Archive for October, 2008

Pop diva Beyonce has gone all wedding bling bling, her diamond engagement ring is an estimited 18-carat diamond which comes complete with a £2.5m price tag

in the field of diamond jewellery, pop and rap stars simply dont do ‘understated’. When fiance Jay-Z decided on a wedding ring for his love Beyonce Knowles, it came as absolutely no surprise that he ignored the more traditional gold band and instead chose a stunning £2.5m diamond.

But the seven-figure price tag will barely dent the bank balance of the 38-year-old musician, who last year earned an estimated £41million. The celebrity couple had a secret wedding April this year.

Mohammed Cimark, who runs Precious Gems and Jewels, said: ‘If it is 18 carats then it’s a lovely size, an exceptional diamond. It’s clearly a premium stone. ‘You can’t recognise the colour from the photo and the clarity is hard to see, but the best clarity is internally flawless. ‘I would need to look at this through the magnifying glass to know if it was flawless – but it would be quite rare, especially with a diamond this size.’

Diamond Mining company; Metalex Ventures and its partners Dianor Resources and Wemindji Exploration have recently announced they discovered and recovered a set of rare purple diamonds in the James Bay region of Quebec.

The companies stated that 649 diamonds had been recovered, including nine rare purple stones. The rock samples from which the stones were extracted are estimated to be 2.7 billion years old.

The announcement stated: “Natural fancy colored diamonds are very rare and expensive. Purple is one of the rarest and most desirable colors. This finding makes the Quebec discovery both unique and among the oldest diamond-bearing occurrence in the world.”

The Canadian Mining Journal noted that the largest diamond was measured 335 X 379 X 225 microns.

In Hong Kong this week, a fancy yellow diamond pendant with a 102.56 carat fancy vivid yellow diamond at its center is expected to sell at auction for between HK$58 million and HK$74 million at a Sotheby’s. Sotheby’s Hong Kong center hold regular auctions of fine jewelry and art at Hong Kong’s Convention and Exhibition Center, this latest auction will take place on Tuesday.

Not for the first time has a diamond in Hong Kong with a weight exceeding 100 carats been offered for sale at auction. Just earlier this year in May, a diamond with a weight of 101.27 carat reached a price at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong of over HK$46m. That particular diamond was believed to be the largest to ever have been sold in Asia.

The fears over a global recession have caused ripples in consumer confidence accross asia.  Confidence is particularly affected in Hong Kong in light of the global economic crisis. Much of Hong Kong’s trade is import / export with the USA and Europe, centers of burgeoning recession.

Many local businesses have already reported falling sales, mainly amongst those that sell luxury items, are becoming increasingly aware of belt-tightening and sluggish demand.

The diamond industry in Hong Kong has historically been strong with many wealthy residents and visitors taking advantage of tax breaks and discounts.  The fear of recession is causing demand to fall.