WOW! 339ct Rough Diamond Find, Palm Beacher Jewelry Auction, Tower of London Jewels

The Karow mines in Botswana are having an exceptionally good week. On Monday they announced they had unearthed a 336 carat type IIa diamond. type IIa diamonds make up 1-2% of all diamonds mined and are usually without any impurities. They had also discovered three other exceptional large rough diamonds over the weekend. a 184-carat diamond, a 94-carat diamond, and an 86-carat diamond. A beautiful 12-carat pale pink diamond was also discovered ( remember the last pink diamond at auction? It was sold for $15.9 Million) the color of the pink diamond wont be confirmed until after it has been cleaned.Here is a link about the number of carats this mine can produce, its worth a look! http://www.lucaradiamond.com/s/karowe.asp?ReportID=655918

8.72ct pink diamond ring sold in May 2015 for $15.9 Million aka The Historic Pink Diamond, and was thought to have been owned by Princess Mathilde, niece of Napoleon

336ct rough rough diamond, gives you an idea of scale!

The Lucara mine has been a winning mine that is owned by a Vancouver company. They have unearthed over the past three years, since the first discovery of a large diamond at the Karowe mine, Lucara said it has recovered 216 diamonds that have sold for more than $250,000 each. Twelve of these stones sold for more than $5 million each. Over the past three years, since the first discovery of a large diamond at the Karowe mine, Lucara said it has recovered 216 diamonds that have sold for more than $250,000 each. Twelve of these stones sold for more than $5 million each.What is the reason why so many large diamonds are being unearthed

“The ongoing recovery of large exceptional diamonds from the Karowe Mine continues to support the resource estimates,” President and CEO William Lamb said. “This resource has consistently produced significant value for the company and its shareholders and the ongoing recovery of high value stones sets Lucara apart from most other diamond producers.”

203.94ct rough diamond from the same mine

Being one of the lucky few to live in Palm Beach the locals are always aware of the low key celebrities and shiny sheet regulars that donate much of their time and resources to local charities. We lost a great woman who donated her time, resources and was very active in the Palm Beach Jewish community known as a philanthropist and humanitarian,., her name was Rita Dee Hassenfeld. Her husband was Harold Hassenfeld whose family created Hasbro which is responsible for many of my childhood memories playing monopoly, Nerf and Play Doh. They split their time between two homes  in Nashville and  Palm Beach.

Rita Dee and her husband Harold Hassenfeld 

She was a well known ballerina but gave up her career to focus on her family with Harold. her jewelry collection was spectacular and was unmatched in the quality and design . Leslie Hindman auctioneers will be auctioning off and the Sept. 16 sale of her jewelry will offer about 250 lots of “unerring taste characterized by elegance, color and a sense of whimsy,” according to Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, presenters of the sale. Here is a link to the auction, http://www.lesliehindman.com/sale/hassenfeld/

Harry Winston Diamond Ring, pre auction estimate is $375,000- $425,000

Spectacular 37.0tcw diamond cuff bracelet pre auction estimate $30,000- $50,000

An 18k and platinum Colombian emerald and diamond ring by Harry Winston

A unique art deco lapel watch featuring diamond and emerald by Cartier, pre auction estimate $100,000 - $150,000

Tony Duquette carved emerald and 18k gold ring

Gorgeous emerald rondelle and diamond bead necklace

18k gold and 32.0tcw gold bangle bracelet by Harry Winston (my personal fav!)

Simple aquamarine ring inset with round diamonds

 Her collection of jewelry is as diverse as she was. From everything from a luscious emerald carved ring by Tony Duquette to a simple aquamarine ring set with round diamonds, to the over the top emerald and diamond lapel watch.  There is something so elegant about a woman that wears jewelry suites. Its a beautiful trend that  Her collection of jewelry is as diverse as she was. From everything from a luscious emerald carved ring by Tony Duquette to a simple aquamarine ring set with round diamonds, to the over the top emerald and diamond lapel watch.  There is something so elegant about a I wish that would return~

St. Mary Magdalene church where the christening took place in Normandy

News was made when  Princess Charlotte was baptized on July 5th at the same chapel where her grandmother Princess Diana was also baptized in Norfolk called St Mary Magdalene Church . Not only is this occasion special because its royalty but also because it is the first time that Royal Jewels are leaving the Tower of London (where all of the Royal gems and jewels are housed) and London in general. The Lily Font, made its way to Norfolk for the christening. It was commissioned for Queen Victoria's in 1840 for her eldest child. It stands 17 inches high and is gilt silver plated in gold. And it weighs 21 lbs! The Lily Font had water that was from the River Jourdan for the christening.

