Drop Dead Gorgeous® from Erica Courtney

Erica Courtney, Inc is a fashion-based luxury jewelry brand consisting of iconic collections of chic statement pieces. She is the queen of colored gemstones.

Easter Egg ring in 18k yellow gold with 14.64 ct. topaz, 8.66 cts. t.w. peach topaz, 0.1 ct. t.w. pink sapphire, and 1.61 cts. t.w. diamonds

Royal ring in black jade with mahengue spinel and tsavorite garnet

For three decades, Erica Courtney has defined style and luxury with an iconic collection of pieces that pushes the boundaries of artisan jewelry. The company's showroom is located at 6380 Wilshire Blvd. Penthouse Suite #1709 Los Angeles, CA 90048

Purple Garnet

Pink Spinel

Pink Tourmaline

Paraiba Tourmaline

Zultanite

Rubelite Empress Ring Tourmaline

Lavender Spinel

Pink Spinel

Raptors' NBA championship ring

The ring is 14 carats of diamonds and more than 650 diamonds in all, topped by a 1.25-carat diamond on top of the Larry O’Brien Trophy. 16 rubies represent the 16 playoff victories to win it all.

Bottle of whiskey sold for $1.9m

A bottle of whiskey sold for $1.9m on Thursday, October 24, exploding records -- again. The Macallan Fine and Rare 60-Year-Old 1926 became the most expensive bottle of wine or spirit ever auctioned.

Benitoite

Benitoite is a rare blue barium titanium silicate. It was first described in 1907 and named benitoite for its occurrence near the headwaters of the San Benito River in San Benito County, California. Benitoite occurs in a number of locations, but gemstone quality material has only been found in California. In 1985 benitoite was named as the official state gem of California.

Top quality benitoite can be expensive. Rich blue, clean stones at carat and above sizes often command high prices. Clarity enhances value. Very light and very dark stones reside at the lower end of the value spectrum. At the top are medium-dark stones.

Although Benitoite is a valuable and exquisite gemstone, its hardness is relatively low (6 on the Mohs scale) and it is prone to scratching. Large crystals of Benitoite are exceedingly rare, and they are usually preserved as mineral specimens for collectors. Benitoite gemstones are strongly fluorescent, and give off a bright blue color in shortwave ultraviolet light.

Pink sapphire

The popularity of pink sapphire is likely related to the fascination with pink diamonds. Pink diamonds are one of the rarest and most expensive of all gemstones, unobtainable for most except the extremely wealthy. Pink sapphire is a more affordable alternative, though still rare and hardly inexpensive. Pink sapphire has grown in popularity as an engagement ring.

Sapphire in the lighter colors tends to have more brilliance, luster and fire. Sapphire has positive connotations, such as faithfulness and sincerity. Sapphire also has superior hardness - 9 on the Mohs scale. Blue is the classic sapphire color, but fine quality pink sapphire is actually rarer. Pink sapphire in large sizes is hard to find.

In general, pink sapphire is more valuable than the other colors of fancy sapphire, such as yellow, green and violet. Like ruby, pink sapphire is colored by the trace element chromium. The clearer and more vivid the color, the more valuable the sapphire. Pink sapphire is usually heated to improve its clarity.

Emeralds; Van Cleef & Arpels

Van Cleef & Arpels has always prized emeralds. Van Cleef & Arpels’ high jewelry collection, Émeraude en Majesté, pays tribute to emeralds. Over 1,400 carats of emeralds, originating from Colombia, Zambia or antique jewels and usually already faceted, were selected by expert gemologists. Twist Émeraude bracelet set with round diamonds, round mauve sapphires and cabochon-cut Colombian emeralds of 19.80 and 21.48 carats.

Bouquet d’Émeraudes clip set with round diamonds, cabochon-cut chrysoprases and 11 Zambian carved emeralds for a total of 32.53 carats.

Drapé Majestueux necklace in white gold set with round, square-cut, asscher-cut, baguette-cut and obus-cut diamonds, and 150 Zambian emerald beads for a total of 244.24 carats.

The 'Twilight' Nugget: 7.8 kilos

Bonhams offered The 'Twilight' Nugget: 'A Large and Important Natural Gold Specimen, among the largest known nuggets existing in the world today. It made $535k against an estimate of $400-600k. It was discovered circa 1990 in Dunolly, Central Victoria Goldfields, Australia and weighs 20.83 Troy Pounds (approximately 7.8 kilos, 250.77 ozt or 7779.81 grams). The "Twilight" Nugget was sold at Bonhams Los Angeles sale in 2018.

Titanium in high jewellery

Wallace Chan

The use of metals beyond gold and platinum is changing the notion of what constitutes high jewellery. Alloys such as titanium and oxidized silver are being used to create precious wearable art. Although titanium is a chemical element, the metal form used for jewels is an alloy of aluminium and vanadium. Titanium is 4.5 times lighter than gold and is readily coloured.

Titanium dominates Chopard’s latest Red Carpet Collection.

Fashion forward contemporary designers like Anna Hu, Cindy Chao, Edmond Chin and Wallace Chan have all turned their attention to the metal. Anodized titanium can match the colours of many gemstones. Chopard

Anna Hu Myth of Orchid