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    Brazil Police Accuse Bolsonaro of Embezzling Saudi Jewels

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    Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, may soon face criminal charges for stealing gifts he received from foreign leaders.Brazil’s federal police recommended that former President Jair Bolsonaro be criminally charged in a scheme to embezzle jewelry he received as gifts from foreign leaders while president, according to two people close to the investigation, adding another major legal challenge for Mr. Bolsonaro.The federal police accused Mr. Bolsonaro and 10 of his allies of trying to keep and sell expensive gifts that he received from foreign governments, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sealed case files. The police are seeking money laundering and criminal association charges against Mr. Bolsonaro and some of his allies, including former aides.In one case, Mr. Bolsonaro and his team sought to conceal $1 million worth of diamond jewelry that the former president received from the Saudi Arabian government, according to past investigative documents.In another, Mr. Bolsonaro’s team tried and failed to sell an 18-karat gold set from the Saudis for $50,000 at a Manhattan auction house during a Valentine’s Day sale last year, the documents show. In a third, they sold two luxury watches at a Pennsylvania mall for $68,000 and delivered some of the cash to Mr. Bolsonaro, the documents show.While Brazilian police call such recommended charges an “indictment” in Portuguese, Mr. Bolsonaro has not been charged. The country’s top federal prosecutor must now decide whether to charge Mr. Bolsonaro and force him to stand trial. That prosecutor and Brazil’s Supreme Court said they had not yet received the recommendations from police as of Thursday night.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Why Does Kendrick Lamar Want Drake to Return Tupac’s Ring?

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      At Mr. Lamar’s Juneteenth concert on Wednesday, he made a request for Drake to return Mr. Shakur’s iconic crown ring. Is this about more than just beef between the two rappers?When Kendrick Lamar made his entrance to his sold-out show at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Juneteenth, he did so with a bang. He performed “Euphoria,” a track he released in April during his well-documented feud with Drake, adding a new lyric: “Give me Tupac ring back and maybe I’ll give you a little respect.” The internet went wild.This was Mr. Lamar’s first time performing since his testy dispute with Drake escalated into a volley of diss tracks this spring. For the show, titled “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends,” he brought out fellow West Coast artists such as Dr. Dre, YG, Tyler, the Creator, Schoolboy Q and Steve Lacy, the next generation of musicians from the region after Tupac Shakur. It was a victory lap after unofficially winning the war. Mr. Lamar had been questioning Drake’s authenticity and status among Black musicians and fans, and adding the line about Mr. Shakur’s ring only doubled down on that message.The ring is one of the most iconic jewelry pieces in hip-hop history. It features a 14-karat crown encrusted with cabochon rubies and pavé diamonds. It also bears the inscription “Pac & Dada 1996,” referring to his engagement to Kidada Jones, the daughter of Quincy Jones. The ring, which he designed himself, commemorates both the founding of his media company, Euphanasia, and his romance with Ms. Jones. He wore it at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, his last public appearance before his killing.In August 2023, Drake purchased the ring from an auction at Sotheby’s for $1.01 million. That irked Mr. Lamar, who has taken the baton of West Coast rap from Mr. Shakur and has been influenced by his legacy.According to Vikki Tobak, author of the 2022 book “Ice Cold; A Hip-Hop Jewelry History,” jewelry has long been a symbol of allegiance and brotherhood in hip-hop. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Best Oscars Red Carpet Looks: Emma Stone, Colman Domingo and More

