Jewellery News

They won’t admit to even being friends. And yet, they’ve been caught on camera kissing, frolicking in a hot tub and out shopping together. That’s the latest in the pictures to hit the gossip pages, after the ones where they’ve been seen together in all parts of the world. Is that what ‘not even friends’ do? Maybe it is – it seems to be quite a Hollywood thing these days – first the diamond ring, then the denials, then the fact that it is a diamond engagement ring, then the wedding. The whole process punctuated of course, with many more denials. So one wonders, does No mean Yes in Hollywood? It’s been happening a lot these days – remember Mariah Carey?

We’re talking about the ‘Umbrella’ singer Rihanna and R&B singer Chris Brown and the giant sparkler she has on her wedding finger. And she’s not telling…… Well, they’ve both been seen together and their names have been romantically linked for a number of months, never mind that they’ve always denied being a couple. Well, that huge diamond ring is the centre of a lot of speculation – is it a diamond engagement ring or not? Will they be saying ‘I do’ sometime soon? For all you know, Rihanna might just be following in Mariah Carey’s footsteps and already be married! Now that’s just Hollywood for you!

Tiffany’s is launching a new line of rings called Celebration Rings. These diamond or diamond and sapphire rings are being marketed for all the moments that you want to celebrate in life. So that makes the target audience that much more than just diamond engagement rings. Set in platinum, these sparklers come in a variety of designs and styles to match whatever mood or personality there is.

Diamond rings have mostly been associated with engagements. Now suddenly, there’s a focus on buying someone a diamond ring or even buying yourself one just to celebrate. The best part is, it can be any occasion that means a lot to you. The fact that the diamonds are set in platinum helps because the colour of this metal goes with almost anything.

It’s been a century of quality jewellery at Tiffany’s and right now, these rings have been launched in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It’s the kind of line where anyone wanting a ring can just walk in and find what he or she was looking for. It’s a line that says very clearly that you need to celebrate life’s little moments as well as the big ones. Once you get it, it will always remind you of the occasion. Diamonds and celebration go well together.

Could any girl ask for more? The door opens to her boyfriend’s apartment, there’s a trail of Hershey’s Kisses – a note asking her to follow the trail which leads to candles left burning on the floor– romantically arranged to form the words Marry Me. Would any girl have said No to a diamond engagement ring after that? Well Haley DeProspero didn’t.

Jonathan Horton was in between two of the biggest events of his life – the US Gymnast championships and the trials for the US Olympic gymnast team. Haley is a gymnast too and though they were serious about each other and the relationship, and had thought about engagement rings, the Olympics coming up and Haley’s med school entrance exams looked like an engagement was very far on the horizon. However Horton had other plans. He planned every little thing down to the last detail, even taking Haley to look at rings and then acting so nonchalant, she never suspected what he was up to. Till she went over to his place and he had this romantic proposal all laid out.

Haley’s diamond engagement ring has one diamond in the centre with a few small diamonds embedded in the band. Those inlaid diamonds were his idea. What a proposal – some gymnastics, that! One hopes that he gets lucky with the Olympic rings too!

That’s the weight of one of two large diamonds that were mined in a trial mining operation in South Africa at the Savanna diamond mine. The other diamond was 23 carats. Not bad at all for Bonaparte Diamond Mines in a trial processing of a sample of 16,000 tons. Especially when the diamonds are being valued at £155,000 and £140,000! So now, the company has pushed to ensure that 100% of rights to the assets in the Savanna mines are theirs.

In fact, all told, the number of diamonds recovered was 202 and that adds up to 241 carats. This has been the trigger to get the diamond mine going and it should be getting into full production this year. What has further excited the Bonaparte Diamond Mines is not just the number of diamonds that this mine could produce – it is the fact that the soil being what it is there, there could be the possibility of getting many more high quality, high value diamonds. There will always be a demand for larger stones and this would make it economically viable for the company to steam ahead with the Savanna project.

The question about this large diamond find still remains – when that 31 carat diamond has been cut and polished, whose hand will it adorn? Will it be a celebrity or someone wealthy? We’ll just have to keep guessing!

John and Jennifer. Or Jennifer and John. Either way, it has a great ring to it. And sources say that he will probably be singing, ‘She wears my ring’ sometime soon. Will it be an autumn engagement? That’s what everyone would love to know.

John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston have been together since April and it looks like the couple is very serious about each other. Grammy award winning John Mayer is probably one of the hottest singer-songwriters in the music world today and Jennifer Aniston, of ‘Friends’ fame is one of the most well known faces in Hollywood. They’ve been inseparable these past few months and what’s more important, both look so happy being together.

John wants her to join him as he goes on his world tour and it looks like he’ll be there by her side in September when Management, her new movie is released. Come August 31 and the paparazzi are going to have a field day if Jennifer is going to be present at John’s final show at West Palm Beach, Florida. Everyone but everyone wants to know if she’s going to be wearing that engagement ring on her finger. He’s 30 and she’s going to be 40 early next year – so if sources are to be believed, it looks like there’s going to be a wedding before her fortieth birthday. Way to go, J & J!

