Many of the celebrities walking down the red carpet at this year's Oscar and Emmy Awards can easily afford to buy their own sets of designer jewelry. But they need not do that. Many of the industry's best jewelry designers, including Erica Courtney, Neil Lane and Harry Winston frequently loan their jewels to garner publicity for their firms. These top jewelry designers give the celebrities their choice of what they would like to wear from their large inventory. It is especially important that two celebrities do not wear the same piece, so the designer must use caution.



One famous jewelry designer who loans pieces for these shows is Michael Katz, who lives in Beverly Hills. He is known for the ability to instinctively match people with the perfect jewels. At the 2005 Emmy Awards, host Ellen Degeneres wore magnolia pins by designer Michelle Roy in remembrance of Hurricane Katrina victims and survivors. The magnolia is the state flower of both Mississippi in addition to Louisiana. Also at that event, 'Desperate Housewives' star Eva Longoria wore a lovely band of yellow gold bangle bracelets, and Mariska Hargitay wore gold jewelry by Faraone Mennella.

Tyra Banks outdid them all at the 2006 Emmys, where she wore $3.5 million in borrowed Chopard jewelry. There are many other lesser-known lines of designer jewelry that may be seen at award shows. For example, Danhov designer jewelry, first created by designer Jack Hovsepian since 1984, is an ideal melding of storied tradition and cutting-edge technology.

Another leading designer in the field of designer jewelry is the master Leon Popov. His justly famous Butterfly line features lovely butterfly designs appearing regularly as pins, pendants, necklaces and rings. So, each time you watch the Oscars or Emmys, take a close look at the jewelry being shown off by the celebrities. There is a good chance it is a piece on loan from a famous jewelry designer.