Happy Wedding Anniversary to Inka & Ronald!

The phone rings. A familiar name, a familiar voice. I can always tell from the tone of the voice, even before the word is spoken. It is as if I can almost see the smile behind the voice and feel the nervous excitement and hope radiate through the phone line from Dubai. 

“… Faith… can I ask you about engagement rings?” It is our old friend Ronald’s turn.

I get lots of phone calls by the way and I can say I remember distinctly each one of them. Keeping the boyfriends’ secret from my girlfriends is often most thrilling, yet nerve wrecking at times.

Ronald and Inka are my special friends. We go back a long way now. More than 10 years of friendship and one of the first friends I’ve met and kept since I arrived in Australia. A beautiful couple that compliment each other in so many ways, a real match made in heaven. Designing their engagement ring was a real honor for me but choosing the diamond was a real highlight.

Being at the frontline of ‘fine jewellery consulting’, I get asked a lot of personal questions from the awkward, like “…how much did you pay for your ring?”, to the extreme. There’s often the query whether a guy should spend three months of his salary on the engagement ring – I seriously have no idea who came up with that or how relevant it is to the whole scheme of things.

“…Or he can spend the equivalent to the investment in his new Harley Davidson!” (according to a very witty lady client I once met).

The amount spent on the ring really isn’t what that matters most. And I was glad Ron didn’t ask me the questions above, but he did ask my opinion. I did guide him to finally pick the absolutely brightest and whitest color and highest clarity (pretty much flawless) diamond on the grading chart. I must say, his careful thought, process and deep sincerity of the proposal was what truly takes the cake. For the engagement ring is a promise. A promise that he will cherish and love Inka always. Protect her, guide her, keep her warm and make her laugh even when skies get grey.

In addition, the thumbs up of approval from the in-laws was the extra icing on the cake. Being aware that they are true appreciators of diamonds and its rare beauty, Ron’s choice of the premium jewel truly went that extra mile, symbolising he will strive and promise the best life and future holds for his wife to be, with their union.

To finally hear that, “SHE SAID YES!” was really just so awesome. And look at them now, five years on and a love stronger than ever, with two beautiful daughters to complete the truly happy family picture. One that inspires and touches the hearts of family and friends from around the globe. Well done my friends! Jakarta, Melbourne, Dubai and now New York… can’t wait to hear more about your new lives and adventures. Thank you for sharing all your special moments through your beautiful photos. Its just so heart warming watching Kira and Lana grow into gorgeous little girls.

Happy anniversary Ronald and Inka! Thank you for your friendship :-)

Cheers to many more special memories to come. Here's to forever..

God bless your beautiful family always…

The 'Gatsby Oval Ring' by Faith Jewels

Stunning 'Gatsby Oval Ring' ready to Wow...

My 'Oval Gatsby Ring' is complete. Absolutely out of the world. 

Three-dimensional and truly truly stunning!

I hope you like a showcase of some images attached. It was a real dilemma deciding what centre diamond to fit into this jewel. We had a choice of 3 different one-carat oval diamonds for the centre. All three diamonds were around 1.00ct, 

GIA certified, D-SI2, F-SI1 and G-SI1.

With varying quality in Polish and symmetry features and measurements. 

I promised a price point to meet my client's needs for this jewel, 

and the decision lay in my completely in my hands,

as she trusted me whole-heartedly to find the best diamond perfect for this design.

In the end I went with the D-coloured diamond as I loved the pure river white colour you only capture in a D-coloured gemstone and it also came with an exceptional length in measurement to truly flatter this design. The SI2 clarity which I generally avoid, was comfortably accepted, as this diamond had barely any imperfections on the table. Truly rare gem that could not be missed, and so timely sourced from my favourite diamond cutter and associate from New York. 

Surrounded by a further 1.00ct total of side diamonds of varying sizes to fit into the petal features, this amazing ring totals just over 2.00cts. 

I was inspired to name this the 'Gatsby Oval Ring' as my client recently glimpsed this image on the paper of Tiffany's celebration of the Great Gatsby movie, now on show. 

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the ring, as it is indeed rather identical to my client's. Details of the jewel pictured: Ring of pavé diamonds and a center diamond of 5.25 carats, in platinum. From The Great Gatsby collection by Tiffany & Co. Price upon request. 

Coming from experience in the jewellery trade, I can already pretty accurately guess the price tag. Which makes me really proud to successfully achieve such a stunning show of diamonds in my Gatsby ring version for under USD10,000 to work to my client's budget. 

