9.54 Carat Blue Diamond from Shirley Temple Black

Some Diamonds beat the rate of inflation.  By a lot.

This is the story.  In 1940, Shirley Temple Black’s father bought this Blue diamond for her for about $7,200.00 US dollars.  In 2016 dollars, that’s about $121,600.   Miss Temple Black wore this beauty for several years. Now that that Miss Temple Black  has passed, her diamond is up for auction.

The estimated sale price from the auction house is $35 million U S Dollars. Wow.  Whoever owns this gem now must be happy.  She wore this beautiful diamond for years, and the heir will cash out big time with this sale.  This surely beats the stockmarket!

More tidbits of interest like this to come.

Gerald

 

You Can Break a Diamond – Even Burn a Diamond

broken diamond

Broken Diamond

A Burned Diamond

Here is something!

Most people Think that diamonds are indestructible! Because they are the hardest material in the world!

Well I have some news for you all!!!

You can break, bruise , chip and even Burn a diamond! It is the hardest mineral but the diamond material is like wood. Have you ever tried to split wood.. If you hit the wood against the grain than you might as well hit cement . If you hit the wood with the wood grain the log splits into 2 pieces of wood. If you hit a wood table with a hammer you will put a slight dent or compression mark on the surface of the wood table. All these things that happened to the wood can and do happen to diamonds!!! How else do they cut them??

 

Now burning a diamond is a hard thing to do but it does happen more than you want to know. If your jeweler doesn’t take precautions when doing repair on your favorite diamond ring , he can burn the surface and then the brilliance is now gone. The only way to fix this problem is to have the diamond totally re polished! Yes each facet has to be re polished!! My designer friend just had this happen to her yesterday. ! What a freak out this was. All is good now we went to a very good diamond cutter and he is going to re polish the diamonds better than new!! Thank God!!

So a word of warning DIAMONDS DO BREAK!!!

Take care of you and your diamonds!!

Later.

 

French Cut Diamond & Ruby Ring.

 

Good Day !

I attached the images of the French Cut Diamond & Ruby ring I was speaking of earlier! This job was a headache! But looking at the results, it was ultimately worth it because the ring is very pleasing to the eye!

What do you think?

There are 4 carats of French cut diamonds in total. A little secret… by cutting French Cut Diamonds in the right way you can increase the end color results in the diamonds, meaning, they don’t all have to be perfect to look really good. The Ruby itself is not so big — 1.50 carats — but the color is amazing. It is something to see, surrounded by so many diamonds, set in this metal.

Because of this ring,  I received an order for a man’s wedding ring with French cut diamonds going across the top of the ring. This Ring should be a stunner as well!!

Wanted to share this ring with you since my last blog was about French cut diamonds, my favorite !!

What do you think?

 

Gerald

 

French Cut Diamonds

French cut Diamonds are among the most beautiful diamond cuts!!

The French Cut Diamond was created in the 1400s but really gained in favor in the 17th century. The French Cut Diamonds were loved and worn by royalty and nobility. The name French Cut, oddly enough, came from being not being cut in France but because at one time the French cut diamond was the most desired cut in France.

This cut is extremely rare today. Most people or jewelers don’t even know what a French Cut is or looks like.

The images don’t do the cut justice. When you see them in the light, OMG!  Have your sun glasses ready!!

The brilliance in a French Cut is like no other cut in a diamond. The sparkle is like a rainbow of colors because of the way in which the cuts angle in the light. You can see by the above images the small table and the large side crown angles. This is the main reason for the cut’s brilliance. It is hard to find today a diamond cutter who can cut this beautiful stone!!

As I blog this to you, I am waiting to get a new ring with French Cut Diamonds tapering down the sides of a ring.  At the ring’s center is an extremely rare Ruby center.  The entire ring is set in Platinum. I will show an image when I pick up the ring later in the day. This ring has taken 6 months to create.

You will tell me if it was worth the wait?

Have fun today!

Gerald

Benefits of Having a Private Jeweler #3

Well, yesterday my best female friend for 40 years got engaged!  So very happy for Veronica and her fiance, Skip!  This is one more reason to have a private jeweler!

Skip lives in San Francisco, Veronica lives in Indian Wells, and I am in Los Angeles. She told me her finger size was 6.5. Skip told me to ask her what she likes and just do it!  Put a ring on it.  Done, Done, and Done!  In a matter of two weeks.

She sent me an image on what her dream would be.  I, being a Diamond Expert and designer, took this image, improved on it, and made the most beautiful, stunning, sparkling ring! The central diamond is a 3.50 carat plus Cushion cut, which I talked about earlier. This diamond is PERFECT in every way!  Cut, color, clarity!!  The mounting is platinum, and I added side diamonds, which are Trapezoid cuts, and also very sparkly!! The ring prongs (to mem a VERY important finish) are split “Claw” prongs, which means they disappear with the faceting.  All you see is the sparkling diamonds, no metal.  AMAZING!!!

I am so happy for them both!!!

Again benefits of having a Private Jeweler!

Everyone should have one!!!

Gerald

Benefits of Having a Private Jeweler #2

The benefits of having a Private Jeweler are many. I am here to give you the list.

As a private jeweler, we have more pull in the better pricing department, than a retail store. This is why. We know exactly what we are looking for when it comes to a jewel, where a buyer or manager of a retail store just gives a general range.  For instance, a private jeweler will say “I need a 3.50 carat plus or minus ‘G – H color’ and ‘VS clarity'”. Where a store might be much broader, and say “we need a 3 carat, 3.50 carat, and a 4.00 carat gem, ranging from D-I color, and clarity from Vs to SI”.

