Pretty in Pink

Christie’s to sell 10.09 carat purplish-pink diamond New York, March 6, 2011 - Christie's will offer a 10.09 Carat Fancy Vivid purplish-pink diamond at its April 12 Magnificent Jewels sale in New York. This exceptional diamond, with its highly desirable cushion cut, is estimated at US$12,000,000-15,000,000. “Collector demand for large coloured diamonds has never been stronger, especially where pink diamonds of this size and quality are concerned. Fewer than 10 percent of all pink diamonds mined weigh more than 0.20 carats, and even fewer exhibit the exceptional colour saturation and brilliance of this exceptional gem. In all my years at Christie’s, I have never seen such vivid colour in a stone of this size,” said Rahul Kadakia, Head of Jewellery at Christie's New York.

via Christie's

I don't think I will be bidding for this one but what a colour! We have seen a recent increase in Fancy Coloured Diamonds at AG and believe that 2011 will be all about colour. We created the Fission Cluster with a stunning yellow diamond cushion a while ago and soon we will be dazzling you with an extra special yellow diamond pendant called Sugar Coated!

via Posterize

London here we come!

A few months still to go but September 2011 will see us exhibiting back in London at  International Jewellery London in Earls Court. It has been a good few years since we last exhibited, so many I can't actually remember, but we will be coming back in style!

We will be exclusively launching Gents Jewellery (a first for AG), New Cocktail Rings which will knock your socks off and, as ever, Unusual Engagement Rings worth crying over. This month I will be having meetings with our clever sausages in marketing to come up with a plan to create a stir at the trade fair so you have been warned. In the mean time, sit back and relax and I will keep you posted with progress and maybe a sneak preview of some of the pieces.

via Posterize

Art Deco Heaven!

I am currently in London seeing some clients and there is one arcade in Mayfair that I can't help taking a slow stroll down. That is Burlington Arcade and it must have some of the most exquisite Art Deco pieces of jewellery in the world.

Art Deco jewellery is synonymous with fine detail, incredible pave work and stunning form and proportions. It is this period which inspired me to create the Decadence Designer Engagement Ring which has been a firm favourite for many of my retail partners. Just around the corner from Burlington are the jaw dropping windows of Boodles, David Morris, Cartier and more. I found myself dropping profanities as I looked at the pieces and mainly out of disbelief in the quality and sheer size of the some of the precious stones.

If you ever have a spare half an hour and find yourself in Mayfair then go take a look - take a chair as you may need to sit down!

via Posterize

Designer Day in the West Midlands April 9th

I am going back to my roots!

Now I am sure you will be surprised to know that I am nearly 37! And the first few years of my life were spent in the West Midlands - Solihull to be precise. So I am delighted to be going back home (close enough) to Sutton Coldfield for a 'Meet the Designer Day'.

Artifex is the gallery hosting the event and if you click on the link you will see that they are proud exhibitors of some incredible handmade furniture and fine art – as well as jewellery.

As usual I will have my full collection and my CAD programme to satisfy all those who are considering a bespoke design. This event will also mark the West Midlands launch of the Satellite designer cocktail ring which is looking like it could be one of our most talked about pieces. If it is a designer engagement ring you are looking for or perhaps a pair of gold earrings, then come along and if I don’t have exactly what you want I could create some designs for you as you wait.

The event is on April 9^th 2011 from 11am to 5pm. Click directions for a map. The gallery is situated in The Mitchell Centre which is a hub of craft boutiques with a cafe, toilets and plenty of free parking.

via Posterize

SARAH HO- SHO JEWELLERY

Luxurious collections by Sarah Ho SHO Jewellery offer a fashionably fresh take on jewellery design and strive to make fine jewellery fun! Award-winning goldsmith and gemmologist Sarah Ho, whose passion for gemstones, together with inspiration from her strong family heritage and important milestones in her life, have led to innovative designs and avant-garde jewellery collections. Sarah was born in Hong Kong, studied at London Met and now has a Showroom in London.

via Jewellery Show 2011.

Every trade magazine I look in I see Sarah Ho! She is everywhere. And rightly so - she is a great designer and a bloody nice person to boot. Design collaborations and product launches have been her forte of late and this has propelled her into a jewellery celebrity. Congratulations Sarah - thoroughly deserved.

via Posterize

Charles and Camilla visit Goldsmiths' Hall

HRH THE PRINCE of Wales accompanied by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, visited Goldsmiths’ Hall on Wednesday 23 February 2011 to meet apprentices, young silversmiths and jewellers, as well as Members of the Goldsmiths’ Company.

One of the highlights of their visit was a demonstration on Hallmarking. The Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company, Mr Michael Galsworthy introduced Their Royal Highnesses to members of the Goldsmiths’ Company’s Assay Office including David Merry, Head of Assay Office Training, and two young Assay Office Apprentices, Robert Grant and Robert Hinson, who explained and demonstrated the Hallmarking process.

