Category: Jewellery

Un-Pinkable: Pink diamond raw carat cost soars

Just when you thought the world of luxury living had few records left to break, with the holders of the Goldest Toilet, Most Jewel-Encrusted Beard Trimmer and Haute Couturest Wellies now all a matter of well-established public record, Harry Winston, the New York-headquartered purveyor of high-spec watches and bespoke jewellery items, came up with a claim to fame that effortlessly fuses the obscure with the opulent – the Highest Amount Ever Paid Per Carat for a Pink Diamond.

pink diamond

The record in question was set when the 86-year-old company made a successful bid of US$50 million for the 18.96-carat Pink Legacy diamond when it came up for auction at Christie’s Geneva. That’s a whopping US$2.6 million per carat fact, fans!

Set to be renamed – somewhat unimaginatively – the “Winston Pink Legacy”, the gem is said to be one of the few (if not the only) 10-carat-plus pink diamonds ever to be uncovered. Making it yet more unique still, it also boasts the very highest grade of colour intensity, making it a one-in-100,000 find even among the already ultra-rare pink diamonds themselves.

Minedfulness: While wondering at the beauty of emeralds, think about their miners

It was still early in October last year when word started to spread around Kagem – the central Zambian mine that is the source of 25% of the world’s emeralds – that something truly sensational had been uncovered. That something truly sensational turned out to be Inkalamu, the giant 5,655-carat ‘Lion Emerald’ that has stunned the haute joaillerie world with its size, its perfectly-balanced golden-green hue and its clarity.

Sadly, save for referencing the blemish-free appearance of the very finest examples, “clarity” is a word seldom associated with emeralds. This is especially true when it comes to their exact provenance or to any detailed description of the conditions that Third-World workers endure in order to aid in their discovery. Indeed, all too often, it transpires that their true origins are every bit as murky and wretched as those of their far-better documented cousins – the Blood Diamonds, precious stones illicitly mined by mistreated miners and covertly used to fund some of the world’s most savage conflicts.

From the off, emeralds have been intertwined with greed. First mined in Egypt from 330BC onwards, the country’s once ample reserves were swiftly exhausted in a bid to keep pace with the ostentatious vanity of Byzantine aristocrats. It’s a pattern that has been repeated many times since, with first Columbia and now Zambia being ruthlessly exploited by many of the less-salubrious representatives of the global gem industry. Now, however, there are at least some reasons to be a little optimistic. Gemfields, the London-based operator of the Kagem facility, for one, has embraced sustainable mining practices in Zambian mines.

Of course, the word ‘sustainable’ has been so oft-repeated in everything – from food to fragrances – that we felt obliged to dig deeper. To be fair, the good folks at Gemfields seem to have done a lot more than just pay lip service to sustainability. From nurturing the local community to preserving the top soil on which the mines are based, at least, the first steps towards sustainable sourcing have been taken. But will it be too little, too late? With emerald resources sadly but surely depleting and affordable cosmetic stones eclipsing the markets, maybe it’s only a matter of time before the existing emerald jewellery evoke emotions far deeper than green-eyed envy.

Text: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay

Luxury choice: Our top ten Christmas gift ideas for women

One would think buying a gift for a lady would be easier than for a gentleman (click here for Christmas gift ideas for him), but the mind-boggling multitude of choices themselves may make you feel unsure about just where to start! If you’re daunted by the idea of browsing through a hundred different shades of peach lipstick or choosing between a satchel and a sling bag, we’ve narrowed down the potential Christmas gift ideas for women by quite a bit. So fret not and dive straight into our top ten carefully curated luxurious Christmas gift ideas for women, all assured to win her heart.

Of course, to add an extra-personal touch to the joy of gift-giving, you can always opt for the personalised gift boxes from DFS’s Personalization Gift Shop that’s available till 1 January. From personalised holiday ribbons and monogrammed luggage tags to limited-edition patches and monogrammed tote bags, there’s no better way to make your gift stand out in the pile under the Christmas tree. 

