Wednesday 29 January 2014

Queen Mary’s Diamond Riviere and La Peregrina Pearl



Price: $1,828,224
England’s first female ruler Queen Mary was certainly known for all the riches she had. One of the most exclusive jewels that she possessed during her rule was this beautiful Diamond Riviere. This stunning diamond Riviere is made of dazzling 34 old cut authentic diamonds set beautifully in gold and silver. The gorgeous piece was gifted by the queen to her granddaughter Princess Margaret, and dates from about 1900. Another stunning piece that belonged to her was a necklace “La Peregrina” of pearl which is one of the most famous pearls in the world with a recorded history of nearly 500 years.

This was owned by England’s first female ruler Queen Mary. It is considered to be one of the world’s most exclusive jewels that include a Diamond Riviere. 

Sunday 19 January 2014

Opal




 The word Opal is adapted from the Roman term opalus, but the origin of this word is a matter of debate. However, most modern references suggest it is adapted from the Sanskrit word úpala.
References to the gem are made by Pliny the Elder. It is suggested it was adapted it fromOps, the wife of Saturn and goddess of fertility. The portion of Saturnalia devoted to Ops was "Opalia", similar to opalus.
Another common claim that the term is adapted from the Greek word, opallios. This word has two meanings, one is related to "seeing" and forms the basis of the English words like "opaque", the other is "other" as in "alias" and "alter". It is claimed that opalus combined these uses, meaning "to see a change in color". However, historians have noted that the first appearances of opallios do not occur until after the Romans had taken over the Greek states in 180 BC, and they had previously used the term paederos.
However, the argument for the Sanskrit origin is strong. The term first appears in Roman references around 250 BC, at a time when the opal was valued above all other gems. The opals were supplied by traders from the Bosporus, who claimed the gems were being supplied from India. Before this the stone was referred to by a variety of names, but these fell from use after 250 BC.

Opal is precious 

Precious opal shows a variable interplay of internal colors and even though it is a mineraloid, it has an internal structure. At micro scales precious opal is composed of silica spheres some 150 to 300 nm in diameter in a hexagonal or cubic close-packedlattice. These ordered silica spheres produce the internal colors by causing theinterference anddiffraction of light passing through the microstructure of the opal. It is the regularity of the sizes and the packing of these spheres that determines the quality of precious opal. Where the distance between the regularly packed planes of spheres is approximately half the wavelength of a component of visible light, the light of that wavelength may be subject to diffraction from the grating created by the stacked planes. The spacing between the planes and the orientation of planes with respect to the incident light determines the colors observed. The process can be described by Bragg’s Law of diffraction.

Other Varieties of Precious Opal
Fire opals are transparent to translucent opals with warm body colors of yellow, orange, orange-yellow or red. They do not usually show any play of color, although occasionally a stone will exhibit bright green flashes. The most famous source of fire opals is the state of Queretaro in Mexico; these opals are commonly called Mexican fire opals. Fire opals that do not show play of color are sometimes referred to as jelly opals. Mexican opals are sometimes cut in their ryholitic host material if it is hard enough to allow cutting and polishing. This type of Mexican opal is referred to as a Cantera Opal. There is also a type of opal from Mexico referred to as Mexican

Water Opal, which is a colorless opal which exhibits either a bluish or golden internal sheen.
 Girasol opal is a term sometimes mistakenly and improperly used to refer to fire opals as well as a type of transparent to semi-transparent type milky quartz from Madagascar which displays an asterism, or star effect, when cut properly. However, there is a true girasol opal[ that is a type of halite opal, that exhibits a bluish glow or sheen that follows the light source around. It is not a play of color as seen in precious opal but rather an effect from microscopic inclusions. It is also sometimes referred to as water opal as well when it is from Mexico. The two most notable locations of this type of opal are Oregon and Mexico.
Peruvian opal (also called blue opal) is a semi-opaque to opaque blue-green stone found in Peru which is often cut to include the matrix in the more opaque stones. It does not display pleochroism. Blue opal also comes from Oregon in the Owhyee region as well as from Nevada around Virgin Valley.




 Opal Come From -Australia produces around 97% of the world's opal. 90% is called 'light opal' or white andcrystal opal. White makes up 60% of the opal productions but cannot be found in all of the opal fields. Crystal opal or pure hydrated silica makes up 30% of the opal produced, 8% is black and only 2% is boulder opal.
The town ofcoober pedy in South Australia is a major source of opal. The world's largest and most valuable gem opal "Olympic Australis" was found in August 1956 at the "Eight Mile" opal field in Coober Pedy. It weighs 17,000 carats (3450 grams) and is 11 inches (280 mm) long, with a height of 4 34 inches (120 mm) and a width of 4 12 inches (110 mm.)
Another source of white base opal or creamy opal in the United States is Spencer, Idaho. A high percentage of the opal found there occurs in thin layers.
Other significant deposits of precious opal around the world can be found in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil (in Pedro II ,Piaui), Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ethiopia.
In late 2008,NASA announced that it had discovered opal deposits on Mars.




