CUPCAKES???!?
These BEYOND CUTE cupcakes are too amazing to eat!!!!! They were contest entries featured on Martha Stewart’s Website.
diamond news and views
These BEYOND CUTE cupcakes are too amazing to eat!!!!! They were contest entries featured on Martha Stewart’s Website.
Commercials with this music ran for several years.
From IntoMobile - Sitting on a pile of cash? Gold iPhone’s not your thing? How about one of these Gold & Diamond cases for your shiny gadget? The “world’s first” diamond iPhone case has 42 diamonds set in 18K gold, embedded in a “rare gold carbon fiber leather case.” Yeah, the superior quality is there and so is the price. But then again, you don’t want to make a fuss about mere $20,000, do you?

From JCK - Zale Corp. said Tuesday it will close 60 unprofitable stores in the next 90 days and possibly dozens more by the end of the year, The Dallas Morning News reports. Chief administrative office Rodney Carter said that the Dallas-based jeweler is also cutting its capital spending to $85 million this year from a planned $100 million, the newspaper reports. Carter was speaking at the Cowen & Co. annual consumer conference in New York. Stores closings include Zales, Gordon’s, and Piercing Pagoda kiosks. In a related mater, Breeden Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Zale to 17.7 percent from 15.9 percent, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday. The Greenwich, Conn.-based investment fund, owned by activist investor Richard Breeden reported owning about 7.9 million shares on 44.6 million shares outstanding as of Nov. 30. This is the fourth time this month that the fund has reported increasing its stake. Breeden, is the former SEC chairman.
From Earth Times - Authorities in New York have accused two American Airlines workers at John F. Kennedy International Airport of stealing $235,000 in diamonds. Cargo handlers Richard Lombardo and Steve Tsihlas were arrested and charged with stealing a package of diamonds insured for $235,000, the New York Post reported Sunday. After the uncut diamonds went missing Wednesday, police began questioning Lombardo, who allegedly admitted unspecified details about the crime. Police said Tsihlas was then arrested and he allegedly confessed to taking part in the diamond theft. Information from those interviews allegedly led police to a staff locker bay at the airport, where the stolen diamonds were found. The pair are now facing grand larceny charges in relation to the theft and one law enforcement source said their arrest has left other airport employees shocked and disappointed. “These two have been working together in the same crew for a long time like a family,” the anonymous source told the Post. “A lot of people were hurt by this.”
If you are a consumer who purchased diamonds in the US between Jan 2004 and March 2006 and would like more info check these sites: diamondclassaction FAQ and JVC Legal.
From TheTimes -De Beers, the world’s largest supplier of diamonds, has been ordered to pay $295-million following allegations about price-fixing in the US diamond market. The principal allegations of the class actions against the diamond giant, which is 45 percent owned by Anglo American, are that from January 1994 to March 2006, De Beers monopolised and controlled the supply of rough diamonds in violation of certain US federal and state laws. By manipulating supply, De Beers forced the prices of rough diamonds higher than they would otherwise have been. The lawsuits were brought against De Beers by individuals and businesses that bought loose diamonds and jewellery, or other products containing gem diamonds in the US. De Beers said it did not accept the allegations, but had agreed to pay the penalty. Lynette Gould, media relations manager for De Beers in London, said: “We do believe that settling this class action is in the best interests of our clients, our shareholders and consumers.” Under the proposed settlement, a $295-million fund has been created by De Beers. This settlement fund will be distributed to two groups, or classes, of purchasers: the direct purchaser class and the indirect purchaser class. Direct purchasers will be entitled to claim up to $22.5-million and indirect purchasers will be entitled to claim from the remaining $272.5-million in the fund. (more…)
From Science Daily - Shine a white light on the Hope Diamond and it will dazzle you with the brilliance of an amazing blue diamond. Shine an ultraviolet light on the Hope Diamond and the gem will glow red-orange for about five minutes. This phosphorescent property of blue diamonds can distinguish synthetic and altered diamonds from the real thing, and it may also provide a way to fingerprint individual blue diamonds for identification purposes, according to a team of researchers from the Naval Research Laboratory, the Smithsonian Institution and Penn State. Other colors of diamonds do not phosphoresce, but fluoresce, emitting visible light only as long as they are stimulated with ultraviolet radiation. Blue diamonds that phosphoresce emit light even after the ultraviolet lamp is turned off. Unlike the Hope, however, most blue diamonds produce a bluish light rather than reddish light. The red phosphorescence is rare enough that researchers thought that those blue diamonds that did glow red must have come from the parent of the Hope — an original 112-carat blue diamond mined in India in the mid-1600s. That diamond was cut down to 67 carats to become the French Blue owned by French kings and, after being lost during the French Revolution, appeared 20 years later in 1812 as the 45-carat stone known today as the Hope Diamond. (more…)
