Today I want to share with you a company I came across during my research, when I was looking for a new LED magnifier lamp. Many factors are of importance when you work long hours on the bench, requiring precision all the way. Your eyes will thank you for every Dollar invested in good quality, but I aimed at an affordable solution. I ended up choosing the Lightview XL lamp from Brightech, and I wasn't sure what to expect at that price...

Deific’s jewelry design is a labour of love with every piece completely handcrafted. The motifs for the pieces are other-worldly, conjuring up strange deities, noble warriors, Zen wisdom, Rock N’ Roll lifestyle, and the essences of fascinating world cultures. Such disparate influences bespeak the life of the designer of this line of jewelry, who used his dark hours to fuel his creative outpourings. Being a hybrid of Thai and American, with keen eye for expressing his encompassing worldview through the lens of artwork, Chuck's designs feature both a spiritual romantic vision of the East and a fearless unyielding perspective of the West. Inspired by Aristotle’s philosophy of dialectics that draws tension between opposing perspectives to create insight, his design approach combines elements of high-octane Western lifestyles with the forbidden Eastern world of faith and spirituality. It is this unique tension between the East and West, that sets his designs apart.

Few street fairs have this much right to exist: The Lower East Side and its pickles go wayyyy back!!! Early in the 19th century, mass immigration brought on a boom in pickle production, and non-English speaking Polish, German, and Jewish immigrants began selling their pickles to customers on the street using pushcarts. The first peddlers appeared on the Lower East Side in the 1860s, and by 1900, there were about 3,000 pickle vendors throughout the city. Believe it or not, its fame almost brought the pickle down...

Cuban craftsmanship many times was born out of scarcity. The same is true for Carmen Fiol's designs, who fought a long and stubborn fight for her right to pursue a career in fashion. It is said that in over 70 years of creating, not once has she made the same design twice. Monika Knutsson discovered Fiol’s designs on her first visit to Cuba in 2017, shortly after the designer’s death. She returned this spring, becoming acquainted with Fiol’s ingenious dressmaking techniques, artfully combining her ethereal geometric and floral-motif laces with pintucks.

There's no time like now. Whether it's the next bear market looming over our near future (or not), or an unnerving bitcoin market volitality, add this note to your near term investment strategy: Red and Pink Diamonds are super rare. And they are about to go extinct!

It's that time of the year again...New York Fashion week makes the streets of New York even more interesting than they already are, in fact even boring back alleys turn into photo locations or runways of some sort, and one can not be informed well enough to not miss out on one of the key events. When Rihanna closes NYFW with her lingerie line and promises to celebrate women however, full attention is guaranteed. The Yaf Sparkle family was partly, present partly glued to the live stream of the show, as we had the honor of gracing several models with our body chains.

Huge crowds are expected in Washington, D.C. Saturday, March 24 to take part in March for Our Lives, a rally initiated by the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Read on for charter Bus info.

As the #Metoo movement has owned the media for months now and for a good reason, our dear friend Linda Dyett, a writer and NY Times contributor, published an article about the topic of Senior Women and #Metoo, to add to the perspective - from the women, who truly initiated the movement as you know it today, long before Instagram was around.

We are so happy for Monika! This article in the New York Times captures Monika's path to inventing the gilded lace, from discovering her late grandma's lace leftovers in a backyard bin in Sweden when she was six years old to becoming a go-to designer for Beyonce, Whoopi Goldberg and other celebrities.

We introduce to you Delanacre Jewelry by Cécile Olivera. This line features details and craftmanship cultivated from hands on fashion industry experience.

Traditional Tahitian art is manipulated in a French technique mastered by the designer who discovered an eye for style during her childhood while being involved in contemporary dance. After four years of dance training in both New York and Paris, she was recruited by Christian Dior for their women's and children's department. Soon after Chanel noticed her talents and brought her on board. During her tenure there, a yearning to be set free from boundaries led her to design unique jewelry for Delanacre in 2009.

The Mother of Pearl is what will make your jewelry unique. The shell is cut in different facets to produce its form. Unpredictable iridescent colors and varieties give off light and textures that are unparalleled.

