By Nadine Kam

Shaesby
Shaesby Scott’s bridal jewelry collection is on view at Neiman Marcus.

Jewelry designer Shaesby Scott is in Hawaii to introduce his first bridal collection, already an award winner in the Bridal Boutique category of the Platinum Guild International Couture Style Challenge.

The designer was at Neiman Marcus last night, and will be in the store until 5 p.m. today to help customers with their selections.

He said his clients have long requested bridal pieces, but he took his time coming up with the collection to create pieces that would be simultaneously contemporary, classic and timeless.

Nadine Kam photos
Shaesby Scott at Neiman Marcus, where, in the background, women examine his jewelry.

Pieces on view feature Shaesby’s signature satin texture, marquis diamonds and organic lines, reflecting an Art Deco sensibility. Each band is handcrafted in Shaesby’s Austin studio so that no two are alike, and they can be customized with the option of 18k yellow gold or platinum with rubies, sapphires and black or yellow diamonds in addition to the traditional white diamonds.

Shaesby’s pieces possess a delicate beauty. 

Rings are designed to be stackable for combinations unique to every bride, so that even if they are meant to be worn for eternity, they can be arranged and recombined to look different from day to day.

I was told that those who spend $500 or more today on Shaesby’s jewelry on an NM card during the Be Jeweled event will receive a NM gift card, a choice of a Shaesby gift necklace or earrings, and a Roxanne Assoulin for Lee Angel necklace.

The Be Jeweled Event continues through Sunday with gift card offers and the Lee Angel gift necklace available with purchases from other Designer and Precious Jewelry collections as well.

Lee Angel necklace that is a gift with a purchase of $500 or more.

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Trying on the Elizabeth & James leather jacket. Love the red but it’s still pretty hot outside.

While I was there, the store was offering a 40 percent sale on most of the Contemporary Women’s apparel, so of course I had to check it out. The thing is, I look at sale offers from online marketers like Shopittome and Gilt Group all the time and never want anything so I feel immune to most clothes with standard shapes. Things have to be a little “out there” to catch my eye.

I gravitated toward a red leather jacket from Elizabeth & James, then two things that were not on sale.

I told Neiman Marcus’ Contemporary Sportswear Specialist Alen Ajed that “just for fun” I wanted to try on a 3.1 Phillip Lim jacket (hanging and on a model, above), and without skipping a beat, he just said, “I know which one,” and OMG he can read my mind! He came back with the correct sequined cardigan. I LOVED it, but at about $900, I think I have to wait til I finish paying off my trip.

Last piece I wanted was this hat, also not on sale. Please don’t try to imagine the hat and cardigan worn together.

By Nadine Kam

Note: This offer has been extended through Oct. 18. (Added 10/17)

G.L.A.M. Hawaii photos
Love ring, $25.

G.L.A.M. Hawaii has started a Secret VIP Sale offering 40 percent off purchases today. Visit glamhawaii.com to place your order and punch in the word “secret” during checkout to get the discount.

The sale event introduces the brand’s fall line, Dojin: Way of Love collection.

G.L.A.M. Hawaii jewelry is made in Hawaii and the women behind the brand offer the timely reminder that Christmas is around the corner. This is one way to shop at a discount, without the fuss of parking and shoving your way past other frantic shoppers. Unless, of course, you enjoy shopping as contact sport.

14K gold-filled Om bak or Buddha necklace ($55), features an aquamarine for healing or clarity.

By Nadine Kam

Note to new readers: If you found me through InsidetheTents.com, my New York Fashion Week coverage starts Sept. 10 when I touch ground. Until then, I am in sunny Hawaii.

GINGER13 photos

Hawaii jewelry designer GINGER13 is making it easy to shop during the Labor Day weekend, with an online sale at www.ginger13.com today through Monday, Sept. 7.

Use the coupon code LABORDAY09 when checking out to save 25 percent on your entire online store order.

Wishing Bridge photos

Also, head to Bamboo Sky at 401 Kamakee St., where Lauryn Chun of Wishing Bridge will be presenting her Fall 2009 jewelry collection with 25 percent off selected designs and markdowns of discontinued items. Her Labor Day weekend event will take place 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Monday, and you can meet the designer Saturday and Monday.

By Nadine Kam

Tiffany.com

Tiffany hosted a party last Friday focusing on the art of layering jewelry, a showcase for a special collection of diamond fine jewelry that will be on view through Aug. 27, as well as a full selection of Tiffany Keys, based on archive designs.

The keys start at $100 in silver, and $250 for a small key in 18K gold. The most popular is the small silver key with Tiffany blue heart design ($100). I love the quatrefoil four-diamond pendant in 18k gold (shown above). Chains are sold separately to customize your look, and the different sizes, weights and lengths of chains can be layered to create interest.

I spied other things I liked, like bangles in Tiffany blue and the Paloma Picasso 20-carat pendants, but I need to wait and see how much damage New York Fashion Week brings to my credit card.

