EVERY diamond is a story as old as the earth and will outlast us all. Diamonds are, indeed, forever, but they are not forever in view.
For more than a half-century, the whereabouts of one of the world’s most celebrated diamonds, the fabled Wittelsbach blue, was obscure. Every person with knowledge of great gems was likely to be familiar with the stone: A grayish blue diamond with noble history whose whereabouts had been a mystery until 2008.
In December 2008, the Wittelsbach blue suddenly turned up at auction, centerpiece of Christie’s London sale of important gems. Expected to fetch $15 million, the cushion cut stone, described as a fancy deep grayish blue, was fought over by rival diamond dealers and hammered down in a matter of minutes for the extraordinary price of $24.3 million — the most ever paid for a diamond at auction and a sum that may also have rendered the Wittelsbach blue, by weight, the most valuable commodity on earth.
The buyer was Laurence Graff, who made a series of startling decisions about the stone. First, he had it recut, reducing it from 35.52 to just over 31 carats, to eliminate the chips and “bruises” inevitable in a stone of its age but also to improve its clarity, brilliance and grade. Then he renamed it the Wittelsbach-Graff and struck an agreement with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington to display it.
Late this month, it will go on view alongside the legendary Hope, a larger stone but a slightly more drab one, and yet a rock whose allure remains potent enough to have drawn five million visitors to the national collection last year.
Visitors to the Smithsonian who will soon have the rare opportunity to share in the Wittelsbach’s tale will also be venturing into the midst of a controversy about the gem. By recutting it, some critics suggest, Mr. Graff has not so much improved it as altered it out of all recognition. Daniela Mascetti, a senior global specialist in jewelry at Sotheby’s, said by phone from London. “The provenance of a gem is important in ways that are not true of other things. With the Wittelsbach blue, you knew how it came into existence and in a rather exciting way. You know who has worn it, what kinds of historical events it has gone through and what social upheavals it was present for.”
By refashioning the stone, Mr. Graff undoubtedly improved its value in a market that has seen the prices of colored diamonds soar over the last decade, so much so that a 5-carat vivid pink diamond his company sold for $3.8 million in 2007 last month brought $10.8 million at a Hong Kong auction. That price, equivalent to more than $2 million a carat, doubled the previous record for a colored stone.
Posted by: Megan - Diamond Ideals
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Sotheby’s Auction House showed a 72.22 stunning D Flawless Pear-shape diamond during a press preview yesterday, 11 March, 2008.
(AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
The diamond will go to auction on April 10th, 2008, in Hong Kong. Availability of these stunning, large gemstones has dwindled in the last few years and demand has become extremely strong. This has caused the prices of large gems to skyrocket in the past few months, pushing prices to all-time records. This diamond is expected to fetch around US$ 13 million.
Depending on the outcome, DiamondIdeals.com may bring their 10.75ct D-Internally Flawless Ideal Cut diamond to auction.
One never knows.
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Scientists have known about the presence of diamonds in space since the 1980s when meteorites hitting Earth were revealed to contain lots of nanometer sized diamonds. Based on these studies, calculations have shown that a gram of space dust from a cosmic cloud might contain as many as 10,000 trillion nano-diamonds. These have only recently been identified because their infrared signature has only recently been identifiable using computer modeling and Spitzer’s infrared spectrometer.
These space diamonds are formed very differently that our Earth bound diamonds. On Earth, stones that are destined for engagement rings and wedding rings are formed under high heat and high pressure. In space, these nano-diamonds are found in molecular clouds where temperatures are below minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit and pressures are billions of times lower than on Earth.
Understanding how these nano-diamonds form may lead us to understand more about the formation carbon-rich molecules, the basic building blocks of life on Earth.
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Grammy-winner Rihanna wears diamond studs, a right-hand ring and Chopard's 27-carat "Barrel" cuff. Los Angeles—The music industry was singing the blues when it came to fashion at last night's 50th Annual Grammy Awards, with crooners such as Rihanna, Beyoncé and Nelly Furtado donning blue-tinted gowns.
In terms of jewelry, however, the stars hit a high note, with bold cuffs and drop earrings studded with diamonds taking first place as the top picks of the night.
