New York City – A Winter Wonderland

Today's New York City might not be your typical Norman Rockwell winter scene but it is just as special and magical. Many traditions are held close to our hearts; Rockefeller Center & the Christmas Tree, elaborate decorated windows, the Swarovski Crystal Star, the smell of nuts roasting on the streets and of course Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.

This year snow has already covered the streets on a few occasions (as I am writing this the snow is falling – so pretty and cold!) so we think and are hoping that we might have a white Christmas. We all know there is nothing like a white Christmas no matter where you live and what your traditions are.

All of us native New Yorkers at Roberta Chiarella wish you a warm, cozy, happy and healthy Holiday and New Year!

Someone to watch over me

Atlas is a bronze statue in front of Rockeller Center in New York City on Fifth Avenue.
The sculpture depicts the Ancient Greek Titan Atlas holding the heavens. It was created by sculptor Lee Lawrie with the help of Rene Paul Chambellan and it was installed in 1937.
Atlas is in the Art Deco style of Rockefeller Center.
The entire statue is 45 feet tall, as high as a four-story building. It weighs seven tons,and is the largest sculpture at Rockefeller Center.


I worked in Rockeller Center in" Atlas's" building, and my office was directly
across from Atlas -we were eye to eye.
I stared at him all day and from the corner of his eye he stared back -
i  felt protected by him.
To get through the doors to my office you had to pass by Atlas and even though he was made of bronze and did not move he made me feel like no one could harm me.

It has been awhile since i worked there but i always go back and visit to say hello.

Comin' down a chimney near you

It's almost time! Robertacharella.com has broken records with our 'embrace' collection and we're just thrilled. So many people ordered some items they literally sold out. But fear not, one of our best sellers, the chunky necklace, is available and ready to ship. You've got just a couple of days, we will rush out our orders on Monday 12/19 to get it to you before Christmas. After that, well, in a pinch I've wrapped up a photo of the item and given it when the actual gift is late so I'll leave it to your imagination.



The Swarovski Star at Rockefeller Center NYC



But you've probably gotten cousin Diane and her beautiful daughter Carly their gifts, the presents for your friends Linda and Binty are already in the mail to their homes. So treat yourself to something while it's on sale! In the winter you have so many opportunities to wear great earrings and necklaces, think bold when it comes to jewelry.



Get some sparkly big jewelry to go with this sweater!



If you've got a reindeer sweater to wear (thanks, aunt Elsie) get something colorful and sparkly to draw attention to your jewelry! Nobody will notice a tiny delicate earring, so get something fantastic like the 'larger paisley' or angie earring. You don't want a little necklace to hide under your scarves, your winter fashion jewelry ought to be big to be seen, so take a look at a statement necklace. You can wear the Brava Bib necklace with a red blouse and look festive and fantastic!



Chunky Necklace featured in InStyle!



When you gather with family, antique and estate jewelry always looks great, especially when Aunt Lorraine will be wearing a bracelet she bought in 1955 that looks amazing. What you can do is pick up our Moonstone Earrings, these beauties are made from stones I found in the basement of our jewelry factory which has been in the same family for generations. These beautiful stones were probably purchased in 1950 and there weren't a lot of them so I took them all. When these sell out that's it so get a pair today. 

New York City Christmastime

When you're done shopping take a deep breath and relax. Soon it'll be Christmas and hopefully you've been invited to spend some time with family and friends. It's been a long year and finally we get to enjoy a couple of quiet weeks and holidays. May you and yours enjoy good health, peace and prosperity in the coming year, thank you all for your support. Ciao!

Santa's on his way!

It's almost here! Christmas is really coming and New York City is all decked out in lights and decorations. There are trees everywhere, lights on every lamppost and storefront, and I'm loving it. We went for a walk last evening and took in some of the sights as the weather is just perfect with just a little bit of chill in the air.

That's as much free time as I allowed myself in order to take care of jewelry orders. You know that everyone wants their Christmas presents on-time and so we've got lots of jewelry in stock along with boxes, wrapping papers and for the indicisive among us, gift cards! If you're not sure, pick up a gift card on our website, everyone likes a robertachiarella.com gift card.

From the volume of orders so far I can tell that people are loving the jewelry shown in InStyle Magazine. The Chunky Necklace and Rain Drop Earrings are hot! We've got plenty and with our Promo Code you can save big.



