The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the famous telescope named for Edwin Hubble, is now being used to discover diamonds in space. Scientists working on the project hope it will help them understand how carbon rich molecules develop. Although the Hubble is not the first telescope, it has led to many extraordinary breakthroughs in astrophysics.

The Hubble provides the perfect mechanism to view extraterrestrial objects. Ground based telescopes have significant disadvantages when compared to the HST — blurred images caused by the atmosphere and no background from scattered light. The Hubble is also able to view ultraviolet light which is normally absorbed by our O-zone layer.

Most of the meteorites that crash to the Earth’s surface contain carbon. About 3% of the carbon in these meteorites contains tiny diamonds. These small diamonds are only about a nanometer in size. However, scientists believe that meteorites reflect the composition of interstellar gases and dust. If this is true, the presence of extraterrestrial diamonds would seem inevitable. These diamonds are believed to radiate large amounts of energy in the infrared wavelength, making the Hubble Telescope the perfect tool to seek these diamonds. Young stars that radiate high amounts of ultraviolet light make the best searching ground for these extraterrestrial diamonds.

The name “Rolex” is a century old this year and to celebrate, the auction house Antiquorum is hosting an auction event entitled “Revolution: The evolution of the Rolex Sport Watch”. This event will honor Rolex’s storied sport watch history, including its development of the worlds first impermeable watch case.

The auction will feature a prototype of the Sea-Dweller from 1967 and is expected to fetch upwards of $150,000, one of the highest pre-sale estimates of any Rolex sport watch. Among other watches featured will be a 1988 COMEX Submariner and a 1969 Cosmograph Daytona. More info here

Luxury Electronic addicts need look no further than Bling My Thing’s new “Golden Age” laptop. Unveiled at CeBIT 2008, “Golden Age” is a Macbook Air clad in 12,000 Swarovski crystals. The crystals are even more reflective than usual thanks to a coating of 24k gold applied under each crystal. The translucence of the crystals allows for true uber luxury. Each “Golden Age” takes about a week to fabricate since each and every crystal is hand-applied, so only 20 of these elegant computers exist, one of which will be for sale at Selfridges, Oxford Street, on March 18th. That is if you wont break the bank on the $39,750 price tag for the mega-laptop.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong recently announced the display of an extremely rare 72 carat pear shaped white diamond. Weighing in at an astonishing 72.22 carats, this is the largest flawless D-color pear shaped diamond to appear in auction in Asia. The diamond is estimated to be worth $9.5 - 12.5 million. The diamond has been graded by the Gemological Institute of America and is particularly revered for its excellent polish and symmetry.

This immaculate diamond was cut from an original rough diamond weighing in at 188 carats. It will be offered at the spring sale on April 10th. This diamond is sure to spark interest and intense bidding from avid collectors. Sotheby’s is known for auctioning diamonds and gemstones of extreme rarity and value including a 6.04 ct. Fancy vivid blue diamond ring which sold for an impressive $7.9 million and a 10.04 carat fancy vivid pink diamond which sold for $6.2 million.