A Clear Canvas

Jason Arasheben- CEO Jason of Beverly Hills

IM EXCITED!!!

In approximately 6 weeks, we will be opening our second Jason of Beverly Hills boutique at the historic Beverly Wilshire Hotel at the head of Rodeo Drive! 

We've completely gutted out the space, and as of today we are left with nothing but an empty shell; a clear canvas that's desperately in need of the talents and creativity of its artist. 

I'll be keeping you posted as it begins to take shape. 

Here we go!!! -JA

Follow @JasonofBH

"Golden Eye" Diamond to be Auctioned

We'll start the bidding at 900,000...

An insanely large and equally beautiful yellow diamond, seized by the US government after a money laundering investigation, went on the auction block today.

The 43.51 carat cushion cut "Golden Eye" diamond is an internally flawless, intense fancy yellow diamond, making it one of the most rare of its kind in the world. It was believed to have come from the Kimberley area of South Africa and somehow found its way into the hands of Ohio businessman Paul Monea. If the name sounds familiar (...) he's the guy who made millions after making the super popular ads for Billy Blanks during the Tae Bo crazy in the late 90's.

Monea is currently serving a 13 year prison sentence for his involvement in the money laundering bust, while the US Marshal service is set to make a huge payday after auctioning of the diamond which is believed to be worth 15-20 million dollars.

SEE MORE HERE...

BRAVO Unveils New 6 New Projects Including Jason of Beverly Hills

The Bravo Network recently green lit a slew of new series for their upcoming season, and has just announced an additional six new shows that are in production for the fall.
One of the said shows features someone we know...
SEE MORE HERE...

Jason of Beverly Hills x STITCHED: The "G-String" Launch Party

Check the video for an inside look at the launch party for the new Guitar String bracelet, also known as the G-String, by Jason of Beverly Hills. Available now at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.

Special thanks to our Cosmopolitan Vegas neighbors, the good fellows at "STITCHED, the Ultimate Men's Boutique".

Quake Crisis and Diamond Prices

In the wake of the recent crisis in Japan, experts say that diamond prices and demand will show little to no change globally despite initial fears within the industry. Although stocks from other luxury goods companies have been hit hard as a result of the destruction of the quake and tsunami, there is a logical explanation.
READ MORE HERE...

Dunce Cap Awards: Foiled Robbery Attempt

Once upon a time, fearsome pirates would take to the sea and capture booty by force with swords and canons. Unsuspecting seamen didn't stand a chance.
Fast forward to today, these geniuses are trying to rob jewelry stores with a brick and a prayer.
Unfortunately some guy in Hollywood failed to realize that today's jewelers are packing heat to protect their booty.
See how this masked marauder managed to grab a handful of jewels and catch a bullet all in one day.
READ MORE...

The New Dunamis HUBRIS:2011

Jason of Beverly Hills presents the latest installment of the Dunamis Timepiece collection, the HUBRIS 2011.

This limited edition Hubris features our signature "liquid diamond dial" which contains carefully hand selected VS stones. The brushed finish of the stainless steel bezel and the redesigned monogram bands give it a contemporary new look.

Dunamis upholds its standard of exclusivity by maintaining the established practice of only manufacturing 40 pieces per style. 

The customizable Hubris 2011 is available now through our authorized retailers.

For more information, visit DunamisTimepieces.com ~vK

Faisal the Jeweler???

Well here's an interesting bit of news.
Before New York car bomb suspect, Faisal Shahzad, made his failed attempt at blowing up Time Square, he apparently was looking to stack his chips by seeking a job at a jewelry store. *insert laughter*

After returning from a five-month trip to Pakistan, Shahzad made three calls to a Connecticut jewelry store seeking the same menial $10-an-hour job he held in his college days.

In February, a polite Shahzad called Sylvia Lee at Dynasty Jewelry about a job and then made two followup calls and thanked her, even after she turned him away.

"It was very strange, but I remembered him," said Lee, owner of the New Haven shop. "I told him we were very slow and didn't have any job opportunities open.

"I was so surprised to hear from him."

Could you imagine the guy that sold you your engagement ring trying to blow up Time Square? And ten bucks an hour? That doesn't buy you alot of fertilizer and fireworks my friend. And no, we're not hiring either.
It didn't help that reportedly the poor bastard wasn't too bright. For my country's sake, I'm glad your plan was foiled.

