Selena Gomez’s Choice Style

Selena Gomez received the Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon award, no doubt for classic outfits which always include a hint of her taste for contemporary fashions. Selena’s jewelry is always a good match for her ensemble.

Let’s take a look at the jewelry she wore to the Teen Choice Awards, and some options for real ladies (with lower budgets).

Top: Kirra Fill Round Earrings: intricate, circular design that drops 2.5"
(Buy Direct)

Middle: Kirra Silver Floral Earrings: medallions embossed with floral motifs, they drop 2.5"
(Buy Direct)

Bottom Leaf Burn Gold Earrings, dropping 3"
(Buy Direct)

Are the three examples from PacSun exactly the same as Selena’s earrings? No, but they have the same light feel and artistic quality. And there’s a bonus. At $6.50 per pair, the earrings are well within a normal chick’s budget.

London police have arrested a man they believe is connected to last week’s $65-million jewelry heist at Graff, a London jeweler. The theft was the biggest jewelry heist in British history — the previous record was held by the same company for a 2003 robbery. Forty-three items are missing, including the jewelry illustrated here.

Two men in suits walked into the store, and video surveillance shows they made no attempt to hide their identities. The thieves took a female employee hostage and fired gunshots as they left the store with her. She was released (physically) unharmed.

BBC Coverage of the Robbery
Graff Web Site

_{Photo by Metropolitan Police via Getty Images}

Partying for a Purpose is the fundraising arm of It's All About The Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to benefiting children's charities and enhancing the lives of less fortunate children. In the past, It's All About The Kids, based in San Diego, has given thousands of kids opportunities they would not have otherwise experienced, such as participating in a Christmas party and receive a Christmas gift, attending San Diego Chargers games and San Diego Padres games.

"Our party at the Playboy Mansion is our marquee event each year," says Executive Director Angela Brannon. "We're excited to be able to offer an event like this to a wider audience than we have in the past. The Playboy Mansion is known worldwide for its parties, which are notoriously difficult to attain an invitation. Our organization is officially extending an invitation to the entire world!"

The weekend begins on Friday, August 21st at 7:00 p.m. with a hosted VIP cocktail party at the XBar inside the Hyatt Century Plaza. The highlight of the evening will be a live Auction for beautiful Body Painted Beauties. Winning bidders will arrive at to the Mansion early on Saturday evening to help paint their Beauties, perhaps even with their names.

A pool party at the Hyatt Century Plaza on Saturday, August 22 from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. will kick festivities into high gear, giving guests a chance to work on their tans before heading to the Playboy Mansion that night. A pre-party for Cabana guests and Body Painted Beauty winners will be at the Playboy Mansion beginning at 6:00 p.m. All guests will enjoy a hosted premium bar, delicious dinner and the company of gorgeous women throughout the evening. Those will include The Lollipop Girls, The Savvy Dolls, The Simple Glam Girls, as well as the Body Painted Beauties and hostesses from San Diego. Mermaids in Motion will be swimming with the guests in the pool and world famous Grotto. Pole and GoGo Dancers will dazzle the guests throughout the night as Playboy Playmates give tours of the Mansion grounds including the Game House and zoo. The soundtrack for the evening is provided by DJ Scott Roberts, DJ Brent Bartell, and DJ Ideal.

Lastly, guests will have the chance to attend a recovery pool party Sunday, August 23rd along with the San Diego hostesses beginning at noon. Only 300 tickets are available for the weekend-long event, with 100% of the proceeds going to It's All About The Kids. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit www.PartyingForaPurposeMansionParty.org.

More:
I’ve updated photos of jewelry at the London premiere of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to include a few pics from the New York event.

_{Photo © Warner Brothers}

1. Casio Shock Resistant Watch

A watch that’s built for rough handling during sports, but looks good on your wrist. The Electro-luminescent backlight lets you see the time anytime–even in dark conditions. Great price!

2. Timex Ironman 100-Lap Triathlon Flix System Men’s Watch

A cool looking watch, black and silver with a round face. You’ll like the Indiglo night-light, just turn it on with a flick of the wrist. The watch has an alarm, calendar/date feature, digital display, and timer.

3. Casio G-Shock Unisex Black Resin Watch

This watch is slightly more expensive than the first two, but it has more features. It’s solar powered and shock resistant, with water resistance down to 200 meters. The auto backlight has a brief afterglow. Look at 26 time zones and zoom in on the time in 30 cities. You can turn daylight savings time on or off. Lots more perks, including a stopwatch feature. Check this one if you like a watch with lots to play with.