Photos by Nadine Kam
Tiffany Hilton wears Tiffany’s fine diamond jewelry. She was up early the next morning too, where she was helping the Hawaii Foodbank with the Can-struction event at Pearlridge Center and I was the only non-architect judge judging the creations.

Natsuko Nobeyama shows how the Tiffany Keys can be layered. She’s wearing a necklace of multiple strands of tourmalines valued at $52,000.

The invite, with artwork by Ruben Toledo.

By Nadine Kam

The Hope Diamond will be placed in a new setting to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its donation to the Smithsonian Institution, and the public is invited to vote for their favorite setting. The designs, from left are Journey of Hope, Embracing Hope and Renewed Hope.

The world’s most famous diamond, the Hope Diamond, will get a makeover, a special re-design to honor the 50th Anniversary of its donation to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, a gift to the American people by legendary jeweler Harry Winston.

The Smithsonian Institution and Smithsonian Channel will celebrate the diamond’s legacy by inviting the American public to vote on a new design for the 45.52-carat blue diamond.

Voting started online today, continuing through Sept. 7 at http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/smithsonian/hope.html. The House of Harry Winston has designed three possible settings, each symbolizing modern Hope in America. The winning setting will be revealed in Washington, D.C., in the fall. Then the Hope Diamond will go on display in its new setting, coinciding with the world premiere of the Smithsonian Channel’s “Mystery of the Hope Diamond” in March, 2010.

The diamond will return to its original setting by 2010’s year end. I imagine there’s demand for all those white diamonds.

For those who don’t know the diamond’s history, the Hope is the largest deep blue diamond in the world, and is associated with a curse, that all who owned or touched it, including Marie Antoinette — who probably never wore it because it was reserved for use by Louis XVI — met with tragedy. The diamond takes its name from an 1839 catalog of Henry Philip Hope’s gem collection.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Nadine Benton, Western Field Sales Manager for Piaget with company president Larry Boland, show their Piagets. He’s wearing the new Piaget Polo FortyFive, the company’s first combining titanium and stainless steel. Between them, Justine Miguel models jewelry from Piaget’s Paris-New York collection, and Piaget’s Miss Protocale Classic watch, at $146,000. Her necklace is $350,000.
Today’s the last day to catch a showing of Piaget’s Red Carpet Collection of diamond jewelry and watches at Neiman Marcus.

It may be one of your only opportunities to try on a diamond watch valued at the cost of a small condo, like I did when a piece from the Limelight Creative Design collection was draped over my wrist. It was heavy. I guesstimate that it probably weighs more than a pound, but it had a smooth finish top and bottom, designed to avoid catching on fine clothing. The amount of sparkle was amazing, real fire power with flickers of brilliant reds, oranges, yellows, blues and greens. At $220,000, I had to give it back.

I tend to be more funky than glam anyway, so the Eiffel Tower peridot ring from the Paris-New York collection is more likely something I’d wear … if I had $37,500 to spare.

Of course there were plenty of time pieces for men. This Altiplano Double Jeu piece with alligator strap has two faces, one on top of the other in two separate cases connected by a hinge. Even with the double cases, it remains relatively thin.

Here’s a larger view of the pieces on Justine, who wears a Teri Jon gown. The Miss Protocale Classic watch also comes with a black patent band that can be switched out. Both black and diamond bands can be worn as bracelets when not used with the watch face. Sharene Boulos plays harp in the background.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Susan Todani, left, and Marilyn Chong shake the popcorn boxes to see if there are any surprises at the bottom.

Jewelry designer Nikolai Tsang has been jetting around the world to share her work at international jewelry shows, and was back in town briefly for Sunday’s blessing and opening of her new Jade by Nikolai showroom in the Kukui Plaza at 1255 Nuuanu Ave.

Finishing touches were relayed from the road, so she was just as surprised as friends and family to see the finished space, with silver-white wall paper that gleamed as brightly as any of her white gold jewelry.

Guests were invited for a peek and for a popcorn tasting, with many a jeweled surprise hidden at the bottom of the boxes, from jade charms and rings to pearls.

There were about a dozen popcorn flavors to choose from, and Nikolai admitted to staying up late at night tasting and throwing out combos that didn’t work. All were based on some of her favorite foods, so with pizza popcorn topped with pepperoni and a “Dreamtime” ode to chocolate-covered bananas, with banana chips, dark chocolate shavings and bits of shredded coconut. It seems that Nikolai could have easily found a place in the food biz if the jewelry biz hadn’t worked out!

Her shop is open by appointment only, but you won’t find her there this week. She’s off for New York, to take part in the JA International Jewelry summer show.

Nikolai at the front of the showroom.

A wall of corded bracelets and necklaces greet visitors to Jade by Nikolai.

Pam Schroer, husband Richard, a co-producer and assistant director on “Lost,” discovered Nikolai three or four years ago and have been following her ever since. Pam says Richard has just as many pieces as she does, and that she left a few of those she normally wears at home.

