Last weekend, I attended JCK Las Vegas, the ginormous jewelry trade show, for the second time. In 2013, I was there to speak about the next-generation customer, alongside jewelry expert Cheryl Kremkow. This year, I was invited by Platinum Guild International, so, naturally, I wore a lot of platinum!
Four of my platinum ring designs.
The first thing I did was meet up with the Vegas Gems at the Wynn, where we were again terrorized by a giant singing frog.
The Vegas Gems are wimmin I know through social media, including designers, journalists, bloggers, sales reps, buyers — anyone who has anything to do with jewelry is welcome.
At the Wynn. From left: Cheryl Kremkow, Peggy Jo Donahue, and Monica Stephenson.
As you can see, I was thrilled to see designer Katrina Kelly again.
Me and Katrina.
Katrina and I have a lot in common when it comes to designing jewelry. We both start by focusing on the metal we’re going to use, and then find gems to suit the design, rather designing around a big gem. We have our differences as well. As Katrina’s website says, “Katrina Kelly celebrates fun, love & wisdom.” I’m more of the IDGAF type, and this was the necklace I wore all weekend.
Click to read more about “BOSSY.”
My letter necklaces are always popular with airport security. The ladies of the TSA really flipped for BOSSY!
Barbara Palumbo of Adornmentality was there. We kept up our tradition of taking duckface selfies together. This is from Barbara’s Instagram. Note her caption!
Barbara always makes me laugh. When she included my designs in a Mother’s Day gift list on her blog, the post was called, “Jewelry Fo Yo Momma.”
I had to take a special picture with Monica Stephenson of iDazzle because we were both wearing in-your-face printed dresses. Monica was snake-patterned and I was … like a brick house.
Click for Monica’s 2010 interview of me.
I’d been meaning to save the debut outing of that brick-print dress from Moschino’s Spring/Summer 1997 collection for New York. I even knew what brick wall I wanted to pose against, but, as I was packing for Vegas, I had a whim to bring it. I hope to do my brick-wall pose in New York later this month, and will be sure to include my shoes in that photo. Other Gems at the Wynn included Erika Winters (PriceScope writer and editor AND a bridal jewelry designer) and designer Shamila Jiwa (the organizer of the first Gems outing), seen in the photo below with Katrina.
I like this action shot! From left: Shamila, Katrina and Erika.
I don’t know who convinced me to leave on my reading glasses to match Erika in this photo, but obviously my two drinks had gone to my head!
Four eyes times two.
I missed getting a photo with Jessica Cohen of LupRocks, who was the one who introduced me to the Platinum Guild. Later in the weekend, I did get a picture of Jessica’s hands. She tried on my Luna ring, made of satin-finished platinum, a black South Sea pearl and 1.90 carats of diamonds.
Jessica can moonlight as a hand model!
On Saturday, I went to a PriceScope dinner, where I saw Erika and Shamila again.
From left to right: Erika, me, Shamila. I’m wearing my leopard dress from 2002. Click for other photos of the dress.
Somehow I didn’t get a picture of jewelry writer Robyn Hawk, who I met at the PriceScope event for the first time in real life, though I felt like we were old friends thanks to Twitter. She, however, took a good picture of me with my brand-new Maneater ring: the yellow-diamond taxi.
Photo by Robyn Hawk. Click for her Instagram.
The taxi was one of the eight rings I was wearing that night. Robyn photographed them all, though she had to do it in stages.
Here’s Robyn’s first photo …
Robyn’s first photo.
… and here’s the second.
Robyn’s follow-up photo.
Hey, when you’re at a giant jewelry trade show, you better bring a giant jewelry wardrobe. And, honestly, some of the other Gems put me to shame in the jewelry-wearing department!
Despite that, the next night I didn’t wear any rings because Sunday was all about JCK Rocks the Beach — a concert in the wave pool at the Mandalay Bay hotel. Maroon 5 performed last year. I’m not the biggest Maroon 5 fan, but I might be the biggest concert-in-a-wave-pool fan. It was totally my happy place in 2013. When I arrived in Vegas this year, I was obsessed with my need to pick up my ticket for this year’s concert with Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20.
My mind was like:
“THEPOOLTHEPOOLTHEPOOLTHEPOOLTHEPOOLTHEPOOL
POOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOL“
Luckily, Barbara came to my rescue by giving me her extra ticket when I saw her at the Wynn on Friday.
Thanks, Barbara!
Having my ticket safely in hand didn’t change my thought pattern at all. I was still thinking:
“THEPOOLTHEPOOLTHEPOOLTHEPOOLTHEPOOLTHEPOOL
POOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOLPOOL“
I was consumed by the thought of the wave pool. The night of the concert, all the Gems showed up in lovely dresses and heels. I was wearing an old Billy Idol concert t-shirt and shorts, with a bathing suit underneath and flat pool slides on my feet. Super-tall Monica of iDazzle peered down at me and said, “I thought you were much taller!”
I was standing on a clear platform placed over a small pool.
We all had drinks at a cabana taken by the Women’s Jewelry Association, joined by some of our favorite JCK peeps and sister Gems, including Brittany Siminitz.
From left: Brittany, Erika, Barbara and me.
When the music started, my well-dressed friends kept on networking. I said, “BYE!” and ran into the pool by myself.
Yay!
How can you not want to party in a pool?
The pool is pretty shallow in front of the stage.
I confess that the only Rob Thomas song I know really well is “Smooth,” his 1999 collaboration with Carlos Santana. Yikes! I can’t believe that came out 15 years ago. I remember listening to that song nonstop on my Discman as if it were yesterday. Here’s my video of “Smooth” live. I missed the first line, but I made up for it by catching Rob at the end saying, “Stop throwing shit at me, dude. Really, what the fuck?!” LOLZ. The crowd did get a little boisterous with the glow sticks and beach balls.
Afterwards, I waded out to join the Gems and other friends for drinks in the hotel.
Raymond Hak, Brittany and me.
I seemed to be the only one in the bar with wet shorts and sand in my shoes. Fancy!
I’m already looking forward to 2015’s JCK.
From left: me, Barbara, Erika.
Those Gems are coming in the pool with me next year … or else!
UPDATED TO ADD: Here is Barbara Palumbo’s highlarious report on JCK from Adornmentality.