Christie's Sells 101 Carat Diamond For Record Breaking Sum

A 101.27 carat diamond has sold at auction in Hong Kong for a record breaking sum of HK$48.5 million ($6.2 million).

The diamond is the largest colourless diamond to be offered at auction in 18 years. It is considered internally flawless, with a clarity rating of VVS1 and an F colour rating. It is one of only four colourless diamonds over 100 carats to have ever come up at auction.

The diamond is set in a tiara and was offered for auction as part of a jewellery sale held by Christie's International. The sale was the highest value jewellery auction ever for the famous auction house.

The diamond was sold by an anonymous individual to a first time buyer who bid over the telephone. The new owner of the diamond also has the privilege of naming the diamond.

The stone was cut from a 460 carat rough diamond, mined at South Africa's largest diamond mine, Premier Mine.

UK - A Nation of Jewellery Owners

Britons have £52 Billion of jewellery stashed at home according to a new survey by Halifax bank. The survey estimated the average value of jewellery per household at £1,986. Out of this, £8.6 billion of jewellery is worn every day by 36 million Britons.

11% of the population were found to own over £5,000 of jewellery but 35% had never been valued for insurance purposes or otherwise.

People from Northampton, Glasgow and Wrexham wear jewellery the most whilst residents of Milton Keynes and Preston had the highest value of jewellery stored at home.

Martyn Foulds, senior claims manager at Halifax home insurance, said: "It seems many people with expensive jewellery collections may be selling themselves short by not getting their articles valued fully and insured for the correct amount".

Here at The Diamond Store, we provide a full valuation for every Jewellery purchase. Further, records are kept of this valuation so if you were to misplace your valuation, another can be provided. We sell our jewellery at well below retail prices (RRP) but the valuation itself will show the full retail value you would expect to pay on the high street, thus giving you full flexibility if you ever needed to make a claim.

See an example of our Free Included Jewellery Valuation here.

Men Spending Less On Engagement Rings

According to a recent survey carried out by Wedding magazine, men are now spending £400 less than a year ago on engagement rings.

However, it seems that the engagement ring is the only element of the wedding to see cost-cutting measures, with the average total cost of a wedding holding steady at around £20,000. This would suggest that women are less reluctant than men to cut costs for their big day!

The survey also revealed that couples are engaged for an average of 23 months, and will have been together for an average of 3 or 4 years. The average age of women on their wedding day is 29.

The registry office came out as the cheapest wedding option, with an average cost of just under £10,000.

Pave Rings - The Celebrities Choice

Pave rings have become very fashionable in recent times, especially in the glittering world of celebrity, where women are often seen sporting an enormous amount of diamond jewellery in an attempt to "out-bling" their fellow celebs!

The pave ring setting is a great choice for those who want to make a statement or stand out in the crowd. The word pave comes from the French word pavé, meaning paved, and this is how the tiny diamond clusters appear on a pave ring - like a sparkly paved cobblestone road. Many tiny diamonds are set in small holes in rows along the ring shank, with the objective being to place as many diamonds as possible on the surface, thus creating a beautiful shimmer effect. Some of the most impressive pave rings cover a large surface area, creating a maximum shimmer and sparkle effect.

Once the diamonds are set, tiny beads of gold or platinum are used to secure the diamonds in place, making this ring setting an extremely robust and hard wearing choice. The more precisely the diamonds are cut, the better the quality of the finish.

The pave ring setting is often seen in antique style jewellery, a trend which is currently very popular among celebrities. Ashley Judd is an example of someone who has chosen this style with her fabulous antique pave set diamond engagement ring. Elisabeth Hurley is another celebrity whose engagement ring includes a pave setting. The Chopard designed pave set band is the perfect backdrop to the enormous Assher cut 15.09 carat diamond which proudly takes centre stage.

A diamond pave ring is an expression of luxury and elegance, and is guaranteed to impress the loved one in your life.

Buying An Omega Seamaster Watch From Thewatchsource.co.uk

It was my birthday recently and I fancied a new watch, a bit indulgent I know but......

