Happy Stories From our customers

Has anyone ever written a song for you? A poem? Certainly it must be a deeply flattering feeling. But what about having a massive gem named after you? Just ask Manami.

Recently, Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold an 88.22 ct. D flawless oval for $13.8 million to a Japanese collector who named it Manami Star, after his oldest daughter.

According to JCK:

The sale of the egg-size stone was much anticipated. The auction house boasted that the diamond was “perfected by every critical criterion”—both externally and internally flawless and with excellent polish and symmetry. It is also type IIa—rare for a natural diamond.

Patti Wong, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, in a statement. “At 88.22 carats, this lucky stone now carries the name of the fortunate child whose father has chosen to give it her name. A happy moment in the journey of one of the earth’s greatest, oldest treasures.”

Some people are just born lucky. And most probably, they were born in April with one of the best birthstones of the bunch: the beloved diamond.

On the unlucky side of birthdates, November holds the record for the least favorite birthstones: citrine and topaz. (Apparently because yellow gems aren’t considered favorable…have people gone mad?)

The history of birthstones has deep ties with the breastplate of Aaron, a sacred object worn by the High Priest of the Israelites, as a method to communicate with God. It contained twelve gemstones–topaz was on the bottom (unverifiable fact).

So birthstones have quite the lengthy history. As a matter of fact, the King James Version of the Bible contains a whopping 1,704 references to gemstones!

So for a long time, those born in April have been showered with gifts studded with diamonds…while the poor saps in November were given yet another (yawn) topaz gift.

Whatever your birthstone, we can find the high quality birthstone and create a custom design piece especially for you. Unfortunately, we don’t work with topaz (just kidding).

When I first posed this question, I thought, “Well of course the size of a wedding wouldn’t matter. It’s clearly the bond between the couple that really dictates the success of a marriage.”

But with some research, I might have to eat a little proverbial crow. Apparently size does matter. But not for the reasons you might guess.

According to Psychology Today:

There is some reason to believe that having more witnesses at a wedding may actually strengthen marital quality. According to the work of psychologist Charles Kiesler (1971), commitment is strengthened when it is publicly declared because individuals strive to maintain consistency between what they say and what they do.

Social scientist theorized that, early in a marriage, marital stability and commitment would be positively associated with the ceremonial effort and public nature of a couple’s wedding. Rosenblatt specifically suggested that holding a big wedding with many witnesses would lead to a stronger desire—or even need—to follow through on the commitment.

Okay, that does make some sense. It would also explain why people are so nervous on their “big day.” That kind of public proclamation has more weight than say, sending a text that says, “I do.”

Does that mean you need a big wedding to have a healthy marriage? Absolutely not. Scientific results aside, there are far too many factors that come into play when it comes to successful relationships. And let’s not forget: a big wedding that you can’t afford or never wanted can never be a good thing, right?