Rare Color Diamonds

For those of you who follow my posts on Facebook, you are aware of my fascination with fine jewelry auctions.  Nowhere else are we able to see such rare and exquisite diamonds from around the world on display.  While the only buyers for these gems are billion dollar diamond companies and  the mega-rich, it is still interesting to see the unbelievable prices these one of kind stones sell for at auction.

Large D color, Flawless or Internally Flawless diamonds always fetch the highest prices at auction, however, recently a new category has captured headlines for the highest prices paid at auction.  RARE COLOR FANCY DIAMONDS.  Below are some pictures of the most expensive fancy color diamonds sold recently:

    Pink Dream

    Pumpkin Diamond

    Premier Blue


While the size of these diamonds is a big factor in their high prices, another huge factor in their value is the SATURATION of their color.  Fancy color diamonds, while rare, are not impossible to find in less saturated tones.  Pink and Blue diamonds that are "Fancy Light" color are not nearly as rare and thus less desirable.  "Fancy Vivid" or "Fancy Intense" color designations make these diamonds truly one of a kind.  Even fancy yellow diamonds that are far more common can be sold for triple the price if their saturation of color is deemed "vivid" or "intense" instead of "light".

What makes a diamond exhibit such astounding color?  Nature of course!  While sapphire and ruby and many varieties of quartz and topaz can be "heated" to increase the color intensity.  It is far more difficult to do in diamond.  Therefore, these rare vivid color diamonds came out of the earth with this color. Which tends to drive collectors to spend millions of dollars per carat on them!  Unfortunately, these stones are usually up for auction in places like New York, Hong Kong, Geneva and London...not Philadelphia.

You can search our inventory of fine fancy yellow diamonds online here:
Fancy Yellow Diamonds 



  

Sydney Rosen Company Video!

The talented folks over at Yelp! were nice enough to help us make a short video profiling our business for our website!  It features Steven Rosen's soothing voice, and talks about the cherished history of our store.  Here it is without further ado:



You can read more about our history on the "About Us" link on our website located here:

Learn More About Sydney Rosen Company

What's In A Name Anyway?

People unfamiliar with the world of gemology have still probably heard of a few of the most famous gemstones ever cut.  The Hope Diamond, Cullinan Diamond, and Logan Sapphire are just a few of the discoveries significant and exquisite enough to garner a title all their own.  This year's significant gemstone find came in the form of a rare color of Tourmaline called Paraiba Tourmaline.  Tourmaline is most commonly a dark brownish green gem, however it comes in almost any color of the rainbow.

Paraiba Tourmaline, is an electric blue color and is named after the Paraiba region of Brazil where it was first discovered.  It is the rarest of the fancy color of Tourmaline.  

The significant Paraiba find recently yielded at 191.87 carat oval shaped stone that was mounted in this incredible necklace and given its own name:  Ethereal Carolina Divine Paraiba. 

While not quite as catchy a name as some of the other significant named gems of the century, I think the whimsical design of the necklace fits the stone it was created for.

Shoppers wishing to adorn themselves in this gemstone will have to pay a pretty penny, however, the much more common gemstone Blue Topaz is a good substitute.  

You can read more about this beautiful and significant gem by clicking the link below, and as usual visit us at www.sydneyrosen.com.

Ethereal Carolina Divine Paraiba Tourmaline

Provenance In Jewelry

The recent sale of Kim Kardashian's former engagement ring got me thinking about how "provenance" affects the value of jewelry.  Provenance is used to explain how an piece of jewelry, art, clothing, etc becomes increasingly more valuable because of who the previous owner of the item was.  For example a strand of pearls could be valued at a certain price, but a nearly identical strand of pearls could be worth a considerable amount more had they belong Audrey Hepburn or Jackie Kennedy.  Similarly, an item of jewelry can become much more valuable based on who the designer is.  An antique ring signed by Tiffany's or Cartier is far more valuable than an identical ring that is simply a reproduction.     

  

Kris Humphries reportedly sold Kim Kardashian's former ring at a Christie's auction for close to $750,000.00, however, that value is nearly double the $300,000-$400,000 price it was expected to sell for.  Auctions do tend to be the best place to sell exceptional jewelry, due to the likelihood rival bidders will drive up the price of one of a kind items.  Kim's ring may have sold for more because multiple buyers simply "had to" have it and thus created a bidding war.  More likely though, the Kardashian name itself was enough to convince the buyer that it was worth more than its estimate.  Both her former and current ring (given to her by Kanye West) are from designer Lorraine Schwartz.  Lorraine Schwartz herself is a famous name in celebrity jewelry, so that could have driven the value up as well. 