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Nikolai’s Tokyo Fun Girl popcorn included arare and wasabi-coated peas.

Tanya Mau spotted Nikolai’s jade-and-white gold link bracelet and necklace four or five years ago and had to have them.

Tara Chang shows one of Nikolai’s newest creations, a headband accented with a jade butterfly.

Nikolai’s jade mah jongg tile bracelet.

By Nadine Kam

Roberto Coin photo
The beauty of sea life is presented in a collection of diamond pendants by Roberto Coin, sales of which will benefit Friends of Waikiki Aquarium.

Elle Couture Jewellers hosted the launch of the Roberto Coin marine-life jewelry collection last Thursday, an opportunity for jewelry and ocean lovers to check out the dainty diamond-studded, white gold pendants in shapes of starfish, seahorses, angelfish, lobsters, and more.

Through the end of the year, the jewelry store will be donating 10 percent ofsales of the sea-life collection to Friends of Waikiki Aquarium. FOWA members will also enjoy a 10 percent discount off their purchases of the pendants, which start at $620.

Each pendant also features the Italian designer’s signature small ruby set inside, in a hidden position, as a secret gift of good wishes to every woman who wears one of his creations.

It was fun trying them on, as well as other pieces in the boutique. I love starfish, but I already have a Tiffany and dozens of vintage brooches, so I tried on the lobster for fun, as well as the nautilus, which was the hit of the evening.

You can check out the pieces firsthand at 909 Kapiolani Boulevard, Suite A. Call 591-8080.

To mark the occasion, Menehune Mac created these chocolates with the ocean theme in mind.

Midweek Style Editor Yu Shing Ting tries on a ring to match her top, while elle Couture’s Adrienne Baley fastens a matching pendant around her neck.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Hula figurines graced one of the windows at the new Kate Spade store on the mall level of Ala Moana Center, across from Bebe. The opposite window was full of yellow cabs representing the company’s origin. Kate Spade’s natural-colored Hula Ida bag looks like the skirts on the dancers. An orange version of the bag is pictured further below.

I don’t know about men, but women as consumers are pretty easy to figure out. We’re attracted to color. I could be wrong, but I think Apple was one of the first companies outside of fashion to recognize this and deliver color in objects not traditionally known for color. Before the Apple revolution, computers were gray or beige.

Kate Spade’s opening at Ala Moana Center this morning was marked by color, such that I didn’t know what to do. Talk to people or shop? It was pretty much like being in a candy store, with so many delectable looking baubles in shiny, happy yellows, oranges, magentas, pinks and blues.

The store was to look like the Waikiki store, but I was told plans changed four days ago, and the effect now is much for playful, appointed in living room furnishings and decor that add casual warmth to the room.

Although it would have been nice to think the summer collection was inspired by Hawaii, it was actually inspired by cities of Mexico and the Southwest. But the warm colors and casual, sophisticated style travel well. To capture that sentiment, the store is offering a limited-edition exclusive tot, “Hawaii Paradise Found,” for $155. It lists the distance from Hawaii to such major cities as Tokyo, L.A., and Sydney.

“Hawaii Paradise Found” exclusive bag.

A shopper wearing a preppy argyle design watch browses a tabletop covered with small wares and Kate Spade’s Hula Ida bag.

Maiko Nakano settles into a sunny yellow sofa at the front of the store which will allow tired shoppers to rest for a while, while continuing to check out small leather goods and jewelry.

Manikins show Kate Spade summer dresses and accessories.

I love the shop’s many retro living room details. Like the Waikiki store, it’s full of shelf-top sculptures, like the owl at left, and hardcover books. I bought the metallic blue version of the gold purse.

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By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
From left, Alexandrina Cambra and Zandrina Cambra, with Elizabeth Kampher, picked pieces of jewelry, including a small tiara.

So Good Jewelry owners Alen Kaneshiro and Christopher Otto celebrated the store’s second anniversary in Hawaii at Waikiki Trade Center May 29 with an ’80s-themed party that included generous discounts on its accessories and costume jewelry in every style imaginable.

The amount of the discounts was a mystery unveiled at the cash registers, when shoppers drew pieces of Starburst candy for discounts of anything from 40 to 75 percent off. A pink wrapper was worth a 50 percent discount to me, which I used on a batch of headbands I need for hair control. (It’s summer, it’s growing out.)

With the discounts, it was like a shopping spree as guests loaded up their trays with pieces for themselves and gifts for friends.

Happy anniversary!

From left, Camia Frank, Jeremy Banta and Kasey Stephensonpino in colorful ’80s mode, though Jeremy says those are his normal clothes; he wears color all the time. A brave man.

Owners Christopher Otto and Alen Kaneshiro welcomed Alan Urie, left, Raylynn Mendes and Dean Park, right.

Reiko Tokushige Rogers and Shiho Komura show floral and star pieces they like. For those who like drama, there were plenty of playful statement rings available.

These cell-phone leashes are $12.99.

The Mother Lode of feathered headbands.