Stephen's Jewelry

12/01/2020

De Beers Buys Petra Blue Diamonds for $40M
Nov 25, 2020 5:14 AM By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... De Beers has purchased five rough blue diamonds from Petra Diamonds for more than $40 million in partnership with one of its sightholders.

The miner bought the Letlapa Tala collection together with South African wholesaler and manufacturer Diacore for $40.4 million, split equally between the two companies. The type IIb stones, which originated from Petra’s Cullinan mine in South Africa, weigh a total of 85.6 carats, with the individual diamonds ranging from 9.61 to 25.75 carats, Petra said Wednesday.

The sale price at the November 24 tender exceeded analysts’ predictions. Liberum believed the stones would fetch “in the region of $30 million to $40 million,” while Berenberg predicted approximately $26 million, they told Rapaport News.

“The result of this special tender affirms the very high value placed on blue diamonds,” said Petra CEO Richard Duffy. “We believe this to be the first time that five rough blue diamonds of significant size, color and clarity have been offered for sale at one time, and we are delighted that the collection has been bought in its entirety.”

Diacore, which specializes in manufacturing rare, fancy-color diamonds, has worked with De Beers before. It previously cut the miner’s 203.04-carat De Beers Millennium Star, and has also worked on other well-known stones, such as the CTF Pink Star, a 59.60-carat pink bought by Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai F**k for $71.2 million in 2017. The manufacturer, with cutting facilities in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia, was also one of the pilot participants in De Beers’ Tracr blockchain initiative.

“We are excited and humbled to have the opportunity to unlock the unparalleled beauty of these rare and extraordinary natural diamonds and share them with the world,” said Paul Rowley, executive vice president of diamond trading at De Beers. “Cullinan has produced some of the most beautiful diamonds the world has ever seen, and these blue diamonds are no exception.”

De Beers and Diacore will select expert craftsmen to study and work with the diamonds before presenting them to the public, De Beers added.

De Beers previously owned the Cullinan mine. It sold the deposit to Petra for $149 million in 2007.

11/17/2020

$27M Pink Diamond Sets Record at Sotheby’s
Nov 12, 2020 4:27 AM By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Alrosa’s Spirit of the Rose has achieved the highest price for any purple-pink diamond, selling to an anonymous bidder for nearly $27 million at Sotheby’s Geneva.

The oval modified brilliant-cut, 14.83-carat, fancy-vivid-purple-pink, internally flawless, type II stone, named for the famous Russian ballet, sold for $26.6 million, beating its low estimate of $23 million. The diamond, which fetched $1.8 million per carat, led the Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels live auction Wednesday, which garnered $52.2 million in total, Sotheby’s said.

The purchase comes on the heels of the recent closure of Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Australia, which produced more than 90% of the world’s pink diamonds. Prices for stones of that color are likely to soar in the coming years, experts have noted.

“The Spirit of the Rose caught the imagination of everyone who had the chance to see it,” said Benoit Repellin, head of the Sotheby’s Geneva Magnificent Jewels auction. “With its size, beautiful color, perfect cut and oval shape, it is a wonder of nature, steeped in Russia’s century-long diamond tradition and cultural heritage. It fully deserves the price achieved tonight, which is also testament to the growing appreciation and awareness of the great scarcity of pink diamonds around the world.”

Sotheby’s also saw strong prices for white diamonds at the auction, with 10 out of 11 stones on offer selling above their estimates. A cushion-shaped, 18.03-carat, D-color, flawless, type IIa diamond fetched $1.9 million against a high estimate of $1.1 million, while a pear-shaped, 102.41-carat, light-brown diamond of VVS2 clarity brought in $1.3 million, exceeding its high valuation.

Noble jewels were in demand as well, Sotheby’s said, led by a Colombian emerald and diamond parure from the collection of the first Marquis de Guirior, viceroy of New Granada and viceroy of Peru. That piece also surpassed its high estimate, fetching $1.1 million.

08/21/2020

442-carat diamond discovery sends shares of small miner soaring in London
Published: Aug. 21, 2020 at 10:26 a.m. ET
By Barbara Kollmeyer

Gem Diamonds's newest 442-K diamond discovery
For most U.K. investors, Friday was steeped in gloom with the FTSE 100 index tracking global losses and the pound slumping on a failed Brexit meeting., but not for shareholders of Gem Diamonds.

