diamonds

The gavel fell at $12.9 million for the 101.41 carat ‘Juno’ diamond and $0.7 million for the 111.59 carat ‘Earth Star’ at Sotheby’s New York last week, pushing the total sum for this distinctive pair of pear shaped diamonds over the $13 million mark.

Demonstrations of IGI’s new interactive eLearning Courses were provided to attendees of the recent JCK Las Vegas show. The on-demand, fully responsive courses provide fundamental gemological education while emphasizing information buyers are most interested in.

IGI has analyzed and graded a 30.18 carat emerald cut laboratory grown diamond, the world’s largest to date. Produced by Ethereal Green Diamond, LLP the 30.18 ct “Pride of India” is the first polished lab grown diamond to exceed 30 cts.

IGI Education Director John Pollard will join Rob Bates, Tanya Nisguretsky and Marty Hurwitz to present “The State of Lab Grown Diamond Industry” this Thursday. Rather than the usual “pro/con” arguments, the panel will address evolving new topics including melee, the implications of patent expirations and paradigm shifts in planning and cutting.

IGI recently graded 27.27 carat, 20.24 carat and 15.16 carat lab grown diamonds produced by Greenlab Diamonds LLP as part of their “sustainable and affordable luxury” project. The 27.27 and 20.24 carat gemstones are the largest polished lab grown diamonds ever produced.

Handheld gemstone testers are commonly used to differentiate between diamond and diamond-simulants like CZ and moissanite. However, as diamond growing technology advances the technology used in those devices becomes more limited.

Lucapa Diamond Company has just recovered a 204 carat rough diamond from its Mothae mine in Lesotho. This 204 carat […]

After a heated 11 minutes of bidding, the 205 carat Red Cross Diamond “rocked” Christie’s Geneva by selling for $14 million dollars, a whopping 40% over its high pre-sale estimate. The famous Fancy Intense Yellow diamond, originally unearthed in 1901,  was fashioned with a pavilion distinctively crafted in the shape of a Maltese cross.

With sales at smaller stores exceeding expectations in the fourth quarter of 2021, Macy’s will be opening another 10 off-mall locations in the next year, to include new Market by Macy’s and Macy’s Backstage stores, as well as Bloomie’s and Bloomingdale’s outlet stores.

In the normal diamond color range ‘Z’ is classified as most tinted while ‘D’ is classified as most colorless. So what happened to A, B and C? Are they reserved for new diamond discoveries? Extraterrestrial diamonds? What could possibly be more colorless than most colorless? If there are 23 classifications why not start with ‘A’ and end with ‘W?’

In 2020 Synova, introduced the “Da Vinci Diamond Factory,” an automated system capable of transforming rough diamonds into fully polished round brilliants. Synova has continued to increase its range and recently made it possible for rough diamond scans, used by many entities, to be incorporated into its planning and execution.

Petra Diamonds, owner of the legendary Cullinan diamond mine, is looking to sell their Koffiefontein mine, a sister operation acquired from DeBeers’ in 2007. Established in 1870, Koffiefontein is one of South Africa’s oldest diamond mines, located just 50 miles south of Kimberley.

An eight minute bidding war resulted in one of the highest prices ever paid for a diamond on Wednesday, when the 15.10 carat “DeBeers’ Cullinan Blue” diamond sold in Hong Kong. Four participants kept raising the stakes until the gavel finally fell at $57.5 million, smashing the pre-sale estimate of $48 million.

Round brilliant, cushion, and other shapes with depth are historically most popular because they’re both aesthetically pleasing and economically practical. Flat shapes are not as common, which is why we wanted to spotlight these creative, rarely seen shapes.

The Red Cross invests 93.5% of dollars they spend on people in need and, according to Christie’s, a “significant” cut of the $11 million dollars this diamond is expected to bring in on May 11 will, again, be donated to its namesake organization.

A phenomenal 50 carat diamond is available for viewing by appointment in Palm Beach. The centerpiece of a high jewelry collection titled “Graffabulous,” the new owner of this historic D Flawless oval cut will have the opportunity to name the diamond before Graff adds it to their timeline of famous gemstones.

Fancy colored diamonds are very rare to find in nature. They represent less than 0.01% of diamonds mined in the world – or, about 1 in 10,000. Furthermore, nature produces some colors with far more frequency than others, so a diamond transmitting your favorite color might be, literally, 1 in a million.

The Zoe Report (TZR), one of BDG’s brands which collectively reach over 100 million readers per month, recently cited input from IGI on sustainability in the diamond and jewelry industry.

From April 8-12, Christie’s will hold public viewings of 72 “Magnificent Jewels” to be sold on April 13 in New York, including a very special pendant-watch, and a half-dozen diamond creations with pre-sale estimates of more than $1 million.

Gold and gemstone prospectors work the streets of New York’s illustrious diamond district, but you might not recognize them at first. Kneeling, gloved, scraping and brushing, they could be mistaken for pedantic street cleaners but don’t be fooled. Historically some Big Apple prospectors have claimed over $300 per day in “paydirt.”

On May 11 a 228.31 carat diamond discovered in South Africa more than 20 years ago, will become the largest white diamond ever sold at auction, according to auction house Christie’s, with a presale estimate between $20 and $30 million.

Most of Earth’s diamonds formed billions of years ago, during the supercontinent cycle, as carbon fragments around 100 miles deep were crystallized by unimaginable forces of heat and pressure. But diamonds can also flash-form due to meteorite impact.

Anglo American’s newest diamond recovery vehicle, the Benguela Gem, was recently inaugurated at the Port of Walvis Bay, Namibia. In addition to increasing Debmarine Namibia’s annual production by 45% the vessel is expected to create 160 new jobs for the local workforce.

Creativity in diamond design continues to expand, thanks to the expanded possibilities offered by the CVD growth process. IGI recently graded another groundbreaking creation, an 8.96 carat Fancy Intense Green cannabis-inspired lab grown diamond.