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      At the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday, the red carpet showed not only its true color but also its reputation as a vehicle for elegant, over-the-top and even political fashion.Though there were bright moments — Cynthia Erivo’s dress was a “Wicked” shade of green, Taylor Zakhar Perez wore powder blue Prada — many of the gowns and tuxedos that graced the carpet were black. Some stars’ ensembles harked back to attire they wore at prior Oscars ceremonies. Marlee Matlin said that her shimmering lilac Rodarte gown nodded to the dress she wore when she won the best actress award in 1987, and Lupita Nyong’o went with a pale bluish-silver Armani dress inspired by the color of the gown she wore when she won the best supporting actress award in 2014.Sparkling brooches were among the most visible accessories on both men and women, as were tiny red pins calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. The Israel-Hamas war also influenced action off the carpet, with protests taking place as celebrities were arriving at the ceremony.Of all the fashion on display at the Oscars, these 19 looks stood out as doing the most.Billie Eilish: Most Young Old Hollywood!A power skirt suit.Nina Westervelt for The New York TimesThe Gen Z singer, a songwriter for “Barbie,” dialed up the glamour with flowing hair, a houndstooth Chanel bag and a tweed skirt suit with an Artists4Ceasefire pin on the jacket.Lupita Nyong’o: Most Icy Cool!Shining like a diamond.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A Painter’s Role? Capturing the Sparkle of a Gemstone

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      As one artist wrote: “Luxury is not found in the cold pixels of our phone or computer.”There are myriad words to describe how light enters and reflects in diamonds and gemstones. They glisten and sparkle, twinkle and dazzle. Often they are luminescent, sometimes brilliant and certainly eye-catching.But conveying those sentiments artistically, as in a drawing or painting, requires an entirely different kind of articulation. And as times have changed, so have the techniques used to capture jewelry, as well as the reasons for depicting it.“There is a code to always respect so that the eye can read the volume and the jewelers can understand the design,” Estelle Lagarde, 29, a gouache painter and jewelry designer in the Haute-Savoie region of eastern France, wrote in an email. “The light always comes from the top, at 45 degrees to the left. Thanks to this code, we know where to place the shadows and light.”Ms. Lagarde’s use of that code, which guides artisans turning designers’ ideas into reality, can be seen in her meticulously detailed images of jewelry and watches. She begins each project the same way: making a contour drawing using a software program, “in order to have the exact dimensions of the technical drawing and the contours of the piece.” She then prints the sketch on a sheet of gray paper and fills its curves and spaces using paint pigments and a long, thin hair brush, called a rigger brush, that allows her to paint fine lines and intricate details.She has created artworks for watch brands such as Vacheron Constantin, MB&F and Purnell and for jewelry companies including Messika and her own Lagarde Jewelry. And she always sells her jewelry with its matching painting, and also accepts painting commissions. Currently, a ring called Pop Candy (21,000 euros, or $22,630) is her entry level piece.The Pop Candy ring.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Jewelry Brands Say Showing a Client a Good Time Brings Sales

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      Brands including Van Cleef & Arpels and David Morris acknowledge that showing a client a good time really produces results.For its first flagship store in Europe, the family-owned jewelry company Mouawad chose one of the nine Arcade boutiques at the Peninsula in London. The hotel opened in September, alongside Hyde Park Corner and Wellington Arch, and marketing makes clear that its target audience is the ultrarich.But Pascal Mouawad, a co-guardian of the Swiss house, acknowledged that its most significant sales would not occur in the new store.“Our big sales happen outside the boutiques,” Mr. Mouawad said as he sat beneath the store’s interior arches, a nod to the typical architecture of the family’s native Lebanon. “We do a lot of private events, trunk shows; we caravan the big pieces around the world.”Mouawad is not alone in its approach. Taking a leaf out of luxury fashion’s playbook, which in recent years has involved whisking V.V.I.P. clients to exotic locations around the world to see (and buy) their resort collections, jewelry parties and multiday trips have all but replaced the semiannual high jewelry presentations scheduled during Couture Week in Paris.In late December, for example, Van Cleef & Arpels invited a group of special clients to London to view some of its high jewelry pieces between private receptions and an evening at “The Nutcracker” at the Royal Opera House (the jeweler is a longtime sponsor of the theater).Anoona Jewels held a party for clients in London in November.via Anoona JewelsWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Jewelry Designer Kia Schwaninger Steps Out With Her Own Collection

