Langerman Diamonds - Welcome in the blog of diamonds lovers

Find your color Diamond

Posted by:
arthur Langerman
on 2010-03-05

507-Carat Cullinan Heritage Sells for $35.3 Million

The 507-carat Cullinan Heritage diamond has been sold for $35.3 million, the highest sale price on record ever achieved for a rough diamond, Petra Diamonds announced Friday. The diamond was sold on tender in South Africa and was purchased by Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Jewellery.

The purchaser, a Diamond Trading Company (DTC) Sightholder, has not yet disclosed its plans for the diamond.

According to Petra, the price of the Cullinan Heritage, recovered in September 2009 from Petra’s Cullinan mine, reflects the incredible rarity of the diamond. At 507.5 carats, it is the nineteenth largest gem quality diamond ever discovered.

The company stated it will use the proceeds from the sale to fund the development of underground operations at Cullinan and the expansion project at the Williamson mine. Petra states that both are “important steps” in raising its annual production from one million carats to over three million carats by 2019.

Petra CEO Johan Dippenaar said the sale price is “fitting” a diamond that has “the potential to produce one of the world’s most important polished gems.”

Detail / Add a comment

0 comment(s)

Posted by:
arthur Langerman
on 2010-03-03

SOTHEBY'S HK TO AUCTION RARE, BLUE DIAMOND IN APRIL

Hong Kong: Sotheby's will auction next month a rare, large blue diamond that was once part of the legendary De Beers Millennium collection, with fierce bidding expected on the $4.6-$5.8 million estimate price.

The 5.16 carat, pear-shaped internally flawless Fancy Vivid Blue gem is the first diamond of its kind to appear at an auction from the collection that De Beers, the world's largest diamond producer, presented in 2000 to celebrate the millennium.

It is being put up for sale by a private collector and is the star lot at Sotheby's Hong Kong jewels and jadeite 2010 spring sale on April 7.

The De Beers Millennium collection comprised 12 rare gems and took decades to assemble. "The diamond's high and even saturation of brilliant sky-blue colour, internally flawless clarity and classic pear shape will undoubtedly spur intense bidding amongst discerning collectors from around the world," the auction house said in a statement.

The auction's location is not surprising: China is one of the world's largest and fastest growing diamond markets, with jewellers forecasting it will be the next big purchaser of rare jewels as its economy surges as the rest of the world still grapples with the fallout from the global financial meltdown.

Blue diamonds are among the rarest of all gems and owe their natural blue colour to the presence of the chemical element boron during the stone's formation.

In May 2009, a 7.03-carat cushion-shaped internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond set the world record price per carat for any gemstone at a Sotheby's Geneva auction when it was bought by a Hong Kong collector for $9.48 million dollars.

Detail / Add a comment

0 comment(s)

Posted by:
arthur Langerman
on 2010-02-22

Singer's jail term delayed to allow diamonds to be removed from teeth

American rapper Lil Wayne has been given a three-week from receiving a court sentence in order to have platinum and diamonds worth $100,000 removed from his teeth.

A judge agreed to postpone the singer's court date for sentencing until after he completes a series of dental operations. He was due to enter a New York prison this week, but that will be delayed until next month.

The rapper told the court that the platinum and diamonds grill was too risky to enter jail with. He claimed that he had to have the diamonds temporarily removed due to alleged threats from inmates saying they would knock the bling out of his mouth, according to examiner.com.

Justice Charles Soloman agreed on Tuesday to delay the sentencing after Wayne’s lawyer requested extra time so the rapper could have his grill removed and enough time to recover from the surgery.

Wayne is due to appear in court on March 2, with his one-year jail sentence to begin straight afterwards.

Detail / Add a comment

0 comment(s)

Posted by:
arthur Langerman
on 2010-01-31

The Historic Hope and Wittelsbach-Graff Blue Diamonds: Cut from the Same Crystal?

Blue diamonds are some of the rarest and most intriguing of gemstones. The recent reappearance of the Wittelsbach Blue diamond - now the Wittelsbach-Graff, recut from 35.56 to 31.06 ct to improve its clarity and color appearance - has rekindled interest in these two diamonds. On January 29, the Wittelsbach-Graff went on exhibit (until August 1) at the Smithsonian Institution, united for the first time with the Hope. Both diamonds have a fascinating provenance, believed to have been mined in India and arrived in Europe in the mid-17th century. Speculation about whether these two remarkably similar gems could have originated from the same piece of rough has intrigued scientists for years. To investigate this theory now that the two diamonds were finally together in one venue, the present authors performed a careful mineralogical, gemological, and spectroscopic analysis of both at the Smithsonian in January 2010.