Though cuffs have played a major role in red-carpet jewelry-wardrobing for some time now, the latest incarnations of the trend reveal sculptural forms that diverge from the ubiquitous smooth, circular, wrist-hugging style.
Natasha Bedingfield wears diamond earrings with 22-karat gold drops by Amrapali of Jaipur. Grammy-winner Rihanna donned Chopard's aptly named "Barrel" cuff, a 27-carat diamond stunner that clung to her wrist at both ends but ballooned out in the center; American Idol alum Fantasia wore H. Stern's textured, snaking "Celtic Dunes" cuff in 18-karat Noble gold and diamonds; and Beyoncé, who shimmied onstage alongside Tina Turner, chose jagged-edged diamond cuffs by Lorraine Schwartz to anchor her tulle, sequined confection of a dress by Elie Saab.
When it came to earrings, music's leading ladies chose to keep the baubles short, framing their faces at chin-length or even higher.
Miley Cyrus dons diamond and shell earrings by Bochic. Beyoncé dazzled in chandelier earrings featuring pear-shaped diamonds by Lorraine Schwartz; Alicia Keys sparkled in 36.33-carat "Sodwana" hoop earrings by Diamond in the Rough, which featured a wavy 18-karat gold design studded with 30 rough diamonds in varying shades of cognac, azure, canary and rose; "Unwritten" singer Natasha Bedingfield matched a purple Reem Acra gown with diamond earrings featuring 22-karat gold drops from Amrapali of Jaipur; and teen queen Miley Cyrus went full-on with organic jewelry, donning shell earrings with diamonds by Bochic to go with her mermaid-like locks.
While necks (minus a conspicuous gold coil number worn by Nelly Furtado) were for the most part ignored in favor of accents for the wrists and ears, right hands got a lot of love at last night's show.
Jay-Z chose diamond pins and diamond dress buttons by Neil Lane. Fergie donned a diamond "Dome" right-hand ring by Cartier; Lisa Rinna wore H. Stern's pavé diamond "Golden Stones" right-hand ring; Natalie Cole wore Chopard's ashoka-cut fancy-yellow-diamond right-hand ring with pavé diamond band; and Rihanna went with Chopard as well, donning the brand's "So Happy" diamond right-hand ring.
Men weren't immune to the call of diamonds either, with Chris Brown, Akon, Ludacris and Ne-Yo all choosing to accessorize with diamond studs. Jay-Z took the bling one step further, wearing diamond pins and diamond dress buttons by Neil Lane.
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No matter what the age, diamonds or roses never goes out of style, suggested the survey, considering that 72 percent of men and 76 percent of women ages 45-54 selected diamond jewelry or roses as gifts that first come to mind for celebrating Valentine’s Day.
When given a list of the best Valentine's Day gifts to receive, women selected roses as the best gift to receive (32 percent); diamond jewelry as the second best gift (29 percent); jewelry other than diamonds as the third best gift (26 percent); roses other than flowers as the fourth best gift (24 percent).
When given a list of what men would want to give their significant other on Valentine's Day, 53 percent selected roses, followed by flowers other than roses at 39 percent, and 34 percent of men would give jewelry and 26 percent of men would specifically give diamond jewelry to their loved ones this Valentine’s Day.
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Hollywood's leading ladies from television and film proudly donned their most sophisticated diamond looks, with the big trends of the evening being diamond power earrings, showcasing large diamond studs, diamond drops, and diamond chandelier earrings; boldly adorned stacked diamond bracelets and cuffs; and diamond Right Hand Rings. Diamond broaches also made a grand appearance.
To highlight the evening's best all-diamond looks, actress Ana Ortiz, from the nominated cast of the television series, "Ugly Betty" showcased an amazing half a million dollar diamond look by Kwiat, including beautiful diamond cluster earrings, a vintage diamond and platinum bracelet, and a diamond and platinum flower broach worn in her hair.
Presenter and actress, Kate Beckinsale also stole the red carpet wearing Van Cleef & Arpel's private museum collection pieces, including stacked diamond bracelets on both wrists, bold diamond stud earrings, a 1919 Art Deco diamond Right Hand Ring, and a breathtaking diamond broach.
Female nominee and award presenter Marion Cotillard wore a Happy Spirit diamond Right Hand Ring and Happy Diamond pave pendant necklace by Chopard.
