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.

Israel Diamond Exchange has joined forces with the European Gemological Laboratory to fight the infiltration of synthetic and treated stones into the natural diamond market. EGL Israel recently launched the EGL SpectroGEM, the first system available in Israel with the ability to identify treated and synthetic stones. EGL invested more than $500,000 into this new system and hopes to boost consumer confidence in the diamond market.

The SpectroGEM, a spectroscopic system which scans the movement of light within a diamond, can determine whether a diamond is natural or synthetic. It determines the light performance of a stone and maps how the stone reflects light waves. Additionally, the SpectroGEM can also determine if a stone has undergone HPHT treatment ( High Pressure, High Temperature). EGL hopes the SpectroGEM will help restore credibility and boost consumer confidence in the diamond market.

Your average 12 foot blue spruce Christmas tree not doing it for you this year? How about that white aluminum tree in your grandmother’s attic? No? Then maybe you want to try this tree on for size.

Takashimaya department store chain is selling a diamond encrusted tree for a symbolic $1.8 million to kick off its year-end sales campaign. The 16″ tall tree, actually a small tower of preserved roses with a teddy bear, has 400 diamonds totaling 100 carats and is based on a design by Parisian flower boutique Claude Quinquaud.

At least you won’t need to cover it in Christmas lights to make it sparkle.

The Trillion Cut Diamond Company, which has been in business for over 75 years, has created a diamond that features the verses of the Ten Commandments. Trillion Diamond Company are the inventors and patent holders of the original trillion cut diamond (now called Trielle®).

The Ten Commandments Diamond® is a single diamond that is hand cut and polished to look like the authentic Ten Commandment tablets. The verses of the Commandments are carefully laser inscribed into the table facet. The brilliant faceting applied to the diamond allows the verses to resonate through the stone. The Ten Commandment Diamond® comes in three different versions: Catholic, Protestant and Jewish. The diamonds, which are being cut in Trillion Diamond Company, are the first to incorporate the text of the Ten Commandments. The text can be read using a standard jeweler’s loupe. The actual color and clarity of the diamond depends on the rough diamond from which it is cut. The diamonds range from 1 - 1.25 ct.

Gabi Tolkowsky, the worlds most renowned master diamond cutters, had a chance to view the stone. Gabi states, “When I saw this incredible creation for the first time, the Ten Commandments Diamond®, I felt the most profound emotional reaction. The image of the stone, this creation, is still carved behind my eyes, in my

Trillion Diamond has also created a Ten Commandment Blue Sapphire. The center stone of this piece is an impressive 3.67 ct. blue sapphire fashioned into the shape of the Ten Commandment tablets. The sapphire tablet is positioned in front of a burning bush which is made up of Tsavorites, orange and burnt orange sapphires, yellow sapphires and colorless diamonds representing the spirit of God. The parting waves of the Red Sea, which are made from blue sapphires, make up the front of the tablets. In the middle of the parting waves is the golden path to freedom, done in golden yellow sapphires. The broach is made with 18k white and green gold.

A Wisconsin native visiting a diamond park with his fiancee discovered a 3.92-carat white stone, but you wont see it on the finger of his love. That’s because she already has a ring, 1 carat and she is very happy with it. Eric Blake, 32, of Appleton, Wis., saw the stone Tuesday along a trail at Crater of Diamonds State Park when he set down a bucket of mud he was carrying to a wash basin.

“I put the bucket down to switch hands. I looked down and there it was,” Blake said.The stone is big enough to finish into jewelry, but Blake said Tuesday that he hadn’t decided whether to do so.His fiancee, Susan Gabrielson — who has “only one carat on her finger” — accompanied Blake to the park this week.

Crater of Diamonds is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public, and visitors can keep any stone they dig up. The largest diamond ever found in the US, a 40-carat stone named Uncle Sam, was discovered in 1924.

The Kazanjian Red Diamond is thought to be the world’s finest red diamond and Garrard are privileged to be offering it for private view at their locations in Japan and Hong Kong later this month and in early November.

The Kazanjian Red is an Asscher cut unique Red Diamond weighing 5.05 carats; it is thought to be the finest red diamond in the world.

Red diamonds are the rarest and most desirable diamond colour in the world, they are seen as priceless and almost impossible to obtain. The colour red is known to symbolize life and vitality; it is also the colour of passion.

The stone forms part of the Kazanjian Foundation were funds raised through the foundation establish scholarship programs for underprivileged youths.

A few weeks ago we reported on what could have been the worlds largest diamond. World’s Largest Diamond.

According to Mining Weekly the diamond has been declared a fake.

The stone that was found at an unnamed mine in the North West province and said to be bigger than the Cullinan diamond, the biggest in the world, is not a diamond, bringing over a month of speculation to an end, Mining Weekly Online revealed on Friday.

Brett Jolly, the person who first claimed the find said that he did not want anything more to do with it, and that he “doesn’t care anymore if it’s a diamond or not”.

Speaking in a telephone interview from Potchefstroom with Mining Weekly Online, he confirmed that he had tested the alleged diamond with a journalist yesterday, but that what the miners who had found the stone had brought to be tested was a “disgusting lump of resin”.

You can read more about this story here.

In this photo a model holds a brilliant cut D-color flawless diamond weighing in at 84.37 carats during a preview for the Sotheby’s auction house in Geneva October 1, 2007. This diamond, which is the largest brilliant-cut diamond to ever be auctioned, is expected to reach $ 12,000,000 to $16,000,000 during a sale at the auction house on November 14, 2007.

An artist in London has created a platinum and diamond encrusted skull and sold it to an investment group for $100 million. The skull will be on exhibit in an upcoming international art show and the investment group anticipates selling it within a few years for a nice profit.

It was modeled after a real skull and contains 32 platinum plates with 8,601 diamonds, using a rare and magnificent 52 carat pink diamond in the center, studded with 14 pear-shaped diamonds. The artist entitled the piece “For the Love of God”, because it was meant to highlight the transience of human existence. For the love of God is that a lot of money!

A stone recently found in South Africa could be the largest diamond ever found. In the afternoon hours of August 27, 2007, a small mining company working in the northwest province of the country unearthed this massive stone. Under preliminary estimates, the stone weighs near 7,000 carats. If these estimates are correct, this stone would almost double the largest rough diamond on record, the famous Cullinan. However, the Cullinan was later cut into smaller stones, which are now featured in the British Crown jewels.

Brett Jolly, a shareholder in the mine, was quoted as saying the stone is light green in color and that it is between 6,500 and 8,000 carats. The stone has since been transported to a vault in Johannesburg, where it will be photographed and further assessed by experts. Jolly wouldn’t release the name of the mining company or the mine sighting security reasons.

Further tests are scheduled to be done on August 28 to determine the actual size and worth of the stone.

In a photograph next to a cell phone, the stone appears to have a greenish tinge and looks to be about the size of a coconut. A spokesman for the De Beers Mining Company, the world’s largest diamond mining company, said the area where the stone was found was not known for producing gems and stones of this color were even rarer. Experts claim if the stone is a genuine diamond, it would be the “stone of the century.”