From Easier.com - Hollywood hearththrob Ewan McGregor has been voted the Scottish celebrity women said they would have liked to receive a diamond from in their stockings this Christmas. The Crieff born actor beat off stiff competition from Paisley singing sensation Paolo Nutini, Dr Who star David Tennant, tennis ace Andy Murray, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, rugby and dancing sensation Kenny Logan and actors Sean Connery and Dougray Scott to become Scotland’s Diamond Geezer. The online, celebrity poll was conducted by VisitScotland as part of their Winter White Campaign which encourages visitors to take a break north of the border this winter by showing them all the amazing seasonal, white things they can do and see. VisitScotland’s Product Manager, Suzanne Casey said: “Ewan McGregor is a great ambassador for Scotland and it’s no surprise that he came out on top as our favourite Diamond Geezer with 37% of women taking part in our Winter White poll voting for him. The Diamond Geezer poll was a fun way to get women around the country talking about Scotland and encouraging them to find out more about things to do and see during a winter break by visiting Visitscotland.com/white. So whether you are interested in our stunning white landscapes, climbing our snowcapped mountains or simply enjoying a glass of white wine while you dream of your Diamond Geezer, Scotland has something for everyone in winter.” (more…)
From IDEX - Global polished diamond prices rose sharply in December 2007, according to the IDEX Online Polished Diamond Price Index. Driven by price surges of large polished gemstones in the 3.0-to-5.0 carat size range, polished diamond prices in December 2007 were up nearly 5 percent over the same month a year ago, and polished diamond prices rose by 1.2 percent in December over November 2007, the largest month-to-month gain of the year. The outlook for polished diamond prices is bullish. While the U.S. jewelry market appears to be soft, other regions of the world are posting solid sales gains for diamond jewelry, especially for larger carat, high quality goods. As long as the demand for diamonds and diamond jewelry remains strong, prices will likely rise. The graph below summarizes the IDEX Online Polished Diamond Price Index from the beginning of 2006 through December 2007. This graph represents the composite average prices of all diamonds traded at the wholesale level. It is clear that diamond prices are posting solid, consistent gains, especially during December 2007. (full story)

From WKYC - Brace yourself. The amount of property disappearing from passenger luggage may disturb you more than any rough landing. Channel 3 News has learned nearly $57 million in personal property from passenger luggage has turned up broken, missing or stolen at airports nationwide. Much of that property disappears after entering secure areas of the airport. For 7 months, Channel 3 News Investigators have been battling the Transportation Security Administration to obtain public records on passenger property. We finally obtained an electronic database from TSA that contains about 3,000 pages of valuables that passengers reported missing or damaged. Passengers are claiming all kinds of items have turned up missing from their checked and carry-on bags; things like medicines, laptops, DVD players, and jewelry. Channel 3 News found the most common items missing or stolen nationwide were clothing, including belts and accessories. More than 5,900 items valued at $2.5 million. Second on the list is more than $13 million of fine jewelry with 5,680 pieces missing. Digital cameras are third with more than 4,400 of them reported missing and stolen, carrying a value of nearly $3 million. Nationwide, passengers have filed 76,000 claims in just 3 years. Marti Hallstrom of Wadsworth is among those who have accused TSA of stealing personal property at Cleveland Hopkins. Marti inadvertently left her glasses, a watch and a special bracelet at a TSA checkpoint. (more…)
From PressTV - Harvard astronomers have discovered ‘Lucy’ the largest diamond in the galaxy located at a distance of 50 light years from the Earth. According to Scientists ‘Lucy’ is the heart of an extinct star that used to shine like the Sun, and weighs at least ten billion trillion trillion carats. This is while the largest diamond on Earth which was found in South Africa weighed 546 carats. “You would need a jeweler’s loupe the size of the Sun to grade this diamond,” said Travis Metcalfe, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Astronomers added that Lucy is a crystallized white dwarf, the remaining hot core of a star after its death. They claim that in five billion years, our Sun will also die and turn into a similar diamond which will forever sparkle in the center of the solar system.