The OMEGA Necklace



Another magazine feature (People Style Watch Magazine) is the Omega Necklace. This one is new and different, a great gold necklace that we make right here in the United States! This beauty is also on sale with a Promo Code, after all who wants to pay retail for anything this time of year.

I just love this one, the gold is shiny and looks perfect for a fantastic neckline at your office holiday party. Of course it goes well with nearly everything and leaves room for a nice pair of earrings!



Before you know it it'll be time for an office party or a dinner with friends. You want to look good, and perhaps bring a nice gift or two, and we're happy to help. Browse our site robertachiarella.com and enjoy! Santa Claus is watching. Ciao!

New York City Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is the day after thanksgiving and one of the biggest shopping days of the year. From my window on the upper east side of Manhattan I can see people on their way to fifth avenue, dressed in casual "I'm ready to buy anything" outfits, no coats needed on this beautiful fall day. There are also people already on their way home, shopping bags and boxes on their arms.

For us, orders are coming in like crazy, I guess lots of people are shopping from the comfort of their homes, buying online and having it shipped to them. Hey, just saving sales tax (sorry, NY customers) makes it worth it for most of us. Today we've gotten 4 orders for the Chunky Necklace, featured in InStyle this month! We've got different colors and this necklace is so beautiful (and not too heavy) it is a must have this season.

New York City is getting ready for Christmas, er, the holiday season. Rockefeller Center has put up lots of decorations and the trees are full of new high-tech LED lights. The toy soldiers are one of my all-time favorites and they're everywhere around the ice-skating rink.

Last night my husband Brian and I had dinner with NYC's favorite meteorologist, Janice Huff, and her husband. The WNBC-TV studios are high above the Rockefeller Center plaza (right near Saturday Night Live's studio) and we all met up between newscasts. As they say, a great time was had by all. Have a wonderful weekend and happy shopping. Ciao!

Merry, Merry, Ho, Ho, Ho!

Macy's Herald Square

Wheeee, I'm an elf! In Santas workshop you will find me- with Elizabeth, Jose, and Taylor, our new intern. We're stringing Swarovski baubles onto wires, setting beautiful jewels into gold and silver fittings and drinking eggnog all day long. Why? It's Christmastime, and we've got to get those gifts ready for the big day.

Lord & Taylor'sss

I know, many of us don't have chimneys, but we've all got mailboxes, and hey, it's 2010 and I saw on TV that even Santa uses UPS to make sure all the gifts are where they should be.

Christmas in New York is always fun and hectic at the same time. I didn't make it to the Rockefeller Center tree-lighting ceremony, where the star on top is a giant Swarovski crystal, because there was so much security they had to move the jewel display out of the plaza and have the ceremony down on the ice-skating rink. I know the thousands of folks who went had a great time, and it is a really beautiful tree this year.

We went to see the department store windows yesterday. My favorite will always be Lord & Taylor, with their intricate miniature christmas and holiday scenes in every 5th avenue window. Just look at these guys, they are really cute! Inside the store, a recent renovation has turned it back into the masterpiece I remember, everything is so white, so bright, and the place was packed with shoppers. Then, it was over to Macy's on 34th street, where you can now stop for a hot chocolate in the giant plaza the city has created where Broadway and 6th avenue cross. When you are in your car you'll curse these silly plazas, our Mayor has decided that traffic will somehow flow better if you close most of the street, but when you are on foot they give you a place to slow down and enjoy the views. The Empire State Building is blue for Chanukah, and looks great from this part of town.

We had some great food at Seven Bar and Grill, it's a secret spot right near Madison Square Garden serving wonderful fish and a great thin crust pizza appetizer. I highly recommend this place if you're nearby, though most nights a reservation is in order. Full and happy, it was back home to work a bit more, today we filled a dozen orders so they can go out first thing Monday morning.

Fashionistas from everywhere love the jewelry featured in People StyleWatch- Zoe is wearing our Crystal Mosaic Earrings which we've got in 10 colors. Check out the link, and enjoy! This weekend it's an encore presentation of the black-friday free shipping event, People StyleWatch has a promo code and we've got our BOGO sale running till the end of the year, so you and a friend can get a pair if you like.

the Angie Earring

Another hot, hot item is the Icy Cool Earring, it's a 2 1/2 inch long Swarovski piece in the nicest shade of aqua, they are literally flying out the door after being featured in Self Magazine. Another favorite is the Angie Earring, created for Angelina you-know-who! This brilliant pear shaped crystal is on sale at only $68, they look great with practically anything. So if you want some twinkle, some bling, some ice, and some sparkle, robertachiarella.com has what you desire. And your faithful elves will pick and pack and ship until the last moment to make sure you get your jewelry in plenty of time for the holidays. Ciao!

