All posts tagged: LUMINARIES

A Luxurious Vibrant Jewelry Garden of Earthly Delights

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

In the rarified sphere of high jewelry, the highest possible level is bespoke pieces, custom-made for individual clients. Like haute couture, haute joaillerie items are made to order and crafted by hand, with intense collaboration and interaction between the jewelry designer and the client. The items are heirloom quality and — like royal jewels – each one has a story behind it. If you’re operating at this price point, you have the option of working with one of the storied European jewelry houses: Asprey, Bulgari, Harry Winston, Van Cleef & Arpel, Graff, Cartier, Chanel and Dior all offer haute joaillerie designs that are essentially custom-made. An alternative that many sophisticated clients turn to is working directly with an artist who is classically trained in one of these maisons, but now creating work on their own. The advantage of that approach is that you are intimately involved in every step of the process, and you’ll receive highly personalized attention from a skilled artisan. You’ll also be the owner of a piece that is truly one-of-a-kind, created …

See Luxury in a New Light with: Sharon Khazzam

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

The Dandelion Chandelier Luminary Café is the place to find a series of personal interviews with fascinating people who are stellar achievers in their chosen field of endeavor. Our Luminaries are sharing their origin stories, life philosophies, secret songs, guilty pleasures and hidden talents. It’s guaranteed to be illuminating.  Award winning jewelry designer Sharon Khazzam is a star in the world of haute joaillerie. She was the sole in-house jewelry designer for Asprey for eight years. With Asprey’s support, in 1993 Sharon launched her eponymous collection, which reflects her tastes as an artist and also her expertise with gemstones. You can find her one-of-a-kind collection of earrings, rings, bracelets and necklaces at Barneys New York, Isetan and Mitsukoshi in Tokyo, and Ylang 23 in Dallas. Or you can work directly with her to create a bespoke piece, choosing stones that speak to you, and seeing the design and the final product come to life in her studio.

See Luxury in a new light with: Anna Deavere Smith

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

The Dandelion Chandelier Luminary Café is the place to find a series of personal interviews with fascinating people who are stellar achievers in their chosen field of endeavor. Our Luminaries are sharing their origin stories, life philosophies, secret songs, guilty pleasures and hidden talents. It’s guaranteed to be illuminating.  Anna Deavere Smith is a playwright, actress, professor and journalist. She has delivered riveting theatrical performances in her one-woman plays, including Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Other Identities; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; and Notes from the Field. All were shaped from stories she elicited through recorded interviews, which she then personally portrayed on stage. Anna has portrayed Presidential advisers on television and in film in The West Wing, The American President, and Dave. She has played roles on the hit shows Nurse Jackie and Black-ish. She has served as a professor at Stanford and New York University. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “genius” grant; a National Humanities Medal, which she received from President Barack Obama; and a George Polk Career Award, one …

How to Get Your Child Admitted to Private School

Published by Lawrence Otis Graham

It’s that time of year. Private school application time. And you thought Halloween was going to be the scariest thing that would happen to you this month. Think again. Rest assured, you’re not alone. The thought of applying to an elite, selective private day school in the United States strikes fear in the hearts of parents everywhere. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago – there’s no escape. And there are limited ways in which to throw money at this problem. But fear not. As the father of three kids who have been admitted to private day schools (and to New England boarding schools) and having served on the boards of both day and boarding schools, I’ve observed this process firsthand for a while now. While there is no way to make applying for private school completely stress-free, there are some specific steps that you can take, starting now, that will maximize your chances of successfully making your way through the process with a minimum of agita. Over a series of posts, I’ll share what they are.

See luxury in a new light with: COOL HUNTING

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

The Dandelion Chandelier Luminary Lounge is a place to hang out, pour yourself something to drink, and listen in on a series of personal interviews with fascinating people who are stellar achievers in their chosen field of endeavor. Our Luminaries are sharing stories, life philosophies, secret songs, guilty pleasures and hidden talents that will help all of us see luxury in a new light. COOL HUNTING was founded in 2003 by Josh Rubin and Evan Orensten. The online publication informs the global creative community about creativity and innovation in culture, people, places and things, often through the lens of design. In addition to its online publication and video series, COOL HUNTING provides brands with consulting services, offers hosted travel experiences, and offers its exclusive Omakase gifting service.  We stopped by the Chelsea offices of COOL HUNTING on a drizzly late-September New York afternoon to chat with Evan and Josh. They were joined intermittently by Logan, their 14 ½ -year old Sealyham terrier, and by the new puppy in their office, Eero, who is 3 months …