Finally, A Reason For Space Travel

Astronomers discover a planet made of diamond

Astronomers have spotted an exotic planet that seems to be made of diamond racing around a tiny star in our galactic backyard.
The new planet is far denser than any other known so far and consists largely of carbon. Because it is so dense, scientists calculate the carbon must be crystalline, so a large part of this strange world will effectively be diamond.

"The evolutionary history and amazing density of the planet all suggest it is comprised of carbon -- i.e. a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star every two hours in an orbit so tight it would fit inside our own Sun," said Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne.

That's a lot of rough...
do you think that DeBeers is developing a space program?

And for something closer to home
The jewelry collection of Elizabeth Taylor will be on display prior to the December auction by Christie's.
Here are the locations
- Moscow: Sept. 15 – 16, GUM, Red Square 3
- London: Sept. 24 – 26, Christie’s, 8 King St., St. James
- Los Angeles: Oct. 13 – 16, venue to be determined
- Dubai: Oct. 23, Jumeirah Emirates Towers
- Geneva: Nov. 11 – 12, Four Seasons Hotel, 33 quai des Bergues
- Paris: Nov. 16 – 17, Christie’s, 9 avenue Matignon
- Hong Kong: Nov. 24 – 27, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center
- New York: Dec. 3 – 12, Christie’s, 20 Rockefeller Plaza

I can't wait to see this collection

Meanwhile, according to IDEX, a 32.77 carat yellow diamond is expected to fetch some $18 million or so.

According to Christie’s, the diamond's color is highly saturated. “The vivid yellow literally blazes with color, unlike any yellow diamond I’ve ever seen,” said Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s Head of Jewelry for Christie’s Americas.

Yellow diamonds gain their color from nitrogen replacing carbon atoms in the diamond’s structure. The level of nitrogen determines the intensity of the color. The vivid yellow offered by Christie’s absorbed an unusually high level of aggregated nitrogen, giving it a superbly saturated golden yellow color, the firm said.

I won't be bidding...in case you were wondering.

Have a great weekend...and to my peeps on the east coast, stay dry!

Jewelry Biz - Change Happens at Christie's

An essential part of keeping up with the estate jewelry business is monitoring the auction results at Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonham's, etc.  and after watching the big fancy colored diamonds going for bigger and bigger numbers, we were a little surprised  to see that the big pink failed to sell at the latest Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction yesterday in New York. In fact the results from the entire auction were a little weak.

A Fancy Vivid Purple-Pink Cushion-Cut Diamond 10.09 carats

Estimate: US$12-15 million

From Reuters
Pink Diamond Fails To Sell
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – A more than 10 carat purplish-pink diamond expected to fetch up to $15 million failed to sell at Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction on Tuesday which took in a total of $31.8 million.
"We were disappointed that the 10-carat purple-pink diamond did not find a buyer, (but) top-quality white, blue, pink and yellow diamonds fared very well," said Christie's head of jewelry in New York, Radul Kadakia.
He added that a Fancy Vivid blue diamond sold for $3.67 million, or more than $1 million per carat which exceeded it high estimate.Five jewels topped the $1 million mark. Christie's said the sale saw heavy competition among both trade buyers and private collectors for colorless diamonds, large gemstones and signed jewels.
But the 10.09 carat Fancy Vivid cushion-cut was expected to be the sale's highlight, with prices for large pink diamonds, the most expensive colored diamonds on the market, having skyrocketed in recent years. Fewer than 10 percent of all pink diamonds mined weigh more than .20 carats.

And why have big pinks been so desired by collectors?
From the Christie's website
In recent years, prices for top-quality colored diamonds have increased rapidly, driven by both collector demand and increasingly limited supply. Pink diamonds of this type gain their highly desirable color as a result of a rare, naturally-occurring slippage of the crystallographic lattice in the stone while it is forming deep within the earth’s crust. Only a few mines in the world produce pink diamond rough, and of the stones that are cut and polished, only one in about 10 million diamonds will possess a color pure enough to be graded as “Fancy Vivid”.

