DIAMOND DISTRICT AND DOMINICAN SALONS

After approximately five years of close calls, near misses, and one actual loss –with subsequent recovery, I have finally managed to lose one half of a pair of my beloved pearl and diamond studs.

It all began with my weekly visit to the salon, aka the Dominicans. As most New Yorkers in the know will tell you, if you want a blow out and/or doobie (not be confused with this doobie) that will be straight and full and bouncy, the Dominican salon is where it’s at. Though my loyalties lie with Olga & Bernadara’s in the Bronx (yes, I know, it’s off the island!), I have flirted with Cleopatra’s in North Philly– right off Olney Avenue, cheated with Dominican Beauty –another Philly spot on Lehigh and 7th, and have carried on a full fledged affair with Blossom in NYC on 52nd between 8th and 9th.

Last week, I made my way into Blossom for a quick wash and set when I felt the unthinkable happen. It’s my fault really…as I was getting my wash, it occurred to me that perhaps I should remove the studs, because as mentioned before, they do fall out of my lobes every now and then. But no, what did I do? I ignored the premonition and carried on with my perusal of US Weekly! Yes friends, I heard the chink as it hit the sink and that was it, gone…just like that…it was all very sad, really…

Anyway, that loss gave me the perfect excuse to go shopping again. After all, every well dressed cosmopolitan professional woman should have at least one pair of pearl earrings! So, I made my way over to the diamond district yesterday– this is where I made my original purchase. I visited with a few of the shops, and to my dismay realized that the pearl and diamond combo was not very popular…but then fate smiled on me as I walked over to Jack of Diamonds!


Not only did they carry the combo, but they even decided, after hearing my tale of loss and recovery, narrow misses and close calls, to install screw-on posts! Now, why doesn’t everyone do that? While earrings with screw-on posts require a lot of patience (it takes about 2 minutes per ear to put on and remove), they’re well worth it in the end because they save you money and heartache!




I bought these from the diamond dealers:



















On a recent visit to India, I noticed that every single earring was made with a screw-on post. Come on people, get with it!

These are some of the earrings I picked up on my visit (note the screw-on posts!):

Next time you’re in Mumbai be sure to stop into Parmar Jewelers. Tell ‘em I sent ya!