Historic Gems.

Shinde Jewels, by Reema Keswani, is a new book about Ambaji Venkateshwara Shinde, famed designer for Harry Winston for nearly four decades, until his retirement in 2000. The book chronicles Shinde’s career with sketches and photos of his designs.

Revitalizing a Classic.

Cartier CEO Stanislas de Quercize continues his drive to marry the jewelry house to the fashion industry. His latest coup was placement of the jewels on Zac Posen’s runway for the spring collections. No surprise: The jewelry seen by fashion mavens is the reworked Trinity collection, which aims to woo younger and aspirational consumers with more budget-friendly price points.

Piaget Party Animals.

First there was the bash in Manhattan, uniting the history of Piaget with the history of great Vogue fashion photography. Next? The Art Basel party in Miami Beach. The historic jewelry house (like Cartier, above) looks like it’s on a quest for a hipper reputation. The Miami soiree drew a Who’s Who of the art and society worlds, which earned Piaget prime placement in WWD‘s social column.

Armed for Armani.

Yet another fashion designer is mining for success in the fine jewelry market. Giorgio Armani planned to launch, in January, a new collection of fine jewelry, featuring gold, pearls, diamonds, and colored stones. The line will reportedly be available only in Armani boutiques.

More Masstige.

In other fashion designer news, while some are looking to fine jewelry to grow their brand and business, others are looking to the clamoring masses. Marc Bouwer is the latest to try his hand at fashion for the many. The M by Marc Bouwer is expected to debut in February on QVC.

A Legend Grows.

Legendary diamond house Graff opened a new store in Chicago in December. This third U.S. Graff store, joining New York and Palm Beach, is housed in a 7,500-square-foot, four-story townhouse on tony East Oak Street. Look for more news out of Graff this year. Las Vegas (and possibly Los Angeles) is on the horizon.