The ice queens cometh, but they’re a lot more casual now

Brooches have gone down in 2004 history.

And boulders of the Harry Winston variety were conspicuously absent from the recent Golden Globes décolletage.

But make no mistake: Diamonds are very much for now – not just forever.

“They’re always in, of course, but right now the look of really big sparkle is in,” said Charla Krupp, executive editor of Shop Etc. magazine.

The key difference from dowager-duchess days: “We’re casualizing diamonds, whether in right-hand rings or necklaces with jeans or diamond watches,” Krupp said.

So, instead of rocks on red carpets, L.A. jewelers such as Neil Lane are adorning the Beyonce set with long, delicate diamond-studded platinum chains to go with denim and tank tops. And the Britneys of the world are wriggling wrists into trendier-than-Cartier diamond watches for daytime errands.

Think Michele Watches at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue stores, and Philip Stein Teslar, which made Oprah’s Favorite Things list for the second time this holiday season. (Bonus for believers: The Teslar watches contain copper chips that supposedly guard the body against electronic pollution from cell phones and other gadgets, purportedly improving sleep and reducing anxiety.)

A tip from Trump’s hand

The Web site Inspired Silver began rolling out cubic-zirconia replicas of stars’ engagement rings last year with the Ben-Jen pink one (Jen Lopez, that is). A knockoff of Donald Trump’s rock for Melania Knauss is $25. “I call them the ABS of the jewelry industry,” Charla Krupp said of Inspired Silver. “We were walking around with them here, and people really think they’re real.” See www.inspiredsilver.com.

ABS by Allen Schwartz, by the way, is loved and loathed for its instant knockoffs of red-carpet gowns. (Expect to see lots of brown gowns for prom season, on the heels of Renee Zellweger’s and Marcia Cross’ at the Golden Globes.)

Lab-fabulous sparklers

Lab-grown sparklers, such as Gemesis and Moissanite, are becoming so sophisticated that they fool even the trained eye.

“They’re not cheap-cheap, but much less than a regular diamond,” Krupp said.

Gemesis Cultured Diamonds combine 100 percent carbon with high pressure and temperatures to create colored cultured diamonds – yellow for now; pink may come later – that are about one-third the cost of nature’s yellow diamonds.

“Gemesis is simply duplicating in a controlled environment what takes millions of years to happen (in nature),” said Craig Horwitz, vice president of H. Horwitz Co., a family-owned wholesale and retail jeweler that carries Gemesis in Chicago.

Makers of Moissanite, on the other hand, do not bill it as a diamond, but say it’s almost as hard and often is mistaken for one. Lab-grown, it’s nearly colorless and claims to have 2 1/2 times the fire of a diamond at one-tenth of the price (about $299 to $10,000). Larger J.C. Penney stores, including the location at NorthTown Mall, added Moissanite this fall.

Right-hand rings

After DeBeers started the right-hand diamond ring marketing campaign about a year ago, sales jumped 21 percent in the first quarter of 2004, the Diamond Information Center reported.

The rings’ designers departed from solitaire or three-stone anniversary ring styles (representing past, present, future).

Instead, these right-hand rings tend to orient “north and south” on the finger or embed tiny diamonds in mesh or lacelike framework, Krupp said. Art deco styles are particularly popular now.

“When a woman buys a ring for herself she doesn’t want it to look like an engagement ring,” Krupp said. “The campaign really fed independent women who have their own style, are working, or who want gorgeous things and don’t want to wait for a ring.”

Button earrings

First, there were chandelier earrings. Then linear or so-called “stiletto” earrings.

Because accessories move in cycles too, both danglers will cede some trend territory to button-style earrings this spring.

The evolution makes sense in the post-brooch era.

“They’re like brooches for your ears,” Krupp said.

Estate jewelers, who buy and resell previously worn jewels, are a good source for button earrings if you want to invest in real jewelry. Check vintage stores for costume versions. For how to make them look modern, check out Jennifer Lopez’s spread in the January issue of Vogue.