Category: Jewellery

All-round winner: Rarest white and largest round diamond goes under gavel

Gafencu takes a closer look at the world’s rarest white and largest round diamond…

largest round diamond

No matter how hard it had tried, Sotheby’s Diamonds couldn’t have found a better way of marking the first anniversary of the launch of its London salon than proudly unveiling the world’s largest-known and rarest white diamond. Valued at more than US$30 million and weighing a staggering 102.34 carats, it’s the only-known round diamond in the 100 carat plus category that’s literally flawless.

Originally unearthed in a Botswana diamond mine as part of a 425-carat rough stone, its natural beauty has been crafted into its current exquisite round form by highly-skilled artisans from Diacore, a South African gem specialist.

According to the Gemological Institute of America, the diamond is both internally and externally pristine and should be categorised as a Type IIa, D-colour diamond. As gem connoisseurs will be only too aware, a Type IIa diamond is the rarest of the rare, with only 2% of all gemstones falling into that particular category. On top of that, this white beauty is made even more unique by the fact that it’s the only D-colour round brilliant-cut diamond weighing more than 100 carats that has ever appeared at auction.

Justifiably excited, Patti Wong, Founder and Chairman of Sotheby’s Diamonds, said: “Over the course of my long career, which has brought me close to some of the greatest stones the earth has ever ceded, I have never encountered anything quite like this. With its outstanding weight, its perfect colour, its clarity and its cut, it is a masterpiece of nature brought to life by human hand.”

Fine-tune your outfit with these sparkly multi-coloured pieces

2018 is forging ahead with an all-singing, all-dancing cornucopia of multi-coloured enhancement. Whether you are looking to make a statement on a date or enhance an outfit for a work event, this colorful trend is your best bet. 

Stack multi-coloured gem and diamond rings and bracelets to bedazzle your outfit by day. When the evening comes, layer with different lengths, textures and styles of necklaces to create a show-stopping ensemble 

Need some inspiration? Check out our roundup of dazzling jewellery pieces in a beautiful kaleidoscope of colours. 

Check out our guides to layering necklaces and embellished earrings for more details on the latest jewellery trends.

 

Necks Please: A guide to layering necklaces

A guide to layering necklaces

This years fashion runways and street styles have proven that layering necklaces is one trend that the fashion world just can’t let go of.

Whether you are playing it safe with a simple layered piece worn with a pared-down blouse or going all-out with layers upon layers for an evening event, allow necklaces to be the spotlight of your outfit. New to the game? Here is our guide to layering necklaces: 

Personal jewellery

Start with the jewellery you already have and layer by length. Begin with your shortest chain and work up to the longest. Don’t shy away from charms and gems. They are your friends and layering necklaces can be fun! 

Mix it up

Once you are more comfortable with layering necklaces, step it up to the next level by mix and matching various styles. Try piling three unexpected necklaces together for one ultimate look. For example, start with a delicate choker or tighter necklace and add in some cute gems. Why not finish the look with a longer chain of pearls? Even the most random, unexpected combinations can look on-trend!

Shine

Once you have the basics down, you are ready to play with weights, textures and materials. Be bold, make a statement and mix together a selection of silver and gold necklaces, comprised of stones, chain links and sparkles. What’s more, you will find that mixing weights between thinner and thicker chains will prevent tangling. Pair this look with some statement earrings to tie the entire look together.

If you’ve been inspired to add a new piece to your jewellery collection, look no further. Here is a roundup of the top layering necklaces from luxury brands:

Text: Hira Desai 

Violet Tendencies: 2018 seems set for a purple(ish) patch…

Officially Pantone’s colour of the year, 2018 is set to be dominated by all things violet, with amethysts, sapphires and jade gems set to characterise runways and street fashions alike. Eagerly embraced by colour experts as truly replete with “ingenuity, originality and visionary thinking”, it’s hard not to wonder why Pantone’s iridescence-minded boffins took quite so long to plump for this clearly indispensable shade. It’s not as if the clues weren’t there.

Even Pantone concedes that musical icons as diverse and as chronologically-disparate as Bowie, Hendrix and Prince long ago flagged-up the varied brands of unconventional creativity associated with this particular blue-based purple hue. Hopefully incorporating the memorable expressions of individuality synonymous with these much-missed musos, we could be in for 12 months of conspicuous non-conformity, all of it – admittedly – violet-tinged.

It would be a folly most errant, however, to neglect the significance of Pantone’s decision to plump for this off-plum pastel as The Tint for Our Times. Indeed, as Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone’s executive director, so sagaciously reminds us: “The Pantone Colour of the Year has come to mean so much more than just what’s trending in the world of design. In essence, it’s a reflection of what’s truly needed in our world today…”

Should it turn out, however, that the wider world fails to aptly respond to Pantone’s careful, annual consideration of all things prismatic, churning out its usual fare of mass shootings, climatic cataclysms, premature expirations and dodgy commercial dealings, then it might well have proved better all-round had the New Jersey-based pigment-pickers opted for Sprout Green instead. We may never really know for sure.