For more on historic Fancy Pinks and their per carat price click here

Is the market saturated with big fancy stones?
Is this a signal of a turning point in demand?
Are the Chinese taking a break from taking over the world?

I don't know the answer to any of these things but with inflation apparent in all things from the price of gold and basic commodities to gemstones and jewelry, maybe it's a good thing to have a brief correction in the market.

And on the topic of inflation....did you know that if we calculated the inflation rate using the pre 1980 methodology the real rate would be 10%.
“Given ongoing inflation problems with food and the spreading impact of higher oil-related costs in the broad economy, reporting risk is to the upside of consensus expectation,” said Williams, citing a 10 percent jump in gasoline prices in March, in the note.

“While the federal government would have us believe the numbers are rather tame, our own personal gauge leads us to believe inflation is running between 5 percent to 6 percent annually,” wrote Alan Newman in his latest Crosscurrents newsletter that refers to Williams’ statistics.

Has your personal gauge been telling you that prices have been going up regularly now for years?
Mine has.

Jewelry Biz - Bernard Buys Bulgari For Big Bucks

Bernard Arnault has been busy with his brands.
A week or so ago he was forced to fire Dior's enfant terrible, John Galliano
and this week he's buying, or rather stock swapping, LVMH for Bulgari in a 6 billion dollar deal.
Is Bulgari worth 6 billion?
Does it really sell that much swag?
With eye glasses, perfume and handbags in addition to their jewelry,
I guess that the revenue racks up.
But the WSJ questions the price
LVMH's High Priced Bulgari Jewel
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton offered €4.3 billion ($6.01 billion) for the Italian jeweler, including debt, on Monday, valuing it at an eye-watering 22 times forecast 2011 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, well above LVMH's 10 times valuation. While Bulgari might prove a jewel in the strategic sense, the financial returns appear significantly less mesmerizing.


But the deal's financial merit is less convincing. True, LVMH's record in expanding brands should drive faster top-line growth at Bulgari. But luxury-goods-sector deals typically generate cost savings of up to 3% of sales, which, taxed and capitalized, would be valued at roughly €420 million in Bulgari's case, barely enough to cover one-fifth of the 60% premium to its predeal share price. Fortunately, this is a relatively small deal for LVMH, limiting its impact on earnings. But its initial return on investment could be an uninspiring 2.6%, estimates Evolution Securities.

Priced like a polished gem, delivering decent returns on Bulgari won't be easy.



Also, it appears that I jumped the shark on the whole celebrities getting paid to wear the goods at the Oscars.
According to National Jeweler, Anne Hathaway and Gwenneth Paltrow weren't paid by Tiffany and Louis Vuitton.
Representatives from Tiffany & Co., however, deny the claim.

“To reiterate what was shared with US Weekly, their sources are incorrect,” Carson Glover, director of worldwide media relations at Tiffany, said.
Reps for Hathaway, Paltrow, and Louis Vuitton have also told numerous publications the payment claims were incorrect, although it isn’t the first time Paltrow has been linked to lucrative endorsements.
OK, sorry Anne, sorry Gwen, my bad.

Finally, from IDEX online
Christies To Auction 10 ct Pink
New York—Another unusual fancy-color diamond is set to capture global attention with its color, size and price. Christie's will auction a 10.09-carat, cushion-cut, fancy vivid purplish-pink diamond at its April 12 Magnificent Jewels sale here. The auction house has estimated the diamond at $12-15 million.

Fancy-color and large diamonds have set a string of records prices recently. Four pink diamonds have fetched more than $1 million per carat at Christie's auctions, among them a vivid pink, 5-carat cushion-cut diamond that sold for more than $2.1 million per carat at Christie's Hong Kong in December 2009.



Doesn't it seem as though in every other auction, there's some big fancy colored diamond on the block?
Seriously, how many of them are out there?

...and how can I get my hands on one....