Diamond rough is tightly controlled; in the United States via the Clean Diamonds Act & Census Bureau monitoring, and globally by the United Nations’ Kimberley Process & NGOs. Rough mined anywhere in the world must receive proper certification at the source and follow a process of approval before it can be traded to a legitimate cutting house or purchased on the open market. Here, friends of Brian “The Cutter” Gavin from Guinea visit Whiteflash with diamond rough & the accompanying documentation and seals demonstrating provenance.

Normal rough octahedron like the crystal at center right will often be sawed and polished into modern round brilliant or princess cut diamonds. Other crystals may be better-suited to other shapes. To read more about rough diamonds, global controls and beneficiation see the Whiteflash Conflict-Free Guarantee.
From WRCBTV - Devin Smith spent months orchestrating a romantic proposal on the river pier, only to watch his girlfriend’s perfect engagement ring fall 40 feet into the Tennessee River. Lucky for them, the story doesn’t end there. Amanda Hale explains, “It was just like a regular date. We were gonna go to the movies, then out to eat. It was just regular. I didn’t think one thing about it.” That regular date is now the story of a lifetime for Devin Smith and Amanda Hale. Two weeks ago, the couple came to Ross’ Landing. It’s where Devin planned to propose. It was just one of those moments. It happened in slow motion,” said Devin. “I went to open the ring box. It (the ring) hopped out of the box, bounced off the pier and into the river.” Amanda explained, “He went on ahead and proposed. He said, your ring may be in the bottom of the Tennessee River, but our love is forever. Will you marry me?” (more…)
From ShowbizSpy - It seems Posh Spice isn’t the only star falling victim to bling-loving thieves over Christmas - Courtney Love has been targeted to the tune of $100,000. The rocker is devastated after being robbed of a pair of pink diamond drop earrings at a hotel in New York on Boxing Day. The flash jewelery had been a special present for her teenage daughter Frances Bean, who was staying with her for Christmas. Last week, Victoria Beckham was also upset by thieves who swiped her stage costumes, jewellery and designer clobber worth tens of thousands of pounds. The glitzy gear was snatched from her dressing room during a Spice Girls concert in Germany. Meanwhile, Love’s 15-year-old daughter hadn’t even had chance to try on the earrings before thieves struck at the Four Seasons, according to US reports. And the loss has hit Love, 43, right in the pocket - she’d failed to insure the pricey diamonds. “Courtney is devastated,” said a source close to the singer. “She had bought the earrings for Frances as her Christmas present. Frances hadn’t even tried them on yet!” Police are investigating and hotel staff are being quizzed.
From JCK - Hollywood stars Teri Hatcher and Ashton Kutcher are the newest brand ambassadors of Swiss luxury watchmaker Baume & Mercier. Both will appear in the brand’s 2008 “Baume & Mercier & Me” ad campaign. For the past three years, such Hollywood luminaries as Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Kim Basinger, and Gary Sinise have headlined the ongoing marketing camping. As in the previous campaigns, this new one also supports a good cause. All royalties normally due to the two actors, as well as the two photographers—Robert Erdmann for Teri Hatcher and Jim Wright for Ashton Kutcher—will be donated to charities jointly chosen by the actors and the watch brand. Those are the fight against cancer, the promotion of child education, and helping underprivileged women. The new campaign launches Jan. 1 with Teri Hatcher (pictured) and on Apr. 1 with Ashton Kutcher.
