Diamond Engagement Rings Specialist

D diamonds are the ones that are top rated in the diamond hierarchy. A ‘D’ coloured diamond means the gem has an absolutely brilliant white colour and perfect shine and dazzle. So when a diamond that is not just classified as a D diamond but is also rather large comes into the market, you would think that it would be picked up in the twinkling of an eye, or maybe before you could say ‘D’!

However this was not to be as can be seen in the case of the Sotheby auction in Hong Kong. The over 72 carat absolutely flawless diamond that came up for auction didn’t even meet the reserve price. One wonders why this was so considering that there are a lot of people out there who just wait for a stone like this to pop up for sale. Could it be that the worldwide financial scene has something to do with it? Well, in this case, the diamond was later sold – one knows not to whom and one knows not for how much. It’s been said that this pear shaped D diamond was really exceptional in every way and was the third largest in the world to be auctioned.

Next on the line is Christie’s with an over 100 carat diamond, again said to be flawless. Now that will be the largest one to go under the hammer in all of Asia and it could just fetch a pretty package. One hopes it will be dazzle days ahead for this one.

If you were to look at credit card expenditure in the recent past, you’ll find that in the upper end of the spectrum, the amount of money spent on jewellery for men has been climbing steadily. And no, that’s not because there’s been an increase in the number of wives and girlfriends who suddenly want to gift their men a lot more. Men – and this isn’t confined to just the young ones – are shopping for the dazzling stuff like they never have before.

It had to hit the celebrities first, of course. From there, it seems to be spreading like an epidemic all over the world. Look at the likes of Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, David Beckham, Elton John and so many others who sport diamonds with such panache. Sure a lot of them go for the understated look but it’s there all right. From the designer watches to the rings, the bracelets, the chains around their neck, the earrings. You would of course see more of platinum, titanium and palladium rather than gold.

Online stores that sell jewellery say that men’s accessories can be almost 10% of their sales right now and coming from almost nothing a few years ago, that means really huge strides! What is even more surprising is that a lot of the sales are coming from the smaller towns which means that the fashion scene’s influence is fast pushing new frontiers.

Is it really an absolutely new trend or is it just the wheel of fashion turning? If we were to look back, men in 18th century England and Europe were ostentatious in their dress and their jewels. Beau Brummell toned things down a bit and made way for the elegant dandy but the jewels still remained, glistening from the cravats or the finger rings – all that happened was a move from the loud to the subtle. So maybe, just maybe the fashion wheel is all set to take men on a new ride again. A jewellery fashion ride.

Michael Strahan wanted a diamond ring with enough dazzle that could be seen from ten tables away. That meant ten tables in a restaurant. That would be a lot of dazzle in a huge uppity restaurant where the tables would be quite a distance away from each other. However, that was what the US New York Giants defensive end wanted and that is what he will be getting.

The seven-time Pro Bowl player was instrumental in the New York Giants causing a huge upset in the Super Bowl games when they beat the New England Patriots. Till then, the New England Patriots had been undefeated and the New York Giants’ 17-14 win over them was totally unexpected. So it really was a historic upset. An upset worthy of being rewarded in the best possible way – with diamonds. Is there really anything better to show one’s appreciation?

The ring that Michael Strahan will be getting from the New York Giants should make him ecstatic. It is a huge sparkler with 1.5 carats in diamonds. The Super Bowl Championship ring design has just been unveiled by the New York Giants. Set in white gold, the diamonds are a knockout. And they should quite easily meet Michael Strahan’s diktat – they will for sure be seen ten tables away!

Diamonds are not just forever and always – today they seem to be everywhere as well. It seems like a world with a whole lot more disposable income just cannot get enough of diamonds and they need to show them off not just as jewellery but in their other accessories as well – bags, shoes, spectacle frames. It really was just a matter of time before the new age technological devices looked diamond-ways as well.

The designer from Norway, Thomas Heyerdahl has added the iPod to the list of diamond encrusted items. Or more precisely, diamond headphones. Each one has a cool 102 sparklers and they were released being called the iDiamond ear phones. Well, they were actually designed to be put up for a charity auction but the tremendous response prompted him to offer them for sale as well. There is little doubt that these ear phones with their glittering appeal will be picked up pretty quickly once they make their presence felt on the shop shelves.