The girl's got BIEBER FEIVER

95th caller, you're our winner! Yes, that was me on WPLJ a couple of weeks ago, your girl from queens won 2 tickets to see Justin Bieber perform in Rockefeller Center when he was appearing on the Today Show on June 4th.

We usually keep PLJ on in the studio all day, music keeps you happy at work and so, when you've got the phone right in front of you and they announced this contest, why not? We all know what that busy signal sounds like, bzzz bzzz bzzz you are way too late, but for once the phone was ringing! The person was shouting that I won, and I was in shock.

I gave them the information, and was told to show up at the NBC entrance very early, as the today show starts its schedule at something like 5:00 AM. We had to go to a 'secret' entrance to bypass the thousands of  people who had lined up to be part of the audience two days ago. I hope these kids had sympathetic teachers, considering it was a school day, but cutting school for a free concert is not the worst thing in the world, I did it when I was 16 myself!

As a winner, I got to be in a special section with all kinds of VIP's (and their teenage daughters) and had the opportunity to be literally just a few feet away from him, next to the cameras.
You can see where the 'audience' was mostly to the side and behind Justin, but I was up close and personal! These are actually my photos, no Getty Images here!

We always chuckle when Carly Frank goes on and on about how great he is, but I have to say it was a thrill to see this guy in person! He has dancers that are amazing and he does sing more or less on-key most of the time. Unlike a lot of Today Show 'performances' this one was not lip-synced at all, he was really singing and the audience was loving it.

 They allowed a few thousand people (mostly Carly's age) into the Rockefeller Center Today Show courtyard, and they were all rocking and jumping and really got into it. Being Live TV, the show stops and starts, but he got in a medley of his hits with somebody to love and one time in there. He also did a short version of his Karate Kid song, Never Say Never. 

In between commercial breaks he smiled and chatted with Al Roker, and as it was really hot this day everyone was dripping with sweat before too long. Even Justin was sweaty, and his fans thought that was just fine. I kept thinking, I really do have the fever! Ciao.

Sleighbells are ringing in New York City

I love New York at Christmastime! So many tourists, enjoying all the wonderful decorations, the lights, the attractions and the shopping! I took some time last evening to get some of my shopping done, and made my way down fifth avenue, where the store displays at Saks and Lord & Taylor are legendary.

Every year they seem to get more and more interesting, and the people strolling and shopping just love them. Of course, you have to push your way through sometimes, but I was able to buy a few gifts and then took a walk through Bryant Park with my camera, trying out some available light photography.

They've put up a temporary winter playground, complete with outdoor fireplaces which were all in use by folks having a drink and some snacks.  Every year they set up a shopping village, with all kinds of handcrafted items, and lots of glassware, winter wear and neat holiday items. And there's an Ice Palace Bar! 

I saw a TV show about finland or norway, where they build a bar out of blocks of ice, and people wait on line to get in, the place was lit in blue and although the guests had to be freezing, they looked like they were having a great time. Bryant Park built a more melt-proof structure adjacent to the ice skating rink, complete with a balcony overlooking the ice, and a giant heater over each table.

Unbelievably, it was not there a month ago, it's put up for the holidays and disappears after new years! Only in New York.

I finished up by walking through Rockefeller Center, the christmas tree is New York's most famous, and the crowds so thick you can barely move. I love it, though, because it is so festive, and it's free! I stopped for a moment and a couple asked me to take their photo, I put my package down on the ledge and obliged them, and then went on my way. A few minutes later, while I was admiring the swarovski star on top of the tree, I noticed the same couple running towards me to give me the bundle I'd forgotten! My faith in angels renewed, I continued on my merry way to Henri Bendel's to check out the Roberta Chiarella jewelry counter, making sure it's fully replenished for that last minute rush.

Even though the economy is not great, people are shopping, and we're doing our part, putting lots of items on sale and offering gift wrap and other specials for our customers. The Angie Earrings have been doing so well, we've reordered from the factory and have plenty in stock.