4. Casio Databank Watch

This compact, rectangular faced watch has a calculator, a 300-page databank and space to store up to 50 email addresses. There are plenty of other features in this black and stainless watch, including and alarm with a snooze button.

5. Invicta Pro-Diver Men’s Automatic

This good looking, round faced watch has a self-winding automatic movement, so it never needs batteries. It’s stainless steel with a wave-blue fact. There’s a screw-in crown and caseback for water resistance to 660 feet. The watch’s double locking, foldover clasp offers extra security. Lots of other features, so take a look.

LONDON (Reuters) – Gold steadied on Friday as the dollar index reversed earlier losses, but trading was muted as the U.S. currency remained hemmed into ranges ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting next week.

Spot gold was bid at $932.90 an ounce at 1420 GMT (10:20 a.m. EDT), against $932.35 an ounce late in New York on Thursday. U.S. gold futures for August delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange eased 70 cents to $933.90 an ounce.

Prices awaited new direction from the currency markets, currently the main driver of gold. Gold becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies as the U.S. dollar slips.

“If you are looking at the ups and downs of gold in its narrow trading range, it is more or less a reflection of the swings in the euro/dollar exchange rate,” said Peter Fertig, a consultant at Quantitative Commodity Research in Germany.

The dollar .DXY fell broadly as improved U.S. data fueled hopes of an economic recovery. It later pared gains against a basket of currencies, however.

Moves in the currency remained limited ahead of a two-day Fed policy meeting next week. As long as the currency markets remain rangebound, gold will also be hemmed in.

Factors such as jewelry buying, safe-haven demand and inflation hedging are all likely to remain subservient to the influence of currencies, analysts said.

“Inflation expectations are not there just yet, and the precious metal could see even more losses if equities bounce back up,” VTB Capital said in a note.

“Gold’s attractiveness as a safe haven asset is virtually zero at the moment, which is evident from the unchanged speculative positions in gold futures or ETFs (exchange-traded funds),” it added.

On other markets, European shares extended gains early afternoon, while U.S. stocks opened higher as appetite for equities picked up. Oil firmed a touch after bullish economic data helped the demand outlook.

WIDER MARKETS

Holdings of the major gold exchange-traded funds were stable, as investors awaited clues from the wider markets. Another wave of bad news on the economy could unleash new inflows, however, analysts said.

The U.S. Senate signaled its approval of a long-planned sale of just over 400 tonnes of gold by the International Monetary Fund on Thursday.

UBS analyst John Reade said in a note: “There are lots of uncertainties regarding the sale but we do not expect this to be a negatively disruptive factor to the gold market.”

“If the gold is taken by other official sector buyers (it) could be a very positive development for the market,” he added.  Continued…

(For Reuters columns on deals, click on [DEALTALK/])

** Russia’s LUKOIL (LKOH.MM) bought a stake in a Dutch refinery from France’s Total (TOTF.PA), gaining a foothold in northwest Europe and blocking a bid by the U.S.’s largest refiner, Valero (VLO.N), to enter the region. [ID:nLJ579651]

** China’s top offshore oil and gas producer, CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK), has hired Goldman Sachs (GS.N) to advise it on a bid for a stake in Africa-focused oil and gas firm Kosmos Energy, a source said, in a deal that may be worth about $3 billion. [ID:nHKG68766]

** Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) Chief Executive Ken Lewis was approached by three former Merrill Lynch executives this year to discuss buying back some or all of their old company, but he politely rebuffed them, the Financial Times reported on its website. [ID:nBNG451308]

** Austrian Airlines (AUA) (AUAV.VI) offered to cut its fleet to win European Commission approval for its planned takeover by Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), the head of AUA’s current owner was quoted as saying. [ID:nLJ274165]

** AIMS Financial Group, an Australian private finance group, is confident that its bid for property manager MacarthurCook Ltd (MCK.AX) will succeed, and is looking for more acquisitions, according to a top executive. [ID:nSYU006725]

** Poland’s engineering firm PBG (PBGG.WA) is in talks with smaller rival Energomotaz Poludnie EMPD.WA, amongst others, on a potential tie-up, PBG deputy chief executive said. [ID:nWSF006631]

** Japan’s Pioneer Corp (6773.T) said it will delay issuing new shares to Honda Motor (7267.T) because it is in talks with other potential additional financial partners. [ID:nT104946]

** Charterhouse agreed to buy energy research firm Wood Mackenzie from troubled rival Candover for 553 million pounds ($904.6 million) including debt, in this year’s biggest European acquisition by a private equity firm. [ID:nLJ251842]