A service of the Antwerp Facets News Service (AFNS). Article may be reproduced provided that credit is given to AFNS.
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The tour, "Getting Engaged? Tips on Buying that Special Ring," covered how to overcome typical proposal blunders and how to read diamond-grading reports.
Hosted by AGS Laboratories President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Dallahan, the program reached an estimated 3.5 million listeners via nationally syndicated programs such as USA Radio National and Good News Broadcast National, and in locals markets including Atlanta; Chicago; Denver; Detroit; Kansas City, Kan.; Minneapolis; Orlando, Fla.; Raleigh, N.C.; Roanoke, Va.; and Tampa, Fla.
"The tour was an overwhelming success and a terrific opportunity to share the AGS Laboratories message with consumers," Dallahan said. "Many of the interviewers were intrigued by the diamond-grading process, so much so that the average interview lasted nearly 10 minutes, which just goes to show that even with all the information available to consumers today, there is still a thirst for quality information from reputable sources."
The media-tour interviews are now available online at AGSLab.com/news_radio.html
The AGS Laboratories was created in 1996 and provides unbiased diamond-grading reports. It is the only diamond-grading lab licensed to use the AGS Performance-Based Cut Grade System—the first-ever cut grading system for a fancy-shaped diamond. The lab currently issues a cut grade for round brilliant, princess- and emerald-cut diamonds. Cut grades for other shapes are due in the near future.
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Diamonds may be forever. But the price you paid for them may not.
Millions of American consumers who bought diamond engagement rings or other diamond jewelry could be in for a sizable rebate thanks to the pending settlement of a series of class-action lawsuits that accused the giant De Beers diamond company of price-fixing and monopoly practices.
Translation: You got bling? Ka-ching!
Now, there are a few "inclusions," as they say in the diamond business. You must have purchased the diamond between 1994 and early 2006. You need a receipt or other proof of purchase price. And the amount of the rebate you ultimately receive depends on factors such as the value of your diamond and the total number of consumers who end up filing claims under the settlement. So don't show this story to your friends.
But at the end of the day, you could get refunded 30 percent or more of the price you paid for your sparkling engagement rings.
Love truly is a many-splendored thing.
"This is nothing but good news for consumers," said Peggy Jo Donahue, director of public affairs for Jewelers of America, a retailers association. "We know consumers love giving and receiving diamonds, and now those who have made diamond purchases in the past may have some money coming back to them."
Notices of the proposed class-action settlement, which must still be approved by a federal judge in New Jersey in April, began appearing in national newspapers and magazines this month. Diamond buyers have until May 19 to file a claim by going tohttp://www.diamondsclassaction.com .
Under the settlement's terms, De Beers, the South African mining conglomerate that controls 40 percent of the world's diamond trade, has agreed to pay $295 million, which would be divided roughly in half between consumers and diamond merchants and resellers.
It doesn't matter whether your diamond came from a De Beers mine in Namibia or a competitor in Russia or Canada -- in fact, no one but a forensic scientist could even begin to try to figure out a diamond's source.
The proposed settlement covers all diamonds, whether purchased at a jewelry store in Beverly in Chicago or Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. That's because the class-action lawsuits alleged that De Beers, from its dominant position atop the world diamond market, conspired to fix, raise and control the prices of all diamonds -- something many purchasers of the pricey carbon allotropes have long suspected.
De Beers officials are quick to point out that they are admitting no wrongdoing in agreeing to the proposed settlement, which is equivalent to roughly six months of the company's earnings.
"Look, I'm not naive," said David Prager, De Beers director of communications in London. "I'm fully aware of the perception that a lot of people have" that De Beers controls the price of diamonds. "But the facts are that it's a very competitive industry.
"The confidence consumers have in their diamonds is the most important thing for us," Prager added. "We haven't accepted the allegations, but we decided to take this step to make sure that consumers still have confidence in the value of their diamonds."
Translation: Just because you might be due a rebate on your diamond doesn't mean you paid too much for it.
The settlement formula sets up a scale for determining the highest potential rebate a consumer could receive. For example, diamond jewelry that cost $1,000 to $5,499 would be eligible for a maximum rebate of 32 percent of the purchase price, with higher percentages for more costly diamonds and lower percentages for less expensive stones. On a $2,000 ring, that means you could get back a check for $640.
