Queen Victoria's Coronet

Official portrait of the young Queen Victoria, in 1842, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, left

The Victoria and Albert Museum has acquired one of Queen Victoria’s most important jewels. The sapphire and diamond coronet designed by Prince Albert in 1840, the royal couple’s wedding year.

The day before their wedding on Feb. 10, 1840, Albert gifted Victoria a sapphire brooch. The couple then arranged Victoria’s collection of sapphires into a suite of jewels, of which the coronet became the centerpiece.

The coronet was inherited by King Edward VII and then by King George V and Queen Mary, who gifted it to their daughter, Princess Mary, on her marriage to Viscount Lascelles in 1922. It was then sold into private hands.

Taboo-busting jewellery exhibition at Paris' Museum of Modern Art

Reproduction of Salvador Dalí's Ruby Lips brooch

The worlds of jewellery and art are even more intertwined than those of art and fashion. From jewellers taking inspiration from artists to artists themselves turning their hands to goldsmithing, the two fields have a symbiotic relationship. Until now, no modern art museum has ever staged a significant jewellery exhibition. 'Medusa: Jewellery and Taboos' is featured at Paris’s Museum of Modern art.

Mayweather and McGregor to fight for 'Money Belt' - encrusted with 3,360 diamonds

The WBC has created a special 'Money' belt ahead of Floyd Mayweather and Conor Mcgregor's 'fight of the century' in Las Vegas. The belt, which will be claimed by the winner of Saturday's fight, contains 3,360 diamonds, 600 sapphires, 160 emeralds and approximately 3.3 pounds of 24-karat gold.

Diaspore a part of the National Gem Collection

In 2014 two large, rare color-changing diaspore gemstones were donated to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Gem Collection, thanks to Milenyum Mining Ltd. The Dubai-based miner donated the stones, a 44.48-carat faceted oval-shaped diaspore and a 159.33-carat cat’s eye cabochon diaspore, at the American Gem Trade Association’s GemFair.

Diaspore is a naturally color-changing gem, and is mined at only one source, the Anatolia Mountains of Turkey. Milenyum is the only company that mines the gemstone. Zultanite and Csarite are trade names.

Diaspore is a durable gemstone with a hardness of 6.5 – 7 on the MOHS scale. Since Diaspore has perfect cleavage in one direction it can be difficult to cut because parts of the stone will cleave off. Typical loss cutting rough diaspore is 98 percent. This makes large gemstones extremely rare and valuable.

“To our knowledge, currently there are fewer than 20 faceted csarite gemstones in the world that have a weight of 40 carats and above. Given the rarity of this unusual gem, we feel the Smithsonian’s National Gem Collection is a fitting home for two of the few examples available in this size and quality,” said Milenyum Mining President Murat Akgun.

The National Gem Collection is housed at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington.

Diamond Necklace with a beating heart

New York-based Paul Forrest Co. is bringing jewellery to life with a diamond-encrusted necklace that’s built with its very own beating heart. The action of the beating heart is controlled by a mechanical movement similar to that found in a watch. The mainspring, which is wound by a tiny key, powers a chain of trains, levers and wheels that drive the beating halves in the pendant, slowly moving back and forth to create the illusion of a beating heart.

The movements are all made in Switzerland, with price points ranging from $19,000 to $45,000. Customers can personalize their pendants with a selection of diamonds or gemstones.

One 'Carrot' Diamond found after 13 years

An 84-year-old lost her diamond engagement ring in September 2004 while gardening. Despite searching the farm thoroughly, Mary Grams couldn’t find the ring, given to her in 1951. “I cried for I don’t know how many days,” she said. Grams eventually settled for a replacement ring -- a cheaper alternative -- and told no one but her son. She said her late husband never noticed the difference. The band was eventually found by Mary's daughter-in-law, who now lives on the farm with her husband. She was pulling carrots when she saw one was encircled with the engagement ring.

Newly Discovered Gemstones generate millions for Ethiopia

Newly discovered sapphire and emerald gemstones from Ethiopia generated over $7.8m, reports Addis Fortune. The two gemstones were discovered in Tigray and Oromia regional states respectively. The exported sapphire is blue, and it was extracted from Tigray Regional State in two Weredas amounting to 31kg. Emerald was discovered in Guji Zone, Oromia Regional State. 2,000kg of the precious mineral was sold. The gemstones were mainly exported to Switzerland, Australia and the US. They are currently extracted by artisanal miners who are organised in unions and cooperatives. Sapphire was discovered in November 2016, emerald at the beginning of 2017.

See ----->http://highlifelivingluxury.blogspot.ca/2017/04/sapphire-found-in-tigrai-state-northern.html

2017 American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) Spectrum Awards

Mikola Kukharuk of Nomad’s with a pair of neon blue tourmalines (53.56 ctw.)

The AGTA Spectrum Awards is for jewelry designers and artists who create jewelry with colored gems. The AGTA Cutting Edge Awards is for skilled lapidary artists and technicians to show their skill at cutting, polishing and sculpting colored gems. Both competitions are sponsored by the American Gem Trade Association.

Allen Kleiman, platinum and 18k pink gold earrings with unheated pink sapphire

The AGTA Spectrum and Cutting Edge Awards is the most prestigious colored gemstone competition in the world.

Brett Kosnar, - 24.26 ct. round, Portuguese-cut rhodochrosite.

Ardeshir Dabestani, necklace featuring a 436-carat citrine accented with aquamarines (44.50 ctw), yellow beryls (87.30 ctw) and diamonds (23.54ctw)

Christopher Wolfsbergwith a 32.75-carat specialty-cut quartz with chrysoprase and opal.

Joel Price with a 100.66-carat harlequin pattern black opal

Gold and Jewels of Elvis Presley

Seven jewels and two watches were placed on auction on January 7 along with 120 other items. In terms of material they were unremarkable, low-karat gold set with diamonds and gems with seemingly little significance. The designs were unconventional. Yet they commanded significant sums. That’s because the jewels were either owned or gifted by Elvis Presley. Presley, who died in 1977, is regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century.

The necklace was gifted by Presley to his bodyguard. TCB, an acronym for “Taking Care of Business,” with the lightning bolt was designed by Presley and his wife Priscilla and became the logo for the Presley operation. The necklaces were given by Elvis to his employees and personal friends. $9500

A ruby, sapphire and diamond American flag pin that Presley wore to the White House to meet President Richard Nixon in 1970.

Yellow Diamonds Losing Shine

Analysis of pricing data by the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF) for the second quarter of 2017 indicates overall pricing stability. A closer look at the numbers reveals that blue fancy color diamond prices continued to appreciate, climbing 5.5 percent over last year, while yellow fancy color diamond prices declined by 2.5 percent for the year.

'The Golden Empress' by Graff Diamonds featuring a 132.55 carat cushion-cut Fancy Intense yellow diamond

The strongest performing categories were 1 carat fancy vivid blues, 8 carat fancy intense blues and 1 carat fancy intense blues, appreciating by 13.1 percent, 11.5 percent and 11.4 percent respectively. The weakest categories were large yellow fancy color diamonds. As in recent periods, across all color segments, fancy intense and fancy vivid broadly demonstrated price increases, whereas color diamonds in the “Fancy” were softer.