Aquamarine and Diamond Ring

 

I am working on a new ring.  It will have a large round semi-opaque aquamarine center stone surrounded by diamonds.  I am making it out of wax and then will cast it in gold.  Here are some early pictures.

The first picture shows the diamond halo that will surround the aquamarine.  The ring is still looking very crude at this stage but has been marked on the wax block.

The ring shank is beginning to take shape and is being measured against the diamonds that will be added to the halo and shank.

Here is the wax piece close to being finished.  The shank and the halo are now joined.  The setting positions for the stones are set.  Just needs some smoothing out on top. 

Once I have it cast in metal I will show you the steps to set the stones.

Champagne Diamond Engagement Ring

Some of these diamonds are up to 1.5 carats in weight.  Any of these diamonds would look great as a center stone with a halo of smaller white diamonds surrounding  it.

Champagne Diamonds

 

I am working with a Diamond Dealer that specializes in Champagne Diamonds of all sizes.  Here are just a few samples. Each one of these stones are about one carat and would make a beautiful center stone in an engagement ring.

Christie's Auction, Pink Diamond

 

Christie's Hong Kong May 29, 2012 auction. Fancy Intense Pink 12.04 cts Diamond originally purchased from Harry Winston by a private collector, will probably be sold for $10 million. The diamond is known as "Martian Pink" named after U.S.'s first satellite mission to Mars.

 

Sotheby's Auction: Diamond and Tourmaline Earrings

 

Diamond, Tourmaline and Platinum earrings will be auctioned at Sotheby's April 18, 2012. Signed by T & Co. Tourmalines are 24.83 cts t.w.

 

Sofia Vergara Diamond Earrings at Golden Globes

Sofia Vergara wore a beautiful set of Harry Winston diamond earrings to the Golden Globes.

Chandelier earrings are definitely in this year.  I love this woman - she is so funny!

Sapphire and Diamond Engagement Ring

My client was getting engaged and wanted a ring to have a deep personal connection with his fiancé. He knew that she loved pink and so we designed this ring together. I first thought that the center gem should be surrounded solely with pink sapphires, but we then decided to add a mixture of diamond and sapphire pavé. I was very proud of the end-piece and my client’s fiancé loved the piece.

The piece was entirely hand-made. I designed a model in 3-D software. The 3-D render is shown below.

In the end, I hand carved the model from wax to ensure that the ring’s lines were soft and sexy.

Diamond Platinum Tennis Necklace

I completed a magnificent platinum diamond necklace.  The necklace has 14.14 cts of diamonds, D-F color and VS clarity.  In total, there are 112 diamonds.

The entire piece was hand made and I also set each of the diamonds.  The necklace is timeless and will always be in style.  The piece was custom ordered by a lady who prefers elegant, classic diamond jewelry.
Platinum is a wonderful metal with which to work.  It requires special polishing techniques and can be brought up to an almost mirror finish.  It is also extremely strong and so some delicate pieces can be made with platinum that would never be strong enough in gold or other metals.

Kate Middleton Diamond Earrings

Kate Middleton wore an elegant set of diamond earrings for the royal wedding.  The diamonds have a pave set tear drop, with a pear diamond suspended in the center.  The earrings are meant to symbolize an oak leaf with a center acorn.


The earrings were inspired by her family coat of arms which has oak leaves and acorns Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole gave her the earrings for her wedding day.

Anne Hathaway Diamond Necklace

What will no doubt become an iconic piece of Oscar Jewelry, Anne Hathaway wore a timeless and elegant diamond necklace. These necklaces never go out of style. It was the perfect complement to her open neckline.

Update: The necklace is a Lucida Tiffany necklace and it has 94 carats. You can pick it up for $10 million! Here is a close up picture:

It was also paired with a matching diamond ring.

