Category Archives: Lifestyle

Cannes Diary with Chopard

Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck

We arrive and live in the moment.

The day started out beautifully. Up on that Chopard terrace in the sky, we had a light lunch around conversations between Harvey Weinstein and Colin Firth while the radiant and idol worthy Livia Giuggioli, Mr. Firth’s wife, chatted with Caroline Scheufele about Chopard’s newest collection of “Green Carpet Jewelry“, which is 100% eco-friendly and mined in a sustainable fashion. This makes Chopard the first high jewelry brand to bring about a conscious change from start to finish! Being the glamorous company that Chopard is, the dazzling site of celebrities poured in to show their support for the initiative and see the first few pieces on display. Caroline talked about how the aesthetic was inspired by the delicacy of lace, something I found so poetic – a contrast between classic design and a new future.

After lunch we took a little stroll though the narrow streets of Cannes, peering in shop windows, dreaming of all the lovely French things we could bring home and popping into Petit Bateau to find gifts for our much anticipated niece and nephew due this June. There is something so fun and thrilling about collecting treasures from around the world to share with two little humans who aren’t even here yet. All these plans and dreams – in my imagination I’ve already had so many conversations with them. It’s amazing how connected we can be and what we can carry within us.

Then it was time. Wearing the most delicate Chopard diamond earrings, I slipped into white column Donna Karan gown that made me feel like a true Greek goddess. I felt radiant that night, beautiful and happy. To experience something so grand as the red carpet in Cannes was beyond thrilling. The line of black cars, the deep crowds of people all trying to get a peek at someone famous, the screams of excitement, the photographers yelling “Over here! One more! Over here!”, and of course, that beautiful red carpet. Arrivals are all timed so the cast and directors walk last into the theatre where the room erupts into applause. Attending a premiere, being able to watch the film with all the people who gave so much of their time, talent, and vision to create, was unforgettable. At dinner afterward, Kevin and I discussed how inspired we were. Everyone was there in celebration of art. Everyone was focused on the same thing and it wasn’t about us, it was about the people who created and about what they created. We were privileged enough to see Le Passé “The Past” by director Asghar Farhadi and as the credits rolled, tears streamed down the young actress Pauline Burlet’s face as the audience rose to its feet in the longest standing ovation I have ever witnessed. It was moving.

There are a few moments in the mirage of life that are really a time and place that stick with you, that stand strong in your memories. Our wedding, the first cinemagraph, my first photo shoot when I was a child, seeing the David with my own eyes, the raw roar of a lion, the color of the ocean in the Caribbean, my Grandmother’s potato soup and now this… attending Cannes.

  

Window shopping in my suede Elie Tahari “Emily Dress” and Kevin in his Elie Tahari linen jacket. 

Kevin Burg & Jamie Beck

Red Carpet imagery courtesy of Chopard

Special thanks to Donna Karan for dressing me.

See the other days here: dinner with the Gatsby creators and lunch in paradise!

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Ladies who Lunch

Central Park Conservancy (2)

I have never seen a fashion parade quite like this on 5th Avenue in all my years in Manhattan. Opulence, elegance, humor, chicness… anything goes when you are lunching with the world’s elite of society in Central Park’s stunning Conservancy at 105th & 5th for the 31st annual Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon.

Through the grand gates we arrived, heralded by trumpeters in the garden and champagne sparkling in flutes. Under a tent exploding in spring blossoms, we dined on mint pea soup and Maine lobster salad crafted by Abigail Kirsch. The event hosted by the Women’s Committee of Central Park Conservancy does more than just look fabulous at every age; they raise millions of dollars to ensure this park, for New Yorkers and for all those who vist from around the world, will remain beautiful and preserved for future generations to enjoy. Through robust applause, Anne S. Harrison (my new idol) announced they raised over 3 million dollars this season and furthermore accepted the largest gift to date of 100 million dollars to the Conservancy by Jenny & John Paulson.

So next time you lay on the lawn and gaze up at the trees or walk over the historic bridges in Central Park taking in this sweet escape from our concrete jungle, know that these lovely women are helping keep that possible for all of us, for all the years to come.

Special thanks to Tiffany & Co. for having me as their guest~

Central Park Conservancy (3)   Central Park Conservancy (6) Central Park Conservancy (7)

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Making of Palme d’Or

Chopard (7)

The Palme d’Or, or Golden Palm, the symbol of the Cannes Film Festival, has been given to the director of the best film every year since 1954. Chopard took over the creation of the award in 1998, after Pierre Viot, then president of the Cannes Film Festival, met Chopard’s co-president Caroline Scheufele. Dazzled and delighted by the creative energy of the company, he asked her to redesign the Palme d’Or. The award is now made in-house in their high jewelry department by the hand of one of their master craftsmen. The solid one-of-a-kind crystal is perfectly beveled along the edges in the shape of an emerald-cut diamond. The golden palm with its delicate heart shaped stem dances upward and shines like the sun.

We visited Chopard’s headquarters this past April in Geneva where they were working on this year’s award, and they took us through each step of the process: cutting the design in wax, making the form in gold, and shaping it to perfection before carefully assembling it to the crystal so it is ready to be delivered to this year’s 2013 Cannes Film Festival winner.

Chopard (2)

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Making of Palme d'Or by Chopard Cinemagraph

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We are so excited to be going to Cannes this year with Chopard and I certainly can’t wait to see where the journey ends for this precious award!

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Celebrating the Great Gatsby

Living in New York means opening the door to the extraordinary: extraordinary buildings, extraordinary clothing, extraordinary jobs, extraordinary people… and once in a while an extraordinary party. When the champagne invite arrived in the mail to Tiffany & Co.’s Blue Book Gala, in celebration of the jazz age collection they created for Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, I could have died from excitement.  With great artistic admiration for Baz (and you can guess how I feel about the Great Gatsby) we stood in a room surrounded by swinging girls in feathers, old standards dancing through the air, and sparkling diamonds that seemed to reflect every bubble of champagne.  It was a night in New York to remember, putting a big bow on the center of Manhattan…

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