Bejewelled beauties: Our top 5 picks ahead of Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction is taking place in Hong Kong on 3 April. Whether an avid jewellery collector or a gem connoisseur, this one’s a bidding war that you can’t afford to miss. Here we spotlight on five exquisite pieces that – in our opinion – are worth fighting for.

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction

Ruby, Diamond and Emerald Brooch, Van Cleef & Arpels
Lot 1778

A classic bejewelled brooch in Van Cleef & Arpels’ signature extravagant style, the piece is estimated to fetch between HK$2,200,000-2,800,000. A beautiful swan in 18-carat gold, it features brilliant-cut diamonds with ruby feathers and an emerald eye, all brought to life by Van Cleef & Arpels’ exquisite craftsmanship, and is signed by the haute joaillerie maison.

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction

Fancy Blue Diamond and Diamond Ring
Lot 1776

As gem connoisseurs would be only too aware, blue diamonds happen to be the most-sought after diamond category after red diamonds. So it should come as no surprise that this beautiful ring starring a fancy blue diamond worth 14.18 carats is estimated to go under the gavel at anywhere between HK$46,200,000 and HK$60,000,000. The surrounding bezel of pink diamonds mounted in platinum and 18-carat pink gold adds to the supreme value of the piece.

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction

Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond and Diamond Ring
Lot 1621

With the craze for yellow diamonds on the rise, this exquisite ring – which boasts a brilliant-cut fancy vivid yellow diamond weighing 15.69 carats as its centrepiece – will probably be snapped up only after a closely contested battle. Add to that the two heart-shaped GIA-certified D-colour diamonds each weighing 1.01 carats, and the platinum and 18-carat yellow gold real estate of the ring, and we have a big scorer that’s estimated to fetch between HK$5,500,000-6,500,000.

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction

Diamond and Emerald Bracelet, Cartier
Lot 1505

Featuring six prancing diamond horses created out of pavé-set brilliant-cut diamonds, with emerald eyes, this Cartier bracelet is expected to fetch anything between HK$320,000-480,000. Set in 18-carat white gold and 165mm long, this one’s sure to gallop to glory in the auction ring.

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction

Diamond and Gem Set Necklace, Dior
Lot 1628

With a sizeable pear-shaped diamond worth 5.82 carats as its central anchor, this link chain necklace is a floral affair with coloured gemstones including rubies, sapphires, yellow sapphires, pink sapphires and emeralds and brilliant-cut diamonds, mounted on 18-carat white gold. Signed and case-stamped by Dior, this fetching piece is estimated to bring around HK$950,000-1,800,000.

To check out the full catalogue of Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction, click here.

Text: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay

Natural Beauty: Gafencu’s top 8 picks of brooches inspired by Mother Nature

Despite technology cocooning all aspects of modern life, Mother Nature is an inevitable presence. Time and again, art has borrowed from nature, with artists singing paeans of praise to all aspects of nature through diverse art forms. Jewellery too has come a long way, from actual elements of nature adorning the human body (think seashell jewellery by Neanderthals) to jewellery designers mimicking natural elements in their designs. 

Here, we’ve put the spotlight on eight such high joaillerie brooches that have captured some of the most striking feats of nature. Elaborate, intricate and exquisitely beautiful, these brooches are only second to nature’s originals. 

Shine bright: 910-carat diamond unearthed from Letšeng Mine

Although 2018 has just started, Gem Diamonds already has the gemology world buzzing by the first quarter of the year. The cause? Its announcement of the discovery of a staggering 910-carat D colour Type IIa diamond in Lesotho’s Letšeng Mine.

Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick commented, “This is a landmark recovery for all of [our] stakeholders, including our employees, shareholders and the Government of Lesotho, our partner in the Letšeng Mine.”

Elphick’s pride is well justified. The rough diamond has already been heralded as the fifth-largest gem-quality diamond ever found. It is also just the latest in a string of mammoth rough gemstones found at the Letšeng Mine.

Letšeng has grown to become one of the most prolific open-pit diamond mines in the world. Since 2006, it has produced five other gem-grade diamonds weighing above 300 carats, including the 603-carat Lesotho Promise. The stone was purchased by Graff and cut into 26 D-grade flawless white diamonds, the largest of which is a 76.41-carat pear cut diamond. The resulting Lesotho Promise necklace has an estimated price tag of US$60 million.