Big Cat Jewellery: How the jewellery world lionised the big cats…

While persistent poaching and the erosion of their natural habitats have brought many big cats to the brink of extinction, they flourish as never before within the workshops of many of the very finest high-end jewellery houses. Indeed, for certain marques, big cat jewellery designs seem to be the most exquisite emblem for the times we live in.

Whether it’s their majestic presence or their prowling menace, big cat jewellery pieces recur throughout the world of haute joaillerie, with Cartier and Chanel proudly taking point. Indeed, it was Coco Chanel, Chanel’s legendary founder, who first devised her company’s signature lion look.

In 1920, inconsolable after the death of her lover, she fled to Venice. Finding herself alone in this most romantic of cities, she took comfort from the winged lion sculptures that surrounded her, ultimately embracing the beast as the perfect symbol of her renewed strength and independence. Today, the company that bears her name still honours the King of the Jungle in its Sous le Signe du Lion collection.

Big cats are not solely synonymous with Chanel, however. Over at Cartier, back in the early years of the 20th century, head designer Jeanne Toussaint was nicknamed Panthère by founder Louis Cartier – a tribute to her style and presence. Taking the name to heart, all things feline played a big part in the designer’s ouvré, with her proprietary panther designs dominating the maison’s output for an entire generation.

Other brands, of course, soon followed in their paw prints, lured in as much by their leopardesque looks as by the clearly lucrative returns to be had. While they were roundly imitated, when it came to cache, however, Chanel and Cartier clearly retained the lion’s share.

Text: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay

Peacock Necklace: Kashmir sapphire and higher valuations

While Kashmir may have been a hotbed of unrest for several decades now, such turmoil is yet to taint the reputation of the region’s stunning sapphires, famous the world over for their rich deep blue colouring. Now a truly fine example of these most precious stones, as featured in the Peacock Necklace – a stunning sapphire-and-diamond necklace – was just auctioned by Christie’s Hong Kong. The piece, which originally featured an estimate price of between US$12 million and US$15 million, did not disappoint when it went under the hammer last week. The Kashmir sapphire and diamond necklace’s final sale price stood at a staggering US$14.96 million. 

Sapphire

All originally mined from the remote Padder region in Kishtwan district, some 21 dazzling shards of Kashmir sapphires, together with an array of brilliant diamonds, adorn this unique necklace, with the gems said to total some 109.08 carats. The centre stone alone weighs an astonishing 10.56 carats, which makes it extremely rare and valuable among sapphires, as finding a single stone of such quality and weight is almost unheard of. And when you also factor in the masterly craftsmanship behind the entire suite of gems, it’s no surprise that the attention of the whole haute joaillerie world was focused on this most luxurious of lots.

 

 

Maximilist Metals: Chain link jewellery of the ’80s makes its return

The metals of marvellous maximalists have made their return, meaning it’s time for minimalists to move over! Like many fashion trends from the ’80s (ahem, belt-bags) the bigger the garment the better it is. But you needn’t worry, the fashion world isn’t making you dig out your old shoulder pads just yet. Instead we’re rewinding to the powerful statement chains that once had us pumping up the volume.

Chain-link jewellery may have comeback, but it is not without its updates. The high-end accessories still remain striking and bold, but with modern weights. Brands partaking in the re-emerging trend such as Links of London, have chosen gold as the go-to metal for the revival. The contemporary touch to the trend also provides a more gentle look, as many feature precious stones such as diamonds.

Don’t be dragged down by the chains of past, new ones have emerged and they’re far more chic.

The Pink Legacy diamond sells for record-breaking numbers

Harry Winston was surely in the pink this Tuesday as the American luxury brand purchased the Pink Legacy diamond from Christie’s auction house in Geneva, for a record setting US$50 million.

Within five minutes at the auction, the 18.96-carat diamond known as the Pink Legacy became the world’s record holder for price paid per carat for a pink diamond.

The dazzling diamond is truly a rare find because it is singularly unique to find a pink diamond over 10 carats. Categorised as a “Fancy Vivid”, the Pink Legacy is of the highest grade of colour intensity, being 1 in 100,000 of its kind. 

Soon to be renamed Winston Pink Legacy, the diamond is reported to be in good health and continues the trend of rising prices of pink diamonds.

