New Orleans Anne Dale’s Jewelry Goes Gold 

Jewelry Goes Gold  A Katrina relief badge, jewelry goes gold, will shortly become widely available, as jeweler Anne Dale has agreed to put a her New Orleans Jewelry creation into large-scale production.

Jeweler Anne Dale created the badge in response to the devastation she witnessed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and has already sold them on a small-scale.

Now she will be manufacturing the badges in silver and both white and yellow gold from early October, reports JCK magazine.

Ms Dale lives in Mandeville, close to New Orleans, and wanted to design something to support New Orleans and the victims of the hurricane.

Her badge is designed for use as a lapel pin and can also be worn on a chain. It incorporates a crest that represents the Mississippi River and is engraved with “I know what it means” and sports a heart to symbolise love, under which New Orleans is written. Within the heart is a fleur-de-Lis recalling Louisiana’s French heritage.

The Katrina relief badges have already proved popular, with actor Dan Aykroyd placing an order for 500 and Ms Dale has even sent one to President Bush.

Proceeds form the sale of the badges will be channelled into the Anne Dale’s Relief Fund and relief projects in Ms Dale’s community.

Source – World Gold Council


New Orleans Jewelry styles fly off store shelves

New Orleans Jewelry Designer(New Orleans, Louisiana) Ten days after Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast, Anne Dale and her family sat in her Covington home with no power, no running water and a battery-operated TV, rigged with a coat hanger as an antenna.

For the first time since the storm hit, Dale saw what the rest of the world had been seeing for 10 days.

“When I saw those images come on TV, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said Dale, who owns Anne-Dale Jeweller in Mandeville. “When I saw the police officers speaking, the idea came to me to give recognition to first responders.”

She created a Hurricane Katrina “badge,” a sterling-silver pendant with the slogan, “I know what it means to love New Orleans.”

“Everyone has a Katrina hero,” Dale said. “No matter what walk of life you’re from — rich or poor. A badge represents something about a person, their courage, nobility, honor.”

Dale already has sold 3,000 badges to people in Louisiana and as far away as Australia, Finland and California with proceeds benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Dale even tapped into the celebrity market.

“Dan Akroyd bought 500 to give to the New York City police and firefighters who came down to help,” said Dale. “He happened to be in town and the Harahan police chief called me and said, ‘If I give Dan Akroyd my badge, will you give me another one?’ I said yes, of course. And then Dan Akroyd called back and said he wanted to order 500 of them. So I met him in front of a bowling alley in Harahan. He came incognito but he was very nice, serious and businesslike but nice.”

Akroyd took the badges to New York where he gave them to New York police officers and other first responders who helped New Orleans after Katrina.

Dale is far from the only retailer taking advantage of Louisiana pride.

Earthsavers in Mandeville is selling “Save NOLA” T-shirts complete with a fleur de lis symbol.

The Mignon Faget jewelry store is selling sterling silver and 14-karat gold fleur de lis pendants, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, brooches and rings.

On the South Shore, retailers are selling T-shirts, jewelry and other clothing.

Metro Three, a Magazine Street store specializing in men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, is selling T-shirts with the logos “Make levees not war,” “New Orleans: Still proud to call it home,” “New Orleans is for lovin’ ” and “Go with the contraflow.”

T-shirts and sweatshirts with the “Defend New Orleans” logo also are selling at Turncoats Clothing Exchange on Magazine Street in New Orleans, and Vicki Adjmi, owner of Jean Therapy, is selling “Save NOLA” T-shirts at her Lakeside Shopping Center location.

Source – CityBusiness


Mandeville Jeweler Helps After Storm

Today marks the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating tour through New Orleans, and the city is still in a state of recovery.

 

Retailer Anne Dale of Anne-Dale Mandeville Jewelry store just across Lake Pontchartrain from the city of New Orleans, is one local who has taken an active role in aiding hurricane victims.

Mandeville Jeweler Helps Victims

To date, sales of her New Orleans jewelry from “The Anne Dale Collection,” specially created to support those affected by Hurricane Katrina, total more than $170,000.