Shares of the small miner GEMD, +10.71% surged 10% after the company announced the discovery of carat Type II diamond from the Letšeng mine in Lesotho, South Africa. It’s the “highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world,” said the global miner.

A portion of the profits from the sale of the diamond will go to fund a special community project in conjunction with the local government of Lesotho, said Gem Diamonds.

07/07/2020

No Buyer for 3ct. Blue Diamond at Sotheby’s
Jun 24, 2020 9:30 AM By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... A 3.01-carat, fancy-vivid-blue diamond ring carrying a high estimate of $6.3 million was among a number of headline items that failed to find buyers at Sotheby’s Geneva auction.

Sotheby’s withdrew the stone from Tuesday’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels Part II at the request of the consigner, it told Rapaport News Wednesday. The sale, which achieved a total of $12.4 million, was the auction house’s first live event since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, and followed Part I, which took place online.

An oval-shaped, 21.56-carat, D-color, VVS1-clarity diamond ring by Lorraine Schwartz, valued at $1.5 million to $2 million, also went unsold. Other colored diamonds were not purchased, including a duet ring set with a pear-shaped, 3.03-carat, fancy-intense-blue diamond and a pear-shaped, 2.82-carat, D-color, VVS1-clarity diamond, as well as a step-cut, fancy-vivid-yellow diamond ring weighing 16.43 carats.

Meanwhile, the top-selling lot at the sale was a marquise-shaped, 7-carat, fancy-intense-pink diamond ring, which was auctioned for the first time after spending 30 years in a private collection. The piece sold for $2.8 million, within its $2.4 million to $3.4 million estimate.

Other notable items included a pear-shaped, 5.29-carat, fancy-grey-blue diamond ring, which garnered $2.1 million, beating its $1.2 million high estimate. A pair of cushion-shaped, D-color, VVS2-clarity diamond earrings, weighing 13.50 carats and 13.52 carats, fetched $1.5 million against an estimate of $1.2 million to $1.8 million.

Sapphires also proved popular, with a cushion-shaped, 105.89-carat ring going for $1.7 million, more than double its $670,000 high estimate. A cushion-shaped, 16.11-carat sapphire ring bracketed by diamonds also sailed past its $490,000 upper valuation, achieving $524,000.

Image: The 3.01-carat blue diamond. (Sotheby’s)

07/07/2020

RAPAPORT... Christie’s brought in more than $4 million at its latest digital sale, with a 29-carat diamond earning the highest online price ever for a jewel.

The emerald-cut, 28.86-carat, D-color, VVS1-clarity, type IIa diamond ring garnered $2.1 million, beating its $2 million high estimate at the Jewels Online sale, Christie’s said Tuesday. The piece received offers as soon as the sale started on June 16, with a total of 31 bidders competing to acquire it up to the close of the auction on June 30, Christie’s added.

“The sale of this exceptional stone established the record for a jewel sold in an online-only auction, demonstrating greater client confidence in Christie’s digital ability and online sale platform,” said Rahul Kadakia, international head of jewelry at Christie’s.

Meanwhile, items by Graff proved popular, with a cascade necklace by the designer, set with a total of 46.57 carats of diamonds, selling for $275,000 against its $250,000 to $350,000 estimate. A Ladygraff watch featuring a total of 40.86 carats of diamonds fetched $175,000, beating its high estimate of $150,000, while a Graff Butterfly pink-sapphire and diamond watch more than doubled its high estimate of $70,000, garnering $150,000.

Other notable items include a ring set with a cushion-shaped, 27.81-carat, yellow sapphire bracketed by diamonds, and a sapphire, cultured pearl and diamond necklace, which both sold for $32,500, well above their $15,000 high valuations.

In total, Christie’s sold 93% of goods on offer, and 100% by value, with 64% of lots selling at or above their high estimates, it said. Bidders participated from 27 countries across five continents.

