to the studio to get the designs firmed up so they will be ready in time.

But, that is for tomorrow. Today was a day for relaxation and family, enjoying each others company, taking the pups for a walk down by the water, and seeing the flag draped on houses and cars, and carried by little kids or tied to their bicycle handlebars. And, as they say- a good time was had by all. Ciao!

it's a whopper

It's been a busy few weeks at Roberta Chiarella jewelry. Mother's day is always one of our busiest times, this year we were not disappointed. I am so happy to see so many sons and daughters buying some jewelry for their mom. I even saw a few sons-in-laws and daughters-in-law purchase things, that must mean there are families where the in-laws have a good relationship! We sold a lot of rings, and have found that rings are more popular accessories this season than they have been in a while.

For a small company, rings are tough to sell, you have to make all the sizes but who knows what sizes the customers will order. Hopefully people with both smaller and larger fingers will order our new rings. People asked me for a "whopper", so we created the Iceberg ring, a real looker (it's a CZ, the equivalent of 44 carats) that is selling like hotcakes. And, once the factory can get the prototypes into production, more varieties are on the way.

In our studio, we also do a lot of work with a lot of fashion magazines, and one of our favs is InStyle Weddings. This issue, they featured one of our necklaces "the unbelievable necklace". We always jump for joy when womens fashion magazines use our designs and pieces for their articles. I am still amazed that Angelina Jolie's Academy Awards photos made our Angie earrings so popular. We can tell that the magazines use the photos in foreign editions when an order comes in from Manila or Milan. The internet is an amazing thing, my friends.

Back in town, the stores have put all the newest spring and summer fashion items in their windows and on the shelves. With the economy the way it is, they want us to see as many great things as they can fit in the windows, so maybe we'll come in and buy them. Our 5th Avenue home, Henri Bendel, has announced that they will actually drop apparel so they can focus only on accessories and beauty products. The top floor will close, and it will be a smaller store soon. They said, in a Times article, that "there is no sign of a turnaround in the sale of high-ticket apparel".

Well, it's a good thing they are keeping third-party vendors like myself, it is always fun to go to the store (I go at least once or twice a week) and work behind my counter. The looks you get from the customers who realize they are being shown jewelry by the designer herself is so rewarding. I've made lots of friends here, and hope this move by Bendel's can keep it a viable concern on 5th avenue.

Sometimes, you meet famous people, sometimes they send their stylists and wardrobe personnel to shop for them, this is how more than a couple of fashion icons have come upon my jewelry. Of course, we reach out to them too, and I'm thrilled to see that Rachel Ray will be featuring my jewelry on her show, it's already on her website rachelrayshow.com and look for "what's Rach wearing?"

And, to wrap it up, it's off to Florida this weekend for an appearance on HSN, where we are featuring a new collection I designed just for them. Working with HSN is a great experience, it lets people who may not have access to stores where my jewelry is sold buy the pieces. And, being HSN, the prices are unbelievable. Check your local listings or set the DVR, we are on pretty late at night, but their website will have all of the new designs. I'll be back next week, no rest this weekend! Ciao.