We'll pack and ship like crazy, to make sure everyone gets their gifts on time. We want everyone to have their present christmas morning, it's a promise I made to Santa!  Ciao.

it's a Wendy day!

I'm too excited to go to sleep, and have gotten so many emails after being on the Wendy Williams Show that it would take me all night to answer them. All I can say is if I was going to come back in another life, being a daytime TV star wouldn't be too bad!

The Wendy show is great, it was so exciting to be a part of it today. The audience is hyperactive and went wild when they found out I'd brought a gift of new crystallized Swarovski Elements for everyone there, and they cheer and applauded when Wendy showed off the "Wendys Waterfall" earrings I gave her on the show.

The format was cool, I was the announcer and got to lead off the show, giving it my best Queens accent (cousin Donna calls it the 'native tongue') so everyone in the world knows this is a New York show! It was an unexpected treat to get so much air time, and we both enjoyed the reaction of the audience to the jewelry. The camera's not always on, there are some moments in the studio that aren't on TV, they are filled with fun, showing off my jewelry and Wendy telling some Tiger Woods stories and other hot news items. Ms. Williams is just a delight, it was just an unbelievable day!

By the time I got home, we already had some requests for the earrings, such is the power of daytime television! I hope you got to see the show, it really was a unique, fun experience for me.

When we left the show, I was on cloud 9, it was that cool!

As luck would have it, I'd made plans to meet up with WNBC's Janice Huff for dinner between newscasts. Nobody does the weather like Janice, she's a really skilled meteorolgist and NY's favorite weather-caster, in our house nobody's allowed to watch anyone else!

We met at Rockefeller Center, which is filled with holiday shoppers and tourists, catching one of New York's other great spectacles. Can you imagine, hanging out in my town with 2, yes 2 super-cool TV personalities, in ONE day. And, it's only Monday....  Ciao!

we're HOT HOT HOT!

It may be frosty in old New York, but I'm sweating because we're on our annual rush towards the holidays. People want gifts, and nice ones! People want to know where to get them, where the good values are, and can it be delivered in time. Sometimes folks just have to have what they've seen in a magazine, or they want what a celebrity is wearing. Well, it just so happens that my answer to all of the above is YES!

The place to get your holiday jewelry gifts is robertachiarella.com, because we've got the hottest jewelry in town. We were on the Today Show twice this week, with my jewelry featured on the 'plaza ambush makeovers' segment. It is amazing to watch as the hosts choose women in the Rockefeller Center plaza in front of the christmas tree, and treat them to a hot new look. I love this segment, the gal's husband does a double take! Check it out: plaza ambush makeover .

Ok, on to the next item, you want your gift to be something special, perhaps worn by a celebrity or featured in a magazine, right? Stylists at Family Circle and People Style Watch have picked up on the Angie Earring (and it's little sister, the starlet ) and my mi prima ring, and customers are picking these for gift-giving.

We are offering a gift wrap special to make life easier, with our black foam-lined boxes, silk ribbons and gift cards only $3 per item, and if you saw our work table, you would think Santa dropped his bag right there, we've got so many boxes wrapped and ready for shipping. It's actually still early, thanks to UPS and our free shipping for orders over $75 everyone can get what they desire in time for christmas. If you're the type that likes to touch and feel the goods, and save money, we are having our sample sale next week on Dec. 8th and 9th in Manhattan. Drop me an email at info@robertachiarella.com if you'd like an invite.

And if that's not enough, if you want to see me and my jewelry on TV, check out the Wendy Williams Show on Monday. Even I can't get over the fact that Wendy really enjoys wearing my stuff, and if you look at her website she posts a pic every day with each item in her outfit identified, so you can see who are her favorites. I've been having a blast working with her and all the wonderful people associated with this show, and to actually set foot on her stage is amazing.

There are days (or weeks) like this where I know I am blessed, and so lucky to be able to do what I do, and of course you can't take things like this for granted. Thats why I always thank every single customer from the bottom of my heart, I know that celebrities wouldn't wear something that wasn't the best, and you and I deserve no less.

Our company supports charities (there are charities where jewelry donations are appreciated, we've been involved in dress for success programs and the Step Up Women's network) and we pride ourselves on customer service and great design, quality and price. Sometimes I pinch myself to make sure it's not a dream, but from now till christmas, its really real, working like elves so everyone gets their gifts on time. Ciao!