Jeweler News

The Royal Asscher and the British Monarch go way back, starting in 1908 when the Asscher brothers from Amsterdam cut the biggest diamond in the world (the Cullinan). The Cullinan I (530 carats) was mounted in the head of the Scepter with the Cross. And the Cullinan II (317 carats) was mounted in St. Edward’s Crown. Both are part of the Royal Crown Jewels and permanently displayed in the Tower of London.

Now, Royal Asscher allows the public the opportunity to own pieces created especially created for Queen Elizabeth II’s yearlong Diamond Jubilee celebration.

 

According to Forbes:

The Royal Asscher Diamond Company released a limited edition version of its Stars of Africa jewelry in honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s yearlong Diamond Jubilee celebration.

The “Diamond Jubilee Stars” is based on the same design introduced in 2009 that incorporates a clear half-sphere or full-sphere made of sapphire crystal filled with tiny diamonds. The crystal shells are filled with a clear silicone, which allow the diamonds to float inside the sphere jewelry in the same manner that paper confetti floats inside a snow globe.

The newest collection consists of a ring and pendant made of 18k rose gold. The half-sphere of the ring contains a total of 2.12 carats of white, blue and fancy pink floating diamonds. The full sphere of the pendant contains 4.91 carats of white, blue and fancy pink diamonds. The colors of the diamonds resemble the three colors of The Union Jack, the British National Flag.

The Diamond Jubilee Stars are available in an exclusive edition of six pieces, each with its own serial number and certificate and are only available at Harrods, London.

Read more at Forbes.

“As a designer and a collector of fine jewelry, I have always wanted to offer the same quality of craftsmanship in jewelry as we offer with the Atelier Versace fashion collection,” explained Donatella Versace in a release. “Each individual ring from the collection is a work of art.”

How magnificent is this piece? It’s one of ten in the world. A very expensive wind-up toy whose whiskers move, it is made in gold and decorated with red garnet eyes and pearls. It is thought to be of Swiss origin by Henri Maillardet and dating from around 1810. From The Winterson Journal:

The story of Britain’s history and relationship with this precious metal is told by The Goldsmiths’ Company in a fascinating new exhibition entitled “Gold: Power and Allure”.

Housed in the magnificent surroundings of Goldsmiths’ Hall, London, the story of our love affair with gold starts with a chance discovery of ancient goldwork near Stonehenge. Dating back to 2300BC, it is thought that these ornaments are some of the earliest pieces of worked gold found in the UK. A series of Bronze Age and Early Iron Age torcs and crescent-shaped lanula neck pieces are also really quite beautiful.

Since then, gold has been actively mined throughout England and Wales, with gold for royal wedding rings today traditionally being made from Welsh Gold. In the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the exhibition includes a number of historic and royal items including gold crowns, brooches and a rather ghoulish gold ring, that was taken from the finger of the dead Queen Elizabeth I.

Read more.

 

As crowds cheer on the last day of Jubilee celebrations for England’s queen, this Houston jeweler showcases his incredible replica work of the royal family’s finest jewels.

Houston Jewelry has some jubilee-worthy jewels on display and is allowing the public to come in for some fun and a little history lesson.

“All the crowns and the diamonds and the pearls, it’s just spectacular. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Houston Jewelry customer William Hill said.

“This is the Imperial State Crown that Queen Victoria wore,” Houston Jewelry saleswoman Judy Memmel said.

It is a replica, of course, but the real one contains 2,783 diamonds, 277 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 5 rubies. You’ve seen it on Queen Elizabeth before when she speaks to parliament.

“If you didn’t know, you would think it was the real thing,” customer Rae Engel said.

There are life-size replicas of things like the St. Edward’s Crown, which weighs more than 5 pounds.

“This is only worn during coronation and it was made in 1662 for Charles II. And the only person who didn’t wear it was Queen Victoria; she said it was too heavy,” Memmel said.

Source: HoustonABC13

We’ve all heard of buried treasure but most of the time, it’s buried a chest, right? Well, not always. Apparently some folks a long time ago felt the need to bury their treasures in a jug. Strange, right? And now, thousands of years later, archaeologists are still trying to make heads or tails of what they found:

This is the gold earring found at Tel Megiddo.

A jug wrapped in textiles and hidden in a northern Israel home more than 3,000 years ago turns out to hold a literal treasure trove of gold and silver jewelry, archaeologists announced Monday.

The jug, excavated from a house in Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel, is an unusual place to find jewelry, according to Tel Aviv University archaeologists. Even the jewelry itself is odd: Among the pieces is a beautiful golden earring decorated with ibexes, or wild goats.

“For unique items, we work to find parallels to help place the items in their correct cultural and chronological settings,” the researchers said in a joint statement, “but in this case, we still haven’t found anything.”

Read more at MSNBC.

These rings stopped me in the tracks this morning. They are more like little works of architecture, designed to give a sense of flow and movement. Here’s what Hannah Conorton of 10x and designer Claudio Pino had to say:

“In this collection, I add meticulous mechanisms to give the stone set the freedom to follow the owner’s movements, reflecting the wearer in many small, intricate ways,” Pino said. “My rings come alive only when they find their owners.”

Pino’s “Infinity” ring is made in 14-karat gold and sterling silver with moonstone, diamonds and ruby.