The diamond trade in the United Arab Emirates has crossed the £5 billion mark, with incredible growth last year. This phenomenal growth is also seen in China where record sales have pushed diamond sales over the £13 billion mark. Little wonder that both the countries have got together to organise a Diamond and Jewellery Summit in Dubai. This will be held at the Palm Jumeirah Atlantis Hotel on the 8th and 9th of November this year.

The summit is expected to build closer ties and better trade between these two diamond-guzzling countries. The seeds were sown when the ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum visited China and this was followed by a couple of strategic agreements being signed by both governments for increased co-operation when it came to diamond jewellery trade. Considering that these growing economies look poised to becomes the diamond hubs over the course of the next few years, it was only natural that a summit like this has been planned. It would be an ideal platform for future trade opportunities and a closer working together to boost diamond sales.

Dubai is also strategically placed as a gateway to other economies that are booming like Russia and India and certain other countries in the Far East where diamonds have suddenly started getting more and more popular with consumers. With a lot more money to spend and their eyes going diamond-wards, little wonder that diamonds are enjoying a flourishing trade in this region. What’s more, with Western customs permeating the fabric of these societies, the diamond engagement ring has also been accepted as de rigeur by many young couples.

The announcement was made a few days ago on the 28th of July. De Beers has opened its Forevermark grading labs in Belgium, Antwerp and in the UK in Maidenhead. These are going to be centres of excellence as far as diamonds go. Though this will function as a separate entity, it is very much a part of the De Beers group and will no doubt benefit from all that diamond experience that the group has enjoyed for so many years. What does it take to be a Forevermark diamond? The diamonds have to be 0.18 carats at the very least, they have to be J colour, have a cut that has been rated as ‘good’ and have S12 clarity. The diamonds are then graded in these labs, after which they have a unique identification number as well as a Forevermark icon that are inscribed in them.

What does this grading mean for retailers as well as consumers? For retailers, it will mean that now they have a very precise report about the four Cs of the diamond, besides its being certified by such a reputable grading lab. For consumers, it just gets rid of the worry and the stress of wondering if their diamond is all it’s said to be or not. With a Forevermark inscription and a report, they can go ahead and buy that diamond engagement ring without being concerned about the genuineness of the diamond. What’s more, the company’s web site at forevermark.com/diamantaires means that you can track a diamond right through the whole grading and inscribing process.

What are these grading labs like? The labs use the very latest when it comes to technology and the highest standards are maintained in quality and integrity. A diamond has to be of the highest quality standards before it can pass through those doors. All the more reason to insist on that mark of quality if you are out shopping for a diamond ring!

That’s how many carats that Canada’s Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories mined during the second quarter of 2008. The exact figure reads 2,522,000 carats of diamonds. Well, that seems an awful lot of carats and yet, at the same time last year, that is, the second quarter of 2007, the diamonds mined from these mines were a lot more. This year’s figures stand at 23% lower than the figure at the same time last year, but the total estimated production for the year stands at around 10.5 million carats. That’s a lot of dazzle to be sure!

Right now, it is open pit mining at Diavik but the move towards underground mining is moving at a frenzied pace. The first of the underground mining operations is scheduled to begin next year and in four years, all of the open pit mining operations will hopefully be replaced by underground mining. A huge project is also on to recover small diamonds for which there is a huge international demand. The first of these diamonds should roll out next year.

40% of the Diavik diamond mine is owned by the Harry Winston Diamond Corporation. This company is a specialist in diamond trade and from its Diavik share, it supplies rough diamonds to the international diamond market.

So many carats. So many diamonds. So many diamond engagement rings. Think of all the happy couples that those carats are going to!

It’s a possibility and a very distinct possibility at that. German scientists working on this at the University of Ulm were surprised to find that their experiments seemed to point in this direction. When natural diamonds were treated with hydrogen, there were crystalline water layers that were formed on their surfaces. Diamonds are carbon that have been crystallised and these layers could have technically, all those millions or billions of years ago, been a platform which gave rise to life forms on the earth.

According to these scientists, diamonds when hydrogenated were the best possible jumpstart for organic molecules that were more complex that could eventually lead to life on earth. Add the hydrogen process to the electrical conductivity that diamonds possess and it would seem that here are the ingredients needed for the recipe to produce life forms. Almost like: Take one diamond, treat with hydrogen, activate the electrical energy in it, then watch the chemical reactions being set into motion to produce Life.

There have been many scientists who have felt for a long time that life began with simple amino acids getting together to form more complex polymers which are essential to life. Since hydrogenated carbon is the best starting point, this theory of diamonds being the precursors to life could well be true. After all, diamonds go back way before life forms existed on earth. So couldn’t they have been the trigger that set the wheels of life rolling?

The research is not by any stretch of imagination conclusive but it definitely bears thinking about. There are a lot of arguments that could be for this theory. So the next time you look at a diamond engagement ring, it’s a thought worth pursuing. Could it have been the contributing force to life on earth?