Alrosa Rough and Polished Auction

Alrosa will hold a tender of polished and rough diamonds during Israel’s sixth International Diamond Week. The auction will offer 108 boxes of rough diamonds of 11 to 199 carats, and several white and fancy color polished diamonds, weighing from 10 to 80 carats, including five that were cut from one large rough stone. The centerpiece of the Alrosa auction is the 80.59-carat round Star of Viluysk

Chrysoberyl - Alexandrite

Chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium with the formula BeAl2O4. Despite the similarity of their names, chrysoberyl and beryl are two completely different gemstones. Chrysoberyl is the third-hardest frequently encountered natural gemstone. The three main varieties are ordinary yellow-to-green chrysoberyl, cymophane (cat's eye), and alexandrite.

Cymophane exhibits chatoyancy or opalescence that appears very much like an eye of a cat. When cut to cabochon, the mineral forms a silky band of light extending across the surface of the stone. Microscopic tubelike cavities or needlelike inclusions of rutile are orientated parallel to the c-axis producing the chatoyant effect.

Alexandrite undergoes dramatic shifts in color depending on what kind of light it's in. A variety of Chrysoberyl, alexandrite's color-changing properties is due to an exceedingly rare combination of minerals that includes titanium, iron and chromium. Originally discovered in Russia’s Ural Mountains in the 1830s, it’s now found in Sri Lanka, East Africa, and Brazil.

Fine, gem quality material is exceptionally rare and valuable. Alexandrite's mohs hardness is about 8.5.

Spectacular Jewels

Van Cleef & Arpels “Lady Jour des Fleurs” Poetic Complication timepiece. The watch is crafted in 18-karat gold and set with an array of diamonds and gemstones. The watch is set with a total of 1,410 round diamonds weighing 15.40 carats. Additional gemstones include 173 yellow and pink sapphires weighing 2 carats, 161 tsavorite garnet weighting 2.50 carats, 106 Spessartite garnets weighing 1.60 carats and 54 Spinels at 0.4 carats for a grand total of more than 21 carats of stones. Datura necklace, from Cartier’s Magicien Collection. Rubellite cabochon detachable drop with clusters of rubellite beads set among white and orange diamonds. HK$7.35 million

Cartier Magicien High Jewelry Panthère Asymétrique. The case and bracelet is set with 64 baguette-cut diamonds totaling 8.10 carats, 397 brilliant-cut yellow diamonds totaling 3.22 carats, 186 brilliant-cut orange diamonds totaling 0.83 carats, 315 brilliant-cut diamonds totaling 1.78 carats. In all nearly 1,000 diamonds and 14 carats. Green tsavorites sparkle in a rose bracelet of Tiffany. Yellow Diamonds, white diamonds and spessartites.

Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels - New York

Sotheby’s sold $29.7 million worth of jewelry at two auctions in New York. A diamond ring from the collection of philanthropist Marjorie Fisher turned out to be the most expensive item. The marquise-shaped, 18.04-carat, D-color, VVS1-clarity diamond fetched $1.8 million, or $102,134 per carat This price surpassed a pre-sale estimate of $1.25 million to $1.75 million. A 18.10-carat, D-color, VS1-clarity diamond ring found a buyer for $1.5 million, or $80,249 per carat. Separately, a cushion-cut, 10.19-carat, D-color, internally flawless diamond went for $1.3 million, or $130,765 per carat.

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The Magnificent Jewels sale that took place on Dec. 9 at Sotheby’s New York marks the last jewelry auction of 2015. The auction brought in $52.2 million. The top lot was a 25.87 ct. sugarloaf cabochon Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring that sold for $5.1m, exceeding its high estimate of $4.5 million. A diamond necklace created by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1939 for Queen Nazli of Egypt made $4.3 million.

Pair of white gold, chalcedony, sapphire, and diamond cuff bracelets by Suzanne Belperron sold for $526,000

A platinum and diamond brooch by Bvlgari sold for $1.75 million, far exceeding its high estimate of $700,000.

A 38.27 ct. emerald-cut diamond ring sold for $4m

The Harrods Diamond

The Harrods Diamond is a 228.31 carat pear-shape stone graded G colour with VS1 clarity - a rare specimen and one of the largest diamonds of our times. A quality diamond of over 100 carats is impressive; over 200 carats puts the stone into another league. It appears that the stone has been cut recently, suggesting that the diamond that emerged from Harrods was a rough. The size of the rough and its provenance is anyone’s guess. The largest white to recently come to auction is an 118 carat D colour Flawless diamond that broke records in Hong Kong in 2013 when it sold for $30.6 million.

