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Thank you to all who patronized our business over
the holiday season. A few clients took advantage of our one-on-one trunk show option, shopping directly from our inventory, checking
things out and asking questions. We even had the opportunity to do some custom design work. We
hope that you, like us, are looking forward to a better year in 2012, though. With this being an election year, it's
speculated that the price of silver and precious metals will drop significantly. Unlike Santa Claus, seeing IS believing.
Hopefully, communications around the world will improve beyond the artifact pictured to the right (no pun intended) and some
peace will come to us. HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2012 Shows
For 2012, we are going to a slightly different scheduling
of shows. There will no longer be a show at the house in early April because the KAST (Kirkland Artist Studio Tour)
taking place just a few weeks later on Mother's Day Weekend (May 8th and 9th). There will, however, be
a special preview party and show sometime that week before KAST for our current clients. Our pre-Thanksgiving
Holiday Show will take place Sunday November 18. Always check out the EVENTS page for schedule updates. We
will continue to do trunk shows of Coralyn's hand-crafted jewelry for clients and their friends. These private shows can be
done at your home or office, or here at our home. Everyone has fun trying things on and discovering new color/style
combinations to enhance their wardrobe. Unstrung beads are available to help you select your colors, shapes, and textures.
And, of course, we continue to sell pieces through the Kirkland Art Center's Store, located in Park
Place Center down from Noah's bagels (across the street from the Purple Café). We are
looking forward to adding more shows for 2012.
Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows
Many of you have heard us talk about the Tucson trade
shows. For those who haven't, the shows are a collection of 45+ different venues spread out all over the city of Tucson
where gems, jewelry, minerals, fossils and beads from all over the world are sold and exhibited. Some shows are to the
trade only, but many are open to the public. Since its beginnings in the 1950's, this show is now the biggest show
of its kind in the world, bringing in exhibitors and buyers from all over the world (Germany, Brazil, Thailand, Africa ...).
There's everything from million dollar diamonds to T-Rex heads, to small fossils, sharks teeth, agate bowls, and everything
in between ... you name, and it's there. There are even a few shows that specialize in stones that are considered by
some to have metaphysical properties. With the economy the way it has been the last
few years, it will be interesting to see if the vendors we are looking for will actually be exhibiting, or if the vendors
have re-invented their business, or if they are not attending the shows at all. This past year,
we attended the shows with our shopping list in hand. We were disappointed to find out that the vendors we'd bought
from at prior shows weren't there! And, we were so surprised at how much non-silver metal chain (brass, plated, gunmetal,
white metal) was selling for. Yet, there were still plenty of gems, finished jewelry at all price points, strands of
beads, polished rocks, fossils, and dinosaurs galore from which to choose. So, if anyone has anything
they'd like us to find for them, let us know before the end of January. See Home Page for pictures and narrative. Private Tour of Liz Taylor Collections at
Christie's Auction House
Well, Coralyn got her big Christmas wish to be able to
have a private tour of Elizabeth Taylor's collections, which were going up for auction last month. A group of about
20 of us (gem collectors group and the Smithsonian people) attended the private tour the morning of Dec 5 (before the doors
opened to the public tours at Noon) and then we were treated to a private luncheon in one of Christie's conference rooms. Dwight
stayed home and a friend of her daughter's, Brittany, was able to join Coralyn. Brittany was ecstatic to have this opportunity. The jewelry was absolutely amazing! There were stones that
some of us had not seen before (large Burmese unheated rubies), a natural pear-shaped pearl that had once belonged to the
Spanish aristocracy, and unique custom-made collections created by the famous design houses of the world (Bulgari, Boucheron,
Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Tiffany's, Harry Winston, Oscar Heyman, etc) and given to her by her husbands and friends.
Michael Jackson had given her several custom-made bracelets and necklaces of rubies, white, and fancy yellow diamonds ...
even a necklace looking like a couple of diamond monkeys hanging out together on a very large diamond vine. And, jewelry was not the only thing up for auction. There
were her evening gowns and kaftans, her handbags and matching shoes, her costume jewelry, her glass collections, her art collection,
bronze and ivory statues, her rock collection, posters signed by famous people, Faberge picture frame (from late 1800's)
and egg necklace (gifts of Malcolm Forbes). There were costumes from some of her pictures, movie posters, and director
chairs with her name on them. There was even a pair of director chairs that her name on one and Richard on the other. The luncheon was fun with one of the jewelry curators telling
a bit of the history behind the auction. The food was light and wonderful. Photos can be found on the Events page
of this website. Christie's Auction House is located
across the street from Rockerfeller Center, right next to one of the NBC studios. Coralyn was only in NYC for 48 hours.
Most were there only for the tour and then moved on. Coralyn wanted to see some of the NYC Christmas decorations.
Macy's windows were fascinating but Sak's really did nothing. The city was packed with tourists. Even the locals
were amazed! The whole event was surreal. Christie's Auctions Liz Taylor's Collections Christie's held two different types of auctions.
One auction was online only and ran from Dec 3 through Dec 16 (one had to snipe like on eBay to snag anything). The
live, broadcast auctions were held from Dec 13 through the 16th. There were roughly 1,000 lots
in each type of auction. Getting up early and logging in to Christie's "live" and "online only"
auctions was Coralyn's daily routine for a few days. It was amazing how the auction catalog estimated selling prices
bore no correlation to the final hammer prices. For example, a small pair of lily of the valley brooches were valued
at $700-$900 but sold for $75,000!!! A simple bracelet that spelled out DARLING in diamonds ($10-12K estimate), which
Coralyn so dearly wanted, went way beyond her budget, going for $156,000. So, the values in the catalogs were really
the fair market value for estate jewelry that was not owned by someone famous or some other "provenance".
So, basically, Liz Taylor's items went for anywhere from 5 to 10 times, or more, the estimated catalog value. Final auction total for all of her items came to $156,756,576.00 Typically, they keep
auction results posted for some time, but not for these auctions. So, if you search through http://www.christies.com/
, start on the home page and click on the upper right hand corner picture of Liz Taylor. You will be taken to a press
release, a list of the different auctions on the left, and if you click on one of the auction links, it may take you to further
information about her and pictures of some of the items sold. Click on the thumbnail size photos to get enlargements.
Coralyn's New Mini
Countryman Later this week Coralyn picks up her new Mini Cooper which is the Countryman
model: 4-door, all wheel drive, silver, and weighs as much as a Camry or Honda Accord. Anyway, the reason this
is special is that she has had the top of the car custom painted in colors alexandrite can display, changing from a deep
raspberry in the front, transitioning to deep purple, and then to bright teal for the back half. With luck, she'll be
able to get a vanity license plate which says: MY ALEX
New Form of
Credit Card Processing
As we move in to the "smart
phone" age, a number of companies (not banks) have developed devices that when attached to one's smart phone, it can
be used as credit card processor. These processors follow the same security guidelines as the banks require. You
sign right on the smartphone screen. At least that is what we've learned to date. So, this year we will be checking
these devices out and moving to them and away from the big machines (which can only be used here at Coralyn's studio).
We'll keep you posted as to when the switch over occurs. There will still be hand written receipts. Other artists
have found their clientele quite accepting of the whole process.
Coralyn & Dwight - Jewelry Designer
- GIA Graduate Gemologist
- Accredited Jewelry Professional
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