custom made diamond rings & jewellery

Book a Design Appointment

020 7404 6374

Subscribe to blog Subscribe via RSS

Blog

  • Home
    Home This is where you can find all the blog posts throughout the site.
  • Tags
    Tags Displays a list of tags that have been used in the blog.
  • Login
    Login Login form

Posted by on in Icecooldiamonds.com

auction

 

A large diamond ring is expected to fetch £350,000 at auction, 30 years after it was purchased by the owner at a car boot sale for £10.00.


The owner believed the "exceptionally sized" stone was costume jewellery when she bought it at West Middlesex Hospital in Isleworth, West London, in the 1980s. The owner was unaware of its true value and wore it for decades without knowing that it was, in fact, a 26ct cushion cut diamond from the 19th century.


The stone is to go under the hammer at Sotheby's on July 7th. The auction house's head of London jewellery department Jessica Wyndham said 'The owner would wear it out shopping, wear it day-to-day. It's a good-looking ring. But it was bought as a costume jewel. No-one had any idea it had any intrinsic value at all. They enjoyed it all this time.'

'They'd been to quite a few car boot sales over the years. But they don't have any history of collecting antiques and they don't have any history of collecting diamonds. This is a one-off windfall, an amazing find.'

Ms Wyndham said that after around 30 years of wearing the ring, the owners bought it into Sotheby's after a jeweller told them it could have substantial value.
'They came in with the idea that it might be real and they had no idea of its value,' she said.'We had a look and said ...'I think that's a diamond and we got it tested at the Gemological Institute of America.'

She added: 'The majority of us can't even begin to dream of owning a diamond that large.'


Wyndham said the owners, who did not want to be named, are "incredibly excited. Anyone would be in this position. It's a life-changing amount of money. No matter what your background is or what your past experiences have been, it's going to revolutionise someone's life".


The diamond is thought to have been cut in the 19th century but its history and how it arrived at the car boot sale are unknown.

 

Continue reading
Hits: 1524
0

Posted by on in Icecooldiamonds.com

A guest on BBC One’s Antique Roadshow was astonished to discover that her family heirloom was worth a staggering £150,000.00.

bracelet

The lady who brought the bracelet along to be assessed by Geoffrey Munn, the shows jewellery specialist, explained that she did not know where it came from, but that she had inherited the piece from her mother in law. She said, “It was bought for her by her husband, who may have bought it in an auction. He travelled a lot around the world so he may have purchased it anywhere on his travels.”

Antique's expert Mr Munn was visibly impressed with the piece and said, “This is like a collision of art and intrinsic value. There’s a sort of atomic explosion as they crash together because this is what everybody wants” He said, “I don’t know about you but I’m nearly fainting”

Mr Munn believed the art deco bracelet was made between 1927 and the early 1930s. And revealed that the bracelet was worth £150,000.00. The owner & audience gasped in amazement before she broke down in tears.

"It really was the last gasp of luxury at that level, really," said Mr Munn of the bracelet. "We never saw it again after the Second World War. This was bought for sheer pleasure."

Continue reading
Hits: 1723
0

Posted by on in Icecooldiamonds.com

A 59.60 carat pink diamond, named the Pink Star is to be auctioned in Hong Kong on April 4th, as part of Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction and is expected to fetch $60 million.  

The oval pink mixed cut diamond is the largest Internally Flawless, Fancy Vivid Pink diamond ever graded by GIA. The stone is also a Type IIa diamond, which is the most valued and purest type of diamond, with less than two percent of all gem quality diamonds given this classification.

The Pink Star was mined by De Beers in 1999 and weighed 132.5 carat in the rough. Due to the exceptional rarity of the stone, it took almost 2 years to plan, cut, polish and finish the stone.

April 4th 2017 isn’t the first time the Pink Star has been offered by Sotheby’s at auction. In 2013 the Pink Star was auctioned in Sotheby’s Geneva sale and was bought by a New York-based diamond cutter for $83 million. According to reports the auction price was never settled by the buyer and was returned to Sotheby’s catalogue. 

David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division said, “At a time of unprecedented demand for the finest in coloured diamonds, I am delighted to be bringing this magnificent stone back to the market.” “The extraordinary size of this 59.60-carat diamond, paired with its richness of colour, surpasses any known pink diamond recorded in history.”

Continue reading
Hits: 1370
0

Posted by on in Icecooldiamonds.com

b2ap3_thumbnail_shirley-temple.jpg

                                                                                                                                               Courtesy of Sothebys

A fancy deep blue diamond ring that belonged to former child star Shirley Temple is to go up for auction next month and is expected to sell for $25-35 million at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels Sale in New York on the 19th April.

Worn by ‘Amercia’s Little Darling’ throughout her life and bought by her father in early 1940, around the time of her 12th birthday & premier of her film The Blue Bird for $7,210. The cushion cut 9.54ct fancy deep blue diamond remained in Shirley Temple’s collection until her passing in 2014. A private buyer bought the ring from her estate, and has offered the ring for sale in its original Art Deco setting..

 

b2ap3_thumbnail_9495-Shirley-Temple-Blue---Getty-Photo-3.jpg

 

                                                                                                                                                     Courtesy of Sothebys 

Frank Everett, Sales Director of Sotheby’s Jewellery Department in New York, commented: “It’s a privileged occasion when we are entrusted with a stone of such exceptional quality and rarity. It’s rarer still that a stone would tell as compelling a story as The Shirley Temple Blue. Shirley Temple helped to lift America’s spirits out of the Great Depression, and served her country in many capacities throughout the remainder of her life. Her ring and its original Art Deco setting recall a time when she was nothing short of the biggest movie star in the world”.

 

Continue reading
Hits: 2321
0

Posted by on in Icecooldiamonds.com

 

b2ap3_thumbnail_BlueCushionGeneva.jpg

Hong Kong’s sixth richest man Joseph Lau bought the rare 12.03 carat cushion shaped blue moon diamond  for his seven year old daughter at Sotheby’s last week, and renamed it the “Blue Moon of Josephine” after her.

It has also been confirmed that Mr Lau, was the anonymous buyer of the 16.08ct vivid pink diamond that sold at Christies for £19 million the previous day, which he renamed “Sweet Josephine”. The flamboyant Hong Kong billionaire spent a whopping £51 million in two days.

In 2009, Mr Lau bought another blue diamond for his daughter – the 7.03ct “Star of Josephine” paying what was then then a record of $9.5 million.

The Blue Moon of Josephine is said to be among the largest know vivid blue diamond. The diamond was found in South Africa in January last year and its striking blue colour is attributed to the presence of the element boron within its crystal structure. It was named "Blue Moon" to reflect its rarity.

David Bennett, the head of Sotheby’s international jewellery division, said the “Blue Moon” sale broke several records and made the gemstone the most expensive diamond, regardless of colour, and the most expensive jewel ever sold at auction. It also fetched the highest-ever price per carat, he said.

The previous record was held by the Graff Pink of 24.78 carats, sold by Sotheby's for £30 million in November 2010.

"For me the Blue Moon was always the blue diamond of my career. I've never seen a more beautiful stone – its shape, colour and purity. It's a magical stone," Mr Bennett said.

Experts say the market for coloured diamonds has become increasingly strong in recent months, with both blue and pink diamonds attracting a lot of attention in jewel sales in Geneva.

Coloured diamonds are among the rarest in the world, even ones that are not particularly vivid or clear.

Continue reading
Hits: 2091
0

Joomla! Debug Console

Session

Profile Information

Memory Usage

Database Queries