By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters Life!) – A rare, 5-carat pink diamond was auctioned off for a record $10.8 million in Hong Kong on Tuesday, putting some shine back into the world’s rare and large stones market which was badly hit by the financial crisis.

The stone, of a “vivid pink” hue and considered near perfect, but not quite flawless, triggered brisk bidding in Christie’s autumn sales of Asian and Chinese art in Hong Kong.

The price smashed the previous record, set 15 years ago in Geneva for a 19.66-carat stone that sold for $7.4 million. The pink gem’s per-carat price of $2.2 million was also the highest ever paid for any diamond at auction, Christie’s said.

“No stone has ever been sold for $2 million a carat, we were used to … a million dollars a carat for colored diamonds but never 2 million,” said Francois Curiel, Christie’s Europe chairman. “This is an absolute record that is not going to be broken for a while I believe.”

The stone, set in a so-called “cushion-cut” ring by famed jewelers Graff Diamonds, was just a quarter the size of the Geneva stone and not quite flawless but the stone’s “vivid pink” is considered near perfect. Curiel described it as a “fabulous pink diamond, probably one of the rarest stones I’ve ever seen.”

While the South African-mined diamond isn’t quite rated flawless given minor blemishes, Christie’s said that these could be removed by minor repolishing.

Christie’s has a track-record of putting rare polished stones up for sale in Asia, given its confidence in the depth of the Asian market for the world’s top gemstones and artwork.

Last May, before the financial crisis began to hurt the global auction market, Christie’s sold a squash-ball-sized, 101.27-carat diamond in Hong Kong for $6.2 million.

Despite this, some major gems have disappointed in Asia, including a 72.22-carat “D” flawless white diamond that failed to hit its reserve price in a Sotheby’s Hong Kong sale last April, falling short of its $10-12 million pre-sale estimate.

While the world’s most expensive jewel ever sold at auction is the “Wittelsbach” blue diamond, a 17th-century deep grayish-blue stone that fetched $24 million last year, top red and pink gemstones are also known for stratospheric valuations.

The city of Rome was agog when Sotirios Voulgaris invented the Bvlgari watch brand. Many Roman people of the time were very pleased with the awesome models of the brand and the manner they respond to the task of accurate time keeping. Sotirios established his watch firm in Rome which later gave birth to other branches in the US, France and more importantly Switzerland.
Currently the replica Bvlgari are available in their wonderful models. The major ones include: the Assioma models, the Rettangolo collections, the Ergon versions, the Diagono models and some others. These models are known for their semblance with the original versions.
General Attributes
The Bvlgari replica watches are known for their similar features. They all have wonderful facial glasses marked with the symbol of the Bvlgari Company. They also have unique facial glasses made of the sapphire crystal element which abhors scratches.
The replica models are known for their awesome nomenclatures which are sometimes very difficult to pronounce in the English language. Their names go a long way to show the originality of the watches from the Latin speaking nation of the world. However, the replica models still bear these names wherever they are seen.
The replica models are replete online where their cheapness is well profound. Currently you are likely to see them at the cheaper price rates of $270 and below. Many online shops that deal with them do give the customers some discount especially when the person is purchasing enough for his or her loved ones.
The replica models are known for their efficiency in the timing process. They have wonderful dials and other additional sub dials that help them in that regard.
In all, the replica models are known to be very durable.

Every other year or so, my husband and I will attend the local Nutcracker Ballet show. It’s a beautiful ballet and perfect introduction to the surprise, excitement and beauty of the upcoming holidays. Personally, I’ve never professionally danced although when I was young I’d stand for hours on end at the local dance studio watching all the girls dance -wishing I could be one of them. Alas, it never happened. But to this day I still love the beauty and magic of the Nutcracker -the dancing snowflakes, the land of the sugar plum fairy, clara, the Nutcracker, well, the whole thing!

Sugar Plum Fairy Ruby Quartz Natural Ruby Pave Gemstone Beaded Necklace

When shopping recently at a bead show I came across the most beautiful natural ruby gemstones and knew I had to have them. It wasn’t until I ‘accidentally’ set them next to my ruby quartz gemstones that the design immediately came to life. Once again, I dropped everything to work on this design and I added sterling Pave’ style stardust beads that give the illusion of fairy dust floating in the midnight sky, as Clara danced.

I have tried everything I could think of to get the best picture of these stunning and beautiful gemstones, but I just couldn’t wait any longer to intro the piece. I’m like a kid in a candy store…when I love a design so much I just can’t wait to share it with everyone. I’ll still be working on a better picture but trust me, in person, this necklace and matching earrings are beyond words -so feminine, so beautiful…

And because I love sharing my designs so much, I’m making Tuesdays -Two for Tuesdays! So for today only, purchase the necklace and get the earrings FREE!! No coupon needed, I’ll automatically ship the beaded earrings with your order.

Check out all the new beaded jewelry including beautiful holiday jewelry!

Garnet is a popular jewelry component and has been used since the bronze age as an ornamental gemstone. I personally love all the colors of garnet from the reds to the greens.

The rhodonite gemstone is a stone of grace and elegance, with its’ muted rose color and black manganese oxide veins running through it. It gets its name from the Greek word for rose, rhodon. Rhodonite is mined in the United States, Brazil, India, and Russia and is the official gem of Massachusetts.

Just added to the jewelry boutique is our lovely Dusty Rose Rhodonite Gemstone Freshwater Pearl Beaded Necklace. It’s a can’t miss, one of a kind.

Rhodolite comes from the garnet family and is a mixed crystal of almandine and pyrope. It generally features a magnificent velvety red with a fine violet or raspberry-red undertone. This “purple-red” color is the most sought after color for rhodolite.

Rhodolite is a beautiful stone that tends to be lighter in color than most other kinds of red garnet. It can easily be confused with ruby because of the similarity in color. However, rhodolite garnet is not artificially enhanced in any way. Originally found in the USA, it now comes mainly from the gemstone mines in East Africa, India and Sri Lanka.

My favorite customer, Mary Kay, came to me with three different pieces of vintage jewelry that she had obtained through a family inheritance and an estate sale. She asked me to redesign the pieces to create a 3pc jewelry set. Her only requests were to update the style of the jewelry, have the necklace be adjustable, have a removable pendant and the earwires be leverbacks. Everything else she left up to me.

I quickly discovered that two of the Swarovski crystals in the design were no longer available but that did not hinder my design process. Since the original bracelet was a two-strand, it provided more than enough crystals to work with. I added more sterling silver, a few soft blue Swarovski crystals and the removable trigger clasp for the pendant on the necklace.

This custom project did pose a few challenges but after thinking about it long enough and then just sitting down at the studio table, it all came together in literally one night. I may have restrung the necklace three or more times, but the end result is a stunning 3pc Swarovski Crystal jewelry set -vintage redux!!

The original pieces -DRAB!!!
The redux with style for today’s woman -FAB!!!!
With only having seen a picture so far of the set, Mary Kay’s response was this:
“OMG, the set is absolutely gorgeous!!!”

What do you think? Leave a comment.