Christie’s next online jewelry sale will take place from July 3 to 13, featuring the auction of three pieces by designer Anna Hu. Proceeds from those jewels, donated by Alrosa through its Diamonds That Care campaign, will go to help support healthcare workers during Covid-19. The auction house will also hold a live Fine Jewels sale in Paris on July 8, followed by its Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction on July 9.

Image: The 28.86-carat diamond ring. (Christie’s)

03/02/2020

https://stephens.jewelershowcase.com/

Stephen's Jewelry

02/26/2020

Heart shaped 3.87 carat Sapphire and Diamond white gold ring
$10,000
Heart shaped Sapphire and Diamond 18K white gold ring that features a 3.87 ct rich blue, heart shaped, natural Sapphire with 18 rbc clean whte diamonds which are prong set, making the rich blue Sapphire stand out in beautiful ...
contrast. The split shank ring is stamped MAG. Size 6 1/2. 5.5 grams.
Show Less

Sold by East Continental Gems

02/26/2020

L.J. West Buys Pink-Purple Alrosa Diamond
Feb 19, 2020 8:15 AM By Leah Meirovich
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RAPAPORT... New York-based diamond collector and wholesaler L.J. West has purchased a 6.21-carat fancy-intense-pink-purple diamond from Alrosa.

The stone, one of three the Russian miner cut and polished from a 20.18-carat rough it found in one of its Yakutia mines in 2017, was purchased directly from Alrosa, L.J. West owner Larry West said. A diamond of its color is generally only found in Russia, Scott West, vice president of L.J. West, told Rapaport News Tuesday.

“This is a stone that’s so incredibly rare, it could be in a museum,” Scott West noted. “What struck me about the stone was it’s such a beautiful purple, one of the largest and highest-clarity purples I’ve ever seen.”

Alrosa gave the company an electronic passport establishing provenance for the stone, which includes a detailed visual history of the diamond’s extraction and production, as well as information about the cutter’s background.

“Our cutter’s unique skills allow us to turn [the rough] into high-quality diamonds,” said Alrosa US president Rebecca Foerster. “With these advantages, Alrosa may well become a world leader in the colored-diamond market.”

Even so, L.J. West thinks the diamond has room for improvement. It plans to recut and repolish it to bring out the purple color further, and believes it can also get a higher clarity for the stone. The process will likely remove up to 1 carat of the diamond’s weight, Scott West explained. Once the stone is recut, L.J. West intends to set it in jewelry and sell it, he added.

The wholesaler, which has an extensive collection of colored diamonds that has been featured in museums, declined to disclose the price it paid for the stone.

Image: The 6.21-carat pink-purple diamond. (Alrosa)

01/17/2020

RAPAPORT... The companies behind WD Lab Grown Diamonds have filed three lawsuits against competitors, accusing them of infringing patents for diamond synthesis and treatment.

The Carnegie Institution of Washington, a science organization, and M7D Corporation, which trades as WD Lab Grown Diamonds, took action Thursday again six companies that produce or sell diamonds made using chemical v***r deposition (CVD).

One of the complaints targets Pure Grown Diamonds (PGD) and IIa Technologies, which produces CVD goods for PGD. A second filing is against Mahendra Brothers, a De Beers sightholder, and its affiliate, Fenix Diamonds. The third suit takes aim at Altr, another lab-grown supplier, and its owner, R.A. Riam.

Carnegie invented and patented a version of CVD, known as microwave-plasma CVD (MPCVD), that can create a purer diamond because it doesn’t involve electrodes, which often contaminate the product, according to the lawsuits. It also patented a method for enhancing a stone’s visual characteristics through heat treatment at high pressure and temperature. M7D holds the license to both patents, the three similar lawsuits continued.

“The existence of the patents…are well-known in the lab-grown diamond industry, and in particular are well-known by lab-grown diamond manufacturers, importers and sellers,” Carnegie and M7D claimed.

WD and Carnegie have invested significantly in technology and production, helping to increase the profile and overall quality of lab-grown diamonds in the industry, said Sue Rechner, CEO of WD, in a statement to Rapaport News.

“The decision to start litigation is not one taken lightly, but in this instance it is important to maintain the integrity and quality of the lab-grown diamond industry, and ensure that competitors compete fairly and equitably,” she added. “It is not WD’s ultimate goal to fundamentally disrupt the supply of diamonds in this industry, but rather to ensure that quality and integrity are the pillars of this industry — which will ensure that the upward trajectory of this technology that WD has helped create and foster will be maintained.”