The Lily Font Ewer 1841 commissioned by Queen Victoria

The sweetest picture taken at the christening

The Royal family at the christening

Doris Payne is a woman who is unsuspecting in her appearance but her notable name and criminal history would baffle anyone who would meet her. I had written about her previously a few times. She is an 84 year old international jewel thief. Having stolen reportedly worth a few million in jewels during her life time.

Doris Payne in her younger years (looking smug)

One of her several mugshots

 She was arrested in September 2014 after stealing a ring from a jewelry store in California, but was later released in October 2014.  She was recently spotted at an upscale mall in Charlotte North Carolina at another jewelry store. A saleswoman at Tiffany & Co had noticed her and was alerting the sales staff at David Yurman, but at that point it was too late. Using slight of hand and a diversion tactic she was able to leave the store with a $33,000 platinum David Yurman bridal engagement ring in platinum.

The David Yurman ring in question that was reportedly stolen

Its difficult to think this unassuming 84 year old is a convicted jewel thief!

                                                          Keep sparkling, until next time!

Record Price Ruby Ring, Janet Jackson Jewels, Gems on Pluto?

 Derived from the Latin word "ruber" meaning red.The birthstone for July is the red ruby. They can command the highest prices per carat of all the colored stones. Ruby gems have been preferred and been used by nobility for centuries from jewelry to being embellished in tea sets and even furniture. In medival times Europeans wore rubies to guarantee health, wealth, wisdom, and success in love. A spectacular Burmese ruby ring that weighed 25.59cts sold at auction on May 12th for a record $30.3 Million dollars. Yes, you read that correctly, $30,335,698 Million dollars, or a little over $1 Million per carat. I would be curious to see if a collector had purchased this ring or if it was a lover of jewelery. The difference in that the ring might be worn ( with massive amounts of security)  instead of in a vault~

Record breaking 25.59tcw Burmese Ruby & diamond ring by Cartier, $30 Million Dollars

Ruby rings of this size and untreated are exceptionally rare. The signature 'pigeon blood" ruby is the most desirable for any jewelry collector and they are highly coveted. Named the "Sunrise Ruby" the color and quality of this ruby upset the last high record price for a ruby ring last year when on November 12th 2014 Sothebys auctioned a ruby and diamond ring by Graff for a auction price of $298,669 per carat.

The 8.62tcw Graff Ruby Ring sold at Sothebys November 12th,  2014

On the same note, there is an auction that will be held in September by the reputable John Pye auctioneers. They will be auction the largest gemstone collection, featuring over 680 gem stones. from a private collectro in the UK. It has taken the collector over 40 years to amass these gems. He bought the stones directly from the mines in Burma, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Zambi and obviously had purchased the best of the best quality. A spectacular gem in this collection is a mesmerizing 133 carat loose tanzanite. Deep blue and purple flashes, extraordinary.  The anonymous owner had stated, “I am now happy for the stones to be sold so other people can enjoy them as much as I have.”

Here is the link to register for bidding, http://www.johnpye.co.uk/gems/

John Pye gemstone valuer Ian Hall said: “This is quite simply a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy from an exquisite and extremely valuable collection of gemstones. “We believe the collection to be certainly the largest in the UK, if not Europe “Every gemstone in the collection has its own independently-issued certificate, a guarantee of both authenticity and quality, including GemResearch Swisslab (GRS) certificates showing that they are the purest quality in their natural form.”

The first auction in September will offer 345 gemstones from the collection and is valued at $16 Million dollar retail.  The lowest bid is for a 8.96cts pink topaz ring starting bid is $1200 USD. An exquisite collection that any gem lover would love to possess~

 Just the name Bernie Madoff makes people shudder not only in Palm Beach but all over the US. His name is synonymous with the most notorious of Ponzi schemes. He bilked many people out of hundreds of millions of dollars for over 20 years. After being convicted of the crime in 2009 he is serving his sentence at a North Carolina and is currently battling cancer.