Amethyst



Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz  often used in Jewellery . The name comes from the Ancient Greek  ,a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkness  Greek  and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking  vessels of it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication.

Nature 
Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz (SiO2) and owes its violet color to irradiation,iron  impurities (in some cases in conjunction with transition  element impurities), and the presence of trace elements, which result in complex crystal lattice substitutions. The hardness of the mineral is the same as quartz on Mohs Scale it is -7, thus it is suitable for use in jewelry.




Color -
Amethyst occurs in primary hues from a light pinkish violet to a deep purple. Amethyst may exhibit one or both secondary hues, red and blue. The best varieties of Amethysts can be found in Srilanka , Brazil, Africa,Siberia and the far East. The ideal grade is called "Deep Siberian" and has a primary purple hue of around 75–80%, with 15–20% blue and (depend on the light source) red secondary hues.


 Amethyst Belongs to-
Amethyst is produced in abundance from the state of Minas Geris in Brazil where it occurs in large deodes within volcanic rocks . Many of the hollow agates of southwestern Brazil and Urugauay contain a crop of amethyst crystals in the interior. 

 It is also found and mined in South Korea. The largest opencast amethyst vein in the world is in Maissau, Lower Austria. Much fine amethyst comes from Russai, especially from near Mursinka in the Ekaterinburg district, where it occurs in drsy cavities in granitic rocks. Many localities in south India   yield amethyst. One of the largest global amethyst producers is Zambia in southern Africa with an annual production of about 1000 tonnes.

Value -
 Up until the 18th century, amethyst was included in the cardina, or most valuable, gemstones (along with diamond, sapphire, ruby, and emerald). However, since the discovery of extensive deposits in locations such as Brazil, it has lost most of its value.
Collectors look for depth of color, possibly with red flashes if cut conventionally.
 The highest grade amethyst (called "Deep Russian") is exceptionally rare and therefore, when one is found, its value is dependent on the demand of collectors. It is, however, still orders of magnitude lower than the highest grade sapphires or rubies (padparadscha sapphire or "pigeon's blood" ruby).

Monday 6 January 2014

Queen Marie of Romania’s Shell Shaped Brooch

Queen Marie of Romania’s Shell Shaped Brooch





Once owned by Queen Marie of Romania this symbolic piece of brooch made out of Pecten shell was used as a crowned monogram for Princess Marie. It was crafted by C. Faberge and belongs to history of Russian Royalty.

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Sapphire





Sapphire in Greek sappheiros, 'blue stone', which probably referred instead at the time to  lapis is a gemstone  variety of the mineral corundum , aluminum (α-Al2O3). Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper or magnesium can give corundum blue, yellow, purple, orange, or a greenish color. Chromium impurities in corundum yield a pink or red tint, the latter being called a Ruby.
The most valuable color of Sapphire is a cornflower blue color, known as Kashmir.

Sapphire or Cornflower blue Sapphire. Another extremely valuable Sapphire form is the very rare, orange-pink Padparadcchah. An exotic type of sapphire, known as Color Changing Sapphire, displays a different color depending on its lighting. In natural light, Color Changing Sapphire is blue, but in artificial light, it is violet. (This effect is the same phenomenon well-known in the gemstone Alexandrite). Yellow and pink Sapphire have recently become very popular, and are now often seen in jewelry.



Sapphire often contains minor inclusions of tiny slender Rutile needles. When present, these inclusions decrease the transparency of a stone and are known as silk. When in dense, parallel groupings, these inclusions can actually enhance by allowing polished Sapphires to exhibit asterism. Sapphire gems displaying asterism are known as "Star Sapphire", and these can be highly prized. Star Sapphire exists in six ray stars, though twelve ray stars are also known.

Sapphire is pleochroic  , displaying a lighter and more intense color when viewed at different angles. Some pleochroic Sapphire is blue when viewed at one angle, and purple at a different angle. Color zoning, which forms from growth layers that build up during the formation of the stone, may also be present in certain Sapphires. Color zoning is responsible for certain Sapphires having lighter and darker colors in different parts of a crystal. Some Sapphire gemstones may even be multicolored such as purple and blue.

Sapphire is a tough and durable gem and the only natural gemstone harder than Sapphire is Diamond. Despite this, Sapphire is still subject to chipping and fracture if handled roughly, and care should be taken to ensure it is properly handled. Sapphire was first synthesized in 1902. The process of creating synthetic Sapphire is known as the Verneuil process Only experts can distinguish between natural and synthetic Sapphire.


