Jewellery World Magazine - May 2021

News
Gemfield’s ruby auction
Exceptional blue diamond unearthed in South Africa
Petra Diamonds has announced that it has recovered a 39.34 carat Type IIb
blue diamond at the Cullinan mine in South Africa.
The diamond is said to be of exceptional quality in terms of its colour and
clarity. It is anticipated that the diamond will be sold through special tender.
The Cullinan mine is an important source of rare blue diamonds, although
it is most famous for the historical discovery of the 3,106 carat Cullinan
Diamond in 1905, the largest rough gem diamond ever found. It is also the
source of many large high-quality gem diamonds including famous gems such
as the De Beers Centenary, the Blue Moon of Josephine, the Taylor-Burton
diamond and the Cullinan Dream.
Gemfields has held its first auction of rough rubies since
2019, and the event has proved to be a success, easing
the burden of a tough 2020 for the mining company.
The rough rubies were from pre-pandemic production at
the Montepuez mine in Mozambique, before Gemfields
closed the site from April 2020 to March 2021, to
preserve cash throughout difficult marketing conditions.
Unable to generate any income during 2020, Gemfields
incurred a net loss of $93.2 million. The auction was also
a welcome return to normal for clients around the world,
who saw this as “a vital opportunity to purchase rubies”
according to a company statement.
The rubies were a particularly high quality, selling at an
average price of $171 per carat.
Prince Philip’s jewellery designs
As tributes pour in for the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, his talent for jewellery
design is being overlooked in contrast to his sporting and charitable achievements, his
prodigious travel itinerary and his service to his wife, the Queen.
As a young sailor, newly engaged to the heir to the British throne, Prince Philip did
not have much of a budget for an engagement ring. He appealed to his mother,
Princess Alice of Greece and Denmark, and she gave him a diamond and aquamarine
tiara which had been a wedding gift to her from her
uncle and aunt, the Tsar and Tsarina of Russia (later
assassinated in the Russian Revolution). Prince Philip had
the tiara dismantled and commissioned jewellery firm
Philip Antrobus to create a platinum and diamond ring,
featuring a 3 carat central stone, with five smaller stones
set on either side.
The remaining diamonds from the tiara were used to
make a bracelet designed by Philip, and later known as
the Edinburgh wedding bracelet. The geometric design of the wide diamond and platinum bracelet
is reminiscent of Art Deco style, with three large square links connected by vertical sections, set with
three large brilliant-cut diamonds.
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jewellery world - May 2021