This is just a modern day example that got me thinking.  Most of the time provenance has to do with signed jewelry from famous design houses like Tiffany's, Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Mikimoto etc, or from famous monarchs or celebrities.  These items are more likely to be found at auction than at a brick and mortar jewelry store like ourselves.  

Nevertheless, feel free to shop our online store to add to your own collection of jewelry.  Who knows, maybe the fact that YOU owned will someday make it more valuable.  

SydneyRosen.com

 

Opal: October's Colorful Birthstone

The birthstone for the month of October is Opal.  Opal is a beautiful mineral that displays the phenomenon known as "play of color", which looks like broad flashes of a rainbow of color across the some or all of the gemstone.  This phenomenon occurs when rainwater seeps into arid ground (mostly in the deserts of Australia) where dissolved silica crystalize in a series of layers that forms Opal.  These layers are oriented in a way that acts like a prism to scatter light so we can see flashes of the spectral colors.  Opal has long been a favorite gemstone of people with unique taste, or those who simply can't pick a favorite color.  Recent Opal discoveries in the African nations of Ethiopia and Namibia have brought this gemstone back into the limelight.  Below are some examples of contemporary Opal jewelry that is very popular today.  

Compliments of JCK Online: 

You can find more Opal jewelry on our website www.sydneyrosen.com under the tab Mother's Ring.  Or simply click the link below....

Birthstone Rings

 

Emmy Awards Jewelry 2013

The jewelry from the 2013 Primetime Emmy Awards truly dazzled this year.  From Sophia Vergara dazzling in Emeralds from her native Colombia to Carrie Underwood needing a security detail to protect yet another multi-million dollar necklace, the stars went above and beyond to impress this time around.  Below is an excerpt from another jewelry blog I follow that details some of the more impressive jewels from this years show.  Courtesy of JCK:

While colored stones and yellow gold took top jewelry honors on Sunday, Sept. 22, at the 65th annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, here’s a closer look at the names who helped the stars shine just a little brighter with some well-placed jewels:

A. Jaffe

Lauren Parsekian, wife of Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, in the $108,018 Magnolia flower diamond necklace with 10 cts. t.w. diamonds (pictured above)

Sofia Vergara (photo: Star Traks/Platinum Guild)

Sofia Vergara in $7 million of platinum jewelry, including earrings with unheated rubies, sapphires, and Columbian emeralds; a 21 ct. t.w. Asscher-cut diamond ring; and a ring with a 40 ct. t.w. Columbian emerald and rose-cut diamonds 

Claire Danes (photo: Star Traks/Platinum Guild International)

Best Actress winner Claire Danes (Homeland) in $150,000 diamond and platinum stud earrings, a $1 million baguette-cut diamond and platinum bracelet, and a $350,000 elongated emerald-cut diamond and platinum ring

Check out the full article here: Who Wore What at the 2013 Emmy's

And as always visit us online at SydneyRosen.com

Who Gets The Ring

When I heard this morning that Kris Humphries (NBA player and former future Mr. Kardashian) is planning to auction off the 20 carat diamond engagement ring gifted to ex-fiance Kim, it brought me back the old debate of who lays claim to the ring when engagements are called off?

One side of the argument would claim that regardless of whether the couple was ever married, the ring is still considered a gift, and therefore should remain the possession of the person to whom it was given. Others would argue that without a binding contract of some kind the ring could still be considered property of the purchaser, and should be returned so that this person can attempt to reconcile the value of his/her purchase.

The case of Kris and Kim is obviously a unique one.  They were only married for 72 days and the relationship was ripe with controversy, mainly the reported tens of millions of dollars the couple made selling the rights to cover their extravagant wedding ceremony and party.  More pedestrian couples usually do not have such controversy surrounding their separation.  

Unfortunately there is not established "rule of thumb" as to who gets to keep the ring in broken engagements, and matters such as this need to be evaluated on a case by case basis.    Some breakups are civil and the purchaser of the ring is happy to let their significant other keep the ring or vice versa.  Others are messier and cause serious drama at the end of a relationship, both monetary and emotional.

Either way, it is important to keep situations like this in perspective.  Broken engagements are not a happy time for any parties involved, and the best course of action is generally the one that will lead to both parties leaving the relationship on good terms.  They say love conquers all, but when it doesn't we hope that cooler heads will prevail.

That being said...Visit us online if you are looking for an engagement ring!  

Sydney Rosen Company