Floyd Mayweathers vs. Elizabeth Taylor would break a few records in a head-to-head, bling versus bling match up. Elizabeth Taylor had no previous boxing experience, but she had a knockout jewelry collection. Here we look at how the two icons measure up. Cast your vote for the winner of the 3 round Big Bling fight.

Tale of the tape: The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor, the Legendary "Jewels Evening Sale" achieved $115,932,000, becoming the most valuable jewelry auction in history and setting the tone for Christie’s highly anticipated four-day series of landmark auctions devoted to the iconic collection of Elizabeth Taylor. A tribute to the discerning eye of this celebrated film star, fashion icon, and humanitarian, the sale was 100% sold by lot and 100% by value, with 24 of the 80 jewels fetching over $1 million and 6 jewels over $5 million. 7 new world auction records were established: price per carat for a colorless diamond and for a ruby; a pair of natural pearl ear pendants; a pearl jewel; an Indian jewel and an emerald jewel.

Peridot is a mystical gemstone with a captivating history! Not only is this stone considered by Ancient Egyptians as, “The Stone of the Sun”, but it is the National Gem of Egypt!

It is widely known how fond of Emeralds Cleopatra was, but unbeknownst back then, Emeralds were often confused with Peridots. In fact, people believe the Emerald mine she owned, was Peridot!

Good day to everyone! We have some exciting news for all of you today as we were just featured in the fashion section of high-end fashion magazine Elléments for the summer edition!

A very rare celestial occurrence is upon us and with August 21st approaching, I am sure you have been asking yourself where you will be when the light of day disappears and sights and sounds will shift entirely for a rare moment. How does it sound when the animal world responds to this powerful Solar eclipse, and is a trip closer to the epicenter worth the experience? What we know is that we will get the rare opportunity to experience the divinity of the union between the Moon and the Sun. This can bring magnificent change to your life, almost like a new year, and bring a great chance to spiritually shift yourself and awaken yourself to a deeper level of being. Gemstones can help you find your powers in such transformational moments, in particular the following three stones.

Happy July and a happy summer to all! With wedding season in full swing, we collaborated with some wonderful people to produce a stunning photo shoot. We had the privilege to have off-season access to Governors Island which is a tiny island located between Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York. The island has an old fort, lots of history and an abundance of beautiful skyline views of New York City.

We wanted to honor that history but also use the beautiful industrial details in the space to feature a shoot that was both feminine and moody. The shoot incorporated lots of color, as well as additional ambiance from hanging lights as well as a multitude of candles. You can sense love in the air and it was the perfect time to do a shoot like this to kick off the summer. If you are engaged and ready to take the next step, here are some wonderful sources you could use to get started.

For all those born in this lovely month of May, we bring to you the Emerald! So sit down and let’s learn about your awesome Precious Birthstone. Did you know, it wasn’t always called an Emerald? Emerald comes from an ancient Persian word, which then transitioned into the Greek, Smaragdus. Through the centuries it has gone from esmaurde, esmralde, and in the 16th century to esmeralde.

This beautiful gemstone is ancient, even mentioned in the world's oldest book, Papyrus Prisse. "But good words are more difficult to find than the Emerald, for it is by slaves that it is discovered among the rocks." Although this book is 4500 years old, this is from a passage of writing 1000 years earlier!

Happy Birthday April babies! This is truly a time for love and celebration, because your birthstone is...drum roll please...the Diamond! Everybody know this is the most precious and therefore expensive of birthstones, but clearly, you’re worth it. The name of your stone comes from the late Latin name, Diamas, which derived from the Latin name, Adamas, which itself originated from the Greek term meaning invincible, and untamed.

In Sanskrit, the Diamond is called Vajra, which means lightning. In Hindu mythology this was the weapon used by Indra, the King of Gods. There is no denying that this Gem is fierce. Early uses for it were as a tool to carve into metal, and refract light, while others used it as a talisman of protection or ingested it for its healing properties. These healing properties are a myth however so do not try this at home. Many others recognized it’s beauty, and chose to adorn themselves with it.

