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Precious Items from Versace:
Enlightening the Dark Season
By Timothy Hagy

A dusky twilight falls upon northern Europe each December as the earth tilts to a wintry declination, and even the city of lights seems blanketed in perennial gloom. The dark season, with its accompanying mist and fog, often even obscures the myriad of krypton bulbs installed on the lacework frame of the Eiffel Tower.

But five days before the winter solstice, the House of Versace unveiled a sparkling array of precious items for Spring / Summer 2004. The famed Medusa, while still slithering with diamond serpents, shares the spotlight with a marvelous globe that has found its way onto rings, earrings and necklaces. Encased in either gold or platinum, the precious crystals are sure to glitter on even the darkest day.

Elsewhere, watches in baroque style, typical of previous collections, have been wisely reinterpreted with a more modern approach, sober but at the same time, timelessly elegant.

And not to forget men - Bond Street is the point of reference, with a new watch design with a retro style that invokes the refinement of an époque past. Or passing, as may be the case.

V is for Vibrant - especially when diamonds are set into gold for the ultimate statement, be that on earrings or necklaces.

There was certainly lots shimmering on Rue de Faubourg Saint Honoré, but even more splendid is the gift that the House of Versace makes each year to the Elton John AIDS Foundation in the name of each periodical that covers them.

That simple gesture captures the spirit of the season in a way that all the diamonds and sapphires in the world can not. The gift of life, anonymously given, must surely be the brightest and the most precious gift of all.




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