Brilliant idea for a brilliant diamond ring

Jude Frances came up with the Cipriani ring, consisting of 5 center diamond put together in a wonderful shape. Maybe you can’t have that precious single perfect big diamond, but you can have setting of five with the same effect and a better price. You can get the ring you desire for much less. Brides.com says “To get an idea of the price, the 1 carat total weight ring costs $5,907 while the 3 carat total weight ring costs $7,638″. The same style can be applied to earrings and pendants.

Photos and story coutesy to Jude Frances and Brides.com.

The pink diamond is the world’s most rare and valuable diamond. The Argyle mine (the world’s foremost source of unrivalled intense pink diamonds)  is a diamond mine located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The Argyle mine is the largest diamond producer in the world by volume, although due to the low proportion of gem-quality diamonds, is not the leader by value producing 95% of the world’s supply.

1. The Darya-i-Nur Diamond

Daria Nour Diamond

2. Nur-Ul-Ain Diamond

Nur-Ul-Ain diamond

Diamond Carat Weigh: 60

Color: light pink

3.Steinmetz Pink diamond

Steinmetz Pink diamond

Diamond Carat Weigh: 59.60

Color: fancy vivid pink

4. Shah Jahaan  Diamond

Shah Jahan Diamond

Diamond Carat Weigh: 56.71

Color: light pink

5. Agra Diamond

Agra diamond

Diamond Carat Weigh: 32.34

Color: fancy light pink

6. Pink Sunrise Diamond

Pink Sunrise Diamond

Diamond Carat Weigh: 29.79

Color: light pink

7. Rose of Dubai Diamond

Rose of Dubai Diamond

Diamond Carat Weigh: 25.02

Color: light pink

8. The Mouawad Lilac Diamond

Mouawad Lilac Diamond

Diamond Carat Weigh: 24.44

Color: fancy purplish pink

9. The Williamson Diamond

Williamson Diamond

Diamond Carat Weigh: 23.56

Color: light pink

10. The Graff Pink Orchid Diamond

Graff Pink Orchid Diamond

Diamond Carat Weigh: 22.84

Color: fancy purplish pink

After the world’s most expensive blue diamond, The Wittelsbach, was sold to diamond dealer – Laurence Graff – last year for $24.3 million, Sotheby’s has another impressive blue diamond for the next auction.

Despite the economic woe, apparently sales for big, rare stones are still going strong. The new diamond is a fancy vivid blue gem weighing 7.03 carats and is rated internally flawless – high praise for a natural stone. Petra Diamonds, the diamond mine, unearthed this rare gem from the Cullinan mine in South Africa.

The blue beauty will be shown in Hong Kong, Paris, New York and London before winding up in Geneva for the Sotheby’s auction on May 12th, where it is estimated to sell for as much as $8.5 million.

The Lesotho Promise is the wonderful creation of Graff, a necklace that truly takes the breath away. The awesome 603 carat stone was found in the Letsenf mine, in Lesotho, the 15th largest diamond found.

Graff payed quite a sum for it, the diamond ads up to $12.36 million. After thorough analysis, the diamond was cut in 26 pieces that vary in size, from just a little more than half carat to the superb pear shaped 76.41 carat diamond, the centerpiece of the Lesotho Promise necklace.

The whole process of creating the astounding diamond lasted 18 months but the result is more than satisfactory.

The Lesotho Promise necklace is made by diamonds all coming from the Lesotho Promise rough diamond. The 26 white D-flawless diamonds, set in white gold, sum up to 223.5 carats and are estimated at around $50 million. Might be just a little too much for me…

If you are looking for references in the glittery world of jewels then Graff should be on the list. The house of Graff is one of the most prestigious jewelry houses in the world. Present in the jewelry news and at the utmost high class auctions, Graff offers splendid jewels and not for any pocket, but I bet they are worth every cent.

The Lesotho diamond

Graff jewelry house is the impersonation of rarity, beauty, excellence, quality, craftsmanship and a girl’s best friend – diamonds. One of the leading diamond companies Graff, has more than 300 qualified staff cutting raw gems in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Laurence Graff, says about his passion for diamonds: “Diamonds excite me; diamonds are my life – I see inside the stone, look at the color and cut and assess its natural beauty and value – I was born to be amongst diamonds”.

With workshops around the world: Antwerp, London, Johannesburg, Mauritius and New York, Graff refines the best diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and pearls. Graff is involved in all stages of making a jewel, from the mining, cutting and polishing of the diamond, the initial vision and design of the piece through to the final exquisite Graff jewelry.

Courtesy of Graff.

You might also be interested in Top 10 most expensive jewelry in the world, in which you can find one of Graff’s creations.

It is so fascinating to see what celebrities consider to be appropriate engagement rings. They are trend setters after all! No one can forget J. Lo’s radiant-cut pink diamond ring, which set a new trend in Hollywood, suggesting that bigger is better. Yet celebrity taste in jewelry differ so much…

10 famous engagement rings

1. Actress Elizabeth Taylor became more popular for the striking jewelry in her possession. She received a 30 carat emerald-cut diamond from Michael Todd, her third husband. She also received a Krupp diamond of 39 carats, the Taylor-Burton pear-shaped diamond of 69.42 carats, and the heart-shaped 17th century Taj Mahal diamond.