Priciest item is 1 10.03cts ascher cut diamond ring, $327,000

One of the items up for auction

Mens Rolex lot 1050

Shana Madoff and Eric Swanson

 All of his nieces Shana Madoff and her husbands Eric Swanson their personal property and residences were surrendered to the authorities in order to pay back restitution to the victims. An auction is being held online with pages and pages of items from expensive diamond jewelry to rugs and household items. http://www.txauction.com/items.cfm?id=660

An image from Bernie and Ruths auction~

His wife Shana had high end jewelry from all the largest jewelry designers to inexpensive  funky shell necklaces that looks like they were purchased while on Holiday on a tropical island, of course all paid for by investors money. She also had an infinity for cubic zirconia jewelry, by looking at the lots for auction. Its curious to see what other people have in their jewelry collections, very interesting!

More and more celebrities are joining the ranks by creating their own collection of jewelry. An unexpected name came up in this game, Miss Janet Jackson. her new line of jewelry is called " Unbreakable Diamonds Collection. She had worn two items from her line on the BET Music awards. She had worn,  a 25 ct. heart-shape fancy intense yellow diamond necklace that will retail for $2 million and a 13 ct. fancy intense yellow diamond ring that will retail for $500,000. The collection in collaboration with Paul Raps NY will be sold at his store and she will also be wearing these pieces when she begins her world tour on August 31. Her high end pieces are not for the faint of heart, and in a twist she is looking to attract the high end boutique jewelry connoisseur. She secretly married Billionaire Wissam Al Mana in 2012 and currently lives in Dubai. Besides the jewels can we talk about how she looks like she has not changed one bit from the 80's?!!  Shes looks incredible~

Janet at the BET Music awards on June 28th wearing two pieces from her new jewelry line

With NASA trying to explore the planet mars, it has been discovered that our favorite gemstones might give clue as to possible life on Mars. Craziest is you'd think this would of been towards the tops of the news! in 1911 a meteorite that had fallen from mars and is currently housed at the Natural History Museum in Egypt. The meteorite was shown to have small traces of opal used of course to adorn jewelry. The scientist also believe that the craters on mars surface can contain traces of fossilized life, Scientists say that opal is usually found in hot springs, or mineral-rich waters that allow for microbial life to exist. It could help future exploration missions decide where to look for evidence of Martian life. What are the possibilities of new gemstones being discovered on the planet? And to think it looks like an ordinary rock, that holds many secrets! Its an exciting development that I look forward to hearing about~

Nakhla meteorite discovered in Egypt in 1911

                     
                                                   Keep Sparkling, until next time!

Empress Eugenie Earrings, Legendary Jadeite Jewels & Medieval Jewelry Find

Extraordinary jadeite and diamond ring circa 1924 that sold for $2.3 Million dollars (pre auction estimates was $84,246 - $123,129)

 The provenance of jewels that go to the auction block at the worlds best auction house often tell the most interesting tales.  The Soong sisters were born in China and had lived very privileged lives. The three sisters thru their marriage were the founders of the Republic of China. These 3 sisters dominated the public arena with their marriages and the youngest being the first lady of China. The sisters' marriages and alleged motivations have been immortalized in the trope, "one loved money, one loved power, one loved China," referring to Ai-ling, May-ling and Ching-ling respectively. The reason I mention these powerful women is that their jewelry after being inherited by the last living heir Gregory Teh-chi K’ung, the only grandson of K’ung H.H. and Ai-ling was auctioned at Christies on June 2nd in Hong Kong.Gregory had been in talks with Christies for a while prior to the auction . the items from the Soong sisters number 46 out of the close to a thousand lots offered up for sale. The auction netted $118 Million Dollars and is the most valuable jewelry auction ever held in Asia.

