This year’s winner is Morgan Keefe, who is currently studying at GIA to be a gemologist.
Le Vian launches an accessories line
The brand unveiled its new handbags, scarves and shoes in a middle-of-the-aisle fashion show held Sunday at Vicenzaoro.

Vicenza, Italy--Le Vian unveiled its new line of made-in-Italy accessories at a fashion show held Sunday in the aisle adjacent to its booth at Vicenzaoro.
For Le Vian, the launch of what it is calling its “Lifestyle” line of pashminas, shoes, wallets and handbags is about giving consumers who are fans of the brand more options, which is the future of the industry, CEO Eddie LeVian said in a speech prior to the start of the fashion show. Brands, he indicated, will need to be about more than just jewelry.
“The future of the jewelry business is not to be an island but to speak to the woman in a language she understands,” he said at the show, which he noted was being simulcast online so his competitors could watch too.
For the fashion show, models strutted up and down a red carpet in head-to-toe Le Vian, from their shoes to their pashminas, clutches and shoulder bags.
Their accessories coordinated with pieces set with Le Vian’s “gem of the year” for 2015, the “blueberry” tanzanite, as well as the brand’s gemstone of the year for 2016, which LeVian revealed is peach morganite.
Prices for Le Vian’s handbags will start at around $300, with the brand likely aiming for some of its higher-end retailers to sell the accessories, stores like Jared the Gallery of Jewelry and Ben Bridge Jeweler.
Some of the handbags and wallets in the Lifestyle line will be gem-set and the purse the brand is dubbing its “iconic” handbag is called Liz, after LeVian’s sister who was involved in their design.
Le Vian is not the first maker of fine jewelry to move beyond bracelets, necklaces and earrings in recent years. Tiffany & Co., for example, started selling purses in 2010.
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