So for readers concerned that my jewels and designs are out of reach, I can assure you I treasure most about the design process and essence of each jewel's significance.

It has been such an enjoyable journey creating this jewel for a most special lady, whom I know will wear this ring with pride and joy at the most special of occasions! 

Thank you Mdm Leong... Happy 83rd Birthday!

Sotheby's Geneva Sale Features Rare, Nobel Jewels

The Magnificent and Noble Jewels auction on May 14 at Sotheby's Geneva offered more than 650 lots of aristocratic jewels, diamonds and gemstones.

Auctions are amazing and riveting to say least when pieces designed and crafted by the old world jewellers, who made their name since the 50s and 60s become showpieces.

It is a sad, undisputed truth today amongst us in the fine jewellery trade to see so many precious jewellery making techniques no longer passed down. Today's fine jewellers pushes the bottom line, the sales figures, the mass market of middle-upper class who jump on the brand bandwagon.. with not much left for art and craftsmanship. Pick up a 1960s - 80s made Bulgari jewel and a 2010 made one and hold it in your hand... it is different. The feel, the weight, and hand made finish. Same with Cartier and many countless other established jewellery houses. Hence making auctions of such scale and caliber truly in demand.

The centerpiece of this auction includes a group of 23 pieces from the collection of actress, photojournalist and sculptor Gina Lollobrigida. Much of this collection was designed by Bulgari in the 1950s and 1960s and the jewelry was worn by the actress at key events earlier in her career. She is selling her diamond jewelry to raise money for stem cell research, saying now is the time to give back for the fortunate life she has had. Read about it here.

Highlights include a pair of natural pearl and diamond pendant earrings, circa 1964, which is estimated to fetch up to $1 million; sold for 2.29 million francs ($2.37 million), an auction record.
The earrings beat the $1.98 million figure set in 2011 from the sale of natural pearl and diamond earrings by Bulgari, owned by late actress Elizabeth Taylor.

Other highlighst included a a 19.03-carat diamond ring, circa 1962, with a pre-sale estimate of up to $800,000 and a diamond necklace-bracelet combination from 1954 that was projected to sell for as much as $500,000.

Noble and historic jewels play a prominent role in this auction, such as a 74.53-carat fancy yellow cushion-shaped diamond that once belonged to the late Imperial Majesty Sultan Ahmed Shah Qajar, the seventh and last ruler of the Qajar dynasty of Persia. This piece had a high presale estimate of $1.8 million and was sold for 2.85 million francs ($2.95 million), an auction record for a fancy yellow diamond.


An important light pink diamond and diamond necklace formerly belonging to a lady of title, is estimated to fetch up to $2.5 million. The necklace (pictured) features a  detachable pendant set with two marquise diamonds, a 6.93-carat brilliant-cut light pink diamond and two circular-cut diamonds of 34.78 carats and a 11.38 carats.

Sotheby's will auction a 27.90-carat, D, internally flawless cushion modified brilliant-cut diamond ring with a high presale estimate at $6 million.

The diamond received the highest color and clarity grade from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and is in the type IIa subgroup, which comprise of less than 2 percent of all gem diamonds and often have extraordinary optical transparency.

Colored diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and Burmese rubies also appear in the sale alongside jewels designed by  Suzanne Belperron for her close friend Cecyle Simon. Sotheby's sale of jewels from Belperron's personal collection fetched $3.5 million at the Geneva auction last year.

The Magic of the One Carat Round Diamond

Which 1.00ct diamond will you choose? 

                 

There is rarely the opportunity to compare apple with apple, especially with diamonds. Each stone varies in so many ways from another even though seemingly exactly the same. 

Today most clients go shopping armed with knowledge they acquired from google, wikipedia and family friends. See GIA Diamond grading report above.

Deciphering it is one thing, understanding what you buy is another and trusting that the diamond you receive is what the certification says is again another dimension to consider. 

Both these diamonds have been handpicked for a client. We are looking at nearly twice the expense of the H-colour diamond vs the D-colour. Contact me for pricing details. 

At an immediate glance, the you can observe in the images that D is whiter than H. 

Perhaps you can also notice that the SI2 diamond on the left is remarkably clean on the photo image. This is a RARE find as most SI2 diamonds today are heavily included with imperfections that can be easily visible to the naked eye. So I am confident to say this diamond is great value and bound to be snapped up in a flash.

Other details to look out for: 

1. Grading on Cut grade, Polish and Symmetry.

FYI: Cut grading alone took GIA over 5 years to establish. Read about the components of cut grade, and understand the diamond anatomy here. If you are a physicist or scientist or engineer, you will probably appreciate this information, where brilliance can be measured by pure mathematics - check out the diagram of percentages and measurements on the bottom middle of the cert.

