Congratulations Kate and William- a Royal Job well done!

God save the Queen! I've always wanted to say that, so there! It's not every day New Yorkers sit about watching the goings-on across the pond, so we have to make the most of it. A Royal wedding is not something you see every day, and what with twitter and the internet, we get to see everything. Look at this, early this morning Times Square in NYC was closed, with crowds standing there on a beautiful spring night as the entire wedding was shown on the giant monitors of Broadway. It was incredible.



Times Square's Royal Wedding displays



Of course, New Yorkers have to ham it up, and re-enact every possible famous scene, but it was all in fun. I think today the whole world stopped for a second or two to celebrate with Catherine and William. I really enjoyed it all.

Did you see the hats? I've never seen such a display of haberdashery, Westminster Abbey was just filled with Englands most fashionable women with hats. I guess it is a tradition or something, and it seems like the hats made up for the fact that we didn't see too much elaborate jewelry. The Queen did not dissapoint with her pearls and smart brooch, and the men, well one has to wonder how long it took to pin all those medals on.

So there we have it, new heirs to the throne, young and pretty. For Kate, it was a long courtship but in the end, she got her man. Here in New York it is clear the Royal wedding was also a marketing success, giving the dynasty some new spark and exciting jewelry designers like myself and dressmakers across the globe.



Thanks to all this pomp and circumstance, I was on the Today Show! Not my jewelry but me, right there on the set. I felt like I needed one of those royal carriages to carry me home, it was such an experience. We've been celebrating the Royal wedding all week and to be part of it, in even this little way, was wonderful. To think that people looking for designs and jewelry got to see some of my things on television is an incredible honor, and was a lot of fun to be a part of.



WNBC New York Today Show Royal Wedding Makeover



We had an 'ambush makeover' segment the other day, and one of my favorite necklaces (the My Fair Lady) made the final cut for our royal wedding for less segment. Next week, we've booked a few shoots and photo sessions to demonstrate some of the jewelry seen at the reception, the after parties, and on the fashionistas of London.

And, to make sure you can get some of these 'royal' looks, our incredible spring sale is going on.

'Royal' Crystal coin cascade



We've placed dozens and dozens of items on our 'flower power' sale section, all 50% off. Did I say half price? You can get the popular crystal coin cascade (very, very similar to the earrings worn by a certain Dutchess just this morning) for less than 15 pounds sterling, or $25.00. If you pick up a few items, you'll get free shipping if your total is more than $75. We even ship to England! Ciao.

P.S. Sign up for our mailing list on robertachiarella.com and become a blog follower to enjoy some 'secret specials. Click on this to see the today show appearance- Roberta 

Happy Royal Easter

Happy Easter everybody! Our family celebrated today at my brothers house, enjoying traditional easter foods, roast lamb, pizza rustica and sweets, oh lots of sweets. We have a lot to celebrate this week so we made sure to do it in a 'royal' fashion.

I'm sure you all are following the fashion feeding frenzy surrounding the royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William, which will take place next week. It's a big bang to start one of our busiest seasons in the jewelry business- bridal season. So, to get into the spirit I called my friends over at Buckingham Palace, and sure enough, the Queen was so stressed out with what's going on in her house, she readily accepted our invitation. 


The Chiarella Easter Dinner

 She is actually quite nice in person, and thought former commonwealth subject Thomas Nguy's famous mashed potatoes with garlic were better than what her chef serves up over in London. She even made her coachman drag-race down Manor Rd. against esteemed poet and author Eric Thomas Norris, who narrowly beat the royal carriage with Joe's corvair. It was a sight, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes!

Seriously, this year is obviously starting out with some spectacular jewels, and I'm lucky enough to be right in the middle of some of the festivities. We made a wonderful necklace to celebrate the one worn by Ms. Middleton the day Prince William asked for her hand in marriage. Us magazine did a feature on this and used our 'Kates Necklace' for the shoot. It came out fantastic, and it's now on sale for you at only $68. I love it, made with Swarovski Elements and a great 16" chain.

Kate's Necklace, the royal one!

If that isn't enough for you, keep an eye out every day this week for the Today Show's daily coverage of the Royal Wedding. I had the pleasure of working with the ever fabulous Jill Martin as we filmed a piece showing my version of some royal jewels you can expect to see (if you're willing to get up at 3:00 AM next friday).

I am not sure which day we'll all get to see what we put together, but there are going to be a lot of great pieces on display at this affair,

 and you can bet I'll be whipping up a few that will give us commoners the royal look you'll see in London next week. We'll post up the jewelry for you the minute the royal family steps in front of the cameras, so you can get the look you want with Roberta Chiarella quality and prices that will make the royal jewelers faint. Ciao!

A picture's worth a thousand words

People in my family know that it takes a lot to make me speechless,but when I opened up the April issue of ALLURE- I was overwhelmed by this beautiful photo. This Moonstone Bracelet was featured with a beautiful model wearing them! There's an interesting story behind this item, is made with vintage Swarovski stones that date from the 1950's. On a visit to our factory in Providence, RI we always wander around the storage rooms and other nooks and crannies. The jewelry factory has been in the owners family for many, many years and they've accumulated a few stones that were never used by designers, or ordered because they were too nice to pass up, but nobody designed the right setting for them. Well, I saw these crystals and knew that they'd make a great bracelet.



Moonstone Bracelets

They were expensive back in the '50's  but they're worth it, being of the highest quality and in perfect condition (sitting in a padded box for over 40 years. Like diamonds, they certainly just get more beautiful with age. It turns out there were enough to make bracelets in 4 colors, we decided to use a hinged bangle so it would fit right, and made the drawings and prototype so the amazing artisans in Rhode Island could turn them into the beauties you see here. They are obviously available in limited quantities, we're not gonna get these stones again so if you want this beauty, now's the time. Of course we'll ship them free and I'm sure you'll love them as much as the Allure editors did.

checkerboard necklace- $58

You know, even though I have been designing for a while I still get very emotional when I see my work in a magazine. It is such an honor to be picked, here in New York magazine editors have dozens of designers to choose from, they can walk down Fifth or Madison Avenue and see a hundred bracelets in shop windows on the way to get coffee. So, when they called and asked to borrow a couple for this photo shoot, and featured us with a credit, I needed more than coffee!

Dorothy

The other thing you've got to see is the new RC2 Escape Collection. These are going to be the hottest things as the weather is heating up! Look at the necklaces, they are beautiful, and in both gold and silver so you can choose your favorite look. We've got many affordable pieces, one of my favorites is the Dorothy earring, amazingly priced at $28 and available in 3 colors.

Of course we've got a promo code, just type in ESCAPE10 on our new shopping cart and any one item will be reduced by $10! For orders over $75 we ship free, too. Many of these pieces were inspired by the trend, or craze that's going around the fashion world of using these lucite-like resins, they are shiny, easy to take care of and the colors are just brilliant. Enjoy! Ciao.