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      Kia Schwaninger, who worked for other brands before starting her own, focuses on precision craftsmanship, style and a dash of emotion.When she was 5 years old Kia Schwaninger designed her first piece of jewelry, a refined necklace of royal-blue polymer clay beads that was for her mother.“I guess that was my first commission,” the Swiss-born designer who now lives and works in Brooklyn said as a joke. Her mother still has the necklace.Ms. Schwaninger started her own business, Jewels by Kia Schwan, in 2020.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesMs. Schwaninger, 42, has been serious about jewelry design ever since. After training in metalsmithing during her teen years, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in jewelry and metalsmithing from the Rhode Island School of Design, completed a design internship at Tiffany & Company and received a Master of Arts in Design and Applied Arts at the Creative Academy, a program in Milan founded by Richemont, the Swiss luxury group whose jewelry houses include Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.It was Van Cleef’s president and chief executive, Nicolas Bos, who spotted her talent at the academy and later hired her as a junior designer. “She has an engineer’s mind-set and is very precise, but also has real creativity and a touch of whimsicality,” Mr. Bos said.She spent 10 years working for the French jeweler in Paris and then New York, where she rose to a senior designer post. “She created a legacy of her work in the Van Cleef collection,” he said, “some of which still remains today.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Jeweler Hemmerle Is Leaving its 120-Year-Old Boutique

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      Hemmerle is leaving its historic boutique for a discreet suite down the street. “It’s more in line with who we are today,” Christian Hemmerle said.For 120 of its more than 130 years, the German jeweler Hemmerle welcomed clients in an elegant shop at Maximilianstrasse 14. On one of Munich’s prestigious royal avenues lined with high-end fashion and jewelry stores, the boutique was Hemmerle’s only physical site; its grand arched facade a symbol of the brand in the city.A necklace made with sapphires, rock crystal, labradorite, silver and white gold, and earringsmade with tourmalines, sapphires, garnets, bronze and white gold.Laetitia Vancon for The New York TimesEarrings made with emeralds, bronze and white gold, and a diamond ring made with bronze aluminum and gold.Laetitia Vancon for The New York TimesLast year, as it marked its 130th anniversary, Hemmerle gave up the lease and announced, on cards mailed to clients, that it was relocating. The new home would still be on Maximilianstrasse, but on an upper floor, accessible only by appointment.“The new space is a dream come true,” said Christian Hemmerle, who now owns the business with his wife, Yasmin. “When the landlord offered to buy out our lease, we jumped at the opportunity.”The business never had a great deal of foot traffic anyway, he said. “We have always been confidential, so this is more in line with who we are today.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      America Ferrera, Katie Holmes, and Carey Mulligan Turn Out for Chanel