I am addicted to looking at watches in shop windows so I had a fairly good idea of what I wanted, I also hate to admit this but I did go into the shops to try on various watches, I had to to get a sense of scale and size....

This must be a difficult balance for the watch makers, how do they keep the retailers happy and embrace new sales channels such as the internet at the same time?

Maybe they will need to change the business models in the future and will end up paying "retail advertising space" to shop fronts and owners!

Anyway I narrowed my search down to a few makes and models and called Lee at the Watch Source (he had been recommended to me by a friend). We talked through the watches I liked and Lee even steered me away from the most expensive watch I had earmarked!!

I settled on the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean - the 42mm (Model No. 2901.51.82), I loved the 45mm Planet Ocean Chronograph but it lookd too big on my wrist!

I paid Lee and had an exciting 2 week wait for the watch.....

Lee called me exactly 2 weeks after making the order to let me know that the watch was in and ready to go. I was staying down in Cornwall that week and Lee suggested sending the watch there, great idea! The watch arrived next day and I love it!

So, if your looking for a watch then please do check out The Watch Source.co.uk, if you're confused about which watch to buy call up and speak to Lee, great free advice from an expert!!

What Makes Cartier Jewellery So Special?

Cartier is a brand synonimous with exquisite, expensive and unique jewellery pieces worn by the rich and famous. The jewellery house has an impressive heritage and a client list to be envied, but for most of us, sadly, to own a piece of Cartier jewellery is something we can only dream about.

So what makes a piece of Cartier jewellery so special?

It takes between 15 and 20 years to train as a jeweller at the Cartier atelier, where there are 40 master jewellers at work. There are also specialist cutters, setters and polishers who each have their very important part to play in the process of creating a piece of Cartier jewellery. Cartier jewellers are renowned for their incredible craftmanship and skill, which is reflected in their beautiful jewellery pieces.

Over 80% of the jewellery items produced are unique, and each piece is painstakingly created using the same techniques that have been used for over 100 years. The process is very labour intensive and it can typically take 1,500 hours to create a brooch, or 3,000 hours to create a small clock. Once you start to understand the amount of work involved in producing each piece, the price tag starts to seem a bit more reasonable!

Since the opening of the first Cartier shop in Paris in 1847, Cartier has built a loyal and distinguished client base. Clients have included Russian Tsars, British Royalty and Hollywood film stars, perhaps most famously Elisabeth Burton, who is a huge fan. Within her sizeable jewellery collection is the famous Burton-Taylor diamond, which was given to the actress by Richard Burton. It is a white-blue 69.42 carat pear shaped diamond, which was used to create a stunning diamond necklace.

The true value of a piece of Cartier jewellery can often be seen when a historical piece comes onto the market and goes to auction. An example of the appreciation that can be seen was demonstrated recently when Calvin Klein sold a pearl and diamond necklace by Cartier. It was originally commissioned by Queen Mary, who then gave it to her son who in turn gave it to his wife, the Duchess of Windsor. Calvin Klein bought the necklace in 1987 for $200,000, and sold it 20 years later for $4,000,000, making it a very shrewd investment, in addition to being such a beautiful necklace!

The demand for Cartier jewellery seems to be stronger than ever. This was demonstrated at the showing of its most recent collection in London, to which Cartier flew 400 of its best clients, and where every single item was purchased within a matter of hours.

Christie's To Auction Christina Onassis Jewels

Christie's International will be auctioning a collection of 45 pieces of jewellery belonging to the late Christina Onassis, as part of a vintage jewels auction on the 11th June.

Highlights of the collection include a stunning pear-shaped 38-carat Harry Winston diamond, which was worn as a diamond pendant necklace by the only daughter of the famous shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis. The necklace is expected to fetch between 1.8 and 2.2 million pounds.