2. Priscilla Presley received a diamond engagement ring of 3.5 carats, circled by diamond chips and 21 small diamonds, from Elvis.

3. Sharon Stone was engaged to Phil Bronstein with three emerald-cut diamonds in a 3 1/2 carat ring.

4. The engagement to Catherine Zeta Jones was formalized by Michael Douglas with a beautiful antique marquise diamond of 10 carats with a horizontal set, worth $2 million.

5. Joan Collins received a heart-shaped diamond ring made in the 19th century from Percy Gibson, her husband.

6. Some celebrities settle for a three-stone engagement ring to represent past, present, and future. Famous pop star Madonna received a three-stone antique exquisite Edwardian diamond ring with a decorative platinum band from Guy Ritchie.

7. Paris Hilton, the famous diva, was engaged to billionaire Paris Latsis with two famous engagement rings: a canary diamond ring of 24 carats worth $5 million and a white emerald-cut diamond ring of 15 carats worth $2.1 million.

8. Britney Spears also has two engagement rings: a cushion-cut diamond ring of 4 carats worth $40,000 bought by herself before her wedding and another one presented by her husband Kevin Federline, nine months after their marriage.

9. Toni Braxton received a stunning and beautiful three-stone 4.5 carat diamond ring from Keri Lewis. It has two heart-shaped diamonds on each side and an oval-shaped stone center.

10. Jennifer Lopez was engaged to Ben Affleck with a radiant pink diamond ring of 6 carats, which quickly drew public attention and became very famous. The pink diamond ring, complete with three baguette white diamonds and a platinum band on each side, was purchased for $1.2 million. Inspiring and famous engagement rings Celebrity engagement rings only reflect the lifestyle acquired by an endless budget. The famous diamonds have created a huge demand for celebrity-inspired rings, which are available at affordable rates.

From Hubpages.com

The amazing rock was found near Lesotho in September 8, 2008 and it is the 20th largest rough diamond ever found !

The Millennium Star is the 10th largest diamond in the world. It weights 203.04 carats and is a D-color flawless pear-shaped diamond with a total of 54 facets. The diamond was found in the Mbuji-Mayi district of Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1990 and as a rough stone it weighted 777 carats. It took 5 months of studying and planning the cutting of the stone and the conclusion was that it must be cleaved into three pieces.

The Millennium Star glowing

Clearly, the Millennium Star is the result of faceting and polishing the largest piece from the rough diamond. The value of the stone hasn’t been revealed but it is said that the 100 million English pounds which served to insure the Millennium Star was insured was just a fraction of its true worth.

The Millennium Star

To mark the year 2000 and to celebrate the new millennium, De Beers and the Steinmetz Group put together the most valuable set of diamonds ever. The most impressive of this collection was the Millennium Star, the second largest faceted D-Flawless diamond after the Centenary Diamond.

The Millennium Star and other diamonds

French actress Sophie Marceau presented the Millennium Star during an impressive ceremony at the top floor of the CSO’s Charterhouse Street complex in London. The general press focused on the displayed 11 highly rare blue diamonds cut into a variety of shapes, on Sophie Marceau and on the Millennium Star, the attractions of the show.

The Millennium Star in Sophie Marceau hands

The Red Cross was found in Kimberly mines (South Africa) in 1901. The rough stone weighed 375 carats and had canary yellow color. It was given a cushion-shaped cut and after the processing the Red Cross diamond had a weight of 205.07 carats.

The Red Cross diamond

On behalf of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John, the Red Cross diamond was presented as a gift to the art sale held in London by Christies in 1918. It is said that this large diamond has special features: following exposure to bright light it emits the absorbed rays and becomes self-luminous in the dark; a Maltese Cross is distinctly visible in the top facet and that is where its name came from.

It was stated that a member of a European royal family had bought the Red Cross but it is sure that an American businessman put it up for sale half a century later. The Red Cross diamond has had large number of owners all over the world through time, and most of the diamond trade has been aware that it was on the market and many have viewed it.

The De Beers diamond was found in Kimberly mines in 1888. The rough stone weighed 428.50 old carats and was a huge light yellow octahedral crystal. It is not known where the De Beers diamond was cut but some features of the cleavage make experts believed that it is very likely that the work was carried out in Amsterdam.

The De Beers diamond

Polished and cut, the De Beers is the 8th largest faceted diamond in the world. The Maharaja of Patiala bought the De Beers diamond after a display in Paris. It became the centerpiece of ceremonial Patiala Necklace and the setting was made by Cartier of Paris in 1928. The necklace with the De Beers diamond centerpiece originally contained about 2,930 diamonds weighing about 962.25 carats.

De Beers diamond front view

Today’s whereabouts of the De Beers diamond and the Patiala Nacklace is unknown and it is said to be disappeared. Yet, in 1998, someone came upon the remnants of it in a second hand jewelry shop in London. All of the big stones were gone: seven stones ranging from 18 to 73 carats set above a pendant, and the 234.69-carat De Beers Diamond.

Patiala Necklace with De Beers diamond