A small sampling of some of the sisters jadeite jewelry

A rare picture of the sisters together

These women were groundbreaking for that generation. ma ling came to the US in 1914 as a 14 year old to go to Wesleyn College. It was rare for a woman to be college educated, and she was the first Asian woman to get  her degree from Wesleyn.  Other items from the sisters remarkable jewelry collection have been auctioned at Bonhams and Sothebys. they lived an incredible life of wealth and privileged and had access to some of the best jewels in the world.

 A woman who was known to the world as a very stylish women wearing the latest fashions and bedecked in incredible Royal jewels. She was a Royal trendsetter, before any other. Empress Eugenie was her name and she was Napoleon IIIs second wife.When they had both fled France and had settled in England, she was able to smuggle much of her jewelry with her.

Empress Eugenie brooch sold last year at Christies

Napoleon loved to spoil his newest wife, Empress Consort Euegenie after his previous wife was unable to produce an heir. He had many jewels created for her by the court jewelers. It is estimated that Napoleon had spent over 6.0 Million pounds When Napoleon III and his wife were in exile she had smuggled many of her gems out of the country. In 1873 the Royal jewels were auctioned at the Louvre over several days after the death of her husband and of her son. The sale of her favorite items were sold in private and helped fund her life in old age and also to fund the Imperial Crypt at Saint Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough were she is interred next to her husband.

The official Empress Eugenie portrait

 One of her most favorite pieces that had come from Catherine the Great (she wore it as a hair ornament)

At 51 carats it was an ideal cut diamond for its day, Empress Eugenie changed the name from Potomkin diamond to The Eugenie Diamond

A collection of some of her jewels have been auctioned in the last few years. The Eugenie diamond is still privately owned and was last seen in the Royal Jewels Exhibition in 1998.

Medieval jewelry are pieces that your normally would only see in museums. But at times certain items of jewelry can come into your path. Being in the jewelry business and also buying jewelry at times you can find incredible pieces. A jeweler in the UK had that experience when a person that had brought a pendant to sell for scrap.  When the jeweler had looked at the pendant he had said it was very valuable and dated from 1450 -1500. The owner of the pendant had purchased it 20 years earlier and because of that fact it falls under the 1996 Treasure Act. Making it available for private sale and purchased by the Buckinghamshire County Museum for $20,000 the institution received grants for the purchase.

 The jeweler thinks that it is a pendant from a pilgrimage made to Thomas Becketts tomb. Thomas Beckett was the archbishop of Canterbury and was murdered in 1170 ( a brutal beheading by sword due to an argument with King Henry II) . At that time souvenirs were sold at tombs. Its incredible to think that this piece of jewelry has withstood 600 some odd years.. it would be interesting to learn of the hands this passed thru~

 “Apart from the incredible level of skill of the craftsman who made it, it also tells us something about how important religion was to the lives of the people at that time,” said museum spokesperson Brett Thorn in an interview with the BBC. “To realize the fact that they would invest so much time and wealth in a tiny souvenir, which no one else would ever see, perhaps hoping for a miraculous cure, helps us understand them better.”

Older jewelry finds have been making their way into the news lately. A discovery of jewels that I had written was in 2013 called the Cheapside Hoard.  Even though the discovery of these jewels in 1912 then forgotten about for 110 years was from the 16th and 17th century. the more than 500 items of jewels have given us a new insight as to how jewelers created items in that century. There is an incredible video by GIA were you can see the mass of items that were discovered. The video gives you an idea of how exquisite items were found.
http://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/FA13-cheapside-hoard-weldon

Amazing detailed gem necklaces, still trendy now!

Larger view of the hundreds of items found in the Cheapside Hoard

Thru ought the years discoveries of ancient jewels give us insight as to how people in that era adorned themselves and also the techniques on how the jewelry was created, along with the materials.  And its amazing that that a majority of the technique and styles that jewels are still using to this day!

Incredible Roman coins, love the intricate detail~

 Working with Roman coins and other historic coinage is a beautiful way to wear and embrace a reemerging trend.  Coins have been used in jewelry since coins have been used for currency. Either they were drilled for holes to wear as necklaces or else set into a ring setting.

Living in Florida for many years now there are famous wrecks that the world is aware of, and of course Mel Fisher who had discovered the famous Atocha De Senora wreck off of the coast of Key West.

                                                 Until next time, KEEP SPARKLING!