John Hardy is a Canadian-born jewelry designer based on the island of Bali. Worldwide the John Hardy Brand is well known for its handmade lines of intricate jewelry and housewares that are inspired by “sustainable luxury”, a belief that a business can be successful while still respecting the natural and human environments and protecting them for future generations.

“Our jewelry is about more than looking good. It’s about feeling good and doing good while doing well in business. This is sustainable luxury.” – John Hardy

Pink, red and purple diamonds, the rarest and most valuable diamonds on the planet, have recently seen an increase in prices. The 23rd Annual Argyle Pink Diamond Tender had a variety of exotic and unusual stones suitable for any aspiring gemstone collector. Many avid gemstone collectors spurred high bids for these precious colored gemstones. Prices on such stones can reach about $400,000 - $500,000 per carat to the wholesaler.

The Argyle Mine, located in the Kimberly region of Western Australia, has the most volume production of diamonds in the world. The average yearly production from the mine yields 35 million carats which is 1/3 of the worlds total production. The Argyle mine also produces about 95% of the world’s pink and red diamonds.  The mine is known for producing some of the rarest diamonds on the planet. With production of pink diamonds said to end around 2018, this will only add to their rarity and increasing value.

The Pink Emerald Company has recently announced the sale of the world’s largest heart shaped morganite. The immaculate 169.01 ct. gemstone, nicknamed ” The Pink Sweetheart,” was mined in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This one-of-a-kind gemstone has been graded and certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and faceted by the famous gemstone carver Volker Wild in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. The Pink Sweetheart, priced at $2,500,000, would be the pinnacle of any valentine’s gifts.

Morganite, which some mistakenly refer to as “Pink Emerald,” is actually pink/rose colored beryl. The rose pink color of morganite can be attributed to the elements manganese and cesium present in its composition. Morganite can be heat treated to enhance this pink color. Emeralds, also a variety of beryl, are colored green from trace amounts of chromium and vanadium. The word emerald originated from the Sanskrit word meaning “green.”

Morganite is rarer than other common forms of beryl such as aquamarine and heliodor. Another rare type of beryl is bixbite, which has a nice scarlet red hue. Bixbite has only been found in small quantities and the largest faceted bixbite gemstone is less than 3 carats.

Imagine watching your favorite show on a 40-inch High Definition Television. Only this is no ordinary television. This TV comes equipped with 155 brilliant rubies in three different size ranges. The rubies are embedded all over the set. This gem-studded HDTV will set you back $85,000. The size of the TV and the amount of rubies can be adjusted depending on how much you are willing to spend. So if the 40-inch ruby-studded screen does not suite your fancy, maybe something with 200+ rubies would be more in your range. I wonder if you can see the screen with all those shining rubies.

As most watch fans are aware Rolex has introduced a completely new model, the Yacht-Master II. This is news because it is only the fourth genuinely new watch Rolex has introduced in the past 50 years. The Yacht-Master II is also the first and only mechanical watch with a pre-selectable countdown function.

As a lead sponsor of the worlds foremost regattas and yachting events, Rolex is very in tuned with the needs of competitive sailors. This watch is useful to yatchmen because of the fact that rules governing the start of regattas differ from one to another, so not only does this watch allow the wearer to program a regatta countdown, it also allows for synchronization of the countdown timer with an external time signal while the timer is running. The Yacht-Master II can also prove useful to other applications which require a chronograph for brief intervals, such as auto racing.

Something I noticed right away while trying this watch on was the weight, unquestionably heavy at over 250 grams, I feel is not a problem at all, as it serves as a reminder that you are wearing something of high quality and value. The production of these watches will remain limited indeed, so the prestige of this model will be high. No comparable watch has ever been produced so explicitly designed for use in regattas.

Gemory, a Silicon Valley based firm, has created a new technology enabling permanent inscription of high resolution photos onto diamonds and other gemstones. Over the past 25 years, inscription technology has been limited to basic letter, number and logo inscriptions. Known as the Gemory Process, this nanotechnology is the next evolution of gemstone inscription.

The Gemory Process allows the inscription of high resolution images in a range of gray scale tones. These photo inscriptions are non-invasive will last forever on the surface of the diamond. Unlike traditional inscription technology, the Gemory Process does not use lasers that melt and remove portions of the diamond. The inscriptions can be removed without compromising the stones clarity, color and carat weight.

This unique inscription process can also help to guard your precious stones. You will be able to quickly verify the authenticity of your gemstones with no worry of error.

For more information on the Gemory Process, visit Gemroy’s website at www.gemory.com.

The perplexity of the mysterious red glow emitted by the hope diamond has recently been explained. The famed Hope Diamond, a 45.52 carat deep-blue diamond housed in the Smithsonian Museum, has been long viewed as a cursed gemstone. It was believed the diamond was stolen from the eye of a sculpted idol of the Hindu goddess Sita. The diamond later because part of the French Crown Jewels.

The Hope Diamond gives off a mysterious fiery red glow minutes after being exposed to ultraviolet light. This phenomenon was first recorded in 1965. The source of the fiery red glow has puzzled scientists for years. However, US Naval Research Laboratory and Penn State University have recently discovered the source of the phosphorescence comes from the boron present in the gemstone. Boron is the same element that makes this stone appear blue in visible light. Most blue diamonds glow blue or white after exposure to ultraviolet light. The Hope Diamond glows red indicating a mixture of boron and nitrogen.

The high price of colored diamonds has created a increase in synthetic colored stones entering the market. New technologies, such as the SpectroGem, help to fight the infiltration of synthetically colored stones into the natural gemstone market. These systems scan the movement of light through a diamond and can tell real colored diamonds from synthetic and “enhanced” diamonds. This same technology can also be used to determine the source of gemstones.

Well known jeweler Tiffany and Co. is suing eBay over a counterfeit merchandise claim and the case has just gone to trial. What this means if eBay loses is that the door could be swung open to similar cases and potentialy hurt eBay from a business standpoint. Tiffany is suing the auction site for hosting counterfeit merchandise, which makes up for about 73% of products listed as “Tiffany”. This is the first major trial on this particular question in the US and is being watched closely by lawyers who represent other luxury brands like Rolex. Rolex has successfully sued eBay over this issue in Germany. The best result of the trial for copyright holders would be for eBay to discontinue listings for certain brands. When buying over the eBay and unknown websites it is buyer beware indeed.

A man in Lake Worth, Florida discovered a rare purple pearl in a plate of clams he ordered. George Brock and his wife, Leslie were spending the day at the beach and stopped in at Dave’s Last Resort for lunch. George was half way through eating when he bit down on something hard, the pearl in question.

“Natural pearls are rare and finding one of such a color makes it even more so”, says our staff gemologist at Images. For a $10 lunch his find could be worth thousands, so the Brocks plan to have the pearl appraised and have said they will sell it if it is valuable.