'Emeralds for Elephants' collection to hit London

source : nationaljewelernetwork.com
April 23, 2010

Designed by Sabine Roemer, the "Emerald Queen" featuring a 679-carat emerald will be one of 250 elephant statues that will be displayed in London this summer and will also be the highlight of a pop-up collection of bespoke emerald jewelry opening at Selfridge's in London next month.

London--Over the years, Chicago residents have strolled past life-sized "Cows on Parade" statues and Washington, D.C., denizens have corralled "Party Animals," an outdoor art exhibit of brightly decorated elephant and donkey statues. Now, Londoners will greet a vivid herd of elephant statues all their own, including one featuring a staggering 679-carat emerald.

In May, the "Emerald Queen," a life-size fiberglass elephant designed by U.K. jeweler Sabine Roemer, will debut in the Wonder Room of London-based department store Selfridge's. Decorated with Zambian emerald dust and featuring a hefty oval-shaped emerald as a headdress, the Emerald Queen will serve as the highlight of "Emeralds for Elephants," a pop-up collection of bespoke jewelry created by eight renowned designers.

The Emerald Queen is one of 250 elephant statues set to be displayed around London, from May through July 2010, as part of an effort to create public awareness about the plight of the endangered Asian elephant and to raise more than $3 million for the cause. ...

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Red-hot diamond on block at Sotheby's Australia

source : nationaljewelernetwork.com
April 01, 2010

The 0.82-carat center stone of this ring will mark the first red diamond to be offered for public auction in Australia. The ring is estimated at as much as $921,556 and also features fancy blue diamonds and brilliant-cut colorless diamonds set in platinum.

Sydney, Australia--Sotheby's Australia's upcoming April 12 sale of antique and contemporary jewelry will be a significant one for the auction house. The event will mark the Australian branch's first standalone jewelry sale, with the highlight slated to be the first red diamond ever offered for public auction in Australia.

The 0.82-carat, fancy purplish-red Argyle diamond is set into a ring and is flanked by a pair of fancy blue diamonds in a round brilliant-cut diamond surround, all mounted in platinum. Its value is estimated at between 700,000 and 1 million Australian dollars (between about $645,065 and $921,556) and will be accompanied by a letter from Argyle Diamonds attesting to its rarity.

Sotheby's said in a media release that despite the notable discovery of the Argyle pink diamond deposits in Western Australia, less than a handful of red diamonds have been discovered, and connoisseurs have long considered red diamonds to be among the most precious and rare of diamonds.

The April 12 sale will offer even more superb examples of colored stones, including a double strand of graduated emerald beads accented with diamond-set rondelles (estimated between $9,676 and $11,519), a sapphire and diamond ring (estimated between $23,034 and $32,248) and an emerald and diamond ring (estimated between $64,497 and $82,907). ...

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Famous Emeralds

Gachala Emerald (origin: Colombia)
The Gachala Emerald is an uncut 5-cm emerald crystal weighing 858 carats (172 g). The stone was found in 1967 at Vega de San Juan mine in Colombia and is named after the mining district where it was discovered. Now in the United States, it was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by the New York jeweler, Harry Winston.



Chalk Emerald (origin: Colombia)
The Chalk Emerald is a 37.82 carats (7.56 g) Colombian emerald.

It originally weighed 38.40 carats (7.68 g), but was recut and set in a ring, where it is surrounded by sixty pear-shaped diamonds (totalling 15 carats (3.0 g), by Harry Winston Inc. The ring is housed in the National Gem and Mineral Collection at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in the United States and was donated to the museum by Mr. and Mrs. O. Roy Chalk in 1972.

Duke of Devonshire Emerald (origin: Colombia)

The Duke of Devonshire Emerald gets its name from the 6th Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish, who according to one version, received the enormous gemstone as a gift from the first emperor of Brazil, Don Pedro I, the son of King John VI of Portugal, but according to a second version purchased the gemstone from the emperor.

The Duke of Devonshire Emerald is a terminated hexagonal-shaped crystal discovered from the mines of Muzo, Santa Fe de Bogota, in Colombia, reputed to be the premier source of the world's finest emeralds. It is an exceptional deep-green emerald, with perfect transparency in certain areas, but heavily flawed in other areas. The emerald that measures 5 cm across the pinacoid also has a height of about 5 cm, and weighs 1,383.95 carats. The emerald had a reputation as the largest and finest uncut emerald in existence.

Mackay Emerald
The stunning 167.97-carat Mackay Emerald was mined in Muzo, Columbia. The largest cut emerald in the National Gem Collection, it is set in an Art Deco diamond and platinum necklace designed by Cartier Inc. In 1931, Clarence H. Mackay presented the necklace as a wedding gift to his wife, Anna Case, a prima donna of the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1909 to 1920. The piece was donated to the Smithsonian Institute by Mrs. Anna Case Mackay in 1984. Source: The National Gem Collection by Jeffrey E. Post.

Etruscan-inspired gold exhibit sets sail for U.S.

April 08, 2010
Gold jewelry from Italian master goldsmith Akelo, such as the necklace above, will be on display in a new exhibit opening June 5 in Columbia, Mo.

Columbia, Mo.--Ancient Etruscan-inspired gold jewelry designs will be featured this summer in a first-ever museum exhibition from Italian master goldsmith Andrea Cagnetti, also known as "Akelo."

The exhibition, "The Voyage of a Contemporary Italian Goldsmith in the Classical World: Golden Treasures by Akelo," was conceived and organized by the Museum of Art and Archeology at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo., and will open to the public there on June 5.

Akelo creates one-of-a-kind pieces of 22-karat gold jewelry and precious golden objects inspired by the gold designs of the ancient Etruscans, who were known for their fantastic artistry and craftsmanship. The goldsmith's work is based on myths, legends and symbols derived from ancient worlds, which is then rendered in gold via a knowledge of alchemy that is the result of years of in-depth study of ancient and medieval texts.

The exhibition "concentrates on the artist's voyage and ultimate transcendence of the Etruscan, Greek and Roman influences that inspire him as an artist," Mary Pixley, museum curator and exhibition organizer, said in a media release. "Unparalleled technical perfection is married with a timeless classicizing language and the artist's own aesthetic sensibility in Akelo's golden creations."

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Color Diamonds Dazzle New York

March 18, 2010, jevelry.com

The American Museum of Natural History has a natural color diamond exhibit so magnificent, they're extending the run until further notice.


The American Museum of Natural History knows a good thing when they see one. The Manhattan institution decided to extend its natural color diamond exhibit, featuring The Olympia Diamond Collection, following the positive response from its many visitors.

The Olympia Diamond Collection consists of five diamonds that have been graded as 'vivid', the highest level of color saturation possible, by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).

The diamonds range in size from 1.01 carats to 2.34 carats and represent five of the strongest colors that naturally occur in a diamond, namely blue-green, orange-yellow, purplish-pink, blue and orange.

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