by Alex Francis Photo by Rebecca Barray | Flickr.com. Christie’s New York is hosting its Magnificent Jewel sale on December 10, and this year, a trio of truly magnificent gemstones will be up for auction. In keeping with the Christmas spirit, a red diamond, a green emerald ring, and a D-color diamond ring will be [...]
by Alex Francis Photo by Kim-bodia | Flickr.com. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was established in November of 2002 as the result of efforts by the international diamond industry, governments, and civil society organizations to stop the trade in conflict diamonds. Conflict diamonds, also commonly known as blood diamonds, are those that come from areas [...]
by Alex Francis In 2009, following the global financial crisis, Russia started stockpiling diamonds. About three million carats of diamonds were being washed and sorted by the diamond company Alrosa every month, but none of them were ever reaching the market. Instead, the state-owned company made the decision to stash the precious gems and has [...]
by Maya Bornstein The Eureka Diamond, the first diamond to be found in South Africa. The African continent has famously endured a terrible and seemingly endless scale of suffering owing to the diamond trade, and the neighboring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone are crucial examples. With the indictment of former president of Liberia Charles [...]
Gold and silver medals weren’t the only sparkling accessories at last weekend’s Olympic events. Swimmer Ryan Lochte, who won the gold for the 400-meter Individual Medley, made an eye-popping style choice to celebrate his gold medal. The swimmer donned an impressive diamond-encrusted grill and bared his twinkling teeth for the world to see. The Olympic [...]
by Maya Bornstein Photo by: Mike Beauregard | Flickr.com Most of the materials we are familiar with also have a number of other applications beyond their day-to-day uses. For instance, everyone is familiar with textiles for clothing, bedding, carpets, furniture, and other household items. However, textiles are also frequently utilized in the automotive, medical, industrial, [...]
In February of this year, Australian miners unearthed the world’s largest pink diamond. Discovered at the Argyle diamond mine in the East Kimberly region of Western Australia (the source of over 90% of the world’s pink diamonds), the 12.76 carat diamond was predicted to be worth at least $10 million. Mining industry giant and owner [...]
by Maya Bornstein Photo by: Steven Depolo | Flickr.com Diamonds may be shiny, but they often come at enormous costs – well beyond their hefty price tags. Just consider the diamond trade terrorizing the central and western regions of Africa, as well as the catastrophic environmental impact of mining these gems. In response, jewelers are [...]
People love their pets. In fact, some people love their pets so much, they design $37,500 worth collars for them. Well maybe not some people, but one person, designer Karl Lagerfeld, recently fashioned a one-of-a-kind collar made of 40 carats of black diamonds and a 22.3 carat hydrothermal emerald centerpiece for his precious kitten, Choupette. [...]