** India will “positively” consider selling stake in state-run engineering firm Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd (BHEL.BO), the minister of heavy industries said. [ID:nBMA003177]

** Pluspetrol Resources Corp NV said it will bid about C$400 million ($354 million) for Petro Andina Resources Inc (PAR.TO) to expand its oil and gas operations in Argentina, Colombia and Trinidad. [ID:nN18388398]

** U.S. firearms maker Smith & Wesson Holdings Corp (SWHC.O) said it would buy privately held Universal Safety Response Inc (USR) in a cash and stock deal, to enter the perimeter security market. [ID:nBNG442491]

** Private equity firm Patriarch Partners LLC said on Thursday it is buying Spiegel Brands Inc, a well-known mail order women’s apparel catalog and website, and will use the platform to sell products from other companies in its portfolio. [ID:nN18406547]

** Thursday’s scheduled auction of bankrupt housewares and jewelry retailer Fortunoff Holdings LLC’s intellectual property was delayed until next week because of a power outage, the sale’s organizer said. [ID:nN18414518] (Compiled by Antonita Madonna Devotta in Bangalore)

The auction is now scheduled to take place in New York on Tuesday, June 23, at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). The deadline for bids was extended until June 22 at 9 a.m.

The outage on Long Island, where Fortunoff Holdings is headquartered, prevented the chain from getting information from potential bidders, the organizer said.

The assets being sold in the auction, which Consor Intellectual Asset Management is managing, include the fortunoff.com web site, Fortunoff’s bridal registry, jewelry designs and its 1-800-Fortunoff number.

Fortunoff’s stores were liquidated earlier this year, after it filed for bankruptcy protection in February. It was owned by NRDC Equity Partners, a private equity firm that bought the retailer out of an earlier bankruptcy last year.

The case is In re:Fortunoff Holdings LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 09-10497. (Reporting by Phil Wahba; Editing by Gary Hill)

PARIS (Reuters) – Lamborghini has given notice to Mercury, Russia’s biggest luxury group, that it will end their partnership because it is not satisfied with its services and sales performance, the Italian sports car maker said.

Mercury, which has been working with Lamborghini for more than four years, said it was trying to find solutions with the Italian company, and stressed that the financial crisis was more to blame for low sales than its strategy as a car dealer.

The fall-out between the two companies, while part of everyday business, highlights the difficulty for foreign luxury car makers of doing business in Russia, known for its Byzantine legal system.

Lamborghini said it was about to sign with another dealer to start selling cars in Saint Petersburg, as Mercury held exclusivity in Moscow until 2011.

It said it was not happy with the way the Russian company had developed customer relations. “Mercury is not focused enough,” Lamborghini Chief Executive Stephan Winkelmann told Reuters.

“Lamborghini gave notice to the Mercury group,” a spokesman for Lamborghini said, adding that Mercury still had a chance to “show us that a better performance is possible and to show us a clear commitment to our brand.”

Mercury, which started as a jewelry shop 15 years ago, sells Maserati, Ferrari and Bentley cars and Chopard jewelry.

It owns the prestigious Tsum department store and the Barvikha luxury village, just outside Moscow.

Mercury generated more than СЕКРЕТАРША billion euros ($1.40 billion) in annual sales in 2008 and is widely regarded as a gatekeeper for the entry of foreign luxury goods into Russia.

“We do all the necessary things that dealers need to do,” Alexander Reebok, general manager of Mercury, told Reuters on Wednesday. “We are surprised by their decision.”

“We are trying to resolve the problems … Now with the crisis, they (Lamborghini) think it is a dealer’s problem, but it is not, it is a world problem … People are not in the mood to buy cars right now.”

Lamborghini, whose logo is a charging bull, says only men buy its cars, which start at 170,000 euros and can fetch 360,000 euros.

Lamborghini, a unit of the Audi brand (NSUG.DE), owned by Europe’s biggest carmaker, Germany’s Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), made 2,430 cars in 2008, of which some 13 were purchased by customers in Russia in 2008, 16 in 2007, 14 in 2006, and 2 in 2005.

“The market potential is not covered,” Lamborghini said in an e-mailed statement. “For sure, we take into consideration that Russia suffers from long, strong winter and infrastructural challenges.”

Mercury said the crisis had hit luxury cars more than other luxury products. “But we fulfilled the plan in 2008,” Reebok said about Lamborghini car sales planned for last year.  Continued…