Pink Star

Last April, Hong Kong became the city where the largest polished diamond the Pink Star – 59.6-carat stone – was auctioned off for a cool US$71.2 million at Sotheby’s.

 

Pink Promise

Following the Pink Star was the cut and improved Pink Promise diamond that was auctioned off at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels Hong Kong auction. The 15-carat diamond sold for US$32.5 million, at the time a record-beating price at US$2.176 million per carat. At US$2.637 million per carat, the sale of the Pink Legacy has surpassed the once-infamous Pink Promise.

The Pink Legacy is undoubtedly exceptional as it set forth a major moment in auctioneering history. The popularity of pink diamonds is coming up roses.

Text: Bailey Atkinson
Images courtesy: Christie’s

Pearls for Boys: How Men are Reclaiming Pearl Jewellery

For decades, pearl jewellery was considered the height of femininity but the bivalve baubles used to be considered pretty butch and it seems that with the expansion of the male jewellery market more men are snapping up these precious Pacific beauties.

Pearls
Left: Qing dynasty, Yongzheng Emperor and right: Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. Both adorned with regal pearls

We have evidence of pearls being worn by Song dynasty Chinese rulers as early as 2300 BCE. They’ve also long been a favourite of the Indian Maharajas. Julius Caesar, meanwhile, actually passed a law declaring them for aristocrats only. In England, they were often given loose to Tudor knights who would carry them into battle as a good luck talisman, and Charles the First was even famously beheaded while wearing a pearl pendant earring in one ear. So when did the pearl lose its rough, tough reputation and become so much more associated with dainty necklaces to be clutched at by feminine fingers?

Pearls
A young Charles I sporting the pearl earring he would eventually wear at his own beheading

It was when the Japanese perfected the art of growing and harvesting perfectly round pearls in a way that was much more efficient and cost-effective than ever before, that pearl jewellery took off with the masses. Jewellers adapted the gems to suit the ever changing fashions of the twentieth century, from the long pearly strings of the twenties to Dali’s signature mouth brooch with pearl teeth. But it was with the rise of film starlets wearing pearls that turned them into a gemstone more associated with women. As men bulked up into beefcakes for the screen they began to turn their backs on delicate soft-hued pearls.

Pearls
Starlets like Grace Kelly (Left) did a lot to feminise pearls. Dali got rather more creative with the gems with his famous “mouth brooch” on the right

But the times, they are a’changin, and once again men seem to be returning to pearl jewellery. Ever since Pierce Brosnan appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair wearing a single Tahitian pearl on a leather thong, the pearl’s potential has opened up from the tribal to the tailor-made. Most recently, American musical acts A1 Bentley and Pharrell Williams have made public appearances – decidedly unshy about their predilection for pearls – wearing multiple statement strings at once and typically opting for iconic white pearls over darker, understated colours.

Pearls
Left A1 Bentley, Right Pharrell Williams both sporting strings of white pearls.

If the idea of A1 Bentley’s flapper strings is a bit much and you’d prefer to ease yourself in to pearl jewellery, then consider smaller, more subtle pieces like cufflinks or tie pins. Or make like Brosnan with a single statement pearl as part of a more masculine design. Give the men’s marine jewellery trend a whirl with these pearly designs, all available at 1stdibs.com .

Pearls
Left: Versatile Spinel South Sea and Tahitian Pearl Gold Extra Long Necklace. Top right: Art Deco Diamond, Platinum and Mother of Pearl Cufflinks, Carrington, circa 1920. Bottom right: Tahitian Black South Sea Pearl White Diamond Yellow Gold Cocktail Ring.