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      The brand hosted a celebrity-fueled bash for its U.S. foray into high-end jewelry.On Wednesday night, a throng of actors, cycling through a swirl of events — awards season, New York Fashion Week and the Super Bowl — assembled in Midtown Manhattan, wearing Chanel, dressed by Chanel and for Chanel.Over cocktails, guests mingled for the opening of the brand’s first U.S. watch and fine jewelry flagship boutique on Fifth Avenue near 57th Street, designed by the architect Peter Marino with elements from Coco Chanel’s apartment in Paris.America Ferrera greeted Natasha Lyonne. Kerry Washington chatted with Elizabeth Olsen. Katie Holmes posed for photos with Michelle Williams. Zazie Beetz convened with Rachel Brosnahan. Dianna Agron lingered. And nearby, Carey Mulligan and Jerrod Carmichael talked.The new flagship store for fine jewelry and watches comes as New York’s retail space prices have kept rising over the past year. The move seemingly positions Chanel in a sector of the fashion industry that other brands, like Prada and LVMH, are also embracing.Chase Sui Wonders and Molly Gordon.Rachel Brosnahan and Zazie Beetz.Michelle Williams and Katie Holmes.Sadie SinkThe location on Fifth Avenue — sandwiched among Cartier, Tiffany & Company, Bulgari and Harry Winston — was a yearslong waiting game, according to Frédéric Grangié, the president of Chanel’s watches and fine jewelry.“It’s a big step for the house,” Mr. Grangié said.Steps away from the boutique, around 200 guests, including Lori Harvey, Francesca Scorsese and the actor Molly Gordon, shuffled into a dimly lit event space for dinner. In contrast to the store’s well-lit sparkle, the multilevel venue was enveloped in darkness that mimicked the shuttered Abercrombie & Fitch that was once there.Natasha LyonneCarey Mulligan and Jerrod Carmichael.Rose Byrne and Seth Meyers.Christopher AbbottPeople reflected on their favorite everyday accessories, like Ms. Lyonne’s grandmother’s gold chain. “I never saw her as a Tony Montana type. She was just a little Hungarian lady in a Pucci dress,” she said.The actor Taylour Paige, who loves her tennis bracelet and engagement ring, said that you can never have too many rings.“If anyone says you’re wearing too many rings, cut them out of your life,” she said.For the actors Tommy Dorfman and Amandla Stenberg, watches, which were family heirlooms passed down from generations, elicit a sense of nostalgia and sentimentality in an era of smart devices.White roses lined long tables where influential guests like Lauren Santo Domingo, the artistic director of Tiffany’s homewares; Larry Gagosian, the gallery magnate; and Sean MacPherson, the hotelier, enjoyed oysters, caviar-topped potatoes, lobster or wagyu, and a two-tiered assorted dessert tower. After one course, guests were offered vodka shots.Seth Meyers, the late-night host, did rounds greeting Ms. Ferrera and Ms. Olsen at one table, Ms. Beetz in another section with Ms. Holmes, and then later settling at his table with Ms. Washington and Ms. Williams.When it grew late, the crowd was invited to the basement for a surprise performance, and the singer Gracie Abrams took the stage to a backdrop lit like a starry sky.The singer Gracie Abrams. Larry GagosianKerry WashingtonPeter Marino and Cornelia Guest. More

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      A Red Velvet Bistro in an Istanbul Villa

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      Plus: jewelry handmade with Roman coins, vintage Estée Lauder fragrances and more recommendations from T Magazine.Wear ThisEstée Lauder Revives a Set of Vintage PerfumesThe Estée Lauder Legacy Collection modernizes five scents that were initially created by the company’s titular founder.Courtesy of the brandDuring the 42 years that Estée Lauder worked at her namesake company, she oversaw the creation of a dozen scents and encouraged women to create fragrance “wardrobes” tailored to every occasion and mood. The brand’s Legacy Collection, which comes out on Feb. 1, revives five of Lauder’s creations with the help of Frédéric Malle (whose perfume brand was acquired by the Estée Lauder Companies in 2015) and the perfumers Anne Flipo, Carlos Benaïm and Bruno Jovanovic, all of whom have worked with Malle on previous fragrances. During an interview inside Lauder’s well-preserved office near Central Park, Malle explained how he retooled the scents using more modern fragrance-making techniques. He noted that, in Lauder’s day, perfumers combined base scents that were “like premixed mini-perfumes” to create a final fragrance. “They contained things that weren’t necessary and created background noise,” Malle said. To update the formulas, any nonessential ingredients in those bases were stripped away — “it’s like cleaning up,” he said. The new collection has notes that range from fresh and herbaceous to musky and sweet. Azurée, initially released in 1969, evokes dry Mediterranean shores with herby notes like basil and tarragon as well as jasmine, spicy cardamom, bergamot, and cumin, which Malle amplified in his edition. For White Linen, a classic floral bouquet of rose and jasmine, Malle used pure labdanum, an ambery resin from the rockrose plant, which wasn’t available when the scent debuted in 1978. Knowing, a seductive scent from 1988, “contained a little bit of the Muzak of the ’80s,” Malle said. The modernized version is a fruity chypre with raspberries, black currant, rose and patchouli. The overall goal of the collection, Malle said, “is to revive this work and show how good Mrs. Lauder was.” The Legacy Collection is available from Feb. 1, $280, esteelauder.com.Eat HereIn Istanbul, a Red Velvet Bistro From the Owners of ArkestraLeft: this month, the owners of the Istanbul restaurant Arkestra opened Ritmo, an intimate bistro serving a menu of small plates and cocktails. Right: a dish of gochujang-flavored steak tartare served with a dollop of anchovy mayonnaise and a rice cracker.Ali Yavuz AtaWhen Debora Ipekel, a former music business executive, and her husband, Cenk Debensason, a classically trained chef, first came up with the concept for a new restaurant venture in their hometown, Istanbul, they wanted to create an experience that would encompass both their worlds. “Hospitality extends beyond serving great food — it’s about creating an atmosphere that reflects our identity,” says Ipekel. Arkestra, named after the Sun Ra Arkestra, the avant-garde jazz group formed in the 1950s, opened in September 2022. Inside a sprawling villa in the neighborhood of Etiler, a wood-paneled dining room on the ground floor serves Debensason’s varied menu of dishes like tuna sashimi with sushi rice ice cream and a seasonal mushroom risotto. On the next level is a bar called Listening Room which features lounge seating, low cocktail tables and an extensive library of vinyl records. Drawing on her career in music, Ipekel curates late-night sets alongside guests such as the Chicago disco legend Sadar Bahar and the Turkish DJ Barış K. “We want the music to be eclectic, timeless, and soulful — similar to the food we serve,” she says. This month, the villa housing Arkestra welcomed the couple’s new bistro, Ritmo. Tucked away behind velvet curtains with mirrored ceilings and Rococo furnishings, the space has a decadent, playful feel that’s complemented by the selection of snacks such as oysters with champagne sabayon and churros with spicy chocolate sauce. arkestra.com.tr.See ThisEmily Weiner’s Symbolic Paintings, on View in Nashville and Mexico CityLeft: Emily Weiner’s “Spiral (Alizarin)” (2023). Right: Weiner’s “Ad Infinitum” (2023).Courtesy of the artist and Red Arrow Gallery, Nashville. Photo: John SchweikertThe artist Emily Weiner is drawn to the sort of instantly recognizable imagery that taps into the unconscious and communicates across time. After years spent honing her style while also working as a curator and art writer, she’s lately made waves with her vibrant, almost spiritual oil paintings of urns, columns, jaunty hands and theater curtains framing ombré skies and conspicuous moons. Her new pieces, which will soon make up a solo show at Red Arrow Gallery in Nashville and feature in the inaugural group exhibition at König Galerie’s Mexico City outpost, continue in this vein while expanding her visual lexicon. On one canvas, Weiner has painted an all-encompassing aquamarine spiral that moves toward a tiny half-moon at the center; hung next to it at Red Arrow will be its fiery twin — a mirror-image spiral rendered in a rusty red. (A number of the other works are symmetrical all on their own and, fittingly, the name of the solo show, “Never Odd or Even,” is a palindrome.) Weiner, who emphasizes the eco-feminist, futurist bent of the paintings, says the spirals represent the idea of eternal return; she sees them as “cosmic fallopian tubes.” In another work, a gleaming moon can be glimpsed through a yonic slit reminiscent of a Lucio Fontana cut painting; elsewhere, receding silhouettes of faces evoke mountains or monoliths. “I was thinking about the notion that this is a tainted world that inevitably is going to be saved by a patriarchal god and trying to invert it,” says Weiner. “How can we take care of this landscape that we live in as a mother would?” “Never Odd or Even” is on view at Red Arrow Gallery, Nashville, from Feb. 3 through Feb. 24, theredarrowgallery.com; “Surreal Surroundings” is on view at König Galerie, Mexico City, from Feb. 5 through March 8, koeniggalerie.com.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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