Carnegie and M7D are seeking damages and a judgment declaring that the six companies violated their patents. Those companies were not available for comment Sunday.

Image: A 9.04-carat round brilliant produced by WD Lab Grown Diamonds in 2018 using chemical v***r deposition. (WD Lab Grown Diamonds)

01/17/2020

Louis Vuitton Buys 1,758ct. Diamond from Lucara
Jan 16, 2020 5:03 AM By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. has sold Botswana’s largest diamond to Louis Vuitton in a rare move that will see the fashion house partner with an Antwerp manufacturer to polish the stone.

The mining company will receive an up-front payment for the 1,758-carat Sewelô rough and retain a 50% interest in the final polished, it said in a statement Wednesday. While the diamond is of variable quality, and appears black, recent analysis has confirmed it includes “domains of higher-quality white gem,” Lucara added.

“Lucara believes that the full potential of this special stone will only be revealed once polished,” the statement continued. “The purpose of this unprecedented collaboration between a miner, a cutting-edge manufacturer and a large luxury brand will be the planning, cutting and polishing of a collection of diamonds from Sewelô.”

The selling price was in the “millions,” The New York Times quoted Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke as saying.

The polishing will take place via a partnership with Belgium’s HB Company. The resulting jewelry will commemorate the “extraordinary discovery” and benefit the people of Botswana, said Lucara CEO Eira Thomas. As part of the deal, 5% of the retail sales proceeds will go toward Lucara’s community-based initiatives in the African country.

The move comes amid Louis Vuitton's increased focused on jewelry, with the French brand hiring two former Tiffany & Co. executives — designer Francesca Amfitheatrof and marketing expert Catherine Lacaze — in the past two years. Its parent company, LVMH, which also owns Bulgari, is in the process of acquiring Tiffany for $16.2 million.

Lucara discovered the rough at its Karowe mine in April 2019, declaring it to be the largest diamond in Botswana’s history, surpassing the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona it extracted at the same deposit in 2015. The company called the stone Sewelô, meaning “rare find” in the local Setswana language, following a public naming contest.

Image: The Sewelô diamond. (Louis Vuitton)

12/20/2019

WORLD NEWSDECEMBER 16, 2019 / 1:02 AM / 3 DAYS AGO
Burglars nab jewelry worth $64 million from British model Tamara Ecclestone
2 MIN READ
LONDON (Reuters) - Tamara Ecclestone, the daughter of former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, has had an estimated 50 million pounds ($64 million)-worth of jewelry stolen in an audacious raid from her west London home.

FILE PHOTO: Tamara Ecclestone arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London February 18, 2013. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
A spokesman said the 35-year-old had been left “angry and shaken” after the burglars apparently evaded both the 24-hour security teams that patrol the street known as “Billionaire Row” and Ecclestone’s own internal security officers.

The daughter of Formula One’s former commercial supremo lives on Kensington Palace Gardens, amongst the residences of the French and Russian ambassadors and close to the Kensington Palace home of Prince William and his wife Kate.

Police said a number of items of jewelry were stolen from a property in West London on Friday night and the suspects had fled the house by the time officers and a dog unit arrived.

The building’s security team had reported seeing three males inside the property.

“A fast-paced investigation is underway to locate the suspects and missing items,” said Detective Sergeant Matthew Pountney.

The Sun newspaper reported that Ecclestone, a model and celebrity in Britain, had just left the country for her Christmas holidays when the burglars entered the property via the garden and smashed open safes hidden in her bedroom.

Ecclestone’s Instagram feed showed her young daughter boarding a private plane on Friday, with a message saying “Pretty excited the holidays are here.”

“I can sadly confirm there has been a home invasion at the Ecclestone-Rutland family home,” a spokesman said, referring to her husband Jay Rutland. “Tamara and family are well but obviously angry and shaken by the incident.”

The average property price for the street stands at 36.5 million pounds, according to online portal Zoopla.

Reporting by Kate Holton and Alan Baldwin; editing by Michael Holden and Angus MacSwan
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.