Nicole Kidman’s Amazing Diamond Bracelet at the Golden Globes

Nicole Kidman wore an exuberant art deco diamond bracelet with emeralds to the Golden Globes. Take a close look, there are some pretty big stones in the platinum bracelet.

She also wore a Fred Leighton, 19th century, diamond bow brooch on her hip.

Natalie Portman’s Diamond Necklace at the Golden Globes

Natalie Portman’s diamond and platinum necklace was stunning and a beautiful prelude for her winning the Golden Globes’ Best Actress for the “Black Swan.”

Morganite Pendant with Pave Champagne Diamonds

 

A few years back, I went to a gem show in New York and found this beautiful pink Morganite stone with near perfect clarity, cut and color and knew I had to have it.  Morganite is in the Beryl family, the same family as aquamarine and emerald.

I knew I wanted the Morganite surrounded by diamonds. I held on to the stone for a few years thinking about a few designs. I decided that the stone had to be surrounded by champagne diamonds to compliment it’s pastel color. It is in an 18k gold setting with the sides carved out as waves in the ocean.

Morganite (8.08 cts) Champagne color Diamonds (.51 cts) set in 18k Gold.

Borgezie Gold and Diamond Shoes

Aficionado's of fine shoes might have felt betrayed the day Jimmy Choo started marketing his wares through H&M.  How were they going to distinguish themselves from the masses if everyone could afford Jimmy’s high-end sandals?  The day has finally come when the super-wealthy can differentiate themselves from the merely wealthy with the launch of  Borgezie’s line.  For a cool $155,000 you can deck your feet with a pair of gold and diamond stilettos.  The shoes come with 2,200 diamonds weighing in at 30 carats set in a solid gold frame.  A spare sets of soles and heels are thrown in for free as an incentive to close the deal.

 

Rachel McAdams Diamond Earrings at the Oscars

Another standout on the red carpet was Rachel McAdams with her rough diamond earrings. She is getting a lot of buzz following her appearance and for good reason. She was stunning:

Rough diamonds have become a lot more popular in recent years. They, together with champagne diamonds, have been heavily promoted by De Beers and are now gaining widespread acceptance as “couture” gemstones.

I have a number of both champagne and rough diamonds in my collection as well as other rough gemstones and will becoming out with some specialty pieces in the near future.

Keep posted….

Diamond Buying Tips

If you are looking for some great diamond buying tips, check out this guide from the GIA.  It goes through the 4 c’s in a straightforward way.

I find that what is not particularly well described or rated in diamond certificates, is the cut.  The cut, it turns out, can have a far more dramatic impact on the beauty of the stone compared to moving from a “G” to and “F” or moving up a notch in clarity.  Check out this post for more information on cut and how to assess this factor.

Magnificent Jewels Auction at Sotheby’s

If you like magnificent jewels and have $3.2 million spare cash, then Sotheby’s in New York is the place to be on April 23, 2009 at 2:00 pm. With that cash in your pocket, you might well be able to pick up this 8.24 carat fancy blue diamond ring surrounded by pink diamonds.  For those of more modest means, check out the $150,000, 23.36 ct sapphire earrings, or the $65,000 diamond, enamel Schlumberger brooch.

Paris Hilton's Engagement Ring

The famous Paris-to-Paris Hilton engagement ring. The engagement did not last very long, but the ring sure is beautiful. Does anyone know what happened to the ring? Post your answer below.

Katie Holmes Engagement Ring

Katie Holmes wearing her white and rose gold, pave engagement ring. The ring is as beautiful from below as it is on top.

Extremely High Priced Diamonds

Sotheby's set a new record with the sale of a 35.6 carat fancy deep grayish blue, VS2 diamond for $24.3 million.  The Wittelsbach diamond has a storied history dating back to the 17th Century when it was given to a 15-year old princess on the occasion of her wedding.  It eventually became the family diamond of the House of Bavaria, the Wittelsbachs, from which it retained its name.

The diamond is now owned by billionaire Laurence Graff.

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