From JCK - During the first weekend of December, Movado Group was present to celebrate the country’s artistic royalty at the Kennedy Center Honors. The five artistic luminaries honored this year were pianist Leon Fleisher, actor and writer Steve Martin, singer Diana Ross, film director Martin Scorsese, and songwriter Brian Wilson. Movado, the official watch of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, helped the center celebrate 30 years of the Kennedy Center Honors and while celebrating its own 60th Anniversary of its Museum dial. Paying tribute to both milestones, Efraim Grinberg, Movado Group president and chief executive officer, joined Kennedy Center chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman and president of the Kennedy Center Michael Kaiser, at a small reception prior to the Chairman’s Honorees Luncheon held on Saturday, Dec. 1. During the reception, Grinberg presented each honoree with a limited edition 60th Anniversary Movado Museum Watch. The following day, the president Bush and Mrs. Bush received the honorees and members of the Artists Committee, who nominate them, along with the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees at the White House prior to the gala performance. “The powerful connection between Movado and the arts has become the foundation of the Movado brand experience. That is why it is a great privilege to be associated with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and such an extraordinary group of the world’s most talented artists,” Grinberg said.
From Rapaport - HRD Antwerp successfully conducted its first Certified Diamond Grader Course in Mumbai, India. Professionals from India’s top diamond houses were trained in this batch. In line with the HRD Antwerp standards of excellence, the intensive two week program was conducted by an experienced HRD Education instructor and included training in the principles of diamond optics, grading, identification and imitation detection. Students were given extensive hands-on experience with a microscope and a loupe to help make them expert diamond graders. Guest of honor, celebrated jewellery designer Queenie Dhody, graciously gave away diploma certificates to students who had successfully completed the course at a special ceremony in Mumbai today. Devika Gidwani, COO and country head for India at HRD Antwerp Institute of Gemmology, said, “It gives me great pleasure to see HRD Antwerp’s world-class education programmes make their debut in India. HRD Education satisfies a very real need for professional training of the highest international standards at a reasonable cost. The support of diamantaires for our program here has been tremendous and the feedback from our students very encouraging.” “In the coming years we look forward to conducting our programs in every major city in the country and will provide diamond professionals with an opportunity to become expert diamond graders, on par with the best international graders,” concluded Gidwani. Gidwani also announced a scholarship for the Overall Outstanding Student of the Year at the SNDT Jasani Department of Jewellery Design and Manufacture. The chosen student will be part of the next batch of HRD Certified Diamond Graders.
From Rapaport - The September/October 2007 issue of Bridal Guide featured diamonds from Whiteflash.com. The Houston, Texas-based company, which conducts 90 percent of its business online, reported the magazine’s cover model wore “A cut Above(TM)” hearts and arrows diamond worth more than $100,000. Whiteflash.com reported that its centerpiece ring was a 5 carat round, hearts and arrows masterpiece, set in the company’s platinum “Champaigne pave” setting. The model also wore a duchesse satin gown, embroidered with crystals and pearls, and marquise and brilliant-cut diamond earrings, a delicate three-stone diamond pendant, and a sparkling bracelet with flower-shaped diamond clusters. Brian Gavin, a fifth generation diamond cutter, and Debi Wexler, a computer entrepreneur, together founded Whiteflash.com in 1999 bringing an expansive selection of loose diamonds to the Internet.
