In honor of April's official birthstone, let's take a close-up look at one of the largest uncut yellow diamonds in the world. At 253.7 carats, the Oppenheimer Diamond is a nearly perfectly formed octahedron, a shape that's essentially an eight-sided double pyramid connected at the base. Named in honor of Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, former chairman […]
The original legal document that set the wheels in motion for the cutting of the 3,106-carat Cullinan — the world's largest rough diamond — will be offered to the highest bidder at Bonhams London on April 30. The auction house is estimating that the historic document will sell in the modest price range of $2,606 […]
On Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic, University of British Columbia researchers discovered deposits of cobalt-blue spinel in qualities that rival the finest in the world. Researchers Philippe Belley and Lee Groat attributed the surprising find to the high levels of a "magic" ingredient present in the area — cobalt. Pure spinel is colorless, but […]
On Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic, University of British Columbia researchers discovered deposits of cobalt-blue spinel in qualities that rival the finest in the world. Researchers Philippe Belley and Lee Groat attributed the surprising find to the high levels of a "magic" ingredient present in the area — cobalt. Pure spinel is colorless, but […]
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, country star John Anderson has fun with a well-worn gemstone myth in his Grammy-nominated 1981 hit, "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)." In this song […]
Resembling a dinosaur's tooth and weighing an astonishing 61 pounds, the Philippine-sourced "Giga Pearl" is one of the largest in the world and could be worth upwards of $90 million. Currently owned by Ontario native Abraham Reyes, The Giga Pearl had been a family heirloom for 60 years. The natural pearl was hidden within a […]
Outbidding two challengers, a Japanese private collector plunked down $13.7 million for a D-flawless 88.22-carat oval diamond at Sotheby's Hong Kong yesterday. He gifted it to his eldest daughter and named it "Manami Star" in her honor. The diamond had been described by the auction house as "perfect according to every critical criterion." The collector, […]
The historic Cullinan Mine, which famously produced the 3,106-carat Cullinan in 1905, added another enormous diamond to its roster of legendary finds. London-based Petra Diamonds announced late last week that it had unearthed a 425.10-carat, D-color, ultra-pure, Type II diamond at the South African mine. Analysts placed the stone's value somewhere between a high of […]
In the lead-up to her performance on Monday night's edition of American Idol, contestant Johanna Jones said she wished her boyfriend, Matt Zavoral, could have been there. He was buried in final exams at Brigham Young University, and couldn't get from Provo, Utah, to Hollywood in time for the taping — or so she thought. […]
The Letšeng Mine in the tiny African country of Lesotho is back in the news after luxury jeweler Laurence Graff paid $8.8 million, or $656,933 per carat, for a 13.33-carat pink diamond sourced there. The per-carat price was a record for any Letšeng diamond. “This is the most vivid pink rough diamond I have ever […]