Local jewelers' latest piece turns heads in America's fashion capital
Meet the world's first tie shield
By Darleen Principe darleen@theacorn.com

Photos by JUSTIN COWLES/Special to the Acorn TIED FOR $50,000- The very first tie shield created by the Danielian brothers of Athena & Co. is encrusted with more than 1,000 hand-picked black and white diamonds. Steve Danielian holds up a necklace bearing the Athena insignia he designed. His brother Karl, wearing the tie shield, does the craft work to turn Steve's designs into reality

As Steve and Karl Danielian walked the floor of Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall with their new creation, over and over they heard the same initial reaction: "Wow."

On Sept. 7 the brothers, who own Athena & Co. Fine Jewelers in Simi Valley Town Center, revealed their latest one-of-a-kind design- the tie "shield"- to red carpet celebrities and guests of New York Fashion Rocks, an event that kicks off Fashion Week in the Big Apple.

"In the old days, men would get out in the world to conquer with their shields and swords," Steve said. "In the 21st century, men are out to conquer the world with their power ties. If you look at a tie, the bottom is almost shaped like a sword. The only thing that I felt was missing for a man was the shield."

The goal of the Danielian brothers' diamond-encrusted creation is to cloak its wearer with a sense of bravado and entitlement.

"I wanted something unique for the guy who's a professional, in a suit and was out to conquer the world with business," Steve said. "So I came up with the 'shield' to go with the power tie- to make it the ultimate power tie."

The shield concept is brand-new to the world of highfashion jewelry- or "bling"- which helped make the piece a big hit with celebrities like Usher, Ludacris, Mary J. Blige and Fergie, all of whom performed at this year's Fashion Rocks concert.

The shield, which the Danielian brothers can tailor to each individual's "taste and style," clips onto the knot of any tie. With a small adjustment to the clasping mechanism, women can also use it to hold scarves in place, Karl said.

The first version of the shield, which they took to Fashion Rocks, bears Athena's stylized "A" insignia. Close to 1,000 individual diamonds totaling 15 carats are cast on 14-karat white gold. The price tag is $50,000.

JUSTIN COWLES/Special to the Acorn Diamond-encrusted tie shield

Completing their first shield took about two months, the brothers said. They spent at least two weeks going through more than 10,000 diamonds to make sure the stones matched exactly. The shield is covered with white diamonds while the insignia is drawn in black diamonds.

"The insignia stands for strength, wisdom and insight," Steve said. "Athena the goddess and women today are always running around- doing a lot more than guys, let's be honest. We felt that it was the ideal symbol for a lady."

The shield piece and the Athena insignia grew from Steve's own design. He's been in the jewelry business since he was polishing rings at his cousin's shop at the age of 11.

While Steve comes up with the initial designs, Karl does the craft work. Athena & Co. is the brothers' first customjewelry retail endeavor. They try to make "everything uniquely yours," as opposed to offering mass-produced jewelry often found in chain stores.

The future looks shiny and promising for Athena & Co. Steve and Karl said they've been lucky to see their customer base growing thanks to an increase in referrals.

The brothers' representative, Nancy Borgnine, who helped them take their shield to Fashion Rocks, was a customer before she went into business with them.

"I'm just so happy to have found them because I think that the world is always looking for new, creative and beautiful pieces and things," Borgnine said. "I think they answer all of that with their creativity and ability to make such beautiful jewelry."

Steve said he's still looking in "all the weirdest places" for his next great idea. He said the best thing about being a jeweler is to work in an industry that celebrates special occasions.

"Every time I give out a piece I get to share in the person's happiness," Steve said. "Yeah, it's hard to part with your piece, but when you see the smile of the person in front of you and how it affects their life- that's my selfish motive. I enjoy that."