From JCK - The Diamond Trading Company announced Monday that 75 companies have received sights and will be offered rough diamond supplies from DTC London and DTC South Africa. DTC will not release the list of names until March, but names of the winners and losers are being circulated throughout the industry. Six companies, Stuller Inc., Premier Gem Corp., Eurostar Diamonds International, Julius Klein, Michael Werdiger, and the Rand Diamonds, which has a sight in conjunction with Tiffany & Co., confirmed to JCK they are on the list, said Rob Bates, JCK diamond editor, on his “Cutting Remarks” blog. The most complete unofficial list is on the Rapaport Web site. Among the high-profile companies that did not receive a sight was U.K.-based Signet Group plc, which owns Sterling Jewelers Inc., the largest specialty retail jeweler in the U.S., which applied for a sight for the first time, Cutting Remarks reports. It appears that Antwerp took a big hit, India did not do as well as expected by many in the industry, and New York companies largely survived the axe. The contract period for the sights will run three years (2008-2011), DTC said. Of the 75 sightholders, six are new applicants qualifying for a DTC supply contract for the first time. These form part of a global network of 79 sightholders that will be receiving sights through wholly owned and joint-venture DTC operations around the world. (more…)
The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) announced today that the 2008 Congress of the World Jewellery Confederation, also known as the Confédération Internationale de la Bijouterie, Joaillerie et Orfèvrerie (CIBJO), will be held in Dubai from April 14-16, 2008. This is the first time that this prestigious global gathering of jewellery trade organisations and professionals has been held in the Middle East. The choice of Dubai for this three-day event, which will be held under the patronage of DMCC, comes in recognition of the emirate’s increasingly central role on the global jewellery stage. Among those expected to attend this high-profile meeting are leading members of the international jewellery trade, as well as government and United Nations representatives, all of whom will convene in Dubai to address the global outlook for a broad range of industry issues. DMCC will host the conference and a wide variety of related activities over the course of the three days. An international confederation of national jewellery trade organisations, CIBJO was founded in 1926 as a purely European organisation, becoming genuinely global in 1961. Today, members hail from 40 countries across the globe. CIBJO’s purpose is to encourage harmonisation, promote international cooperation and consider issues that concern the trade worldwide. Foremost among these is to protect consumer confidence in the industry.
Professionals in the diamond industry hear warnings about “commoditization” at our trade conventions. We hear the warnings from traditionalists, from sellers and suppliers, from revered industry leaders. We hear the warnings from some of the most esteemed icons of our industry. But what does it mean?
It is about the reduction of an emotional experience to a mere set of numbers. That is the concern.
For many years diamond cutters were considered craftsmen and artists, like blacksmiths and carpenters (the best still are). As technology has moved forward, blacksmiths and carpenters have been replaced with automated manufacture. In diamond-cutting, auto-dialits and assembly line production have replaced the gray-haired cutter of old who took the rough through every step from blocking to brillianteering. However, the unalterable difference between ’smithing and diamond fashioning is that producing a diamond will never be like stamping out automobiles or pre-fabricated woodwork where pieces and parts are interchangeable. Our craft is unique.