A Faberge semi-precious stone buddha, dating back to the nineteenth century, will also be up for auction. Christie's estimates that this will fetch between 250,000 and 350,000 pounds, although experts believe it could fetch more than this. The buddha was kept on the yacht owned by Aristotle Onassis, which he named after his daughter. The buddha's hands and head move on springs and pivots, which would have been set in motion by the movement on the sea.

The collection also includes a ruby and diamond necklace by Van Cleef and Arpels, and a sapphire and diamond necklace expected to fetch around 120,000 pounds. The whole collection is expected to fetch up to 3 million pounds, and includes rings, bracelets, necklaces, watches and oddities.

Christina Onassis was dubbed the "poor little rich girl" during her lifetime, as she struggled to find happiness despite her family wealth. She was married and divorced four times, and had a much-loved daughter, Athina, but she continually struggled with issues of self esteem and depression. She died in 1987, aged just 37 years, leaving her two-year old daughter as the heiress to the huge family fortune.

A Licence To Own Diamond Jewellery?

When do you need a licence to own a diamond jewellery piece? The answer is when the diamond jewellery can actually kill!


Having managed to make the world's smallest gun, the makers SHG SA in La CHaux-de-Fonds have developed a diamond and gold version.




Made entirely of 18 Karat gold and complete with 127 (2.53 carats of Vs quality) diamonds, the customised SwissMiniGun sells for up to £30,000. Only 5.5 centimeters in length and with ammunition of 2.34 millimeters caliber, the SwissMiniGun is the smallest revolver and rim fire ammunition in the world.


The gun is available in Switzerland and Europe but not the UK and you will need to have a proper gun permit!


Read more about the gun here.

Heritage Makes A Comeback

Some of the world's oldest and most famous jewellery houses are drawing inspiration from the past, in an attempt to compete against the global luxury fashion brands such as Gucci, Dior and Versace.

Nowhere can this be seen more dramatically than in Paris. The Chaumet jewellery house originally made its name as the jeweller to Napoleon, and their current collection reflects this history, including bracelets with love messages inspired by Napoleon's gifts to Josephine.

Cartier's recently created collection "Inde Mysterieuse", pays homage to its longstanding love affair with the Indian sub-continent, which dates back to the start of the century, when Louis Cartier became fascinated with the Maharajahs and Moghul art. The past has been brought into the present to create jewellery pieces that are fine examples of modern design and creativity, whilst maintaining a clear historical influence.

One of the biggest challenges facing traditional jewellers is the need to appeal to new markets, and particularly to younger generations, who have been born into a globalised marketplace dominated by powerful brand names and modern marketing expertise. Traditional jewellers therefore have to adapt to the changing marketplace, recognise their strengths and weaknesses, and adopt new marketing strategies.

Whilst history provides a rich source of inspiration for jewellers, perhaps the greatest strength of the historic houses is the dedicated craftsmanship and skill they offer. These qualities allow the jewellers to work closely with the client, and to create unique, bespoke pieces of jewellery that are highly personalised. This is something that the global fashion brands will never be able to compete with.

Victoria & Albert Museum To Open New Jewellery Gallery

The Victoria & Albert Museum will open the new William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery on 24 May 2008. It will display 3,500 pieces of jewellery from the museum's impressive collection, which is renowned to be one of the finest and largest in the world.

The collection tells the story of European jewellery during the last 800 years, with fine examples of pieces worn by historic figures during this period. Highlights include jewelled pendants given by Queen Elizabeth I to her courtiers, diamonds worn by Catherine the Great of Russia and the famous Beauharnais Emeralds given by Napoleon to his adopted daughter.

A four year renovation has taken place, thanks to the generous donation of William Bollinger, including a complete re-design of the area.

New additions to the collection include Lady Mountbatten's "tutti frutti" ruby, sapphire, emerald and diamond bandeau, which she purchased from Cartier in 1928, as well as additions to the Cartier, Lalique and Tiffany collections.

Whether you're a history buff, jewellery aficionado or simply someone that enjoys a nice piece of jewellery, this is sure to be an enjoyable and educational day out.

Victoria & Albert Museum Website