Royal Mint Unveils The Red Dragon of Wales

Dragons are found in legends all over the world, and are associated with strength, wisdom and power.

The Red Dragon of Wales captures the spirit of the Welsh nation. The Red Dragon was an emblem of Owen Tudor, the grandfather of Henry VII. Henry’s troops carried the red dragon standard at the Battle of Bosworth.

The Red Dragon emerged from heroic traditions of King Arthur and his father Uther Pendragon, to become a Royal Beast of the Tudor monarchs. From there it has become the emblem of the modern Welsh nation.

Top Ruby of 2017

Oval ruby weighing 13.26 carats, with two rose-cut diamonds. $10,452,800.

Christie’s sold a 5-carat Burmese ruby in May for nearly $13 million.

An 8.17-carat pigeon’s blood Burmese ruby $5.4m.

Cushion-shaped Burma ruby, 8.27 carats. $5.4m

A 15.01-carat ruby. $3.5m.

Burmese rubies of 4.04 and 4.03 carats. $3.2m.

“The Grand Phoenix” features 24 exceptional pigeon’s blood rubies, each ranging in weight from 1 to 6 carats for a total of 59.83 carats, plus 100.21 carats of D-color flawless and internally flawless diamonds. It’s valued at $35 million.

GIA Coloured Diamond Guide

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Nicholas Varney

Nicholas Varney’s jewels engage. There is no doubt that this designer is passionate about not only the quality of his pieces but also of what they represent.

Top Diamonds of 2017

The 'Pink Star', a 59.60-carat oval mixed-cut fancy vivid pink IF, sold for $71.2m

The 14.54-carat Apollo Blue with the 16-carat Artemis Pink, renamed ‘The Memory of Autumn Leaves’ and ‘The Dream of Autumn Leaves’, sold for $57.4m

The 14.93-carat oval IF “Pink Promise” made $32.16 million or $2.13 million a carat.

A flawless 163-carat diamond sold for $33.5m

$15.1 million, or $2.7 million per carat, on an emerald-cut, 5.69-carat, fancy vivid blue, VVS1

A 92-carat, D, IF heart shaped diamond fetched $15 million

The second largest gem-quality diamond ever found, the 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona fetched nearly US$53 million.

A Graff crossover ring with two fancy vivid blue diamonds. $12.5m.

"Le Grand Mazarin" a 19.07-carat light pink diamond, old mine brilliant-cut type IIa diamond made $14.6 million

Curse of the Delhi Purple Sapphire

A curious young curator at London’s Natural History Museum stumbled upon a type written note stored with a gemstone. The stone itself was not remarkable, it was set in a silver ring and decorated with mysterious signs. Despite its name, the Delhi Purple Sapphire is in fact an amethyst. The story says it was looted from the Temple of Indra during the Indian Mutiny of 1857. The temple was devoted to the Hindu god of war and weather, and it is thought its theft from the idol created the curse.

The stone was brought to England by Colonel W. Ferris, a Bengal Cavalryman. The entire Ferris family was beset by health and financial trouble. The next owner of the gem in 1890, Heron-Allen (who was a close friend of Oscar Wilde), spoke of an immediate series of misfortunes and bad luck, which led him to believe that the amethyst was "trebly accursed". He gifted the stone twice to friends who were interested in it, and in both cases those friends met with bad luck and returned the stone to him. Heron-Allen later bestowed the amethyst to the Natural History Museum, under the condition that the box was not to be opened until at least 3 years after his death. Heron-Allen ended his note with these words, "Whoever shall then open it, shall first read out this warning, and then do as he pleases with the jewel. My advice to him or her is to cast it into the sea".

Does the curse continue? The gemstone has been moved 3 times and each time the person carrying it has met some misfortune.

Brooches at 1stdibs.com

Yellow gold set with pear-shaped rose-cut rock crystal and cabochon emerald lion brooch. David Webb. $45,752.23CAD Art Deco jade, enamel and diamond pin by Cartier. $50,327.45CAD

Carved flower citrine vase brooch in 18kt yellow gold.$32,484.08 CAD Cartier Diamond and Multi-Color Sapphire Brooch $65,360.33CAD

Art Deco ruby, carved ruby double clip. $54,902.67 CAD De Grisogono Pearl, Diamond and Pink Sapphire Brooch $51,634.66CAD

Citrine

Citrine is one of the most popular gemstones available today. It belongs to the very large family of quartz (SiO2) gemstones. It is the yellow to golden-orange variety of gemstone-quality macrocrystalline quartz (silicon dioxide). The name 'citrine' was derived from 'citron', a French word meaning 'lemon'.

Natural citrine is rare and more valuable than most other varieties of quartz. Much of the citrine today is heat-treated to obtain its golden color. Almost all heated citrine will exhibit reddish tints. Citrine is very closely related to violet-purple amethyst, another variety of macrocrystalline quartz. The only difference between citrine and amethyst is the oxidation level of iron ions (Fe3) present in colorless quartz crystal. When quartz is heated, iron impurities are reduced, resulting in less violet-purple color and more golden to orange colors.

Citrine is known to occur with excellent transparency. Eye-clean specimens are quite common leaving no reason to buy citrine stones with inclusions. Citrine has a vitreous luster when cut and polished. Citrine is almost always faceted. Round brilliants and ovals are most common.

Citrine has been marketed with catchy adjectives like “butterscotch” and “whiskey.” At the top end of the scale are saturated yellow, orange, and reddish stones. Those with less intense color fall into lower value ranges, with pale or smoky stones at the bottom. There is no exponential increase in value per carat with increase in size, as larger sizes are readily available. In many specimens, most of the value is due to the artistry of the cutting.