You officially put the "FAIL" in Faisal. ~vK

Sweat The Tech-nique: Introducing the iPad

Nerds and tech savvy hipsters rejoice!!
The iPad is here.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today introduced iPad, a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more. iPad’s responsive high-resolution Multi-Touch™ display lets users physically interact with applications and content. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds- thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad, and will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the App Store. iPad will be available in late March starting at the breakthrough price of just $499.
Check the full press release HERE.

I don't mean to toot my own horn about being ahead of the game, but I feel like I've had a smaller version of this for a while now that I use to call my JBH comrades. But I appreciate the new-new, so I'll bite. I'm sure you will too.
I'm just sayin ~vK

Iridium Jewelry

Manufacturer of engineered and advanced material products, American Elements is dropping the newness in the world of jewelry. In a recent announcement, jewelry pieces made of the precious metal Iridium (grab your periodic table) are now in production.
If you slept through science class, Iridium is actually a member of the platinum group of metals. It is the most corrosion resistant metal in the world and has a melting temp that's 2000 degrees above gold. You haven't seen it used in jewelry until now because its damn near impossible to work with in it's solid form. But now they "have the technology"...

American Elements' technology capabilities, which it uses to design parts for the NASA space program, allowed the company to work with jewelers in New York and Los Angeles to create the first pure iridium wedding band, along with bracelets, earrings, watch bands and necklaces.

"The response has been fantastic," American Elements Chief Executive Officer Michael Silver said in a media release. "The introduction of a new precious metal to the global jewelry industry is an important and exciting once-in-a-lifetime event."

"There is no doubt that if it had a significantly lower melting point, iridium would have been the preferred precious metal of royalty and the wealthy for the past 1,000 years," Silver said. "It's absolutely beautiful, but the technology to produce it just wasn't available."
Source: National Jeweler

Iridium is also said to give off a spectacular luster and is the lowest tarnishing element in the universe.
Don't be two-thousand and late; Iridium is the new platinum ~vK

Stuller's Diamond Try-On App For iPhone

No more excuses guys; they are making this way too easy.

Now there's an app for... getting your lady that special ring she's been hinting about. Yes, you can now get directions to the nearest ATM and try on the perfect engagement ring, all from your cell.

Jewelry wholesaler Stuller teamed up with Gemvision Corp. to create the "Live Diamond Try-on" Application that is available now through iPhone. You simply choose your diamond from an assortment of weights and cuts, then choose your mounting in either white or yellow precious metal. Next, you shoot a picture of your hand, use your touch screen to position the ring on the photo just right and adjust to size. Easy enough.

There's nothing left to do but to spam your girlfriends with the virtual try-on pics of your newly blessed hand.
Don't forget to update your Twitpics.

It's a test worthy new app that should prove to be more useful as the diamond choices are expanded to reach a wider variety of styles and more options are made available to the user. One cool feature it offers is the GPS function that will Goggle Map the nearest retailer that carries your diamond. However, In order to participate, jewelers have to be part of the Red Box Diamond retailer program offered by Stuller, the company says.

For now, its an effortless way to cut down on some of the rock hunting so you can move on to more important things; like getting an actual diamond put on that finger.

~vK

Hope Diamond Revisited

The legendary Hope Diamond is due for a makeover and the public has been given the opportunity to vote in on the new design.

The re-setting of the 45.52-carat deep-blue diamond is one in a series of events planned in honor of the 50th anniversary of the donation of the Hope Diamond.
To mark the occasion, Harry Winston Inc., the famed jewelry company whose owner and namesake donated the diamond to the Smithsonian, has designed three contemporary settings.
The public can vote for their favorite online, at SmithsonianChannel.com/Site/Smithsonian/Hope.html. Voting will continue through Sept. 7, and the winning setting will be announced this fall.
Mounted in its new setting, the diamond is expected to debut in May 2010, coinciding with the premiere of the Smithsonian Channel's Mystery of the Hope Diamond documentary, a film recounting the story of the Hope Diamond, from its birth, to its journey through the hands of the kings and queens of Europe, to its final home at the Smithsonian.
From this fall until the new setting is fabricated, the Hope Diamond will be exhibited as a stand-alone gem with no setting.
During the past 50 years, the Hope Diamond has been mounted in a Cartier-designed platinum setting surrounded by 16 pear-shaped and cushion-cut colorless diamonds and suspended from a chain containing 45 diamonds.
Source: National Jeweler Network

Here's a look at the sketches for the three potential designs.
~vK

Million dollar jewelry heist in Paris!

