Jewellery News

The jewellery auction in Dubai was a huge success for the auction house Christie’s and it fetched over 5.6 million pounds. There were a number of items that were up for bidding and bidders came in from thirteen countries to try and get the best piece at the best possible price.There were some exceptional pieces and as the auction house is discovering, the Gulf region is turning out to be a golden goose as far as sales go. The director of Christie’s in Dubai described the city as a vibrant and energetic new centre in the auction house’s map.

Among the items were two diamond rings that led the auction. The first was a diamond ring with a rectangular diamond weighing 17 carats and the other was a diamond ring with a yellow diamond weighing 26 carats. There were also watches that were sold, among them a Patek Philippe one which sold for a good price.

When the couple got married ten years ago, he gave her a matching diamond engagement ring cum wedding ring. Then, four years ago, the diamond wedding ring somehow got detached from the engagement ring and got lost. The Lewises searched high and low but there was no sign of it. They were unique rings and the wife Deneen couldn’t get over the fact that it seemed to have gone forever.

Then, they moved out of their house and the new owner was remodelling it when he saw the ring lying there, just in front of him. He knew about the lost ring so instead of calling them up, he went to where she worked to hand it over – and to personally watch the happiness on her face. As for Deneen, all she can think of is the fact that she’s so happy and that her prayers have been answered.

The world’s largest cutting and processing centre when it comes to diamonds is in Surat, India. It looks like in roughly 15 years, there’s going to be a drastic drop in the number of diamonds that they will be getting to cut and polish. This observation was made by none other that the managing director of De Beers, the last word in diamonds.

Why does he think this is going to happen? This could be because of the phenomenal rise in diamond sales both in China and India. In lands where a diamond engagement ring was unheard of, today, more and more girls getting engaged are expecting and getting a diamond ring for the engagement. With a trend like this, there’s not going to be too many diamonds going around soon.

The April 10 Bromberg’s Diamond Dash saw a Birmingham couple winning the grand prize which was a diamond ring. The event was a treasure hunt and the couple was on a bicycle which broke down during the hunt but they made it. All the clues came to the participants through text messages. The prizes were a diamond ring, a pearl necklace and a gift certificate.

The diamond ring is a Ritani ring and the diamond weights 1.9 carats. While the lady put the diamond ring on, the man was going to ask her father for her hand in marriage in the traditional way before she would wear it as an engagement ring.

The country is all set to host the huge jewellery exhibition in Basel, considered to possibly be the largest show in the world. However, human rights activists are asking the country to ban diamonds from Zimbabwe saying that many of them are blood diamonds. As Switzerland is part of the Kimberly Process, the activists feel it is honour-bound to speak out against the atrocities that go on in this part of the world and show that they are serious in cleaning up the diamond business.

What human rights campaigners feel is that though many of these countries are a part of the Kimberly Process, they do not always stand up even though they might suspect that the diamonds coming through could be conflict diamonds. It has still not banned Zimbabwe in spite of the fact that there have been instances to prove that conflict diamonds were making their way into the regular trade.

There might have been a recession last year but you wouldn’t think it with the kind of fine jewellery Bonham’s sold at its sale last year. This year will begin with the sale of a 14.6 carat diamond pendant costing £300,000 – at least that’s what they hope it will fetch at their sale at the end of April.

The diamonds on sale this year are exceptional. Among them are four E colour solitaire diamond rings which are absolutely flawless. There is also a gem set collar, a diamond bracelet and a bracelet with emeralds and onyx.

The Dubai sale that is coming up next month is going to be one of a kind for Christie’s. It is going to feature a range of jewellery with unique gemstones and designs from some of the leading international jewellery houses. One of the pieces is an over 26 carat rectangular yellow diamond while another is an over 17 carat rectangular D colour diamond in a ring. It will also include, for the first time, five jewellers from the Middle East who will be showcasing their designs with these other pieces of jewellery.

The five jewellers are André Marchais, Selim Mouzannar, Sevan Bicakci, Noor Fares and Nadine Kanso. Most of the designs that will be on show from them will be modern and contemporary. The designers come from all over the region – from Beirut, Turkey, Lebanon, etc. Some of them belong to traditional jeweller families.

The Jagersfontein mines owned by the diamond giant DeBeers has been put up for sale and it looks like this property in South Africa will pass into the hands of investors who have black empowerment. This mine was operational from way back in 1870 right up to 1971 and from this mine, there have been many diamonds of repute that have been discovered at the end of the nineteenth century, like the Excelsior Diamond, nearly 1000 carats which was cut into 11 diamonds and the Jubilee, around 650 carats. In the sixties, the Earth Star was discovered, weighing nearly 250 carats but it was cut down to a pear-shaped dazzling diamond of a little over 111 carats.

The proposed sale of this mine is in line with the company’s policy to sell off anything that is not consistent with its commercial policy and also to hand over economic power in this area to more black people from the country. The diamond production from this mine might have dropped compared to earlier times but it is still a prestigious mine.

If a diamond is almost perfect, then it will probably be snapped up to be used in the production of lasers rather than find its way to be made into a diamond ring. While diamonds are highly in demand for engagement rings, they are also used like mirrors in laser technology. While very high quality mirrors used to be what the scientists relied on, they have since discovered that flawless diamonds could do the job as well, if not better – so we should be prepared to see some of the best diamonds heading laser-wards.

The first diamond laser has been built by the physics team of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. According to them, diamonds have the potential to be very powerful lasers because of their ability to transmit heat and light effectively. This breakthrough seems to have opened the door to a new era in laser technology.

The Russian diamond producer, Alrosa has just signed a deal with diamond cutters in India for a three year contract valued at over £320 million. Alrosa is one of the largest raw diamonds suppliers and they account for a quarter of the world’s supply of diamonds today. They sold a little more than that last year to diamond cutting companies in India.

The two major diamond companies with whom they have signed the deal are Ratilal Becharlal & Sons and Rosy Blue Diamond. Depending on the situation changing globally, there has been provision made in the agreement to adjust the range of diamonds supplied as well as the price. It also includes provision for an increase in the supply.

It is probably the diamond that has got the highest price and there are those who feel it was sold at a bargain. The diamond was sold in the UK on Friday and Petra CEO says that it is an ‘incredible rarity’. Mined in the famous Cullinan mines in Africa where so many other large diamonds have been found, this one was sold to Chow Tai Food Jewellery Co.

The diamond was mined in September last year but the find was kept under wraps and then it was moved, closely guarded till it was sold. One wonders who will cut the stone and what shape it will be cut in. After all, it is one of the most interesting diamond finds in recent times.