Happy Stories From our customers

You just don’t see women wearing tiaras like they used to. Sure, there’s the occasional cardboard tiara worn by little girls at birthday parties, but maybe its time we bring back this epic fashion statement. If you have $12 million, that is.

Geneva–An auction world-record price for a tiara was set Tuesday, when a rare emerald and diamond tiara realized more than $12 million at Sotheby’s sale of magnificent and noble jewels here.

Previously estimated to garner between $5 million and $10 million, the tiara’s sale also represents a world auction record of an emerald jewelry piece.

“This evening’s results, across the board–in noble jewels, diamonds, colored gemstones, and pieces signed by the world’s greatest jewelers–show the extraordinary appetite among connoisseurs for rarity, quality and provenance,” David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s jewelry department for Europe and the Middle East, said.

The Sotheby’s sale realized a total of $89 million, with 90 percent sold by lot and 97 percent sold by value.

Included in the auction was the nearly $11 million sale of a 10-carat, rare fancy intense pink diamond ring (below) made for the third-highest price for a pink diamond at auction, as well as the ninth-highest price for a diamond at auction.

Christie’s sale of magnificent jewels in Geneva on May 18 realized a total of more than $78 million, with 84 percent sold by lot. This auction also set world-record prices in various categories.

“The jewelry sale in Geneva was marked by strong bidding,” Francois Curiel, president of Christie’s Switzerland, said. “Forty-two years after our first sale in Switzerland, Geneva remains a vital, specialized auction center in today’s global market.”

Read more at National Jeweler

As part of our ongoing jewelry history series, today we introduce pieces from the Art Nouveau period, with its flowing and fantastical forms and shapes.

The “Art Nouveau” (“new art”) movement was one of the first departures from classical art and design, towards a new modernism. This avant-garde movement occurred during what was known in France as the “La Belle Époque” period, or “beautiful era” of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Germany, the Art Nouveau movement was known as the “Jugendstil,” or “youth style” arts and crafts movement, named after “Jugend,” a cultural weekly magazine founded by Georg Hirth in 1896.

The Modernism movement was primarily influenced by the radical work of Czech (Moravian) artist Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860—1939), Swiss decorative artist Eugène Samuel Grasset (1845—1917), and English illustrator Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (1872—1898) — illustrator of the “The Peacock Skirt” below, left—and the ground-breaking architectural design work of Hector Guimard (1867—1942) of Paris (Paris Métro – below, right) and the surrealist architecture of Antoni Plàcid Gaudí (1852—1926) in Barcelona, Spain.

Design motifs of the Art Nouveau movement focused heavily on the themes of nature, fantasy, and the female form, with sensual flowing shapes that simulated the organic growth that would be reminiscent of the primeval Garden of Eden.

Exotic floral motifs with animals, birds, butterfles, dragonflies, peacock feathers and marsh plants were incorporated with graceful feminine imagery or fairies, mermaids and nymphs, complete with their long manes of twisting hair.

Some of the floral motifs that were used in the Art Nouveau style were borrowed from English artist William Morris, founder of the “Arts and Crafts Movement” of the late Victorian era.

Source: All About Gemstones

A client asked me a few days ago what type of jewelry would be appropriate to give new mothers. Hearts instantly came to mind. They simply and effectively convey the infusion of love a mother feels upon the birth of her child.

Birthstones are another possibility (which can easily be placed within a heart pendant).

Lastly, charm bracelets are a great gift for new mothers. Not only can you add charms per child, but you can also add charms after any achievement. Charm bracelets have a long history of marking special occasions in life.

Here are a few pieces of ours. Click on the image for more details.

Butterfly necklace in 14kt white gold featuring genuine pink sapphires and natural diamonds, approximately 1/10ct total weight on an 18' diamond cut rolo chain.

Custom design jewelry can be a bit of a mystery to some folks. Why not simply purchase a pre-made piece at Tiffany’s? How does one even come up with an idea?

Well, first: you can purchase a pre-made piece at Tiffany’s. So can several million other people. Custom design jewelry insures that your piece is one-of-a-kind. It’s made for and by you. It’s personalized jewelry, so your connection to the piece is deeper. We’ve had several happy customers tell us this very thing. “It’s mine. No one else has a piece like it in the world.”

How do you come up with an idea? There’s several answers to that.

Many see a piece online or in a store and like it, but they want some changes to it. That’s what we call semi-custom design. People will see a piece we have on our website and say, “Joe, love it…but you can make the side stones sapphires instead of diamonds? Can you use rose gold instead of silver? We’re happy to oblige.

Some create an idea from their mind’s eye. They’ve had a piece in mind (some their whole lives!) and can “sketch” it out, with our assistance. If that sounds difficult or too technical for you, not to worry. Our staff is trained to interpret your suggestions, even if it’s “I want something girlie, but not too girlie.” We know how to tease out your idea. And before you commit to the piece, you are shown the possible looks of the piece first – so you don’t have to commit until it fits you exactly.

Others come in with a piece of jewelry they want “made over.” This is a form of custom design as well. Sometimes a piece just feels too dated – or someone gave them an important piece of jewelry…but they never really liked it! (Another reason for custom design – why purchase a high-end piece of jewelry if you’re not exactly sure what the receiver wants?)

Custom design jewelry is what we do best, here in Scottsdale. After 3 generations of creating pieces from all sorts of suggestions, we’re confident in our ability to make your jewelry dream a reality. Check out our custom design page for more details on the process as well as examples.