Raw diamonds have breached in the fine jewelry industry and bring a special touch to jewelry as we know it. Todd Reed is a true master in placing raw, uncut diamonds in fabulous jewelry pieces. The outcome is spectacular! What say you?

Photos courtesy of:  www.toddreed.com.

When looking for a relatively unique piece of jewelry, what catches your eye? This delightful pendant says it all.

This weeks favorite is: 10k Gold Diamond Question Mark Pendant. It is a great diamond pendant to give when asking a question. It is practical yet very sparkly. It is a touch small but reasonably priced.

Jewelry is meant to have a touch of playfulness at times. You can use it to be mysterious or helpful. Alternately you can simply enjoy the sparkle.

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

Yellow diamonds were once thought to be inferior and did not enjoy much appreciations. Nowadays, this concept has change and its due to several factors. The popularity on yellow diamond is stimulated by celebrities who are increasingly purchasing the very rare but beautiful Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamonds.

Johnny Damon, the Red Sox baseball star, married Michelle Mangan, everyone was dazzled by the brilliant yellow diamond engagement ring she was wearing, so the yellow diamond has begun to take over the spotlight. Celebrities may be adopting yellow diamonds as the newest hot diamond trend due to their extreme rarity.

1. The Incomparable Diamond

The Incomparable Diamond stone

The Incomparable Diamond mounted

Oppenheimer Diamond

De Beers diamond front view

The Red Cross Diamond

The Florentine diamond

Sarah diamond

Tiffany diamond

Vainer Briolette diamond

Mouna diamond

Allnatt diamond

Rarity:  If you had one thousand piles of diamonds and one thousand diamonds in each pile, only one of those diamonds would be a 1-carat diamond.  It would take 5 times that quantity to find a 2 carat stone.  DeBeers, the world’s diamond supplier, has no answer to the question how many stones have to be mined to get a 3 carat stone.   80% of all diamonds mined are industrial quality; only 20% are gem-quality.   Gem quality diamonds are found in only four places world-wide: Africa, Russia, Australia and Canada

Mining Cost:    250 tons of earth must be removed to find one 1-carat stone. (a one carat diamond is the size of a pea and weighs only one-fifth of a gram).  Diamonds are the most sought after substance on earth.  Diamond miners have invested into state-of-the-art technology to search for diamonds where only explorers have gone before.  They have developed equipment to dive to the darkest depths of the ocean and sweep the ocean floor.

1. Cut:  It takes ten years training and cutting thousands of smaller diamonds before a diamond cutter is allowed to even touch a one carat stone.  Cutters start on 3 and 4 pointers, then they move up to 10 and 12 pointers.  They must master the smaller sizes before they can move up to ¼ carats, then years to up 1/3 carats, ½ carats and then ¾ carats.
2. Endurance:  A diamond is approximately 140% harder than the next hardest substance known to man.  It is the only substance whose beauty is unaffected by age.  A diamond can be worn 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for decades upon decades before passing it down in the very same condition as the day it was purchased.
3. Antiquity Value:  Diamonds are scientifically dated at 3.4 billion years old.   They are so old, scientists are now using them to tell us how and when the oldest parts of our planet were formed.  There is nothing for sale that is older.
4. Investment Value:  A diamond is an investment in love, not in dollars.  Since 1940 diamonds have doubled in value every 10 years.  However, their greatest value lies not in their monetary worth, but in the emotions invested within them.  Most women would never sell their grandmother’s diamond ring.  A diamond is an investment in life, in someone you love.

By no means though are all diamonds white or yellow. Diamonds come in almost every color of the rainbow and then some. From black diamonds, which are considered mourning gems in certain areas of Eastern Europe, to the uber-rare and extremely expensive red diamonds.

The most popular colors in colored diamonds are yellow and pink. Most people have heard of the famed ‘Canary Yellow’ diamonds. This means it’s an intense fancy yellow diamond. Pink diamonds became extremely sought-after when Ben Affleck gave Jennifer Lopez a stunning pink diamond engagement ring from Harry Winston.

But there are other colored diamonds that are even more valuable – notably reds, greens and blues. But these gems are extremely rare and are mostly bought by serious diamond connoisseurs (or people with a lot of money to spare).

According to the Natural Colored Diamond Association only one diamond in 10,000 possesses a natural color so strong that it can be classified as fancy color diamond.

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.

Did you know?

• Diamond is the hardest substance found in nature, everyone knows that.
• Diamond is 4 times harder than the next hardest natural mineral, corundum more specifically sapphire and ruby.
• If a diamond receives a sharp blow in one of it’s forth cleavage directions it will split. A skilled diamond setter should prevent exposing a diamond in any of these directions when mounted in a jewelry piece.

• Diamond comes in a broad color range, high refraction, high dispersion (also known as fire), very low reactivity to chemicals and rarity.
• Diamonds are in almost every color of the rainbow plus browns, grays, and white. Shades of yellow are most common, followed by colorless. Blue, black, reddish, and greenish are usually more valuable.
• Diamonds are found in a type of rock called “Kimberlite”, which comprises the core of certain volcanoes over especially thick portions of the earth’s crust.

• Diamonds are found in many areas including South Africa, Russia, and even in Arkansas in the USA.
• Many diamonds are mined in the alluvial deposits across river beds in areas such as along the coast of South Africa.
• The ancient Hindus called the Diamond “Vajra,” meaning lightening, mainly because of the sparks of light  as well as its invincible strength.
• The ancient Greeks believed that diamonds were splinters of stars fallen to earth.
• Diamond is the symbol of everlasting love.  There is nothing more convincing than a promise of an enduring relationship with the brilliant gemstone .

• The traditional metaphysical properties for the April birthstone are  balance, clarity and abundance.
• The healing properties of the April birthstone are known to be effective for health problems relating to brain diseases, pituitary glands. The Diamond is also used to draw out toxins thus being used as a remedy for poison.
• The word Diamond is derived from the Greek word “adamas” meaning “hardest metal”, clearly reflect the property of the stone.
• In the past Diamonds were reserved for royalty, the only people “entitled” to their symbolism of strength, courage and invincibility.

Made by Mikimoto, this 18-inch pearl strand, took 10 years to gather the 27 perfectly round cultured pearls. The pearls are White South Sea AAA quality and are extremely rare. No wonder it took so long!

The expensive strand also has a noval clasp with 11,92 carats of diamonds, but its beauty realy lies in the cultured pearls. The high quality is showed in their 15.06 x 17.24 mm diameter, in the way pearls reflect light and a very special luster. Even so, $1,000,000 for a pearl strand?

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…