The collection includes badges, pendants, rings and earrings that read “I Know What It Means to Love New Orleans,” “Pray for the Gulf Coast” and “Return to New Orleans.”

A portion of net proceeds from the sales of the collection has been donated to Catholic Charities, Light House for the Blind, Friends of the Frontline and Volunteers of America, as well as a number of churches and schools in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Prices for pieces of Mandeville Jewelry store Anne Dale Collection range from $29.95 for a sterling silver badge to $399.95 for a 14-karat gold badge.

To make a purchase of Mandeville Jewelry or to find out more about Anne-Dale Jeweler’s beneficiary charities, visit annedale.com.


Louisiana Jeweler Shows Love 

(MANDEVILLE, La.) – A noted motivational speaker and author once observed that “most crisis situations are opportunities to either advance or stay the same.” With her beloved Louisiana homeland brought to its knees by Hurricane Katrina, native daughter Anne Dale showed her true character.

While it would have been perfectly acceptable and certainly understandable to wallow in her own woes – a house without electricity, water or phone with downed pine trees everywhere and a houseful of people – she “felt compelled to do something rather than nothing… a flop or a hit.” And that “something” turned out to be a hit. In fact, she hit a home run.

Reacting on instinct and as a labor of love, Anne has designed a commemorative jewelry pin, with the proceeds going to benefit the victims of the killer hurricane. Called the Katrina Relief Badge, the classic, sterling silver design, about the size of a nickel, features a theme of “I know what it means to love New Orleans.” “I think God inspired me,” said the New Orleans-born retail jeweler, who owns Anne-Dale Jeweller located in Mandeville, 35 miles north of New Orleans on the Northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain. “The idea just came to me. Sometimes you get a gut feeling. This is a ‘meant-to-be’ project. Within three days, we had 700 hits on our website. We’ve been overwhelmed.

Anne said besides her divine intervention, another source of inspiration has been the police and their commitment to duty. “I saw their badges and when you think of a badge, you think of courage. A badge tells a lot about a person.

“The first week after Katrina was tremendously stressful. It’s been a hardship to so many people,” she said. “The saddest thing is the middle class, the elderly and the sick. But no matter what income level or status, it’s affected everyone.” To help promote the sale of the badges, Anne’s been on a media circuit that would be the envy of rock stars and politicians. She’s been interviewed by most local news outlets and with all the publicity, she’s managed a 500-pin order from movie and TV star Dan Ackroyd. Louisiana-born musicians Marc Broussard and Charmaine Neville also have badges.

Through Anne’s political involvement, a badge has also made its way to the White House.

The compelling design is topped by a crest, symbolic of the great Mississippi River which has brought Louisianans centuries of joy as well as tragedy. In the center is a heart containing the familiar symbol “fleur-de-lis,” long associated with Louisiana’s rich French culture and strong religious heritage. On the bottom of the badge are the words “New Orleans” with “Katrina 2005 Anne-Dale” on the back.

After producing her own badges for the initial run of 24 pieces, Anne took a giant step toward the big time. She contracted a large U.S. jewelry manufacturer to produce the badges.

Within a matter of a few days the idea from “art to part,” with the badges scheduled to be shipped the week of Oct. 10. Although the initial pieces were in sterling there will also be a gold version.

“Anne is a very highly-respected gemologist and in that capacity she’s on our faculty when we have our annual workshop,” said a spokesman for the manufacturer. “When the hurricane crisis came, her part of the world was very much affected. She was born and raised there, and that’s why she was moved to do what she did.

Anne is also executive director of Gem-A USA, the American branch of the Gemological Association of Great Britain. Gem-A USA promotes gemological education, teaches gemology at trade shows and schools, and implements courses in colleges, universities, public and private schools.

She is the daughter of New Orleans famed jazz drummer Paul Ferrara, who performed with the likes of the Dukes of Dixieland, as well as New Orleans legends Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, Louie Prima and Harry Connick, Sr.

Source – Southern Jewelry News