Thursday, 20 February 2014

"Lesotho Pink Storm" diamond on the block

(IDEX Online News) – Fusion/Hennig Tenders will be tendering the 'Lesotho Pink Storm' diamond recently recovered by Storm Mountain Diamonds (Namakwa Group of Mines), at its KAO Mine in Lesotho.

The Type IIa 36.06 carat pink stone will be sold later this month in Antwerp.



http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullNews.asp?id=39019


Wednesday, 12 February 2014

World's most expensive watches

The Swiss-made Chopard Super Ice Cube features 60 carats of diamonds cut into perfect cubes. This luxury watch and bracelet is water resistant to 100 feet. $ 1.1m
Housed in an elaborate 18-karat white gold case, the Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillonit has a solid gold dial coated with blue enamel in champlevé and cloisonné techniques to create artistic functional elements.

Only three to five will be completed per year. Around $1.2 million.
The Tour de I’lle is a complicated wrist watch manufactured by the Swiss manufacturer Vacheron Constantin. It was released in 2005 in a limited edition of 7 pieces to commemorate the manufacturer's 250th anniversary.

This two sided 18 karat gold watch has a blue sapphire non-reflective glass. $1.5m
The Platinum World Time created by Patek Philippe was sold at auction for over $4m in 2002. It is believed that only one was created and, at the time, it was the most expensive wristwatch in the world.
The 18-karat gold pocket watch Super Complication made by Patek Philippe for banker Henry Graves Jr. in 1933 required five years to design and build. It possesses 24 “complications,” or mechanical features beyond basic timekeeping, including a different chronological function for each hour of the day. It was the most complicated watch ever created and the most expensive watch ever sold at auction. $11m.
This Swiss-made Chopard watch features three heart-shaped diamonds of 38 carats, surrounded by white and yellow diamonds weighing 163 carats.

$26m.



Friday, 7 February 2014

Gemstones of Kenya

Kenya is famous for Tsavorite Garnet, and is also home to a host of other gems including amethyst, aquamarine, iolite, ruby and sapphire.

Ruby has been mined in Kenya for many years and a recent discovery near the town of Baringo in the Rift Valley is now providing the region with ruby and pink sapphires.
Tsavorite was first discovered in Kenya by Scottish Gemologist Campbell Bridges in 1970 after he traced his initial find of the gemstone in Tanzania across the border into Kenya’s Tsavor National Park. It was later named Tsavorite by Tiffany’s in honour of the location of its discovery.

Since the 1970s there have been dozens of discoveries of small deposits along a 120 mile long belt, but none have turned into full scale mines.
Most of the Tsavorite mining takes place in south-east Kenya in areas such as the Taita Hills, Voi, Kasigau, Migama and Kuranze. All of these mines are worked by small groups and gangs with nothing more than the most basic hand mining tools.
Towards the end of 2004, Kenya experienced its second amazing find of garnet. This time it was a colour change garnet. It looks a brownish green in daylight and a reddish pink when viewed under artificial light.

In the Taita Hills to the west of the Tsavo National Park, there is currently a flurry of mining activity for tourmaline, with colours ranging from golden yellow through to vivid greens.
Little has been done by the government to regulate the industry. Cartels control the gemstone markets - and their agents buy up the gems and take them to Nairobi, making a huge profit.

Miners are often poorly paid and locals are often cheated of their land and resources. They live hand to mouth and would sell the gemstones just to eat a meal. They sell minerals worth more than $1,000 on the world market for as little as 150 Kenyan shillings ($2) on the black market.




Tuesday, 4 February 2014

Solasfera Diamonds

In 2010 Light Masters Diamond Group developed Solasfera – a diamond cut that is unique in the industry due to the way it captures and reflects light.

In 1919, engineer and diamond cutter Marcel Tolkowsky established the 58-facet diamond design model known as the round brilliant cut. A Solasfera diamond has 91 facets.
The maximum level of brilliance, fire, sparkle and beauty of a natural diamond can be found in a Solasfera cut.




http://www.solasfera.com/