Medical ID Jewelry Reviews
Lucky Charms 
Medical ID tags have become high fashion thanks to this creative entrepreneur.
By Kim Orr | Entrepreneur Magazine - May 2007
What: Fashionable medical ID tags
Who: Julia van Hees-Aidner and James Martin of Jewels et Jim
Where: New York City
When: Started in 2006
Startup Costs: About $100,000
Everything changed for Julia van Hees-Aidner the day the daughter of a close friend was diagnosed with epilepsy.
In 2003, van Hees-Aidner was working in PR for several high-end jewelry companies when she received a call from her friend, who was concerned about his daughter's refusal to wear the medical ID tag notifying doctors that she was epileptic. Van Hees-Aidner scoured lists of jewelers, searching for someone who could make a fashionable ID tag to fit this teenager's lifestyle. But she found no one.
Van Hees-Aidner, 49, was also reluctant to wear a medical ID tag alerting doctors of her drug allergies and lupus condition, so she decided to create a tag that wouldn't embarrass wearers. She partnered with vintage jewelry expert James Martin, 45, to create Jewels et Jim, a line of high-end, fashionable medical ID tags.
The Jewels et Jim charms are a far cry from old medical ID bracelets. Each charm features the staff of Asclepius, the medical symbol emergency professionals use to identify patients with drug allergies or other medical conditions. Highly stylized precious and semiprecious jewels and stones make up the face of each charm.
"They're not just bracelets," says van Hees-Aidner. "The charms can also be worn on a necklace, and we'll be offering rubber and silk cords for a younger audience." Prices for the jewelry, which is sold at Geary's of Beverly Hills and select Neiman Marcus stores nation-wide, range from $250 to $12,000.
With 2007 projected sales of $2 million, the company will introduce a children's and men's line this year and will donate a portion of profits to lupus and epilepsy causes.
Gems the Rx for Medical IDs
By Sophia Chabbott for Women's Wear Daily
NEW YORK — When the daughter of a friend was diagnosed with epilepsy and upset about wearing what she considered an unattractive medical identification bracelet, Julia van Hees-Aidner came up with an idea.
Van Hees-Aidner, a former publicist for jewelers Chopard, De Grisogono, Roberto Coin and Ritmo Mundo, who is afflicted with lupus, decided it was time to offer medical identification bracelets that marry function and fashion.
Van Hees-Aidner joined with James Martin, proprietor of the eponymous jewelry firm James Martin Jewels Ltd., to create an eight-piece collection of bracelets named Jewels et Jim.
The bracelets feature medallions with the Staff of Asclepius medical symbol on top and engraveable backs that can alert doctors and paramedics to any life-threatening issues. Their similarity to typical medical identification bracelets ends there, however. The medallions are designed in gold or silver and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, malachite, jasper, diamonds and other semiprecious or precious materials. The medallions come on a variety of interchangeable leather straps.
Jewels et Jim plans to introduce fabric straps and chain-link bracelets, as well as children's styles. Wholesale prices for the line range from $175 to $2,500, although prices can go higher for custom orders. The collection bows at Gearys' two watch and jewelry stores in Beverly Hills in October.
"We decided that if were going to make medical ID jewelry, it was going to have to be very beautiful," said Martin. "We think it is an elegant, special piece of jewelry, not just a service or fashion item."
Jewelry line that’s really illin’ *
by Kirsten Fleming for New York Post
NOW you can inject some bling along with that insulin. The universally recognized medical ID bracelet emblazoned with the Staff of Asclepius — the medical symbol — to alert paramedics of ailments like drug allergies and diabetes is a simple and unsophisticated concept.
And it’s undergone a glamorous makeover.
Jewels et Jim, created by former publicist Julia van Hees-Aidner and James Martin of James Martin Jewels, offers a line of high-end medical medallions fashioned from gold or silver and inlaid with everything from malachite to mother of pearl.
Jewels et Jim is not only filling a niche — it’s filling a void.
Van Hees-Aidner discovered this when the teenage daughter of a friend was diagnosed with epilepsy. “She didn’t want to wear the bracelet because she thought it was ugly,” she says.
“We approached a bunch of jewelers, and no one had done it,” says van Hees-Aidner, whose former clients include jewelers Chopard and Roberto Coin.
“Each [medallion] has a different feeling,” says van Hees-Aidner, who suffers from lupus and drug allergies herself.
From the handsome coral hexagon charm to the turquoise disc that looks like it was lifted from Great Aunt Millie’s vintage cache, the baubles will suit a variety of tastes. Van Hees-Aidner says she’s even had some rappers inquire about them, on a recent flight from Los Angeles to New York.
The bracelets will be available this fall at Neiman Marcus stores, Gearys in Beverly Hills or via the Web site jewelsetjim. com; prices range from $1,500 to $6,000 for diamonds and other precious stones. Each comes on a leather band with a removable clasp.
Now that’s sick.
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