Fun

Diamond lovers in London are invited to a seven-room display at the Saatchi Gallery, featuring over 400 items from Tiffany & Co’s illustrious history. Open through August 19, the exhibition will travel to New York this fall.

As people across America celebrate their Independence Day, we’d like to celebrate these distinctive diamonds in Fancy Red, White and Vivid Blue. Each one appeared separately in IGI GemBlog posts during the past year. Today we’ll revisit them together.

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.

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?’

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.

A team of international researchers have discovered a fast-moving exoplanet, nearly 13 times larger than Earth, with vast clouds of liquid metal and corundum – the mineral which forms rubies and sapphires – blowing across the planet.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

The 2022 GEM Awards, presented by Jewelers of America, will take place in New York tomorrow night, marking the event’s 20th anniversary. The black tie affair at Cipriani 42nd Street begins at 6:30 pm with a social hour followed by the GEM Awards dinner.

Christian Dior founded his business on the 8th of October in 1946. Located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, his atelier included 8 studios from an 8 story building situated on Avenue Montaigne. Now Christian Dior’s favorite number has been “written in stone,” to celebrate a historic reopening.

Winifred Mason created her first piece of jewelry in 1940, a pendant made of bronze, copper and silver. In the years that followed she began filling orders for prestigious Fifth Avenue stores in New York, including Lord & Taylor and Bloomingdales. She is considered by many to be the first commercial black jeweler in the USA.

The Year of the Tiger officially began on February 1, marking the start of holiday festivities celebrated by nearly two billion people around the world. To all who are celebrating Lunar New Year, Chinese New Year and Spring Festival this week, IGI wishes you health, prosperity and a joyful year ahead.

As we approach February 6, the date of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, The Natural Diamond Council regales us with the story behind her breathtaking coronation diamonds. It seems ‘only natural’ to share the council’s stories on these forever-diamonds, as we move into the 70th year of this beloved monarch’s reign.

Town & Country’s Lynn Yaeger, who also pens for Vogue and the New Yorker, has offered refreshing perspective for jewelry lovers, portraying the act of self-gifting as “self-care.”

In 2017 Nick Boulle became the first certified Rolex retailer to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona. This weekend he’ll compete in the 24 hour sunset-sunrise event again, driving the No. 99 Porsche 911 GT3 R, which boasts the name of his family’s Texas based jewelry store.

The auction market soared to new heights in 2021, with a total of $12.6 billion in sales brought in worldwide […]

The Billionaire Ashoka Watch is covered with more than 171 carats of diamonds. The crown of the watch, at 3 o’clock, has been seen with different accents, including a rose cut diamond, an emerald, and a ruby. Here are videos featuring all three accents.

Around the world, IGI welcomes the arrival of New Year’s Day over a period of 16 hours. As we celebrate from one location to the next and the next – we like to share this collection of positive expressions and sentiments.

In November we announced the results of the IGI Expressions™ Jewelry Design Competition. Now we are pleased to feature all seven winning creations together, bringing our coverage of this uplifting event to a close.

Earlier this month Bailey’s Fine Jewelry in Raleigh, North Carolina, created a fairy tale gingerbread and gemstone house, valued at more than $1.27 million. Best of all, it features diamonds, pearls and gemstones, not a cannibalistic witch.