Thursday, July 28, 2011

this past memorial day weekend, my brother chris and I went to a refinery 29 and WHIT party hosted by TENET in southampton. it was the perfect occasion to kick-off summer style and we had a great time previewing whitney pozgay's summer 2011 WHIT collection. and I received many compliments on my necklace! :)

(on chris: ralph lauren shirt and shorts. on me: jcrew dress, SALT glasses, my wood and coral necklace, kate spade clutch, stubbs and wooten espadrilles)

(wood and coral necklace that I wore, www.katiebartels.com)

Saturday, July 16, 2011

clothing + sparkle

today is my 27th birthday! I have a variety of birthday traditions. my parents always give me hugs and kisses at the exact moment of my birth, 11:07 pm (or they call me if we are in different cities). I always have to eat grilled cheese and lemonade for lunch. this tradition started at age 3 when my pregnant mom took me with her to a doctors appointment so I could see a sonogram of my soon to be baby brother. afterwards, she took me to lunch at the hospital cafe and we had lemonade and grilled cheese (my favorite lunch). this tradition continued every year!

(blowing out the candles on my 4th birthday. naturally I rocked a pink birthday tiara)

one of my favorite birthday traditions is getting dressed up! even as a young child I would pre-plan my birthday dress (this should come as no surprise :) ). this year, I decided to go for a 1950s glam look and wear a dress from my favorite designer, Kara Janx. and I am obviously pairing it with my favorite necklace!

(katie's signature necklace, kara janx dress, jcrew bangles, prada clutch, christian louboutin heels)

Sunday, July 10, 2011

jewelry as home decor

fun fact: I don't own a jewelry box! this might come as a shock because I am a jewelry designer and collector of cocktail rings. where do I store my pieces? the answer is I don't! I decorate my apartment with my jewelry collection. why hide such pretty things?!?! everywhere you go in my apartment there is jewelry on display. I love finding unique ways to displace my collection and am constantly on the lookout for vases, bowls, and other items. during a recent trip to the south I picked up a fabulous burnt orange vase and shell napkin rings at Furbish (http://furbishstudio.com/) and I'm currently using them to display earrings!

(turquoise and wood earrings--from my fall 2011 collection!!--displayed on my new vase from Furbish)

(my serpentine starfish earrings look fabulous with this shell napkin ring from Furbish)

I have acquired a pretty large cocktail ring collection over the years--alexis bittar and kenneth jay lane are my favorite designers--and I just can't bare the thought of keeping them hidden. so they are displayed on my dressed on this cake stand from Fishs Eddy.

(my cocktail rings on display on my Fishs Eddy cake stand)


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

july birthstone: ruby!

the glowing ruby shall adorn,

those who in july are born;

then they'll be exempt and free

from love's doubts and anxiety

I am constantly asked: "what is your favorite gemstone?" The answer really depends on the season (I'm all about carnelian in the fall and I die for vibrant emeralds in the summer), but rubies always hold a special place in my heart because ruby is my birthstone (my bday is july 16 :) )!

rubies are one of the hardest gemstones (don't mess with rubies!)--they are 9.0 on the Mohs scale and diamonds are 10. one of the most interesting facts I picked up while getting my gemology degree was the fact that rubies and sapphires have the same chemical composition, the only difference is color! so they are the same stone (fun fact: sapphires come in every color of the rainbow...just not red, because then they are considered rubies!).

in rare instances, rubies can have a star affect, called asterism. this is caused when light reflects off dense rutile impurities within the stone. this affect is believed to ward off tension and increase internal strength.

(an example of a star ruby--amazing!)

one of the world's finest and largest rubies (23.1 cts) can be seen at the smithsonian in dc. it is called the carmen lucia ruby because carmen's husband gave it to her as a gift (lucky woman!). this ruby was mined in the mogok region of burma in the 1930s. mogok is known for producing the highest quality rubies in the world.

(carmen lucia ruby, photo courtesy, smithsonian)

(amazing stone from garrard)

rubies are said to possess the powers of love, success, integrity, passion and promise. even if you don't believe in special powers of gemstones, you cannot deny the beauty of a deep red ruby on your finger!

(photo, harry winston)