The 20th of June saw the exciting new launch of our collaboration with Chocoloza, a hand-made luxury chocolate brand based at 44 Stanley in Johannesburg. South African diamond lovers came together for a decadent evening of champagne, cognac, coffee, chocolate and of course diamonds and jewellery. One of most common questions our co-founder Clare Appleyard [...]
Natural coloured diamonds are some of the rarest and most beautiful diamonds that you can imagine. Mined at a number of varieties across the world, including South Africa and Australia, coloured diamonds are prized by collectors and are sold for 10's of thousands of dollars per carat. Coloured diamonds are increasing in popularity and as [...]
For many engagement ring buyers, the preferred diamond colour is white - indeed, the whiter, the better (and the pricier!). A pure white diamond, often known as blue-white and graded colour 'D' is exceptionally hard to come by and these stones demand premium prices. As you move down the diamond colour scale (and down the [...]
Earlier this year, at Christie’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction, a remarkable natural green diamond, the Aurora Green, sold for $16.8million. This 5.03ct fancy vivid green of VS clarity set two new diamond records when it was purchased by Chinese retailer Chow Tai Fook. Given that natural green diamonds are exceptionally rare, very little is [...]
For over 100 years, the Cullinan diamond has been the worlds biggest diamond ever found (a whopping 3,106cts), with the second biggest diamond ever being the Excelsior diamond, found in South Africa in 1893. Weighing in at 995cts, the Excelsior was ultimately cut into 10 diamonds, ranging in size from 13 - 68cts. Now, in a [...]
You’ve got it all figured out. You’ve found the woman of your dreams. You’ve asked her parents for permission to propose and now you’re ready to pop the question. You know she’ll say yes. But there’s one thing missing - the perfect engagement ring. You’ve been into every retail jewellery store you know, in every [...]
Everything You Need to Know About Synthetic and Simulant Diamonds [This article originally appeared in the June 2014 issue of JCK Magazine. Published online by Rob Bates, Senior Editor] People in the jewelry trade understand the difference between a diamond simulant and a synthetic diamond. But many consumers do not—and that’s a growing problem. In [...]
In 1919, a Belgian mathematician, Marcel Tolkowsky, who came from a family of diamond cutters, published a Masters thesis on the best proportions for round brilliant diamonds. This work formed the basis of the defining proportions for what are now known as "Ideal cut diamonds". It must be noted however that different grading laboratories allocate [...]
