Blue Heart Diamond

 

Image credit: Chip Clark

Chronological Background

1908 – Found at the Premier Mine, South Africa

1909 – 1910 – French jeweler Atanik Eknayan of Paris faceted the 30.62 carat heart-shaped, brilliant cut, blue diamond out of a 100.5 carat piece of rough

1910 – Cartier purchased the Blue Heart and sold it set in a lily-of-the-valley brooch to Mrs. Unzue, an Argentinian woman

1953 – Van Cleef & Arpels bought the gemstone and set it in a pendant to a necklace valued at $300,000.  It was later sold to a European family

1959 – Harry Winston acquired it and mounted the Blue Heart in its present platinum ring setting surrounded by 26 round brilliant cut colorless diamonds with a total weight of 1.63 carats

Image credit: Chip Clark

1960 – Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post purchased the ring from Harry Winston

1964 – Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post donated the Blue Heart to the National Gem Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

2010 – The Smithsonian celebrated 100 years since the cutting of the Blue Heart

Today, the Blue Heart continues to reside at the Smithsonian.  Although the Blue Heart is about 2/3 the size of the Hope Diamond (45.52 carat), it remained a popular gemstone for its heart-shaped brilliant cut and vivid blue color.  GIA graded the Blue Heart as a natural fancy deep blue diamond with a clarity grade of VS2.

July highlights from Rapaport

 

• Manufacturers prefer to buy polished diamonds and resell them rather than to buy rough and manufacture
• Manufacturers are frustrated by the long turnaround grading time for diamonds at GIA, thus opting to sell more non certified 0.30 carat goods
  • However, if GIA addresses the backlog, there will be an oversupply of diamonds thus influencing prices to drop. As such, GIA backlog is actually regulating the market.
  • Grading for below 1 carat – at least 4 months, 1 carat to 3 carat – 4 – 6 weeks
• Major mining companies working within more corporate-like structures are faced with their own rising costs and ambitious targets, hence, De Beers and Alrosa unlikely to lower prices soon.
• HK Luk Fook reported soaring profits for FY2013 – 2014 because of strong Chinese demand for gold products, with HK and Macau accounting for 62% of its total revenue. Macau was Luk Fook’s strongest growth market.  While it has 5 overseas stores – Singapore, Australia, US and Canada, China remains its main focus for expansion.  In total, it has 83 self-operated stores, 1,125 licensed franchises in China, 45 self-owned stores in HK and 10 in Macau. Higher growth driven by:
  • Chinese demand for gold coins and gold jewelry
  • Gem-set jewelry
• Dominion Diamond Corporation’s revenue grew in Q1 2014 due to is purchase of Ekati from BHP Billiton in Apri 2013.  Also boosted by the sale of Harry Winston retail brand to Swatch Group. Its observation of the market:
  • India’s liquidity issues have been addressed
  • There is steady polished demand with shortages in lower-priced goods
  • Retail jewelry markets in US and China are upbeat
  • Retail jewelry market in Japan has exceeded expectations
  • Consumption in India market is expected to improve
• The Bridal Jewelry Boom
  • Extends beyond engagement ring purchase to include wedding band, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, hair pieces, anniversary bands
  • Influenced by fashion and pop culture
  • Engagement rings trend: center stones are typically round (also have oval, emerald and cushion cuts), average size is 1.1 carat, 1 in 3 rings had prong settings, 60% had clear diamond center stone with side stones
  • Pertinent for jewelers to follow through after the engagement ring purchase to foster long-term relationships
• India’s optimism on new government of Narendra Modi enabling a more favorable environment of the country’s diamond and jewelry trade despite low level of activity at the India International Jewelry Show (IIJS)
  • Stabilization of the rupee would help facilitate growth especially for small to medium diamond manufacturers transacting in local currency
• What hurt the India’s market
  • Volatile currency – rupee depreciation
  • Rise in gold prices while gold becoming cheaper in international markets, leading India to lose its long term status as the world’s leading gold consumption country to China
  • Import duty on polished duties raised from 2 to 2.5%, making no sense for diamond manufacturers to bring in additional polished
  • Levy on gold 10%
• India is still the powerhouse of the diamond industry, dominating manufacturing
  • Only country that has significant presence in every stage of the pipeline – from Rio Tinto’s Bunder mine development (expected to come to on stream in 2019), to jewelry designs and its vibrant retail jewelry market.
  • Accounted for 8% of global polished diamond consumption in 2013, ranking as the 4th largest diamond jewelry market behind the U.S., China and Japan
  • Can’t afford to be complacent as manufacturing centers continue to grow in Southern Africa and China, and trading expands globally
• Botswana was the world’s largest leading rough diamond producer by value in 2013.  Together with Russia, these 2 countries control almost half of the world’s diamond production with Canada, Namibia and Angola rounding the top 5.  
• Russia is the world’s largest producer of rough by volume. 
• India ranks as the largest consumer of rough diamonds by volume,followed by China and the European Union.
• Israel was the 2nd largest consumer of rough by value, followed by Namibia.
• EU was the largest rough trading center. 

