Starting this month, two of the world’s most celebrated blue diamonds will be on display together at the Smithsonian.
The 31.06 carat Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond will join the 45.52 carat Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History starting on January 29. the museum announced this past Monday.
This will be the first time in over half a century that the Wittelsbach Diamond has been on public display. It will remain on display at the museum until August 1, 2010.
Both diamonds were discovered in the 17th century, and they may share a collective history. Scientists are planning tests to determine if the gems came from the same mine – specifically, the mine in India where the Hope Diamond is known to have come from.
The Wittelsbach Diamond was first reported in the 1660s, when Philip IV of Spain gave it to his daughter - who was to marry Emperor Leopold I of Austria.
In 1722 it became the property of the Wittelsbachs - the ruling family of Bavaria. After World War I it disappeared until it resurfaced in Belgium in 1951. Last year it was acquired by jeweler Laurence Graff, chairman of Graff Diamonds International Ltd, during an auction by Christie’s in London.
A glorious 39 carat diamond known as the Evening Star is going on the auction block at Christie’s in New York City. The Evening Star is a 39 carat, pear-shaped, D color diamond, and is estimated to be worth between $3.6 million and $5.5 million.
Christie’s is including the Evening Star as a masterpiece at it ‘Magnificent Jewels for a Distinguished Private Collector’ auction. The auction will feature 10 special jewels and will be held on December 10, 2009.
The diamond, which was mined from India’s Golconda mines, received its name from its former owner - she chose to wear it to evening galas as a pendant on a diamond necklace of 68 graduated pear-shaped diamonds embedded in platinum.
The necklace itself is estimated to be worth $400,000 to $600,000. It is being offered as a separate item in the sale. Also, a matching pair of diamond ear pendants - with two pear-shaped, D-color diamonds of 10.21 and 10.51 carats - is estimated to fetch $1.7 million to $2.5 million. The Evening Star, and the stones in the matching earrings, are known as Type IIa diamonds.
Petra diamonds has revealed that two Cullinan white diamonds were sold early in November for a combined value of $2.8 million. The diamonds were 58 and 53 carats.
Petra believes that the prices these diamonds went for suggests that another two diamonds recovered in the same production series earlier this year, 507 and 168 carats, will go for a handsome price.
Petra is very pleased with the prices achieved for the two diamonds. The 58.49 carat stone sold for $1.82 million and the 53.31 carat stone sold for $0.96 million.
Petra is still deciding how to market it 507 carat diamond to maximize profit. According to experts, the stone is of exceptional color and clarity. However, it seems that the 168 carat diamond will be sold first.
Diamond prices at Petra have been on the incline since the financial year’s end. The most recent diamond tenders saw strong prices, particularly in October and early November. The company reported that it has sold a number of ‘special’ diamonds from the Cullinan and Koffiefontein mines in the last four months.
On Wednesday, Israel rejected accusations by a U.N. panel claiming that it is involved in the illegal export and sale of ‘blood diamonds’ from the Ivory Coast.
Shmuel Mordechai, Israel’s Diamond Controller, said he was shocked by the “false accusations” printed in a report to the U.N. Security Council on international compliance with U.N. sanctions imposed on the Ivory Coast.
The panel also named the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Guinea and Liberia as some of the countries that needed to increase efforts to enforce a four-year-old U.N. embargo on buying rough diamonds mined in the Ivory Coast.
“Israel has never dealt in diamond trade with the Ivory Coast,” Mordechai said in a statement. “We are shocked by these false accusations and completely refute them.”
Today the Security Council is expected to renew embargoes on arms and rough diamond sales and other sanctions on the Ivory Coast for another year.
The Ivory Coast report urges Israel to “investigate fully the possible involvement of Israeli nationals and companies in the illegal export of Ivorian rough diamonds.”
New York – The famous 32.01 square Annenberg diamond sold at auction to an unnamed phone buyer on Wednesday. The diamond, known for it’s near-flawlessness, was bought by Leonore Annenberg for her 90th birthday. She died in March at age 91. Christie’s auction house had the gem delivered to her by armed guards in celebration of her birthday.
Annenberg served as the US Chief of Protocol during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, a position that granted her diplomatic status. Her husband, Walter Annenberg, was a billionaire who was both a publisher and the Ambassador to England under Richard Nixon. The Annenberg name gave the diamond even further importance. Richard Annenberg died in 2002.
The Emerald-Cut diamond is set in a ring designed by New York jeweler David Webb, who flanked the center walnut-sized stone with pear-shaped diamonds, one weighing 1.61 carats, and the other 1.51 carats. Although Christie’s set the pre-sale estimate for the masterpiece at $3-$5 million, it was clearly coveted by many, and well exceeded expectations.
New York, NY – Christie’s fall Magnificent Jewels Sale will include several amazing diamonds. The featured piece is the giant 32-carat Annenberg Diamond, which the auction house expects will sell for as much as $5 million.
Although the cut and polished diamond sold at Sotheby’s pulled in over $9 million, it is most likely that the unskilled laborer who found the rough stone is earning about 6,000 rand, or about $713 per month, if he is still employed there.
Luxury jeweler Bulgari is about to celebrate 125 years as one of the world’s most sought-after jewelry brands. To commemorate the occasion, it is teaming up with an unlikely partner: the Poste Italiane, or Italy’s postal service.
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