Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Rare Blue Beauty Found In South Africa

I cannot wait to see where this beauty ends up! This is the blue I have adored my whole life. Not too deep, not too light. This color is just right. Another for  Sir Laurence Graff, maybe?


Rare Blue Diamond found in South Africa's Cullinan mine

The exceptional 29.6 carat blue diamond recovered earlier this month is seen in this undated photograph received via Petra Diamonds in London January 21, 2014.The "exceptional" 29.6 carat blue diamond is the latest rare stone to be found in the Cullinan mine

A rare blue diamond has been discovered in a mine in South Africa.
The 29.6-carat stone was recovered by Petra Diamonds at its Cullinan mine, about 40km (25 miles) north-east of Pretoria.
"This stone is one of the most exceptional stones recovered at Cullinan during Petra's operation of the mine," the company said.
Petra unearthed a 25.5 carat blue diamond which sold for $16.9m (£10.3m) in 2013.
'Class of its own'
The latest discovery is also expected to sell for a high price.

Cullinan mine has produced hundreds of large stones and is famed for its production of blue diamonds - among the rarest and most highly coveted of all diamonds."The stone is an outstanding vivid blue with extraordinary saturation, tone and clarity, and has the potential to yield a polished stone of great value and importance," Petra said ina statement on Tuesday.
Cullinan mine in South Africa
The mine was acquired in 2008 by Petra Diamonds, which also operates in Botswana and Tanzania.
A similar 26.6-carat blue rough diamond discovered by the company in May 2009 was cut into a near perfect stone and fetched just under $10m at a Sotheby's auction.
Another deep-blue diamond from Cullinan was auctioned for $10.8m in 2012 and set a world record for the value per carat.
In 1905, the renowned Star of Africa blue diamond - the world's second largest cut diamond - was discovered at the Cullinan mine.
The pear-shaped 530-carat stone was presented to King Edward VII and became part of the British crown jewels.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Cartier Peacock Brooch- JCK Re-Post

Proud 1920s Cartier Peacock Brooch Fetches $870,000

Brilliant
By Emili Vesilind, Senior Editor
This story appears in the December 2013 issue of JCK magazine
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Proud 1920s Cartier Peacock Brooch Fetches $870,000
Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Peacock brooch in platinum with 48.57 ct. cushion-cut ruby and 28 cts. t.w. marquise-cut and pear-cut rubies and diamonds
Has there ever been a prouder peacock? Commissioned from Cartier by an unnamed royal in 1924, this pin was the piece du jour at the Sotheby’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels & Jadeite sale Oct. 7. The bejeweled bird would seem to fit right in with Cartier’s iconic animal oeuvre, but in the ’20s, the house was steeped in Art Deco. “Around the 1950s, designs shifted away from the geometric Art Deco style to the imaginary world of naturalism,” says Flora Wong, deputy director and senior specialist of jewelry at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, citing the “harmonious proportions” of the peacock plumage, plus the 48 ct. ruby, as the brooch’s most covetable elements: “Its rarity, royal provenance, and design are all highly valued.”
“The brooch is a whimsical, creative—yet elegant—part of Cartier’s legacy.”
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