Both diamonds displayed similar clarity and deep blue color. Mid-IR spectroscopy confirmed that both were type IIb. In addition, both displayed long-lasting strong orange-red phosphorescence, as well as nearly identical phosphorescence spectral features (e.g., a weak emission at ~500 nm and a strong one at ~660 nm). The intensity ratio of the two bands was nearly the same for the two stones, although the half-life of the 660 nm band in the Wittelsbach-Graff diamond was slightly longer than for the Hope.

Despite their uncanny similarities, some clear differences were recognized. Microscopic examination with crossed polarizers showed distinctly banded internal strain in the Hope diamond, as compared to a typical “tatami” pattern in the Wittelsbach-Graff. In the DiamondView deep-UV luminescence imaging system, both diamonds showed well-developed dislocation networks with moderate-to-strong blue fluorescence throughout the entire stone, but the scale of the network patterns differed significantly.

Our preliminary conclusion is that it is unlikely that these gems originated from the same crystal.

Detail / Add a comment

0 comment(s)

Posted by:
arthur Langerman
on 2010-01-31

Large HPHT-Treated Type IIb Blue Diamond

The New York laboratory recently tested one of the largest HPHT-treated type IIb diamonds we have seen to date. The 6.46 ct pear-shaped diamond was color graded Fancy Intense blue, with no gray or brown modifying hues. The clarity was internally flawless (IF), with none of the internal graining typically seen in HPHT-treated type IIa and IIb diamonds. One relatively large pavilion facet was not entirely polished, showing remnants of the frosted surfaces created by HPHT treatment.

Microscopic observation with crossed polarizers revealed only a weak gray-brown interference color in a wavy pattern. Examination with the DiamondView showed moderately strong blue fluorescence and strong blue phosphorescence. The mid-infrared spectrum confirmed that this diamond was type IIb. The UV-Vis spectrum showed decreasing absorption from the near-IR to the UV region, typical of pure blue IIb diamond. Photoluminescence spectroscopy at liquid-nitrogen temperature with laser excitations from UV to IR, together with other gemological properties, confirmed this diamond was HPHT treated.

Type IIb diamonds are extremely rare in nature and highly valued in the jewelry market. The existence of an HPHT-treated type IIb diamond of such size and quality underscores the importance of having gems identified by a properly equipped laboratory.

Comment:
I would like to see that Blue Diamond myself.

Detail / Add a comment

1 comment(s)

Posted by:
arthur Langerman
on 2010-01-28

Actor finds ingenious way to propose to girlfrien

British actor David Walliams, the star of the BBC series ‘Little Britain’ and was the voice of Bulgy Bear in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia,’ movie came up an ingenious culinary method to propose to his girlfriend, model Lara Stone.

Walliams asked hotel kitchen staff to put a vintage Tiffany diamond engagement ring under the bun of her hamburger, knowing that Stone always removes the lettuce topping, and would notice the ring before she started eating the burger.

The model saw the diamond ring and immediately agreed to marry Walliams, according to media reports.

The couple is planning to marry this summer.

Detail / Add a comment

0 comment(s)

Posted by:
arthur Langerman
on 2010-01-22

Ultra-Luxurious Diamond Encrusted Nokia on Sale for $160K

Goldstriker International has unveiled a new cell phone for the luxury sect. Dubbed the “Nokia Supreme,” the device is encrusted with 12.5 carats of pink diamonds, 1,225 individually set gems and a 3-carat navigational button centerpiece.

The jeweled phone is a far cry from affordable. At $160,000, the Supreme boasts solid platinum veneers and screws, making up a total of 83g of platinum for the handheld device.

“There is no finer relationship than platinum & diamonds. They are pure, rare, and eternal,” the phone’s description reads on Stuart Hughes website. Hughes designed the device exclusively for Goldstriker.

Detail / Add a comment

0 comment(s)

Posted by:
Arthur Langerman
on 2010-01-08