Did you know:

  • A natural pearl takes six months to form
  • Although white pearls are the most popular, they can be found naturally in seven different colours
  • The global yearly diamond yield is ten times greater than that South Sea pearls

Text: Alice Duncan

Jewel Narrative: The extraordinary stories behind the world’s most sought-after gems

Jewels have always been a source of fascination, obsession and intrigue. Precious stones have been the inspiration for heist movies, romance novels and murder mysteries ever since we started putting pen to paper. In the case of these beguiling bedazzlers the truth is even stranger than fiction.

jewel-diamond-Nawanagar

The Nawanagar Necklace

In 1931, Jacques Cartier was commissioned by the Maharajah of Nawanagar to create a necklace formed of two strands of diamonds. Eight weeks later Cartier declared the arrangement “the finest cascade of coloured diamonds in the world”. The illustrious treasure featured seven of the rarest diamonds in the world, including the Ranjitsinhji diamond, and weighed six pounds. It mysteriously disappeared after the Maharajah’s death in 1933 and is presumed to have been broken down into smaller untraceable designs. If that sounds familiar it was also the fate that befell “Le Toussaint”, the fictional necklace which was the target of the grand heist in the movie Ocean’s 8, the design of which was based on this very necklace.

jewel-sapphire-Queensland

The Black Star of Queensland

In the 1930s, a boy called Roy Spencer was playing in a field near Anakie in Queensland Australia. He found a large, heavy greyish stone and carried it home with him, where it was used to prop open the porch door for the next nine years. Once Roy’s miner father Harry clocked that his doorstop might be worth a buck or two, he put it up for sale. It was eventually bought by Armenian jeweller Kazanjian who studied the stone for two months before cutting it. In cutting out the cabochon, Kazanjian lost 423 carats before finally revealing an immaculate six-pointed star within the stone – despite the lost carats, The Black Star remains the second-largest sapphire in the world. The stone now belongs to Swiss Gabrielle Grohe after she purchased it for her then-boyfriend Jack Armstrong. After they split Armstrong tried to claim ownership of the sapphire but couldn’t come up with the cash to buy Grohe out. 

jewel-diamond-moon-baroda-christies

The Moon of Baroda Diamond

Fewer gems can boast a more impressive lineage than the Moon of Baroda, which came from the very same Golconda mine which bore the Koh-I-Noor and the Hope diamonds. From the mine The Moon went to the Gaekwad family, the Maharajas of Baroda, who lent it to the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria for a period. It has been looted by Persian ruler Nadir Shah before being returned to Baroda and lent to Marie Antoinette before being bought by Meyer Rosenbaum in 1943. The diamond was finally cemented in pop culture history when it was lent by Rosenbaum to Marilyn Monroe so she could wear it in the iconic hit Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

But the extraordinary story of The Moon of Baroda is far from over. The pendant is coming up for auction at Christie’s Hong Kong on 27 November. Weighing 24.04 carats the canary yellow stone is estimated to go for a staggering HK$4-6 billion. Fancy!

Text: Alice Duncan

The BoHo Show: Bohemian jewellery to complement your languid look

Way back in 1799, when a troupe of impoverished French artists were obliged to seek out an alternative, nomadic lifestyle in the wake of the bloody revolution that was raging across their home country, little did they know that they were set to spawn a very singular cultural movement, one that would never quite go out of fashion. Today, we know it as Bohemian style or “Bo ho” to those most au fait with its languid, laidback look.

Despite its 200-year-old status, it was the fine free thinkers of the 1960s and ’70s that truly bestowed upon Bohemianism its undoubted iconic status. Determined to distance themselves from the norms of society – rejecting its established institutions and its clothing conventions – these New Bohemians conjured up a whole new look for themselves, one characterized by loose-fitted silhouettes, hand-crafted jewellery and quirky colour combinations.

The notoriously free-spirited ladies of the time also gave full rein to their creativity, mixing and matching flowing, flowery outfits with accessories and jewels fashioned from everything from feathers to flowers. The ‘It’ girls of the day – including American actress Ali MacGraw and German model Anita Pallenberg – wholly embodied this style, happily embracing its easy-breezy look, complete with earthy earrings, beaded bracelets and faux-fur fripperies.

Indeed, it is mainly down to such colourfully-clad celebrities that the once-subversive Bohemian movement became more or less mainstream. By the early 2000s, such fashion icons as Kate Moss and Sienna Miller had wholly co-opted the look, while giving it a luxurious chic-chick makeover. Now, quite rightly sensing the way the winds of fashion are blowing, many haute joaillerie brands have come up with their own take on Bohemian jewellery as they set out to woo those who are equally liberal with their look as they are with their spending.

Text: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay