THE BLING BLOG

AGTA 2007 Spectrum Awards Announced

The AGTA (American Gem Trade Association) announced its 2007 Spectrum Award Winners to a lively crowd at the Ramscale Gallery in New York's West Village last evening.  The gala cocktail party was sponsored by the AGTA and benefitted Project Renewal, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending homelessness.

The Spectrum Awards were founded in 1984 in order to honor and celebrate the competitive spirit of the gem industry's stone cutters and designers.  Every year, the luminaries of the jewelry industry turn out for the awards:  top designers, fashion editors and sometimes even a celebrity or two.  Judges included designers Ron Anderson, David Rees, Christopher Walling and Stuart Moore, as well as lapidary Ralph Wobito.

This year's submissions were said to be amongst the most exuberant in the Awards' over twenty-year history.  The rings were large, the necklaces were chunky and the use of color vibrant, in both stones and metals.  Designers used multiple colored stones, and mutiple colors and types of metals to execute their creations.

The AGTA Spectrum Awards will be officially presented during the 2007 AGTA Gemfair Tucson to be held January 31 - February 5 at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZ.  The AGTA has a special pavillion on the top floor of the TCC where the Award winners are displayed and my mother and I always devote at least a couple of trips to visit them.

They're always spectacular to behold.  Whether the style appeals to me or not, the artistry and quality of work and materials is undeniable.  The designers work with only the most fantastic stones.

The entries are generally judged on:

Overall beauty and wearability, innovative design, effective use of materials, quality of gemstones, quality of workmanship, broad-base consumer appeal and potential to generate positive publicity for natural colored gemstones.

Spectrum Award entries fall into one of five categories: Bridal Wear, Business/Day Wear, Classical, Evening and Men's Wear.

And the winners are...

Best of Show
Samuel Getz of Samuel Getz Private Jewelers, Coral Gables, FL, for his platinum "Gaia" ring featuring a 19.16 carat natural cushion-cut Sapphire, a 2.54 carat trilliant-cut Chrome Tourmaline and a 2.04 carat trilliant-cut Tsavorite Garnet

Best Use of Color
Robert Wander of Winc Creations, Honolulu, HI, for his 18K white and yellow gold necklace featuring a 24.91 carat purple Tourmaline, a 22.82 carat pink Tourmaline, a 22.10 carat yellow Tourmaline, two green Tourmalines (29.17 carats), Garnets (1.85 carats), multi-colored Sapphires 3.34 carats) and Diamonds (4.40 carats)

Fashion Forward Honors
Gregore Morin of Gregore Joailliers, Santa Barbara, CA, for his 18K white gold "Hummingbird" brooch featuring pink Sapphires (.85 carats), Paraiba Tourmalines (.42 carats), brown and yellow Diamonds (.50 carats) and Boulder Opal (.04 carats )

First-place winners in the following categories:

Bridal Wear Division
Brandy Hurt of AVA Goldworks, Hannibal, MO, for her cultured pearl necklace featuring a 3.10 carat Opal drop set in 18K white and rose gold accented with Diamonds (3.37 carats)

Business/Day Wear Division
Gregore Morin of Gregore Joailliers, Santa Barbara, CA, for his 18K white gold "Hummingbird" brooch featuring pink Sapphires (.85  carats), Paraiba Tourmalines (.42  carats), brown and yellow Diamonds (.50  carats) and Boulder Opal (.04  carats )

Classical Division
Zoltan David of Zoltan David Precious Metal Art, Austin, TX, for his platinum and 22K and 18K yellow gold ring featuring a 20.85 carat Spessartite Garnet accented with Tsavorite Garnets (6.40 carats)

Evening Wear Division
Jennifer Rabe Morin of Jennifer Robe Morin Jewelers, Santa Barbara, CA, for her 18K white and yellow gold butterfly brooch featuring Ocean Jasper inlay accented with Spessartite Garnets (1.24 carats) and Diamonds (.47 carats)

Men's Wear Division
Alan Friedman of Alan Friedman, Beverly Hills, CA for his 18K red and white gold ring featuring a 9.93 carat Spinel

Equally fascinating (if not more so) are the Cutting Edge Awards, stones only, which honor:

Excellence and creativity of the lapidary arts, including natural colored gemstones and cultured pearls, carvings, other gem materials and objects of art in the United States and Canada. Categories included: Open Category - Classic Gemstone Division, Open Category – All Other Faceted Gemstones Division, Open Category – Phenomenal Gemstones Division, Pairs & Suites, Faceting, Carving, Combination and Objects of Art.

Best of Show
Ray Zajicek, Equatorian Imports, Inc., Dallas, TX
3.13 ct. pear-shaped Emerald

Open Category - Classic Gemstone Division
1st Place - Classic Gemstone Division: Ray Zajicek, Equatorian Imports, Inc., Dallas, TX
3.13 ct. pear-shaped Emerald

Open Category - All Other Faceted Gemstones Division
1st Place - All Other Faceted Gemstones Division: John Dyer, Precious Gemstones Co., Eau Claire, WI
27.23 ct. flame-shaped Imperial Topaz

Open Category – Phenomenal Gemstones Division
1st Place – Phenomenal Gemstones Division: Omi Nagpal, Omi Gems, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
5.17 ct. natural cushion-cut Alexandrite

Pairs and Suites Division
1st Place – Pairs and Suites Division: Allen Kleiman, A. Kleiman & Co., Boulder, CO
Pair of pear-shaped Mozambique Paraiba Tourmalines (14.70 ctw.)

Faceting Division
1st Place – Faceting Division: John Dyer, Precious Gemstones Co., Eau Claire, WI
20.74 ct. modified trillion-cut Aquamarine

Carving Division
1st Place – Carving Division: David Hayes, David Anthony Designs, Westerville, OH
1.13 ct. corkscrew shaped Opal

Combination Division
1st Place – Combination Division: John Dyer, Precious Gemstones Co., Eau Claire, WI
46.15 ct. "Galaxy" Morganite

Objects of Art Division
1st Place – Objects of Art Division: Dalan Hargrave, Dust Devil Mining Co., Plush, OR
"Polar Spring" carving featuring a 202 ct. Sunstone set on silver and white marble

5.47 Canary Yellow Diamond Found In Arkansas

Bob Wehle of Wisconsin made a big score vacationing October 14th at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.  He found a 5.47-carat canary yellow diamond.  Visitors to the park can search and keep any stones they find.

The diamond Wehle found is bright yellow and is the second-largest diamond found this year at the park.  It has no apparent eye-visible flaws.  (The largest stone found this year was a 6.35-carat brown diamond found in September by a Texas couple.)

"At first glance, it makes you think of lemon drop candy," said Tom Stolarz, park superintendent.

Here's something to muddle your brain:

Bill Henderson, assistant park superintendent, said park officials don't estimate values of the stones found by visitors.  But he said Wehle's gem was identical in quality to — but larger than — a 4.21-carat flawless canary diamond found in the park in March that was valued by a New York diamond expert at $15,000 to $60,000.

Huh?  An expert valued it at $15K to $60K?  Huh?  Can't an expert, um, expertly get a bit closer to a value?

Whatever.

Still, pretty neat stuff, right?

Also, the Yahoo! article reminds us that the largest diamond ever discovered in the US was also found in Arkansas in 1924.  Dubbed the Uncle Sam, it was a white diamond weighing 40.23 carats.

In Very, Very Poor Taste

Oh, bother.

It's been a charming week for America.  First the unveiling of the annual gazillion dollar bra and now the $20 million wedding cake.  Charming.

This particular disaster, with the dubious distinction of being the most expensive wedding cake in the world (top that! and you know someone will), made its public debut Monday night in Beverly Hills at some ridiculous bridal show.

Its only apparent redeeming feature seems to be that the diamond/jewel creation portion was done by Mimi So, who is very talented and super creative and trés chic.

As for the cake itself?  It was created by Nahid La Patisserie Artistique.  The photo from Reuters isn't very good, but the cake itself doesn't look particularly, um, artistique....  and apparently it couldn't be eaten either.  And frankly, what good is damn cake if you can't eat it?

Exactly.

Donating To A School Auction

A local elementary school, the Patricia J. Blattman School, hosted its annual auction (aka the "Bear Bash") this past Sunday.

In past years, with the help of some very expert fundraiser moms, they've raised tens of thousands of dollars each year for the school through this one-night event.

This year, I was asked to donate a piece of jewelry to the auction.  At left is the necklace I donated.

It is an 18 inch strand of natural, multicolor freshwater pearls, 10-11mm, with a 14kt diamond clasp.

So why do this?  Several reasons, really.

1.  It's a nice thing to do.  The monies from the auction (I will post the actual final bid amount once I have it) go directly to the school for a project of the kids' choosing to have at the school.  There has been some talk about a rockclimbing wall.

2.  The school happens to be the school in the neighborhood where we are building our house.  So if we have children, that's where they'll go to school.  Nice to get involved, right?

3.  Another reason?  I am semi-new to town and don't know too many people, and it is a great way to get to know people and let people know I am here and what kind of work I do.

4.  And one final reason?  The winning bidder wants to buy matching earrings.  And she wants to see my other stuff, too.

Interestingly enough, JCKStyle had an article about this very topic last Friday.  They were talking about the Disco & Diamonds online charity auction for the G&P Foundation for Cancer Research.

Square J Designs

Hey!  Guess what?!

Go check out the sleek and sassy front page of the new Square J Designs website!

The logo and site were designed by Trey Hermann, aka Buffalo, Husband of The Bling Blogstress.

More will be added soon as photography is completed.

Hope you like it as much as I do!

Color-Enhancing Diamonds Via The HPHT Process

Although I am by nature a purist and gravitate toward natural-color fancies in diamonds, I cannot help but be intrigued by the advancements made by companies who are doing a particularly impressive job with the HPHT process in lieu of irradiation.

The HPHT process is essentially a high pressure, high temperature process by which either brown diamonds of Type IIa (low nitrogen content) are enhanced and turned into white diamonds in the E-F color range, or by which "Cape" (yellowish or grey) or brown diamonds of Type I (higher nitrogen or boron content) are enhanced and turned into fancy, vivid or intense permanently colored diamonds.

Either which way, many, many diamonds which would otherwise have previously been considered "disposable" and undesirable are now being used in jewelry.  Jewelers have access to a broad spectrum of fancy colors and can very easily match for color large quantities at a fairly reasonable cost.  This price is passed along to the consumer.  What was once virtually inaccessible is now quite readily available.

One company that caught my interest is Sundance Diamonds.

I've seen their advertisements for ages, but finally took the bait and followed the link and was seriously impressed.

Perhaps this might impress you, too?

They created the world's largest fancy pink enhanced diamond, called the Provo Rose, which was unveiled at this year's JCK show.  The Provo Rose is 10.09 carats, and is a classic round brilliant with 58 facets and VS clarity.

According to the JCK Group, at the time of the show, the Provo Rose would likely retail for $20,000 a carat.  Keep in mind that a natural fancy pink would fetch between $80,000-$100,000 per carat.

Until this time, the largest fancy pink ever created was done so with irradiation, and was half the size, weighing in at five carats.  Other fancy pinks created in the past were generally 25 pointers or smaller.

Encouraging sign, right?  Recycle, reuse, reduce...  Good stuff!

The Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra, 2006 Model

Every year Victoria's Secret trots out a new "Fantasy Bra," a marketing spectacle worth millions.  Models clamor to wear it; jewelers compete to be the one chosen to design and manufacture it.  No one actually buys it, though.

This year's Fantasy Bra is festooned with over 2,000 Hearts On Fire Diamonds weighing in at 800 carats.  In the center is a 10-carat floral diamond brooch.

Karolina Kurkova, the toothy Czech supermodel who was lucky enough to wear it provided this pithy commentary, “it doesn't dig in."

Thank heavens for that, no?

(from IDEX Online)

Ellen Barkin's Totally Amazing Yard Sale Yielded A Damn Profit

Remember back in August how we talked about how Ellen Barkin was set to have Christie's auction her jewelry from her now-defunct marriage to bombastic billionaire Ron Perelman?

Yeah, well she did.

And she made a profit.  Profit, people!  The 102 pieces made $20.37 million, which apparently is a 33 percent profit over their retail value.

“To be able to sell it and get more than you paid for it - it hasn't happened before with jewelry,”' jeweler Fred Leighton was quoted by Bloomberg.  He reportedly sold the actress about half of the items that were offered.

An extreme example of the premium bidders were willing to pay for one of Barkin’s pieces was a pair of topaz earrings, which were estimated to be worth $50,000 in raw materials and were expected to fetch up to $80,000.  They eventually sold for $710,400.

The highest selling item was an oval-shaped 22.76 carat ring, purchased for $1.8 million, after being appraised at no more than $1.2 million.  Barkin's diamond set wedding band was valued at $50,000 and sold for $156,000.

Of course, keep in mind, many of these pieces were JAR (Joel Arthur Rosenthal) originals, pieces from the Duchess of Windsor's collection, Doris Duke's estate, and so on.  Those pieces should garner premiums, indeed, if they are important pieces.  Which they were.

But the remarkable thing is the Fred Leighton, Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier pieces that were not vintage or estate pieces, and that were were sold for prices far higher than their original retail value.  Truly amazing.

So what's Fred Leighton saying?  That you'll never, ever get your money out of a piece of Fred Leighton jewelry if you try to resell it unless you're Ellen Barkin selling at auction with an impressive lot via Christie's?  Surely he couldn't have meant to say that...

Oh, yes he did.

(from IDEX Online)

Behemoth Lesotho Promise Fetches Over $12 Million

The largest diamond found in the past 13 years (and the tenth largest white diamond ever to be found) has been dubbed the "Lesotho Promise."  Promise of what, you say?  Promise of lots of smaller diamonds.

The stone is about 30% bigger than a golf ball and way more valuable.

It was found by a female mine worker at the Letseng Diamond Mine who was sorting through the rubble, high in the mountains in Lesotho, which is an itty bitty kingdom in the middle of South Africa.

The D-color 603-carat diamond was sold at auction for more than $12 million to the South African Diamond Corporation on Monday.  The Safdico owns the luxury brand Graff, and expects that after cleaving and faceting, they ought to be able to net in excess of $20 million from the rough stone.  Interestingly enough, auction day, October 4, was Lesotho's Independence Day.

Expect to hear about some significant stones being yielded from the Lesotho Promise in the next couple of years via Graff.  No doubt some very fine, very white, very fabulously-cut diamonds will make history as well.

Etienne Perret Said He "Could Smell This Coming"

Hee!  Always having an irreverent way with words, jeweler Etienne Perret (who was profiled here not long ago) sent me an email entitled "I Could Smell This Coming" in reference to the following news article that jeweler David Yurman will soon launch a beauty and fragrance line with the Clarins Groupe.

American jeweler David Yurman and the Clarins Groupe, a cosmetics products maker, have signed an agreement for the creation and distribution of beauty and fragrance products. The new line will be called David Yurman.

 

David Yurman is an American brand of fine jewelry and luxury watch brand for men, women and children, noted for his gold and silver designs, diamonds, pearls, gemstones, and Swiss-crafted timepieces.

 

The first David Yurman beauty product will be a fragrance offered principally in the United States and Canada.

 

"This was a natural evolution and we are looking forward to a very successful collaboration," said Paul Blum, CEO of David Yurman. According to Jonathan Zrihen, group president & CEO of Clarins Groupe USA, "The distinct identity and strong brand values of David Yurman are the ideal platform for the launch of unique fragrances."

 

Clarins is a Paris based cosmetics company with sales of over $1.2 billion in 2005.  They are creators, marketers and distributors of skin care, make-up and fragrance products. Among some of its brands are Thierry Mugler Parfums and Azzaro.

My instant reaction was one of disdain and dismissal.  I find Yurman pieces to be overwrought, uncomfortably ubiquitous and highly commercialized.  If I see one more opposed-bar cut lemon citrine in a chunky, braided yellow gold and sterling ring at the Junior League General Meeting...

Further, a fragrance brought to us by the same folks responsible for Thierry Mugler Parfums?  Shiver.  Shi-ver.  There is simply no other way to describe Mugler's Angel than to say that it smells the way Charo must while walking through a cloud of cotton candy and chlorine gas.  I wish David Yurman bon chance with that parfumerie.

But then Etienne soothed me with a few words about how he's known David Yurman for thirty years.  And how Yurman is super nice man.  And how he knew him when he was making brass belt buckles and selling them at outdoor craft shows.  And so now I know that there is indeed an artist behind the commercial mayhem that is the David Yurman enterprise.  And so my cold heart warmed a little bit.

And so I guess I wish him good luck.  Good luck that David Yurman, the perfume, doesn't smell like cotton candy and chlorine gas.  Bon chance, DY!

(from IDEX Online)