The Goldsmiths’ Company has for more than 700 years been responsible for hallmarking precious metal articles. In fact the word hallmark originates from the fifteenth century when London craftsmen were first required to bring their wares to Goldsmiths' Hall for assaying and marking. Today more than 5 million precious metal items are hallmarked by the Assay Office each year and the Company is particularly proud of its historic role, which remains as relevant today as it ever has been, in safeguarding the interests of the consumer.

Before leaving Goldsmiths’ Hall, His Royal Highness, thanked the Goldsmiths’ Company and expressed his admiration for the work and many initiatives that the Company undertakes to ensure that the skills and crafts of the goldsmith are maintained and developed. In addition, His Royal Highness wished the Company great success with the new Goldsmiths’ Centr.

via The Goldsmiths' Company

It is brilliant to see our Royals taking a keen interest in the precious metals industry.  The UK has a wealth of talent which needs to be supported and nurtured so as for years to come the phrase "British Made", is still synonymous with incredible quality. Many areas of the jewellery and silver/goldsmithing industry have crumbled due to the imports from the Far East. So it is very important to do what we can with our heritage.

via Posterize

Everything you need to know about Yellow Diamonds

Rarity is one reason for the desirability of yellow diamonds but Tiffany also had a part to play. In 1878, after a year of being studied, a rough yellow diamond was cut under the supervision of a brilliant gemmologist George Kunz. This exquisite stone yielded an impressive 128.51 carat cushion cut and was to be become the emblem of Tiffany & Co. This yellow monster was on display at Tiffany on 5^th Avenue for 70 years where it has had millions of admirers. At the time of cutting, Charles Tiffany was unsure of the rarity of the piece as South Africa was producing a healthy measure of yellow stones. But, in the following years, the depth of colour possessed by the emblem stone was confirmed as exceedingly rare and valuable.

So what causes a diamond to be yellow? Here comes the science...

Diamonds are made up of mainly carbon and when one has absolutely no other elements within its structure it possesses no colour and would be graded as a D.

All other diamonds contain other chemical elements, most often nitrogen. Since the nitrogen atoms do not have the same number of electrons as the carbon atoms, they bond with the carbon atoms in such a way that one nitrogen electron remains free. The free electrons are able to partially absorb light, most often the blue and violet wavelengths. The diamond’s yellow colour results from the light that has not been absorbed. The different ways in which the nitrogen atoms are present accounts for the different intensity of yellow within the diamond.

The deeper colours are rarer and thus command high prices.

How are yellow diamonds graded? I am sure you have all heard of white diamonds being referred to as a G VS1 for example. The G stands for the colour. The internationally recognized GIA colour grading scale begins with the letter D (pure white) and ends at letter Z (tinted colour). It is beyond the Z grade that the stone would be referred to as a Fancy Coloured Diamond as opposed to a White Diamond. The lower down you go in the alphabet (so the more yellow you go) the less rare and less expensive the stone is. However after colour Z this is reversed!  The colour range for Fancy Coloured Diamonds includes four colour grades: Fancy Light Yellow, Fancy Yellow, Fancy Intense Yellow, and Fancy Vivid Yellow. The colour known commercially as canary or canary yellow actually refers to the GIA grade of Fancy Vivid Yellow.

Why are most yellow diamonds radiant or cushion cut?

The intensity of the stones can be clearly improved by choosing the most appropriate shape; as a result, the stone’s value will increase accordingly. The Radiant Cut and the Cushion Cut both respond beautifully to large yellow diamonds. The reason for this is that they ‘hold’ the colour well. Experience has shown that a Radiant Cut yellow diamond might be certified as “Fancy Yellow”, whereas the same stone would most probably be certified as only “Fancy Light Yellow” were it to have a round brilliant shape.

The Celebrities. There have been several celebrity yellow diamonds besides the aforementioned Tiffany stone.

The Eureka (Greek for “I‟ve found it!”) is the first recorded diamond to be found in Africa. The pale yellow diamond was found in 1866 by children playing along the Orange River in Hopetown, South Africa. Later, in 1867, the rough 21 carat diamond was officially recorded as the first authenticated diamond discovered in the history of Africa. The diamond was subsequently cut to its current 10.70 ct size and in 1967, a century after its discovery, De Beers bought the diamond and returned it to the African people. The South African government put The Eureka on display at the Kimberley Mine Museum where today it continues to bear witness to the beginnings of the country’s diamond industry.

The Incomparable is the largest faceted yellow diamond in the world. It is flawless and weighs 407.48 ct. It was found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, supposedly by a little girl who was playing on a garbage heap next to a diamond mine. Its colour has been determined by the GIA as Fancy Brown Yellow.

The Kahn Canary is a flawless, rough diamond weighing 4.23 ct. Discovered in 1977 in the state of Arkansas, nick-named “The Natural State”,  this diamond has become the state’s unofficial symbol for its natural uncut triangular form. Former First-Lady Hillary Clinton was allowed to wear the diamond on several ceremonial occasions, including the inauguration of Bill Clinton as the President of the United States of America.

Thanks to Kulsen and Hennig, the coloured diamond specialists.

via Posterize