Jewelry News

This piece far exceeds any “statement necklace” we’ve seen of late and couldn’t look any better than on the Duchess of Cambridge (on loan from the Queen herself!).

This utterly captivating piece of jewellery was given to the Queen as a wedding gift from Nizam of Hyderabad, then King of a state in India.

Cartier originally crafted the necklace in the  30’s. It originally consisted of a long chain of 46 diamonds (eventually reduced to 36) and a diamond-encrusted snap.

Its centerpiece is pave-set with a detachable double-drop pendant, 13 emerald-cut diamonds and a pear-shaped drop.

Just. Wow.

You may have seen some of these amazing sparklers over the year…but have you seen them in one place? JCK compiled the top 15 diamonds that made headlines of 2013.

1. The Pink Star Sells for $83 Million

In September, Sotheby’s announced it was auctioning off the Pink Star—a 59.6 ct. oval cut pink diamond it called the “most valuable diamond ever offered at auction.” The auction house estimated the diamond would sell for more than $60 million. It sold for $83 million.

 

2. 257 Carat Diamond Found in Botswana

This 257 ct. rough cut diamond found by Lucara Diamond Corp. at its Karowe Mine in Botswana isn’t as big as a diamond planet, but it’s pretty close.

 

3. Orange You Glad You Bought Me at Auction for $35 Million?

Forget Orange Is the New Black, orange diamonds bring in the most green. The Orange, the largest fancy vivid orange diamond ever offered, sold for $35,540,612. The prodigious sale set two new world records: the highest price per carat ($2.4 million) paid for any diamond sold at auction; and the highest-ever price paid for an orange diamond at auction.

 

4. 12-Year-Old Unearths 5 Carat Brown Diamond at Arkansas Park

This kid didn’t make all of us want to book a trip to Arkansas.

 

5. 2.95 Carat Diamond Found at Arkansas Park

Terry Staggs of Richmond, Ky., could only find a 2.95 ct. brown diamond at the park.

 

6. 235 Carat Diamond Found in Russia

In September, Russian diamond miner Alrosa announced that it unearthed a 235.16 ct. diamond. It has been valued between $1.5 million and $2 million.

Check out more diamonds of 2013 here!

Pink diamonds never fail to capture the hearts of jewelry lovers everywhere. So when they’re in the news, we all have to look and say, “Ahhhh.”

Geneva–The auction of the latest potentially record-setting stone was announced Wednesday, with Sotheby’s Geneva set to sell a 59.60-carat pink diamond that could shatter the current world record for any gemstone sold at auction.

The auction house is calling “The Pink Star,” an oval-cut diamond that is the largest internally flawless fancy vivid pink ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America, “the most valuable diamond ever to be offered at auction.”  It will be part of Sotheby’s Nov. 13 auction in Geneva.

The diamond expected to sell for more than $60 million.

Source: National Jeweler

Fashion Week in NYC can be overwhelming. So many images, textures, colors…which way to turn?

Well we turn toward the jewelry, of course. Here’s some quick glimpses of some trends we’re spotting this week in addition to images from Fashion Weeks from around the world:

Lanvin jewelry – Fall 2013.

JC Crew’s Fall Collection 2013

Bill Gaytten for John Galliano menswear spring-summer 2013

The Alexander McQueen fall 2013 collection

Celine Fall Collection

This exhibit starting September 21st is truly one of a kind, exploring one of the most enchanting jewels in history: the pearl…and at the Victoria Albert museum no less.

It will begin on September 21^st.  The Victorian and Albert Museum, London’s premier museum of art and design, will be opening their Pearl Exhibit. The Focus: Showcasing the history and beauty of one of the world’s most beautiful and mysterious of jewels; the pearl.

Necklace with five graduated strands, Cartier, France, 1930-40, platinum, diamonds and natural Gulf pearls. Qatar Museums Authority. Photo © Sotheby’s

Pearls are one of the most enchanting jewels on earth, because they are surrounded in mystery. Created deep below the surface of the sea, in a process that is only short of magical. The rarity and difficulty of locating and obtaining pearls have made it one of the most sought after of valuable objects.