But don't start dreaming about using your rebate to buy a new wide-screen TV -- or another diamond -- just yet. These carats come with a caveat: The more people who apply for a rebate, the less each individual will receive.
That's because the consumer portion of the De Beers payout is capped at $135 million, minus up to 25 percent in fees due to the many law firms that brought the multiple class-action suits between 2001 and 2004.
The figure looks even smaller when compared to the total value of the diamonds sold in the U.S. during the 12-year period covered by the settlement: about $294 billion, according to Ken Gassman, a leading diamond industry analyst in Richmond, Va.
Working through the complicated math, that means that if every eligible diamond buyer makes a claim under the settlement, the rebates would amount to about one-tenth of a cent on the dollar. Which would mean just $2 back on that $2,000 ring.
Translation: Definitely don't show this story to your friends.
- - -
About the diamond settlement
Under a proposed settlement of class-action lawsuits against the De Beers diamond company, consumers who bought diamonds between Jan. 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006, can apply for rebates.
Who's eligible: Anyone who bought diamonds or diamond jewelry in the U.S. during the covered period.
Refunds: Payments could range from 6 percent to 59 percent of the retail price, depending on the value and type of jewelry. For example, diamond rings priced from $1,000 to $5,499 are eligible for a maximum 32 percent refund.
Signing up: Details of the settlement and online claim forms are available athttp://www.diamondsclassaction.com .
What's the catch? The total value of the settlement is $295 million, so the more consumers who make claims, the smaller each individual rebate will be.
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A study released in the January 2008 edition of the journal Geology proves that a blue diamond’s rare appeal goes far beyond its beauty.
Researchers at the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory measured the phosphorescence spectra of the 45.52-ct. blue Hope Diamond and 66 other natural blue diamonds, including the 30.82-ct. Blue Heart Diamond in the Smithsonian’s National Gem Collection. They found that almost all natural blue diamonds show phosphorescence that has components of blue and red light. In some cases, including the Hope Diamond, the red color dominates, and the phosphorescence appears red to the eye; but for other diamonds, the blue color dominates.
The specific characteristics of the phosphorescence, such as the relative intensities of the blue and red components and how quickly it fades, were specific to each of the 67 diamonds in the study and provide a “fingerprint” that can be used by scientists and gemologists to individually identify natural blue diamonds.
“People typically think of the Hope Diamond as a historic gem, but this study underscores its importance as a rare scientific specimen that can provide vital insights into our knowledge of diamonds and how they are formed in the earth,” said Jeffrey Post, curator of the National Gem Collection and mineralogist, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, who was one of seven researchers involved in the study.
Researchers also tested lab-created and artificially-treated blue diamonds, which showed different phosphorescence spectra than natural blue diamonds. This difference provides an additional means to identify the origins of blue diamond gemstones.
Prior to this study, only limited scientific research existed regarding the phosphorescence properties of natural blue diamonds. Due to the rarity and extreme value of blue diamonds, scientists had typically used synthetic diamonds in past research. Post and his colleagues’ recent research took advantage of a unique opportunity to examine a large collection of natural blue diamonds from the museum and made available by diamond dealers.
The Hope Diamond is the centerpiece of the National Gem Collection on display at the National Museum of Natural History, attracting millions of visitors each year.
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Diamonds in every shade of the rainbow—but especially pink and blue—defy the market's conventional wisdom Once cherished strictly by connoisseurs, diamonds in shades of pink, blue and yellow are now regularly touted by the media, which is besotted with anything that speaks to the luxury marketplace. From Forbes magazine articles on million-dollar-per-carat auction records to red-carpet reports documenting a celebrity following, colored diamonds have been blessed with enough exposure to drive demand well into the next decade.
In the meantime, their availability continues to shrink, which, according to the psychology of luxury branding, only makes them more desirable.
Take, for example, the Rio Tinto Argyle Pink Diamond Tender. Every year, a selection of saturated pink diamonds representing the top one-tenth of one percent of the Argyle mine's annual diamond production (anywhere from 25 million to 30 million carats) is offered to a group of discerning dealers around the world in a silent tender. Although the 2007 tender, which took place in October, was the 23rd event of its kind, it was the first tender to be formally publicized—despite the fact that production forecasts for next year and every year thereafter, when the open pit is exhausted and the mine goes underground, call for significantly fewer pink stones.
