The Internet has been a boon for the celebrity obsessed. Whereas in days gone by, celebrity watchers had to wait eagerly for the latest edition of their favorite tabloid rag to come out – and those who would never admit to do sneaked surreptitious peaks at all the doings, and undoings, of Hollywood at the supermarket checkout – with the rise of the Internet, and especially with the rise of the blog, celebrity-watching has never been easier or more immediate.

 

Once the Internet proved it was more than just a passing fad, widely read magazines such as People, OK! and US Weekly took their traditional offerings and put them online, allowing consumers to quench their celebrity thirst 24/7. Other sites began to sprout up as more and more people became comfortable with the concept of both reading and writing blogs.

 

Sites such as Gawker and especially the infamous PerezHilton.com, whose originator Perez Hilton has ironically become a star in his own right, took a new form of media and turned their sites into cult must-reads. In February 2008, eMarketer identified PerezHilton.com as one of the top five websites for college-aged women, beating out MySpace. The UK's Observer newspaper named the site one of the 50 Most Powerful Blogs. And just think, all of this came from watching celebrities.

 

For every subject you can think of, there is probably already a blog about it. In fact, with the ease with which people can set up blogs, it is more than likely that there is probably a whole plethora of blogs about any and every subject connected with the rich and famous.

 

While Gawker and Perez Hilton take pride in being snarky about famous faces in general, other blogs and websites follow a particular aspect of celebrity. If you want to keep up to date with everything that is going on in the world of celebrity babies you could check out celebrity-babies.com, celebritybabyscoop.com or babyrazzi.com. Interested in what vehicles the celebs drive, then you can visit celebritycarsblog.com or celebritycarz.com. For those who want to combine their love of real estate with their love of famous people, how about realestalker.blogspot.com?

 

The world of jewelry and celebrities is no exception. Celebrities love jewelry, jewelry designers love celebrities who wear their jewelry and attract mounds of press and reader love to read and dream about the celebrities and jewelers strutting their stuff on the red carpet.

 

“Celebrities, either directly or indirectly, affect how society sees itself. People look to celebrities in an attempt to pep up their own live,” says Pinny Gniwisch, founder and executive vice president of marketing for the jewelry retail site ice.com. “From a voyeuristic perspective, we make ourselves feel better by buying something a celebrity has. It elevates our own existence. It’s a psychological effect,” he contends.

 

While sites such as People.com and Entertainment Weekly tell you which designers and what particular jewelry the stars were wearing to a particular event, other sites have made it their business to tell readers not only what the stars were wearing on the red carpet, but also how they can get the looks they see their favorite stars sporting for less.

 

Although many of these sites appear at first glance to offer commentary on celebrity fashion and trends, take a closer look and it turns out that tracking high-end jewelry online is a well-planed front for selling more accessible jewelry, accessible usually meaning cubic zirconia and sterling silver rather than diamonds and platinum.

 

One such example is jewelryfromthestars.com, which posts and comments on different celebrity jewelry stories and then links through to different companies, such as Eve’s Addiction, offering celebrity-inspired pieces of jewelry.

 

Overstock Jeweler’s blog is an undisguised marketing and sales tool for the company’s jewelry. Each picture or story about a specific celebrity is accompanied by a replica or inspired piece of jewelry supplied by Overstock.

 

Moving on to higher-end jewelry, the celebrity news blog on Jewelry.com cleverly pushes readers to products offered by the retailers whose products are promoted by the company. A story about the television show The Bachelor ends with a link to “shop bridal jewelry on Jewelry.com,” a piece about the premier of Nine included a comment about the cross necklace Madonna wore to the premier, and links through to all the cross necklaces available on jewelry.com, while a story about Rihanna links through to jewelry.com’s “Rihanna-inspired gold hoop earring collection.”

 

The Sparkle Like The Stars blog, which is run by Ice.com, is another vehicle for following celebrities and their jewelry. Like many of the other celebrity jewelry blogs, Sparkle Like The Stars is a company sales vehicle. When readers click on a hyperlink they are taken into the ice.com site to see pieces connected to the story they have just been reading.

 

Unlike many of the other blogs, however, these pieces are not sterling silver and cubic zirconia but rather gold, silver, platinum, diamond and genuine gemstones. The pieces are not replicas of the jewelry but rather share some characteristics with the actual jewelry being discussed on the blog.

 

For example, a story about the engagement ring British comedian Russell Brand bought for singer Katy Perry clicks through to the ice.com wedding boutique where buyers can browse through engagement rings, wedding bands and wedding gifts, something that any jewelry company or retailer with a blog and online inventory could do.

 

The blog was set up about five years ago. “We were one of the first companies to go into corporate blogging,” says Gniwisch, “I decided to set it up after figuring out that there’s a strong correlation between the glamour of Hollywood and the glamour of jewelry. If I could mix the two, I thought that I could peak people’s interest.”

 

According to the Gniwisch’s figures, in 2007-2008, ice.com received about 100,000 unique visitors to their catalog through the blog. All of these visitors, Gniwisch stresses found their way through naturally searching and not through a promotional push.

 

The site, unsurprisingly, sees jumps in its visitor numbers around the times of the big celebrity events, such as the Oscars, the Emmys or the Golden Globes. “The idea,” says Gniwisch is to get the story and then find the fashion angle.

 

While many people might lust after high-end, up market jewelry, the reality is that not many people can afford it. But, if they cannot wear exactly what the star is wearing, then looking like they can is the next best thing. 

 

How Can You Make Celebrity-Inspired Jewelry Work For You?

Neither Jewelry.com nor Ice.com make celebrity-inspired jewelry. Instead, both companies are savvy enough to jump on the celebrity bandwagon. Celebrity sells and anyone associated with celebrity will most likely find themselves benefiting from the connection. If you are like ice.com or jewelry.com and you want to take a piece of the celebrity market using your existing merchandise, here are just a few ways to go about it.

 

• Stay up to date with the trends by reading celebrity sites such as People.com, Entertainment Weekly or jewelry specific blog sites.
• Try promoting celebrity-inspired jewelry in your weekly mailing or in store. Remember, it does not have to be an exact replica. Be creative with the “inspired by…” title. If hoop earrings are a big trend on the red carpet, promote your stock with a special celebrity-inspired offer. If everyone is wearing diamond bangles, push this in store.
• Create special promotions to coincide with the big celebrity events such as the Golden Globes, the Emmys and the Academy Awards.
• If a designer is particularly hot on the red carpet and you stock their designs, say so – loudly and clearly. Make up signs saying, “Designer X, as worn by…”
• You might find it surprising, but it is easy to obtain images of celebrities wearing particular brands. Simply get in touch with the company’s PR department. They will be more than happy to help you out, especially if it means increased sales for them. Try building up a relationship with particular PR people so you can stay ahead of your competition.