Looking at Charlize Theron in her diamond-studded headband, you probably wonder, how the heck do you get one of those things, right? Maybe you lusted after Clare Danes' gem-studded bracelet or swooned over Sofia Vergara’s Harry Winston bijoux. You hear all the time that celebs borrow jewelry, but what exactly does this mean? It’s not like you walk into a store, take a look around and then rent it like you’d do a power washer. When I was in L.A., I got the chance to see exactly how they get to do this! You have no idea what terror is until you've held 300 carats of black diamonds in the palm of your hand.

To enter this very rarified world, I was whisked over to a super secret but very posh location for Style Lab’s jewelry preview for the Golden Globes. I missed seeing Minnie Driver by minutes, but designer Randi Rahm (she’s dressed Mariah Carey, Carrie Underwood, Fergie and more) dropped by when I was there.

Style Lab is not a gifting suite—like oh my gosh, who’d gift you a $300,000 bracelet, right? Rather, it’s where celebs go to borrow exquisite, one-of-a-kind pieces of art to wear on the red carpet. Jewelry designs were from Chad Allison, Dena Kemp, Farah Khan, Gemfields, Jewelry By Gail, and the AGTA Collection.

Gems in every color of the rainbow studded the trays. I was terrified to pick anything up. There was a very nice but slightly imposing plainclothes security guard dressed like he just walked out of Reservoir Dogs: Black suit, white shirt, skinny black tie. At one point, when I was looking at these gems, I started kidding around, turned to him and said, “Have you ever had to tell someone ‘put it back?'” He told me yes! I guess there are a few celebs who have “slippery fingers.”

One of the pieces that caught my eye was a necklace that I swore was an antique Russian necklace. It was in a v-shape, studded with pink, red and yellow sapphires done in a floral motif. It turned out to be a new, not antique, necklace and was created so that it could be flipped from a necklace into a tiara. Michael O’Connor of Style and Subsance is a celebrity jewelry and style expert and he was on hand to explain all about the jewels. He kindly placedt the necklace on my head to see what it would look like as a tiara. He had a slight problem: I was shaking so much from nerves it wobbled!

Read Tina Fey + More Stars Spotted at L'Oreal Paris' 'Because You're Worth It' Party

Here’s an interesting fact: Rubies and sapphires are both members of the corundum family. So their colors are part of the spectrum -- in other words, the color of the stone gives its the name.

I asked Michael what the hot new red carpet trends are and what to look for when buying jewelry for yourself. Did you know that the length of an earring can make your neck look longer or shorter depending on the type? That the workmanship behind the necklace is just as important, it not more important, than what is on the front of it?

When picking jewelry to wear, you can adorn yourself with different types of jewelry as long as they have the same elements in each piece, Michael says. Watch the interview for more tips and trends:

Doesn’t this just make you oooh and ahh?

PJ Gach is Senior Editor: Style + Beauty at BettyConfidential.