Jewelry

[LuckyPeach]

On 4/5/2014 smarty said:

On 4/5/2014 LuckyPeach said:

On 4/5/2014 ennui1 said:

On 4/5/2014 LuckyPeach said:

In short, it's AN ART THING!

Yes. The art of the deal.

Ripkanistas: This quote was taken out of context from post #105 where I was speaking in detail about Judith's artistic creativity and use of materials, not business. ~Peach

Lucky Peach, I find the "ignore user" button to be priceless...and I might add, that I can only see this particular user when they are quoted in a response (like yours here within). I have found this thread far more pleasant to read without all of the usual obnoxious commentary. I have a few more users who I have ignored because of this thread. I do find it comical that people who profess to dislike Ripka and her jewelry spend an awful lot of time making commentary to that fact. Me thinks they protest too much....a little green goddess envy, in my opinion! Peach, keep on rocking your Ripka and take the high road!

Smarty, thank-you for the perfect and very sound advice. And on your last line, will do! Same to you... I even enjoy keeping a couple of her pieces out here next to me on the computer desk as art objects, and rotate them often. Best regards~Peach

PS~I see from your reviews that you are also a JR pearl lover. I wanted to let you know that when the recent flattened, rounded Baroque pearl toggle necklace was introduced, I was entranced but waited as usual. Your review helped me put it at the top of my JR Wishlist and I finally received it last week. OMG, what a stunner!! I haven't reviewed it yet (major, major backlog) but hope you'll consider copying your informative product page reviews to the monthly all review thread. Such a unique, outstanding necklace...!

[LuckyPeach]

On 4/5/2014 smarty said:

I for one, am hopeful for a full product line integration at QVC...in other words, she starts selling her 18k or even a 14k line...or at a minimum, offering her sterling with touches of gold rather than just clad with gold. I think that would be fabulous.

Smarty, now that the 14K/18K was removed from her website (was couture exempted from the deal?), it will be interesting to see how the JRQ lines evolve. Your idea of product line integration makes a lot of sense. For JRQ as you suggest, it would be nice to see a return of sterling with gold, not just clad, like the old days of the TWO line. And with some price adjustments, ahem, 18K and 14K lines would be welcome. Pricing right now is just too much all over the place. ~Peach

[jackthebear]

On 4/5/2014 ennui1 said:

On 4/5/2014 motherinlaw said:

Judith will fill us in and in her own way. She is a class act! Will be good to hear this directly from her at some point.

I'll be surprised if she says anything at all.

This isn't the first time QVC vendor companies have been bought and sold, and the principles never say anything.

yes

[serenity4ever]

On 4/6/2014 jackthebear said:

On 4/5/2014 ennui1 said:

On 4/5/2014 motherinlaw said:

Judith will fill us in and in her own way. She is a class act! Will be good to hear this directly from her at some point.

I'll be surprised if she says anything at all.

This isn't the first time QVC vendor companies have been bought and sold, and the principles never say anything.

yes

I seriously doubt she will say anything. She's had a nice career and in the past few years it seemed like she was wasn't the Judith Ripka that I remember from the late 80's where her boutiques had gorgeous designs in 18k and platinum. The retail stores that continued to carry her only had some silver and the sales staff would claim they weren't selling because of her line on the Q. Her name had lost its exclusivity and I think bringing her wares to the Q was the beginning of the end.

[Jannyg]

If she does say something about the sale, it will be a statement crafted by the new owners of her company. They're the owners and they're in charge.

[Favorite Son]

On 4/6/2014 LuckyPeach said:

On 4/5/2014 smarty said:

I for one, am hopeful for a full product line integration at QVC...in other words, she starts selling her 18k or even a 14k line...or at a minimum, offering her sterling with touches of gold rather than just clad with gold. I think that would be fabulous.

Smarty, now that the 14K/18K was removed from her website (was couture exempted from the deal?), it will be interesting to see how the JRQ lines evolve. Your idea of product line integration makes a lot of sense. For JRQ as you suggest, it would be nice to see a return of sterling with gold, not just clad, like the old days of the TWO line. And with some price adjustments, ahem, 18K and 14K lines would be welcome. Pricing right now is just too much all over the place. ~Peach

Those are nice things to hope for, but I doubt they will happen. It seems like the higher end pieces are gone from the website because they won't be sold here anymore. I haven't seen the particulars of the deal, but I would not be surprised if the stores in Moscow and other overseas locations were excluded from the deal, and Excel gets the license to use the brand only in the United States.

The United States market for this brand is saturated. If sales stayed the same or grew over the past several years, it was probably due primarily to the prices increases, which we have all noticed seemed to exceed the cost of materials and labor. The international market probably has much more potential for growth, but will require the kind of in-person promotion that occurred in this market as it developed and entered the growth curve. And the international market, since it is growing and there is still novelty to the product, is the best location to sell the higher end merchandise.

[motherinlaw]

Favorite Son: Those are very good points. I had not thought of things in that way. It could totally explain the disappearance of the 18k from her website.

Even so.....it was fun to look at that price range of jewelry. Remarkable things!!! I will miss not being able to gaze at them.

[stevieb]

On 4/5/2014 LuckyPeach said:

On 4/5/2014 stevieb said:

On 4/5/2014 ennui1 said:

On 4/5/2014 LuckyPeach said:

In short, it's AN ART THING!

Yes. The art of the deal.

And isn't that the truth too...

Fake diamonds are to art what paint by number was to art...

Ripkanistas: again, my quote was taken out of context from post #105 where I'm talking about our Judith in a reverential manner about her art of design and choice of materials used throughout her lines, from couture to JRQ. ~Peach

With all due respect, I read your 'reverential' post about 'our' Judith and I disagree. While I'm fully able to accept that some lines are going to feature varying degrees of gemstones, some high end and some not, the 'art', from my perspective, is in the original design. I'd guess that more times than not, that original design is for the couture items. Merely tweaking that design and inserting cubic zirconia at a higher than reasonable price does not connote 'art' to me...

[juliet]

Congrats to Judith for creating her various product lines that have been wildly successful. She is the same age as me and I've been retired for over 10 yrs. so I totally understand this move on her part and it was inevitable. As for the pieces I own I consider them the easiest of any to wear every day and the most well made. I love and own many Bixby pieces that are beautiful works of art but I can't wear many of them every day. And again as I've commented before thanks Judith for making clip earrings in so many styles - she's my hero for that. I would never part with any of them. As for the future the vintage Miriam Haskell jewelry is still in demand and I've loved it ever since I discovered it 25 yrs ago - so you never know. I sincerely wish her continued success with the acquisition and peace in her life.

[Tinkrbl44]

On 4/4/2014 ennui1 said:

On 4/4/2014 sunshine45 said:

On 4/4/2014 terrier3 said:

Bethenny Frankel made 120 million when she sold Skinny Girl.

Judith Ripka didn't get much money at all.

Does anyone know what Leslie Blodgett made from BE?

I think Chaz the WEN guy will be next...

i believe it was 1.7 BILLION.

I don't think Leslie owned BE. She took a job with a small niche company and turned it into a global empire, but she was not the founder. Also, you have to consider that Leslie made a lot of money when the company went public.

Leslie = right place, right time, but she worked very hard, too.

When I first saw Leslie on QVC, I kept wondering why she looked so darned familiar to me.

Well, I finally figured it out .... When I first moved to Los Angeles, my first job was with Max Factor in Hollywood. Come to find out, during that same time frame, Leslie worked for the Max Factor Marketing Dept!!