I was skeptical when I first saw Pino’s rings–the rounded gemstones set into the bottom of the lower shank of the band and seemingly sharp edges of the design had me thinking it might be an uncomfortable piece of jewelry to wear. But I couldn’t have been more wrong; each ring was extremely comfortable and wearable, forming perfectly to the movements of my hand and fingers.

“During the creative process, I never forget that someone will be wearing the ring,” Pino said. “Therefore, rings first need to be very comfortable and belong to the hand.”

Pino’s “Metamorphosis” ring is made in sterling silver and 14-karat gold with moonstone, pearls, turquoise, prehnite and amethyst.

The designer also told me he draws from a wealth of inspiration for his creations, from the aurora borealis to ancient Egypt, carefully constructing which gemstones are paired with one another in each ring.

“I juxtapose cold silver to the warm gold, calm green emeralds to vivid red rubies, to the hue of the charm and freshness of whitewater pearls,” he said. “Each design portrays a slice of life.”

Pino’s Cereus ring is made in 14-karat gold with opal, tanzanite, blue diamonds and pearls.

This video is truly impressive and a great example of entrepreneurial spirit. This man scans the streets of New York City for real gold…and finds it.

Keep your eyes out, folks!

Okay, we have to admit, we’re a little surprised. A handmade card over a necklace from Tiffany’s? Hmmmm…that sounds a little fishy. I mean, don’t get me wrong: handmade cards are sweet and heartfelt but a piece of jewelry can be passed on for generations and remind your Mom of the love you feel for her every time she wears it.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 29 (UPI) — Seventy-five percent of U.S. mothers say they would prefer a handmade card over a necklace from Tiffany & Co., a survey indicates.

Plum District, which provides locally relevant offers targeted for mothers, surveyed its 1 million members to find out what they want for Mother’s Day.

The survey, which involved 19,256 of its members during March, indicated two-thirds would prefer to not pick out their own gift and 54 percent would choose to spend quality time with their own mother.

However, what mothers really want is some sleep. Eight-of-10 mothers said they would choose to sleep in versus a sunrise breakfast with the kids.

One-third of moms said they secretly want the day to themselves, while 52 percent would use an hour to themselves for a massage, while the other 48 percent would go on a bike ride.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2012/04/29/What-moms-really-want-for-Mothers-Day/UPI-26521335746211/#ixzz1tel3hNsT

 

This would go nicely with a handmade card:

Style 10365MS Save 30% Now!! Round Moissanite Oval Cluster Design Necklace Oval cluster pendant with approximately 1 1/3ct t.w. (dia equiv) Charles and Colvard created round moissanite set on an 18″ cable chain. Available in 14kt white gold only. Sale! Save 30% on select items. Use coupon “Discount30” at checkout. (Discount will be calculated at checkout) While supplies last Trade Up Our Guarantee

MSRP: $2,255.00
Our Price: $1,899.00
Sale Price: $1,329.30

What resides in your jewelry box? Do you know the worth of all of the pieces? Perhaps you have some old gold that would be better off recycled. Or perhaps, like this story illustrates, you have a treasure chest.

An old piece of pearl earrings was lying neglected in the back of a desk drawer for over 35 years in Wiltshire but has now fetched £1.6m at an auction. The pearl jewelry has a history to boot. It was originally a gift from a Romanian king to his mistress, who left the pearls to a British friend on her death in 1977. The friend who got the earrings didn’t realize its worth. She didn’t like the design as she found it to be too large and ostentatious to wear.

The earrings were consigned to drawer and came out only when they were inherited by the lady’s nephew. He had taken some articles to an auction and casually showed the earring to the auctioneer. He was taken aback when told about the real value of the earrings. Apart from the beautiful and luxurious design its historical association has made it a collector’s item and has generated huge interest from collectors around the world. When it first found its way into a catalogue it was estimated to have a value in the range of £80,000 to £120,000.

The auction was held at Wiltshire at the Woolley and Wallis sale-rooms in Salisbury. The earrings had generated a lot of excitement and it witnessed frenetic bidding before reaching its final price of £1.6 million.

Source: Elite Choice

Can you imagine stashing away your best jewels for decades? It’s not the first time we’ve heard this kind of story, but it can’t help but make one ponder about the old adage: You can’t take it with you. If you have jewelry hidden away – or even pieces you only wear once in a blue moon because of their worth – wear them soon! Life is short and good jewelry deserves a good person wearing it!

The 17 dazzling jewels that reclusive copper heiress Huguette Clark kept locked away in a bank’s safety deposit box for the past 70 years had their coming-out party Tuesday — winning applause and generating $21 million at auction, at least $10 million more than pre-sale estimates.

All eyes were on one piece in particular: a rare, 9-carat, Belle Epoque cushion-cut pink diamond ring (below), whose pre-sale estimate had been between $6 million and $8 million.

When the bidding started at Christie’s New York, auctioneer Rahul Kadakia called out “Four million dollars,” reports MSNBC. After a first bid, the price jumped to $7.5 million, as Kadakia said, “All right, why waste time?”

Final price: $14 million, plus commission, for a total outlay of $15,762,500.

Read more at: People Magazine

The 9-ct. Belle Epoque cushion-cut, fancy vivid purplish pink diamond ring from the estate of Huguette M. Clark sold for $15.7 million.