Excerpt From The Straits Times - Obama Inaugural Commemoratives Hot Sellers

Blinging the change: Obamabilia sells like hotcakes

WASHINGTON - January 11, 2009. From beer to ice cream, lapel pins to T-shirts, if it has anything to do with US president-elect Barack Obama, it's selling like hotcakes as people everywhere snap up souvenirs marking his inauguration.

'So many people want a memento of this historic time,' Ms Ann Hand, a jewelry maker in Washington who has made a collection of accessories to commemorate Mr Obama's swearing-in on Jan 20. Hand offers cufflinks featuring the red, white and blue 'O' logo of the Obama campaign, a necklace reprising Mr Obama's 'Hope' theme, sunglasses encrusted with Swarovski crystal to spell out the name of the 44th US president, and half a dozen other jewelry items.

None come cheap, but even in a slumping global economy, demand has been so strong that many of the accessories are on back order.

'Everything is selling better than I expected. We're doing a lot of overseas orders - Hong Kong, Norway, Sweden, Singapore, Japan, Britain. We've never had that before,' Ms Hand, who has been in business for 20 years, said.

'It's really wonderful to know that people overseas want our president's lapel pin,' she said.......

From WUSA - Local Designer Creates Line of Obama Jewelry

By Lindsey Matsis

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA), January 8, 2009 You may have seen some of Ann Hand's Creations on some of the most powerful and influential people in Washington.

She's known for her elegant gold Eagles and American flags. And now, she's turning her attention toward the inauguration, and incorporating the President Elect's symbol for Change.

"We did get permission to use that to make cufflinks and our 'Hope' necklace," Hand said. Many of the items in her line are practical, like coffee mugs ($30), keychains ($45), and sunglasses ($175). "We tired to make it as affordable as we could," she said, "Some day maybe they'll open a box and say, oh, my grandmother or great grandfather was at the inauguration of Barack Obama." Hand is looking out for famous faces who will show off her designs. "We can tell you that Oprah has our sunglasses because she's been been wearing them in public," she said.

Hand is hoping the first family decides to wear some of her unique designs. She is also contributing a portion of the profits from the sale of the Seal of the United States pin to help soldiers families.

From The Wall Street Journal - Heard On The Runway

Lunchtime Snap: The Barack Obama “Badge Brand”
By Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

Excerpt from article dated December 8, 2008

........This morning, Washington, D.C.-based jeweler Ann Hand started selling a line of Obama-related jewelry and accessories that include $45 silver dogtags that say “First Pooch” and $175 sunglasses that feature the word “Obama” in crystals on the side. Ms. Hand said she normally does a candidate-themed pin during presidential election years but this is the first time that she’s introducing a line of 10 items inspired by an incoming president. (Ms. Hand, who said she’s an independent, noted that before she began selling the items today, she’d received 1,000 pre-orders for a $75 Obama pin she’d designed, some from countries like Spain and Singapore......

From Washingtonian - Dress Up in Obama Bling

Washington jeweler Ann Hand sells Obama necklaces, watches, cuff links, and coffee mugs.

By Emily Leamon

If voting wasn’t enough, now you can show your love for Barack Obama with a bit of bling. Washington jewelry designer Ann Hand has created a Barack Obama collection to commemorate the historic inauguration. For $95, you can score a glitzy silver necklace featuring Obama’s name written in 84 Swarovski crystals. Bling not your bag? Hand also has Obama watches, sunglasses, cuff links, dog tags, and pins. Her favorite item is a blue Obama 2008 travel mug with six rows of rhinestones for $25 .

A limited-edition inaugural pin, priced at $75, is the centerpiece of the collection. It features the presidential seal above Obama’s name, which is flanked by two crystals. For $3,800, you can special-order an 18-karat-gold version and swap out the crystals for diamonds. Both come inscribed with the Ann Hand logo and the date of the inauguration, January 20, 2009. Hand, who has made only 2,500 inaugural pins, received more than 1,000 orders within the first week of advertising them in her store and on her Web site. “I didn’t realize they’d be so popular,” she says. Hand’s dog tags, priced at $45, come in gold or silver tones and a choice of inscriptions. One reads: “This is our Moment / This is our Time,” and another says, “I WAS THERE”—meant for attendees of the swearing-in ceremony on January 20. Items range in price from the $25 mug to a $175 pair of sunglasses, which have several rows of Swarovski crystals on the temples. The crystals create an outline for the letters OBAMA. “We’re trying to keep prices as low as we can, with the economy,” Hand says. “We want this line to be available to as many people as possible.”