What is it about diamonds that make the possessor feel so good? Is there something like a diamond high when one possesses a thing of beauty like a diamond? That really must be the case otherwise why would jewellers look for things where diamonds can be added and why does everything new with diamonds get lapped up by a dazzle-hungry public? Whatever the reason, as more and more diamond items find their way into the market, there just seem to be more and more buyers waiting to snap them up.

Take the hardest and most wanted gem stone and add to it the amazing power of the laser and what you get can blow you mind away. You would think that it would be a great stride forward just to inscribe each diamond so that they could be easily identified. Imagine all the salient details like the carat, where you bought it and when you bought it being inscribed in a microscopic little corner of each stone. Now that would be technology being used to such a great advantage.

However, this technology has just opened up the floodgates of possibilities. Suddenly, there are so many more things that you can do with this amazing idea. And a process called Safe Gemscribe by Gemory is creating waves when it comes to inscriptions on diamonds.

This is what this process does – it can take a photograph, reduce it and then inscribe it onto the diamond. As though that were not enough, the news is that you could put up to maybe one hundred photographs. Think of what you can do with diamonds now. You could just make it a family heirloom with family photographs on it. Or it could be a great 25th anniversary diamond, a gift to a new mother with her baby photographs, a graduation present, whatever. It comes with its own little portable viewer too. And all this, preserved like the diamond, forever.

Ever since KimCor acquired the South African Nooitgedacht alluvial diamond mine, there’s been a buzz in the diamond industry. The news is that from .55 carats for every hundred tonnes, the recoverable diamond grade has gone up to 1.40 carats. Now this is the average sales value for the company and that’s a great way to go.

If you were to take the sales price for a carat at budget levels as around £250, KimCor diamonds, according to the company, sell at an average rate of £650 a carat. So when a 31.4 carat diamond that was discovered in their diamond mine gets sold for £3600 a carat, which is record-breaking. The diamond was sold at approximately £113000 and that is a cool £3350 more for every carat than a regular selling diamond and £2950 per carat more than KimCor’s average price.

Diamonds might have their highs and their flat periods when it comes to price per carat but there’s no holding a good diamond down. Come what may, it soars in price way above the estimated value. That really is the wonder of a rare gem and diamonds really top that list. It never fails to amaze just how high prices can go when it’s a diamond that stands out from the rest. Snob value, investment – whatever the reason, a great diamond will always find a buyer. Now we wonder just how much the asking price is going to be for the 18.5 carat stone that was mined recently at Nooitgedacht. We hear that it comes into the market sometime this month and will probably be sold by tender.

This year’s Baselworld Show which is on right now seems to be sending out one very clear message when it comes to jewellery – pavé is in – and it is pavé in all sizes of diamonds and colours. All you need to do is to look around at all that bling on show around you and you cannot but fail to see just how much it has affected so many high-end jewellery styles.

The great thing about fashion is that it takes a style and changes it around so that it becomes new almost. Well this is what seems to have happened to pavé. First, the size. Time was when only small, rather, very small stones were used so that the final effect was one of a paved jewel surface. Well, now you still have the look but the stones have very often gotten much bigger and guess what – they really stand out and make a statement.

Then, the colours. This style finds expression at this glittering show in all the colours of the rainbow and then some. Some pieces of jewellery are in startling hues of orange and pink. However, there’s a very understated elegant line as well with designs in black, grey and silver diamonds. Suddenly black diamonds seems to be finding favour as the next hot fashion favourite among both men and women.

The power of pavé has moved on to jewellery that combines this style with enamelling to produce stunning designs. You’ll also find dog tags that are done in white and black – so it’s pavé for the rich and famous pooch as well. In fact, just window shop and you’ll find pavé making its presence felt in most shop windows – there’s obviously a great pavé wave about to hit town. We’ll just have to wait and watch to see how many will ride its crest!