The Rosebery Pearl and Diamond Tiara, London, 1878, gold, silver, diamonds, natural bouton pearls and natural drop-shaped pearls. Qatar Museums Authority. Photo © Christie’s

Pearls often played an important role in the royal courts during the 18^thand 19 centuries. And just like today, anything the royal family took a fancy to immediately became a social phenomenon.

Pearls and pearl necklaces from the Arabian Gulf
Reproduction of original photograph
The Arabian Gulf
20th century
© Hussain Alfardan Archives

As styles and status symbols have changed over the centuries, pearls have maintained its position as a symbol of beauty, elegance and mystery.

Cultured Pearls

This exhibit will also explore the beauty and mystery of the cultured pearl. As with many aspects of nature, man has attempted to replicate or in some way improve upon this lovely natural creation.

Sash clip ‘Yaguruma’ (Wheels of Arrows) and box, Mikimoto, Japan, 1937, platinum, 18 carat white gold, cultured Akoya pearls, diamonds, sapphires and emeralds. © Mikimoto Pearl Island, Japan

Check out more amazing images here.

A Boy Scout is always prepared. And this 12 year-old was no different when he visited Diamond State Park in Arkansas and found a 5.16 ct. brown stone within minutes. Read on.

Michael Dettlaff with his find (Photos courtesy of Crater of Diamonds State Park).

It’s been a good summer for diamond finds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park.

The park has an area where visitors can search for diamonds and keep what they find. Michael Dettlaff, 12, of Apex, N.C., hit the jackpot on July 31 when he discovered a 5.16 ct. brown stone at the public park in Murfreesboro, Ark., after searching for less than 10 minutes.

The Boy Scout has since named the stone the “God’s Glory Diamond.” The gem is described as “honey-brown” and the size of a jelly bean, and is the 27th-largest gem ever found at the park.

In a statement, park interpreter Waymon Cox said the gem is “truly glorious” with a “beautiful metallic luster” and some “interesting notches that give it a one-of-a-kind appearance.”

This find is particularly unusual since it was discovered so quickly. His father was in the midst of renting mining equipment when Dettlaff showed him the stone.

“When I brought this rock out of the bag, the guy who was there, he just went bug-eyed,” the preteen told ABC News. “If it can be cut and is valuable, I’d like to sell it. And if it’s not, it’s just a great souvenir.”

The 5.16 ct. brown found by 12-year-old Michael Dettlaff.

 

Source: JCK.com

We’ve shown you photos of this amazing emerald before but after watching the video this morning, I just had to share. It’s truly amazing. Check it out!

Apparently the only thing pythons and pendants have in common is one man, who found a special piece of jewelry while python hunting in the Everglades. Check out this amazing story:

Like most people who signed up for Florida’s official Burmese python hunt last winter, Mark Rubinstein slogged a couple times through the Everglades without ever seeing one of the elusive snakes.

Something else caught his eye, though.

In the dirt along a levee, about 10 miles deep into the wetlands, Rubinstein found a gold pendant, with sapphires forming a cross inside a circle of diamonds. One edge of the penny-sized medallion was melted and misshapen.

It may have fallen from the sky. Rubinstein was hunting near the crash sites of two airplanes that went down in the same area: Eastern Flight 401, a New York flight that crashed as it prepared to land in Miami in 1972, and ValuJet Flight 592, a 1996 flight to Atlanta that caught fire shortly after takeoff and plummeted into the remote swamps west of Miami.

Rubinstein hopes to return the jewelry to its rightful owner.

“We’ve got to get this back to the family, if we can,” he said last week.

All 104 passengers and five crew members aboard the ValuJet flight died. The Eastern flight carried 163 passengers and 13 crew members. Seventy-seven people survived, thanks in part to a Homestead man who was catching frogs from his airboat that night. He pulled survivors onto his airboat and turned his headlamp skyward so rescue helicopters could find the crash.

Read more about this amazing story.

“Diamonds will survive anything, and sapphires will, too.”

“I may be persuaded to surrender the hat,” Thatcher declares. “The pearls, however, are non-negotiable.”

Today, we say goodbye to one of the most powerful women in Britain, Lady Margaret Thatcher. While her achievements extend beyond the scope of this blog, let’s take a look at a more finite aspect of this incredible woman: her jewelry. Lady Thatcher was a staunch pearl wearer with a penchant for broaches, always a classic and polished look, as evidenced by these images.