Happy Birthday if you are born in March! Did you know that the name of the March Birthstone; Aquamarine, comes from two Latin Words, "Aqua" and "Marina", meaning “Water of the Sea”? The name is reminiscent of the beautiful shades of Blue that this Gemstone holds, light to dark and ever moving like the sea. Your Gemstone contains many extraordinary properties, utilized throughout history! The ancient philosopher Pliny was just one of many who praised Aquamarines’ name. Multiple uses were applied using Aquamarine to cure eye diseases, as well poisoning. In the 1300’s it became very popular with Royalty, who were constantly in danger of being poisoned.

Warriors also wore this Gemstone for protection in battles, while sailors wore Aquamarine to help guide them through the open seas. The Aquamarine is said to have powers of clarity, which is why it has been used in Crystal Balls since the Middle Ages. Queen Elizabeth I even used one with her advisor John Dee to help find her perfect date for her coronation.

So where does this wonder Gem come from? A modern day Geologist will tell you from the mines of Brazil, as well as Angola, Kenya, central Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Ural Mountains in Russia, Tanzania, Colorado / USA, and Zambia. However, if we asked one of our ancestors, you would be told to search for a mermaid's treasure box, not only this, but also the mermaids make them from their own tears before they treasure them.

Dancing dragons and firecrackers ... the Year of the Rooster is on!!! Find out where and how to celebrate in Chinatown this weekend!

To all you New Year babies out there, congratulations! Your birthstone is the Garnet. While Garnet comes in a myriad of colors, the most popular of Garnet colors is the deep red.

The name Garnet derives from the word, “gernet”. Not fluent in 14th century Middle English? It means dark red, and comes from the Latin word, “granatum”, meaning seed. This is due to the red garnets resembling pomegranate seeds! In fact, during the Victorian era, Garnets were made popular for their small red cluster jewelry resembling pomegranate.

A new article on Brides.com sheds some light on the question whether there is any reason to take off your engagement ring at night, including my very own humble opinion.

"Let's be honest, if you're like most girls, the only time you ever even think to take your engagement ring off is to hit the gym (which you absolutely should BTW, especially if you'll be lifting weights!). But what about when you hit the hay? Is it okay to snooze with a rock on your finger or should you really be giving it a rest? We talked to some jewelry pros to find out why or why not."

Here is a new must for your jewelry box. Close your eyes and think of the 90’s. No, its not platform shoes and high waisted denim, its those awesome choker necklaces! This is a major 90’s trend thats upon us again. Although, we associate chokers with 90’s fashion, this style has been around for hundreds of years, being predominantly regarded as high fashion.

We reserved one of our new Yaf Sparkle studded butterfly rings for one lucky winner ($195 value). Simply answer 14 short questions (ca.60-90 secs.), the winner will...

Don't miss out! Many Buddha to Buddha sale as many leather and cord bracelets are now on sale!

The next event and pretty much the best of all events all year anyway: Join us on Friday, December 16th, from 5-9PM for our annual holiday party! Amongst others we will welcome Lauren Harkness as a special guest. Lauren will show us her latest pieces - after moving back to NYC recently a sudden spurt of creativity...

Their famous pendulums are one of our bestsellers, and the variety of their gemstones keeps getting bigger.

 Meet the Gemstone Girls: Join us on Thursday, December 8th, from 5-9PM for a meet and greet with jewelry designer family Pound Jewelry!

Their famous pendulums are one of our bestsellers, and the variety of their gemstones keeps getting bigger.

Turquoise is the traditional birthstone of December, and the chosen stone for the 11th anniversary gift. A fascinating history follows this ancient stone. Follow me through time and space when we learn more about the Birthstone of the month December.

We felt like sharing this article with you for it's a) really interesting content and b) our 5 cents are in it, and a feature in the Huffington Post is something to be proud of after all ;-) Read on to learn which factors make "the Rich" pick their Diamonds, which shifts in traditions are changing engagement rings' designs, and which ...

The auction took less than 200 seconds. "The unique Pink", a pink diamond of rare color and clarity with an astonishing carat weight of 9.14 had found a new (undisclosed) home. Prices for such rare diamonds are on the rise, as ...

This week we have a nice adjustable hat from Buddha to Buddha for you...