The retail diamond house charges more per stone because the stores have just these diamonds sitting in inventory, either in the safe or in the show case.  They wait for a client to walk in and try to figure out what the client wants in a diamond, whether or not they have it in stock, and if they don’t, maybe try to convince them to buy something that is in stock.  It may not be exactly what the client wants, but no diamond house can afford to stock ever size, shape, and color of diamond.  The diamond house charges more because their inventory is immediately available for viewing, and not moving around with a Private Jeweler, who could be taking the diamond around and showing it to various clients.

On the other hand, the diamond house gives us, the private jeweler, the better price because we know what kind of diamond the private client wants, so the chance of a sale is greater.  We take the diamonds directly to a client, show them to the client, and then pay for the diamond.  With a private jeweler, it’s a fast turn around, and faster income. Also the Private Jeweler filters through all the inferior cut diamonds to find the best.  As a private jeweler, I pick the most stunning diamond so the buyer can wear it proudly and confidently!  A Private Jeweler sorts through a ton of diamonds, new jewelry, or antique jewelry to arrive at the piece or stone that would be right for the client! The client wastes considerably less time because the Private Jeweler has done the work to find them what they want, rather than what is in inventory at the store.

Right now I am looking for a 3.50 carat Cushion cut diamond, a matched pair of Round Brilliant cut diamond studs 1.50 carats each, 2.75 carat plus emerald cut diamond, and a 3.50 carat plus carat, “white, big and sparkly diamond at a deal price”. My clients words exactly. This last one doesn’t know what she wants except Big Sparkly and white. So I will check every market. The new cut diamond market and the antique cut diamonds. You just never know what you will find.

So having your own Private Jeweler will save you Time and Money! And you will get the Best diamond.  A knowledgeable private jeweler fill filter to find the best.

When I do this for my clients I only show 2 to 3 stones because they will be the best in the available market at that time; there is no other reason to look at 5 to 7 diamonds. It’s too confusing, and suggests you didn’t filter the best!

If you don’t have your own Private Jeweler, I can help suggest to  you a trusted private jeweler  in your area.

Let me know.

Gerald

Added Value to your Jewelry Collections – Museum Exhibition

Just a tease with this topic!

To add value to your jewelry collection, loaning your jewels to a Museum or the designer house for an exhibition will always add value to your piece or your collection!

JAR (aka Joel Arthur Rosenthal) from Paris, France is the first and only living designer to have his jewels exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of New York. Earlier this year, I flew to New York to view this rare and extensive collection of JAR jewelry at one location! The collection was from his clients from all over the world who loaned them to him for this exhibit. The pieces were documented, photographed, and written about in press and publicity materials.  Getting a piece of jewelry into the JAR exhibit greatly increased the value of the individual pieces.  Not only did the clients who loaned the jewels to JAR for the exhibit earn bragging rights that their jewelry was shown at the Met, they now have a much more valuable piece.  Seriously!!

I have several clients who have amazing collections of fine and rare jewelry who have loaned their pieces for many events or book publishings. This was one of them. If you’re so lucky to get one of your pieces in a collection, know that your pieces will be insured, valued, and photographed, which only increases the value of your collection at the end of the day.  And then, you get them back, much more valuable than before.

Think about it and let me know your thoughts on this!

Have fun today.

 

Gerald

 

Rose Cut Diamonds

The rose cut is a diamond that was first introduced in about the 1500s. The Rose cut in the picture above has a flat bottom with a dome-shaped crown or top,  With anywhere from 3 to 24 facets, a rose cut diamond resembles the shape of a rose bud. This Rose cut was common during the Georgian and Victorian eras.

If you look at the images at the top, you’ll see that Rose cut diamonds are just amazing.  What’s more, they are rarely found today! The sparkle is bright! The sparkle comes from the surface reflection not from inside the diamond, like the modern cut diamonds.

Designers are going just crazy now finding and using these Rose cuts. You can do wonders in jewelry designs!!!

They also are being found in natural color diamonds. These color diamond crystals are naturally flatter when found in raw form, which makes cutting into a Rose cut just perfect!

Check them out and tell me what you think!!

I am on the hunt for Emerald cuts diamonds and Oval cut diamonds and Large Heart shape diamonds today! I will be having some FUN!!!

 

Gerald

Shield Shape Cut diamonds and Color stones

Shield shape diamonds and stones of color are just beautiful stones. Here above are some beautiful examples of different Shield cut diamonds and blue sapphires. The actual weight of these stones are lighter than expected due to the fact that the diamond crystals are flat.  However, cut right they will have a lot of sparkle. They are really pretty alone or used as accent stones. Very few jewelry houses use these shapes. The taste level tends to come from people who want the beautiful but different look. I agree with this section of the jewelry wearing public. Don’t you think?

Nothing more to say but just a beautiful look in any color !

 

 

Triangle & Trilliant cut diamonds

Triangle & Trilliant cut diamonds are amazing in themselves!

Just look at the Blue and colorless diamond from BVLGARI above. Just Stunning in every way!! The colorless diamond is a 9.87 carat gem, and the Fancy Vivid Blue weighs 10.95 carats.

These shapes can be used as accent diamonds on a larger piece of jewelry, and of course the center diamond showpiece. The triangle cut diamond has many meanings because the symbol of a triangle has so many meanings. From religions representing God and the Holy Trinity, to different Occult sects using this symbol for summoning spirits. So interesting!

I love symbolism in jewelry. I designed a entire line of jewelry with symbolism embedded in the design.

I have a friend who gave a 10 carat Triangle cut diamond set in the center of a circle on a necklace to her sponsor.  Talk about symbolism!

This diamond shape has mostly been used in jewelry as accent diamonds. I am using one Trilliant cut diamond as a solitaire diamond a necklace. It is going to look great! Just under one carat.

Let me know your thoughts on the special cut diamond?

Oh. It is  a little chilly today.

Gerald