JCKstyle - August 3, 2007

Diet Coke has long promoted itself as a stylish drink. While we're not quite sure how a caffeine buzz and gassy aftermath translates into a posh lifestyle, we're all for IDI Design Group, which has given the brand a little style cred with its new flip-top soda can pendants.

The pendants, precious versions of the tab atop soda cans, come in white, pink, or yellow 14k gold with tiny diamond accents. The design comes in various styles, from a sprinkling of burnished diamonds to an outline in the sparkly stones.

IDI Design Group's designer, Meira T, created the design a while ago but it finally made a splash this summer as part of Diet Coke's 25th anniversary. The pendant was part of a promotion for the beverage's milestone, for which it held a contest asking Diet Coke drinkers to write a 100-word essay on why they love the soda. Winners have the pendant (and 24 other surprisingly hip awards) to choose from on www.gosilverwithdietcoke.com.

When we first heard of the concept, we were skeptical. The actual pieces, however, won us over with their youthful fun and affordable pricing, inspiring us to write our own little essay here this week on why we love not the soda, but this piece of jewelry. The design is not licensed by Coca-Cola and is available from IDI Design Group through Fragments, with a starting retail price of $470.

Weekly Gem
Paris, Paris, Paris. What were you thinking? From homemade sex tapes to jail time, everyone's favorite heirhead never fails to keep us rolling our eyes. Her latest gaffe? The new spokesmodel for Bliss jewelry (a brand within the Damiani group) mistakenly told the press she was the new face of Damiani itself, causing the media to raise an eyebrow at the brand—known for affiliations with the sophisticated likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Sophia Loren—and sending the brand's publicists into a damage-control scramble.