2. Fluorescence - GIA blog gives some good information about it.

Most of us in the industry prefer no fluorescence as it will assure the client will not see strange glows of strange yellows, greens, pinks and the most common, blue fluoro under lighting conditions that has UV. 

Diamonds with no Fluorescence therefore, also carry a higher price tag, as more than 35% of diamonds in the market do exhibit some fluorescence. Hence my word of advice for buyer beware is to not pay the price of a no fluorescence diamond, if you are offered one WITH fluorescence especially in a retail environment.

More tomorrow! Thanks for reading :)

Have you found the dream engagement ring design?

 

Every other day, I will meet a client who will be beaming as he or she shows me a picture cut-out from a magazine, or on their iPad or iPhone with an image of the most beautiful ring they had seen. 

This stunningly rare 16.01-carat yellow diamond ring unveiled by Birks Jewelry Store is a fine example. Bear in mind an image that takes your breath away is often done so with clever photoshop and most of all its proportion in size of the centre gem. 

It is a designer's dream to design with a large diamond for it does allow more room to play with especially details in the bezel setting. Look close to see more yellow diamonds and a lovely petal shape formation underneath the main stone. This unfortunately cannot be achieved with a stone under the 1.00ct. And sometimes my job to bring a happy lady back down earth. My finished sketch for the client is of a 5 carat Cushion cut center diamond with just beautiful proportions. I had so much fun and look forward to see the finished product.

To be honest a 1.00ct to 1.50ct diamond is much easier to wear everyday than a 5.00ct (lifestyle depending of course). So if a 5.00ct or a 16 carat diamond is not for now, a smaller gem will can still be crafted to a stunning, gorgeous finish custom designed ring.

Will you buy a 'man-made' diamond? - Gemesis Presents 'World’s Largest, Whitest Lab-Created Diamond'

Gemesis Diamond Company, the world’s principal distributor of high-quality lab-created diamonds and jewelry, currently offers a 1.29-carat, E color, VVS2 clarity, emerald-cut diamond – the world’s largest, whitest lab-created diamond – on Gemesis.com.  This  diamond’s retail value is $7,633.64.

According to the international color scale, colors D to F are very rare, with D being the highest level of colorlessness. Certified by the International Gemological Institute (IGI), this diamond – as with all Gemesis colorless lab-created selections – is classified as the purest type IIa, which is extremely rare in nature. Additionally, Gemesis now sells several different lab-created emerald, princess and round-cut diamonds in colors D, E and F on its eCommerce website.

"This is a significant milestone," stated Gemesis' director of marketing, Martin DeRoy. “Gemesis is proud to offer this new choice – lab-created diamonds that possess the same exceptional quality, color and clarity as mined diamonds. We look forward to continuing to produce high colors (D to F) in larger sizes, with increased regularity in the near future.”

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 "Will you choose a laboratory created diamond for your engagement ring?"
For the purpose of saving the environment or for its conflict free associations?
Having said that, there is currently a 1.27ct E-VVS2 Emerald cut diamond listed on the international market that will easily retail for well over the US$10,000 mark. It is also GIA certified. The most recognised diamond grading laboratory in the world.

Here's where it's rather mis-leading and a few cans of worms I must open.
The IGI laboratory is not quite on the same par as GIA laboratory. In the diamond industry, their grading has always been looked as a 'loose opinion' of a diamond's true grade.
One of my many first hand experiences involving the differences in laboratory grading includes this time when a client purchased a beautiful diamond stated a F - colour, VS2 -clarity on an IGI cert. They were uncomfortable or unfamiliar with IGI, and requested for this very same gem to be sent to GIA for a re-grade. It returned as a H - colour, SI2 - clarity by GIA. That difference is significantly remarkable and will also result in a distinct difference in PRICE.

So did they buy a F-VS2 or a H-SI2? What do we do with that near $4000 difference in price point with the drop in colour and clarity?! The ending was not pretty and an encounter to mark and prove that just because a diamond comes with a laboratory certificate, it does not mean it really is what the paper says it is. Hence why jewellery shops, professionals, graders still operate and the human eye and shopping experience cannot really be replaced by buy a diamond online...
I am not here to even say that GIA is a perfect laboratory on its own.... the story goes on...

And so does the allure of the natural diamond... formed underground.. millions of miles away, millions of years old and millions more to go... forever.. befitting the core significance of the engagement ring...