Los Angeles County Natural History Museum - “Diamonds: Rare Brilliance”

The 30.03-carat Juliet Pink Diamond is a Fancy Intense Pink oval diamond, with a VVS2 clarity grading. It was cut from a 90-carat rough from South Africa.

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is bringing together rare colored gems never before seen in the United States in an exhibition called 'Diamonds: Rare Brilliance' Featured is the “Juliet Pink Diamond”, and the “Argyle Violet Diamond.”

The Rainbow Necklace – A jewel made of 88 rare natural colored diamonds. It features radiant-cut shape multi-color diamonds at 35.93-carat tw. It took more than five years to source and assemble. 'Diamonds: Rare Brilliance' exhibition will run through March 19, 2017. The colored gems and jewels in the exhibition are owned by L.J. West Diamonds, which specializes in the sourcing, manufacturing and distribution of colored diamonds.

The 1.64-carat Victorian Orchid Vivid Purple Diamond is one of the rarest stones in the world due to it's color. It has an SI2 clarity grade and is fashioned in a cushion-cut.

Yowah Opal - Belemnite pipe

Yowah is a small town in outback western Queensland, Australia. Yowah is located 938 kilometres west of Brisbane and 132 kilometres west of Cunnamulla. The 2006 census revealed a population of 142. The town is famous for its opal mining and numerous opal fields that lie around the town as well as the "Yowah Nut" a local type of opal distinctive to the region.

The area was first leased in 1883 to perspective settlers and opal mining has been the main activity ever since.

The Yowah field is an occurrence of opal in siliceous ironstone nodules generally referred to as Yowah Nuts. These nuts have a spherical or ellipsoidal shape, and show alternate bands of light- and dark-brown siliceous ironstone. There is sometimes a kernel of precious opal, which is the main source of the gem. The nuts are found in layers (150–600mm in thickness) at depths up to 20m in a ferruginous sandstone, and are commonly associated with mudstone fragments or clay pellets.

Billed as the “finest opal ever,” the 'Virgin Rainbow' made its world debut at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide in September 2015. It is the centerpiece of a larger exhibition to commemorate the centenary of opal mining in Australia.

Veteran miner John Dunstan is credited with discovering the Virgin Rainbow in the desert soil of Coober Pedy in South Australia in 2003. Dustan has mined opals for 50 years, but the internal fire of the Virgin Rainbow is unlike anything he’s ever seen.

Gibber plain near Coober Pedy

Dustan explained that the Virgin Rainbow is a Belemnite pipe, which is essentially an opal that formed in the skeleton of an extinct ancestor of the common cuttlefish. As Dustan cleaned it off, he realized he made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery. “I knew it was one of the best ever,” he said. “You’ll never see another piece like that one, it’s so special.

“Graff Vendôme” - 105 carat D Flawless Diamond

Graff Diamonds unveiled its latest statement gem, the “Graff Vendôme,” a 105.07-carat D flawless pear shaped diamond. The diamond is the largest cut and polished diamond of its kind in Graff’s history. The diamond was created from a 314-carat rough unearthed in Lesotho, named 'The Letseng Destiny'

Only five, 100 carat plus flawless diamonds have been sold at auction. The 101.84 carat Mouawad Splendour is a modified pear-shaped diamond. It sold at Sotheby’s in Geneva in 1990 for $12.7m. The internally flawless diamond gem is unusual because it has an 11-sided girdle. The Star of the Season - $16.4m. The pear-shaped stone is 100.10-carats, D-color, internally flawless. It sold at Sotheby`s in Geneva in 1995.

The Ultimate Cut - $22.1m. The only classic emerald-cut white 100+ carat diamond of the highest color and clarity ever sold at auction. The rough stone weighed over 200 carats and was mined by De Beers in southern Africa.

On 15 May 2013 Christie’s auctioned the "Winston Legacy" in Geneva for $ 26.7m. A pear-shaped perfect diamond weighing 101.73 carats, a D colour, Type IIA Flawless gem. The rough stone weighed 236 carats when it was extracted from the Jwaneng mine (DeBeers) in Botswana. It required 21 months to polish.

The Magnificent Oval Diamond - $30.8m. The 118.28-carat, D-colour, flawless, type IIa oval diamond was sold in 2013.