The pink diamonds extracted every year from the Argyle mine in Western Australia and sold through a globe-hopping silent tender are the essence of rare. "We've seen double-digit growth over the last decade," Gavin Pearce, senior sales executive for Argyle Diamonds in Perth, Australia, said at the tender. "Put your economics hat on. The mine is going underground. Production underground is roughly half or less, which means there will be half or less pink diamonds as reflected in tender stones. On the supply side, there are fewer of these available, and at the same time, you've got growing demand, so the fundamentals are very sound."
Although Argyle never reveals prices, a few of the 65 stones exhibited at the 2007 tender—a 1.74-carat oval-cut fancy-purplish-red diamond, for example—almost certainly topped $400,000 per carat. Their collective value was an estimated $10 million to $15 million.
Alan Bronstein, a New York-based colored-diamond dealer who's attended 22 of the 23 tenders, compares the Argyle pinks to famous works of art.
"It's like going to the Met and seeing 65 Picassos next to each other and looking at all of them and saying, 'This one is my favorite,'" he says. "That doesn't make the others any less beautiful."
The auction houses, witnesses to the spectacular increases in asset prices achieved by art and other collectibles over the past few years, have seen the diamond marketplace behave much the same way.
This 5.07-carat fancy-intense-blue diamond ring earned $570,000 per carat at Christie's October sale. "The really rare stones have become near impossible to find," Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry at Christie's Americas, says. "So if you find a great blue, a great pink, a great vivid orange, a great orangy-pink, a great pink-violet—think of any color in the world and think of that stone in an impressive size and clean—you can pay..."
He trails off but the sentiment is understood: You will pay. Dearly.
At Christie's October Magnificent Jewels sale in New York, an anonymous buyer did just that, paying $2,885,800 for "an extremely rare colored-diamond ring" set with a rectangular-cut fancy-intense-blue diamond of 5.07 carats, surrounded by two tiers of pavé-set pink diamonds and mounted in 18-karat rose gold. The per-carat average for the center stone worked out to be $570,000, making the Argyle pinks seem like a bargain by comparison.
But if it's affordable colored diamonds you seek, you'd do well to consider synthetics, such as the bright yellow gems produced by Gemesis, a Sarasota, Fla.-based manufacturer.
The only difference between lab-grown and mined diamonds is that the former are "grown above the earth," Gemesis Brand Ambassador Joan Parker says, displaying a necklace of 72 matched yellow "cultured diamonds," as the company prefers to call them. At 64 carats total weight and priced at $500,000, the necklace is about a third of the price its mined diamond counterpart would be.
"It would take years to match mined diamonds—we grow them in four days," Parker says. "The way it works is just like De Beers. They make the rough in a machine and give it to client companies to cut and polish."
Gemesis "Renaissance" ring featuring a yellow cultured diamond. She should know. For 25 years, Parker promoted the virtues of mined diamonds as director of the Diamond Information Center. Now she's advocating for the other side, trying to convince high-end retailers to give the lab-grown stones, which are sold through a network of seven jewelry manufacturers, a chance. One selling point, according to Renaissance Diamonds, a Gemesis partner, is that cultured diamond jewelry is "affordable luxury" that also happens to be "eco-chic."
"Renaissance Diamonds could be the environment's new best friend, bridging high fashion and eco-awareness," Sarah Parker Young, a Renaissance spokeswoman, says. "Just as Stella McCartney changed the perception of green style being a burlap dress, Renaissance makes eco-chic equally fabulous with fancy-vivid-yellow cultured diamonds."
Demand for alternatives to costly natural-color diamonds is such that Gemesis recently announced plans to more than double the size of its Sarasota facility.
"The increase in capacity will allow Gemesis to bring more colors to market without reducing the supply of our current offering," Gemesis CEO and President Stephen Lux says.
Joan Parker says the company has its sights set on pink diamonds, suggesting the possibility of an intriguing industry showdown: In this corner, advocates of natural goods and in the far corner, those who support their lab-grown counterparts. Of course, as the mined pinks grow rarer, and the promotional machine broadcasting their existence gathers ever more steam, the market may soon lack a choice.
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