That’s what the designer has named it – the killer engagement ring and it is one – literally so. One of New York’s most influential designers, Tobias Wong, having had the honour of being in the Forbes’ 100 top Tastemakers’ list, feels that this design for an engagement ring could come in pretty useful at times.

The ring itself is set with the point outside, unlike all rings where the sharp point that the diamond tapers down to is always set inside. Now setting it like this is what makes the ring a killer. Picture this: a dark cul de sac, you’re hurrying home a bit late from work and you’re hoping you can make it back without any untoward incident when your worst fears are realised as you hear footsteps behind you. Well, you needn’t fear if you have your killer engagement ring. A hard blow to the opponent’s face will leave him cut to the bone. The edge of the diamond is razor sharp and when it is set inside out or upside down whichever way you want to look at it, you have a great weapon on your engagement finger. Just one little piece of advice: to be truly effective, you need to have a diamond at least 1 carat in weight.

Logic will tell you that this isn’t quite the way a diamond should be set if you want it to shine. However, add to this the fact that the ring can be very useful in many other different situations as well and maybe there’s some merit in it. Like etching out a design on glass? Like messages on the surface of a bottle when you are marooned on a desert island? Or even better, like leaving a very clear message on a cheating ex-husband’s car with a dozen well-placed scratches?

Chunlei Guo, a researcher at the University of Rochester hasn’t quite got to the ultimate alchemist’s dream – there is still a while to go before one can change dross into gold. However, what has been achieved is probably the next best thing. Using intense laser light, it is possible to change a metal’s intrinsic property when it comes to colour. So now, you can have black platinum. One can only start to imagine the immense possibilities this will throw up as far as jewellers are concerned.

The great thing is, it works on most metals and you can have any colour. So you can have aluminium which can be changed to look like gleaming gold and titanium, tungsten, silver, gold and platinum can take on any or all of the myriad hues of the rainbow. You can have stark black or you can have a multicoloured fantasy – the only possible limits where colours are concerned will be your imagination. Think of an engagement ring where the metal is a glorious burst of colours while the diamond’s white brilliance shines in the centre. Other jewellery like bracelets or earrings can all be fashioned out of metal to match any dress you might want. Once a design is made, it can be rolled out in different colours so that each one is unique.

How it works is that the laser brings about a change in the metal’s surface and there are microscale and nanoscale structures formed which can reflect any colour or combination of colours that it is fashioned to do. Of course, the strength of the laser is immense – just think of a needlepoint of laser light emitting a burst in a femtosecond (or a really micro-mini second) that the entire electric grid in the US does. Now that’s what is called blasting your way to a colourful future.

The Rolls-Royce has always had its unmistakable mascot riding proudly on the bonnet of every one of its luxury cars. It was designed way back in 1911 and was dubbed the Spirit of Ecstasy and to this day is the hallmark of the best car in the world – the car that everyone dreams about but is only for the lucky few to own. It had this lady in flowing robes fashioned after a Charles Robinson Sykes sculpture and was supposed to stand for the Greek symbol of victory. Well this symbol has just gone diamond. The New York International Auto Show this year has unveiled a Rolls-Royce with a diamond studded Flying Lady mascot.

The designer is a New York based jeweller, Jean Kemanjian and he did it for a luxury car dealer in Manhattan – Manhattan Motorcars. Fashioned out of platinum and encrusted with diamonds in a pavé setting, this 4” by 2” 150 carat diamond mascot costs an incredible $200,000. Not counting the design fee of course! It is made up entirely of white diamonds with yellow ones for the wings and is totally done by hand. The whole surface is covered with diamonds that sparkle and gleam through every curve and fold of the famous mascot lady.

Could anything else have suited the Rolls-Royce better? This diamond mascot car is going to be creating waves on the roads. However, the fact that here is something that would scratch, won’t rust, won’t discolour makes it a fitting tribute to this great car. There’s never been a diamond angle to a car before and the fact that the Rolls-Royce was the first to get into that zone is fitting. What else but diamonds for a car that is head and shoulders above the rest? Together, they are a perfect complement for each other.