There’s no word yet on what final form, or forms, the hitherto-unnamed rough-cut 910-carat diamond will eventually take – but we all wait with bated breath.

Ear cuffs vs earrings: Fashion’s statement jewellery piece of the season?

Move over, earrings – ear cuffs are fashion’s most eye-catching statement jewellery piece yet

Read: Watches for Women – tracking the growth of female-driven watch designs

Stylish, offbeat and edgy are the buzzwords for this unique jewellery trend that first began to make its appearance on catwalks in 2013. In 2016, we began to see A-list celebrities sporting the sparkling cuffs and crawlers on the red carpet. First adopters included the likes of Emma Stone, Cara Delevingne, Cate Blanchett and Emma Watson.

Ear cuffs have been around for many centuries; they are large decorative earrings that extend beyond the ear lobe to the upper part of the ear, usually fitting around the outer rim. In many cultures, most notably India, ear cuffs are considered traditional jewellery pieces. Ethnic women continue to wear them to this day in traditional contexts such as at weddings and other festive occasions.

Earcuffs in Bollywood

In the last few years, however, ear cuffs have become popular accessories in mainstream fashion circles, associated with cutting edge, high-end fashion. To wear them, though it may not seem like it, you don’t need to have multiple piercings. One per ear is sufficient – or even none – as there are clip-on varieties for the faint-hearted. Haute couture has even been propagating the use of a single ear cuff to achieve an “I lost my other earring” look. We kid you not, it is a thing.

Don’t forget to style your hair accordingly when wearing these fine jewellery versions of the ear cuff. The side-swept tresses and up-dos are best to show off the elaborate pieces. Now tilt, pout and smile for the camera!

This article originally appears on Gafencu Magazine March 2018 as “Play it by ear” by  Julienne C. Raboca

Preview of next week’s HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and Diamond, Gem and Pearl Show

Haute joallerie aficionados are in for a treat next week with not one, but two high-end jewellery shows coming to our fair city – HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show. Over 4,550 exhibitors from 50 countries will be showcasing their precious wares, giving Hong Kongers a glimpse at some of the most beautiful gemstones and designs in the world.

HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and Diamond, Gem and Pearl Show coming next week

First up is the HKTDC Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem and Pearl Show, which runs from 27 February to 3 March at AsiaWorld-Expo. Now in its fifth year, the event is a fantastic opportunity for industry professionals and gemstone lovers alike to snap up rare, top quality loose stone and raw materials.

Without pausing for breath, the 35th edition of HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show kicks off just two days later, running from 1 to 5 March at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Here, beautiful finished high jewellery pieces from both local and international manufacturers take place of pride.

Alongside the stunning jewellery on display, the two events will also host a series of talks and forums on pertinent industry topics such as the evolving role of technology in the jewellery world, opportunities in Belt and Road markets, and so forth.

Side-by-side, HKTDC International Diamond, Gem and Pearl Show and HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show will form the world’s largest jewellery marketplace, with HKTDC expecting 115 buying missions comprising over 8,000 companies from 75 countries and regions to attend.

HKTDC VIPs at the pre-event press conference for HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show
From left: Kent Wong, Chairman of the HKTDC Jewellery Advisory Committee; Benjamin Chau, HKTDC Acting Executive Director; and Lawrence Ma, Chairman of Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show and Hong Kong International Jewellery Show organising committees, at the pre-event press conference 

Benjamin Chau, Acting Executive Director of HKTDC, said at a press conference on Thursday, “[This] reflects that the industry… continues to view Hong Kong as an important sourcing platform for jewellery and raw materials.”

That event also gave Hong Kong a preview on what to expect, including a fashion show-esque parade where models strutted down the catwalk decked in stunning jewellery pieces that will be on show next week.

Models previewed stunning designs at HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show press conference

Standouts included a beautiful Columbian emerald set (valued at US$3 million) from Hatta New World Company, a lush golden South Sea pearl collection from Wing Hang Diamond Company and a stunning paraiba tourmaline and diamond set by Belford Jewellery Company. (Check out the gorgeous designs and other press conference highlights in the video below.)

Don’t miss out! Trade visitors can still register for both events through this link. Meanwhile, check out our sneak peek at some of the rare gems and designs to watch out for next week here. Happy shopping!

HKTDC International Diamond, Gem and Pearl Show
Date: 27 February – 3 March
Venue: AsiaWorld-Expo 

HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show
Date: 1 – 5 March
Venue: Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre

Last-minute Valentine’s Day gifts for her

Every year, 14th February has a sneeky way of creeping up on you. Before you know it, you are giftless and unsure of where to find the perfect present for your wife or girlfriend. Guilty? Don’t fret; we are here to help with a round up some of the most luxurious Valentine’s Day gifts for her.