Chopard store in Paris

Sacrebleu! A successful one man heist went down at the Chopard boutique in Paris over the weekend resulting in over 8.5 million dollars worth of missing jewelry. Like something straight form a Parker novel, the prestigious jewelry store was cleaned out by a slick character who strongly believes in the "five finger discount".

"The man, in his 50s, dressed in a suit and wearing a Borsalino-style hat passed himself off as a customer to get in through the security door before drawing his weapon.
He ordered staff to give him jewels from the window display.
They did as they were told and the man got away on foot, the whole robbery having taken two minutes.
Staff in nearby stores in the Place Vendome told reporters they had noticed nothing out of the ordinary at the time.
Late today, only a few leather handbags could be seen in the shop's window."

Source: RTE.ie

Ouch. I'm clutching my pearls as we speak.

That's exactly why JBH doesn't allow just anybody to come waltzing into our appointment-only showroom.

You don't want to dance with the burly security at the door either. ~vK

Press: Wall Street Journal puts fake jewelry on blast

Well, it was only a matter of time before the "Bling" wars took it to the next level.

Once upon a time, a guy could get away with a Herringbone or two and he was the man. If you had gold rope (or five), you were certified. Fast forward to '98 and it was mandatory to stay iced up. "If it cost less than twenty it don't look right on me"-- BG, Cash Money Millionaires

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, people lost sight of what it meant to rock real jewelry because now it's all about BIGGER and FLASHIER with no substance. With the suspect-fruity pebble-jewels that are floating around the club, in the latest music videos and on hip hop blogs these days, it has become clear that folks have been getting away with wearing pieces that are, shall we say, not so fresh.

Until now.
My heart leaped when I read a recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled: "Culture of Bling Clangs to Earth as the Recession Melts Rappers' Ice". I suppose it took the recession to finally put the foolishness on blast-- Long overdue. (click here for the full article)

In a nutshell, the article spoke on how many people are dooping their fans and peers because lets face it; everyone seems to be "blinging", but not everyone's pieces are legit. But once again, guys have found a way to literally "outshine" their opponents by calling out those wearing fake jewels.

Not mentioning any names, but rappers have gotten tech savvy with their dissing by bringing out diamond testers to prove the validity of their stones. Drum roll please...
My hopes are that this will eventually put an end to all of the hallow boasting among grown men with something to prove. Owning a dozen glittery chains is nothing to brag about when it's a lie. One day we can get back to appreciating the beauty and rarity of precious stones as well as fine craftsmanship that goes into making the unbelievable pieces that are made for those that can afford it appeal to quality over quantity.

Jason of Beverly Hills believes in a fine balance of both. More and more diamond lovers are seeking out jewelers who only specialize in the OFFICIAL. I'd expect nothing less from a real boss.

Your thoughts on this? ~vK

Rare blue diamond sells for record 9.5 MILLION

GENEVA (Reuters) - A flawless vivid blue diamond weighing 7.03 carats sold Tuesday for a record 10.5 million Swiss francs ($9.49 million), the highest price paid per carat for any gemstone at auction, Sotheby's said.
The rectangular-shaped blue stone, the rarest to enter the international market this year, went to an anonymous buyer bidding by telephone after hectic bidding see-sawed between two callers for 15 minutes.
It was the centrepiece of its semi-annual sale in Geneva, conducted by David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewelry department in Europe and the Middle East, who said the results showed the market's resilience despite the economic downturn.
"This is already a new world record price for a fancy vivid blue diamond and a new world record per carat for any gemstone (at auction)," Bennett told reporters.
"It is fantastic in this market and shows that these rare things are very much in demand," he said.
The final price includes a commission paid by the buyer to the auction house. The stone sets a record price per carat for any gemstone sold at auction of $1,349,752, Sotheby's said.
The previous record price for a fancy vivid blue diamond was $7.9 million, including commission, for a stone weighing 6.04 carats at sale in Hong Kong in October 2007, also by Sotheby's.

Source: Reuters, see full story here

I put my bid in too, I was this close (wink) ~~vK