Source of color
Rubies are corundum which contains chromium impurities that absorb yellow-green light and result in deeper ruby red color with increasing content. Purple sapphires contain trace amounts of vanadium and come in a variety of shades. Corundum that contains ~0.01% of titanium   is colorless. If trace amounts of iron i are present, a very pale yellow to green color may be seen. If both titanium and iron impurities are present together, however, the result is a magnificent deep-blue color.
 Unlike localized ("intra-atomic") absorption of light which causes color for chromium and vanadium impurities, blue color in sapphires comes from intervalence charge transfer, which is the transfer of an electron from one transition-metal ion to another via the conduction or valence band. The iron can take the form Fe2+ or Fe3+, while titanium generally takes the form Ti4+. If Fe2+ and Ti4+ions are substituted for Al3+, localized areas of charge imbalance are created. An electron transfer from Fe2+ and Ti4+ can cause a change in the valence state of both. Because of the valence change there is a specific change in energy for the electron, and electromanetic energy is absorbed. The wavelength of the energy absorbed corresponds to yellow light. When this light is subtracted from incident white light, the complementary color blue results. Sometimes when atomic spacing is different in different directions there is resulting blue-green dichroism.
Intervalence charge transfer is a process that produces a strong colored appearance at a low percentage of impurity. While at least 1% chromium must be present in corundum before the deep red ruby color is seen, sapphire blue is apparent with the presence of only 0.01% of titanium and iron.

Treatments

Sapphires may be treated by several methods to enhance and improve their clarity and color; It is normally done by heat treatment. Heating the sapphires in furnaces to temperatures between 500 and 1800 °C for several hours or by heating in a nitrogen-deficient atmosphere oven for seven days or more is the common process. Upon heating, the stone becomes bluer in color, but loses some of the rutile inclusions (silk).  Un-heated natural stones are somewhat rare and will often be sold accompanied by a certificate from an independent gemological laboratory attesting to "no evidence of heat treatment.
"Yogo sapphire sometimes do not need heat treating because their cornflower blue coloring is uniform and deep, they are generally free of the characteristic inclusions, and they have high uniform clarity. At that time, 95% of all the world's sapphires were being heated to enhance their natural color.
 Diffusion treatments are used to add impurities to the sapphire to enhance color. Typically beryllium is diffused into a sapphire under very high heat, just below the melting point of the sapphire. Initially (c. 2000) orange sapphires were created, although now the process has been advanced and many colors of sapphire are often treated with beryllium. The colored layer can be removed when stones chip or are repolished or refaceted, depending on the depth of the impurity layer. Treated padparadschas may be very difficult to detect, and many stones are certified by gemological labs.

 Transparency and hardness
One application of synthetic sapphire is sapphire glass. Here glass is a layman term which refers not to the amorphous state, but to the transparency. Sapphire is not only highly transparent to wavelengths of light between 150 nm (UV) and 5500 nm (IR) (the human eye can discern wavelengths from about 380 nm to 750 nm), but is also extraordinarily scratch-resistant. Sapphire has a value of 9 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness.



 Sapphire Comes From:-
Important Sapphire sources include Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Australia, and the U.S. (Montana). The Kashmir region of India/Pakistan was famous for its Kashmir-blue Sapphire, but little material comes from there today.








Sunday 29 December 2013

Most Expensive Emerald Diamond Neck

Queen Marie Jose’s Emerald and Diamond Necklace






This interesting piece of jewelry was once owned by the last royalty of Italy, Queen Marie Jose. She was known for having an extensive collection of jewels including this diamond necklace. 

This necklace contains 50 emeralds and a lot of diamonds. It was created by Van Cleef and Arpels.

Friday 27 December 2013

Most Expensive Sapphire Ring


Sapphire Ring of Princess Diana











Princess Diana is an iconic figure. No wonder the royal jewelry that she wore which is now in the hands of Kate Middleton will be valued at a price approx of $46183. This ring was given by Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer on their engagement. Aside from the actual price. This ring is historically significant.


History - 
 Lady Diana Spencer  &  Charles, Prince of wales became engaged in February 1981. Her engagement ring consists of 14 solitaire diamonds surrounding a 12-carat oval Blue Ceylon sapphire set in 18-karat white gold. It was created by jeweler Garrad and cost at the time, 28,000 pounds sterling. Diana's selection of this ring for her engagement to the future King of the United Kingdom resulted in sensation involving curiosity , It is different from the engagement rings of other members of the British Royal Family. 

At the time of her engagement to Charles, featured in Garrard's jewellery collection. Some commentators say she selected it because it reminds her of her mother's engagement ring. 

Princes William and Harry to the palace to select mementos from their mother's possessions. Prince Harry selected the engagement ring, whereas Prince William selected Diana's £18,000 yellow gold Cartier Tank Francoise watch. They eventually exchanged mementos. Prince William decided to give his longtime girlfriend,Catherine Middleton, the engagement ring in October 2010. After the announcement of the engagement of the couple, the engagement ring has become popular selling copies of it.
Middleton eventually had the engagement ring re sized. It was a size H ring. She asked Crown Jewellers G Collins and Sons to attach two platinum studs to it to make it a size I ring. She did not want it to fall from her finger on the day of the royal wedding between her and prince William.