Necklace

Move over, diamonds. Vintage costume jewels are quickly becoming the baubles to beat. Neil Zevnik started collecting more than a decade ago and now has thousands of vintage chokers, glittering rhinestone rings and oversized clip-on earrings. So many, in fact, that he's selling some. "It's an obsessive hobby," says Zevnik, a private chef for the likes of Pierce Brosnan and Liz Taylor. His home is a bejeweled museum with cases of triple strand pearls from the late 1940s and massive turquoise and silver bracelets circa 1960 filling each room.

It's UGLY, right? When we first saw this tribal mega-necklace, we thought so too. Mardi Gras parade, voodoo witch doctor, freaky Deco festival, Fire-eaters Anonymous . . . Then, for a laugh, one of us put it on. Silence fell over the room. Over a loose chambray shirt, it took on a cool Georgia O'Keeffe vibe. Not bad. Then we tried it over a V-neck jersey dress. It accented the neckline and gave the basic solid a lot of personality. Then we popped it on a pink sleeveless top. The iridescent shell tied the bright piece together perfectly with an accompanying beige skirt.

Arizona archaeologists have discovered the oldest gold artifact in the Americas, a 4,000-year-old necklace that was produced about the same time a South American hunter- gatherer culture was first settling into villages. The necklace predates the oldest previously known American artifact by 600 years, but is still 2,000 to 3,000 years younger than gold artifacts found in Africa, said archaeologist Mark Aldenderfer of the University of Arizona.

Kudzu smothers the old steel tracks. Broken bottles, chairs and grills litter the gray wooden crossties, and rusty chain-link fencing flanks each side. But the derelict railroad that circles the city may have a bright future -- one bustling with joggers, cyclists and commuters. Atlanta's civic leaders envision the bleak alleyway as a lush "emerald necklace" of trails, parks and public transit, a jewel that could transform a poster child of sprawl into the archetypal city of the 21st century.

More than 100,000 pacifier necklaces are being recalled by a Los Angeles company because the nipple can detach and pose a hazard of choking, the Consumer Products Safety Commission announced Wednesday. Todo Dollar Wholesale has been marketing the Flashing Pacifier Shock Baby Necklace and the 2-in-1 Flashing Pacifier with Whistle Necklace on the Internet, officials said.

A diamond-studded choker with coral and amethyst-tipped sprays has tarnished the image of popular Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is facing widespread criticism after he and his wife accepted the piece from a Turkish jeweler during an official trip to Moscow this week. "Give It Back," screamed the liberal daily Radikal in a front-page headline Friday.

Dear Fashion Police: I have a squash blossom necklace made of turquoise and silver that I've had since the early 1970s when they were fashionable. Since it was an expensive piece, I'd like to resurrect it. I have a black knit turtleneck top that I think would show off the necklace beautifully. I'm also thinking of wearing a pair of silver hoop earrings to complete the look. What do you think? --RECYCLING Dear Recycling: We're so glad you held onto that necklace. Silver and turquoise are extremely popular right now, and the bold look of the squash blossom necklace--made of turquoise nuggets and silver beads with a horseshoe-shaped pendant at the bottom--is right in style with current vintage fashions.

Well before the transforming events of Sept. 11, there were indications that the winds of change had come to the movies, as several noteworthy directors broke away from their usual genres to try something different. Perhaps they had sensed that the time was right for turning away from the past--and hoped that audiences would be willing to go along with them.

Investigators struggled Thursday to decipher the newest weapon in violence-plagued Colombia--a necklace bomb--as they tried to determine who was responsible for its debut Monday in a bungled extortion attempt that decapitated a woman.