Every piece of diamond rough took millions of years to form. Every diamond is a different story. Once mined from the earth each piece of rough is individually studied and analyzed. A different plan is developed for each piece to arrive at the shape, size and beauty that will be yielded. No two diamonds are perfectly alike; not in rough form nor polished. They may be comparable, but color, clarity and even cut differ from piece to finished piece. There are subdivisions within each color grade. There are microscopic elements of crystallization within each diamond that do not appear on a plot. There are aspects to the way the diamond was run on the wheel and took a polish that blend together to create its distinctiveness when finally viewed. (more…)
From Denver Post - Marie Antoinette has been dead for more than 200 years, but people continue to be fascinated by her. Looking beyond her extravagant habits and trip to the guillotine, she shaped the world of style in ways that today look contemporary but were scandalous in the late 18th century. The subject of a Sofia Coppola movie in 2006 and a couple of recent books, Marie Antoinette’s presence is also felt in the “Artisans and Kings” exhibit at the Denver Art Museum through Jan. 6. The show includes 125 examples of decorative arts, sculptures, paintings and drawings from the reigns of Louis XIV, XV and XVI. The elaborately detailed furniture, silver and porcelain objects in particular recall Marie Antoinette’s high style. The queen defied tradition and set trends the fashion world loves to revisit. MAC cosmetics is calling its holiday collection “Antiquitease” and packaged makeup palettes in ornate gold and silver cases. Sephora and Juicy Couture also have done campaigns influenced by Marie Antoinette. While people have an image of the queen as “an empty-headed party girl, she used fashion in a radical and political way,” said Caroline Weber, an associate professor at Barnard College, Columbia University, who wrote “Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution” (2006, Picador, $16, trade paperback). “She inaugurated the dawn of the aspirational fashion age. (full story)
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Shopping Online
The best website in the internet that creates custom engagement rings is www.whiteflash.com that was founded by jeweler, Brian Gavin. Brian Gavin is the fifth generation diamond cutter and was family trained in the land where most diamonds are found, South Africa. And in the year 2000, Debra Wexler joined the team and in this year, the website was crowned as the “Lord of the Online Rings” by the reputable and respected magazine, Kiplinger’s. The combination of their partnership was unsurpassed since it has a five-generation of diamond expertise with great entrepreneurial distinction.
When you enter their website, all you have to do is submit your name, contact number, email then afterwards, you choose from the kind of metal, carat of the ring, shape of the center stone, and ring size for you to have custom engagement rings. You also put in the best time for them to call or you could immediately call them on their toll-free number to place your order. You could shop for your custom engagement rings with confidence since they have strict policies and guarantees that your decision-making process risks free.
From LiveMint - The Indian currency’s relentless gains against the dollar and an economic slowdown in the US have taken the shine out of India’s diamond polishing business, according to representatives of the industry. Pravin Nanavaty, a diamond trader from Surat and a member of the Gujarat Hira Bourse, an association of diamond traders from the state, further claimed that around 2,000 small diamond polishing units in Surat, the city in South Gujarat that is the hub of India’s diamond polishing industry, had downed shutters, forcing their more than 100,000 employees to move to jobs in agriculture or textile mills, or return to their villages. Nanavaty said that some diamond polishing units were beginning to focus on the domestic market to insulate themselves from the slowdown in the US. According to Nanavaty, the US had accounted for 60% of the Rs74,000 crore worth of diamonds exported from India in 2006-07, but in the first eight months of 2007-08, there has been a reduction of almost 50% in exports to that country compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. (more…)
Eurostar Diamonds International has once again been selected as one of an elite group of 79 Sightholders of The Diamond Trading Company International (DTCI), which is the rough diamond sales division of the De Beers Group. This adds to the good news that Eurostar received earlier in November, when the company’s Diamond Trading Company Botswana Sightholder status was also renewed. A global diamond conglomerate with over $1 billion sales per annum, Eurostar Diamonds International was named Belgium’s #1 value-adding diamond company for 20 consecutive quarters. Eurostar has been a Sightholder since 1986 and has fortified a leading market position amidst growing competition, especially in calibrated loose diamonds and ideal cut hearts and arrows diamonds. It is estimated that there were over 150 applicants under review during the much-anticipated DTC Sightholder selection process for the 2008-2011 contract period. Eurostar polishes over 2.5 million carats of top quality rough diamonds annually, employing 10,000 diamond experts in 7 cities. The company has vertically integrated diamond processing and polished diamond distribution operations in major diamond centres across the world and recently invested over $6 million in its latest diamond polishing plant, Eurostar Botswana. The New York Times reported that Eurostar Botswana is poised to become the largest diamond cutting and polishing plant in all of Africa. Eurostar has the largest diamond cutting and polishing plant in all of Asia, employing over 5,000 diamond craftsmen in China. Eurostar is a leading supplier of fine polished diamonds with a clientele comprising the world’s most prestigious watch and jewellery brands. In addition to being a De Beers Sightholder, Eurostar is also a premiere rough procurement client of BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto Diamonds, and Alrosa.