 

The Gachala Emerald

Image credit: Krohsnest.net

The uncut Gachala emerald is said to be one of the most beautiful emerald gemstones ever known. Also one of the world’s largest weighing at an astounding 858 carats, this gem-quality treasure was discovered in 1967 at the Vega de San Juan mine in Columbia.

Named after the district in the mine it was located, the uncut gem is dark vivid green in color and slightly bigger than a golf ball – 5 X 5 cm. The Gachala is now making its home at the National Museum of Natural History, part of the Smithsonian Institute of Washinton, D.C. It was donated in 1969 by Harry Winston, the famed New York jeweler.

The Taylor-Burton

Image credit: famousdiamonds.tripod.com

In 1966, a rough stone weighing 240.80 carats was found in Premier Mine, South Africa. Harry Winston bought it and studied the massive rough with his cleaver, Pastor Colon Jr. for 6 months.

The rough yielded a stone of about 24 carats and a larger piece weighing 162 carats that was destined to produce a 69.42 carats pear shape.

Richard Burton bought this world’s 12^th largest diamond at that time from Cartier for USD1.1 million, making it the world’s most expensive diamond at the time. The newly named Taylor-Burton diamond originally worn as a ring was too mammoth and Liz had Cartier redesigned it into a necklace. After Burton’s death, Liz sold the stone for charity, donating in his memory to a hospital in Botswana.

Mr Robert Mouawad, the stone’s current owner, had it slightly recut to weigh 68.09 carats. While previously having a very round outline, it is now a little more straight at the end with an even smaller culet.

Image credit: antiquesandfineart.com

The Idol’s Eye

 

Image credit: famousdiamonds.tripod.com

Like many of its peers in the famous diamond series, the Idol’s eye has a rich history of legend, myth, mystery …

This stone was probably mined in Golconda, India in the early 1600s. It made its first authenticated appearance at a Christie’s auction in 1865. It was sold then to a mysterious buyer later identified as the 34^th Ottomon Sultan, Abd al-Hamid II.

The Idol’s Eye remerged at the end of WWII when it was acquired by a Dutch dealer, and subsequently by Harry Winston in 1946. In the following year, Winston sold it to Mrs  May Bonfils Stanton, daughter of Frederick G. Bonfils, the publisher and co-founder of the Denver Post. The gem was set as the pendant to a diamond necklace containing 41 round brilliants totalling about 22.50 carats, plus another 45 baguettes weighing about 12 carats. She was said to have worn the Idol’s Eye at her solitary breakfast every morning.

Harry Levinson, a Chicago jeweler, bought the Idol’s Eye for USD375,000 for his wife, Marilyn. In 1967, he loaned it to De Beers for an exhibition at the Diamond Pavilion in Johannesburg. In 1982, he put it up for display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York at a reception celebratin the 50^th anniversary of Harry Windson.

Levinson eventually sold the Idol’s Eye to Laurence Graff of London. Together with the Emperor Maximilian and a 70.54 carat Fancy Yellow diamond named the Sultan Abdul Hamid II (once thought to be part of that ruler’s jewelry), the 3 diamonds were sold in one of the single largest diamond transactions in the world.

GIA has graded this a blue triangular old mine cut diamond and at 70.21 carats, it is approximately 25 carats larger than the Hope, erroneously known as the world’s largest blue diamond.