Wow. Okay, here goes: this is a modified cushion-cut 9-carat fancy vivid purplish-pink diamond, set in platinum with single-cut diamond prongs, gallery, and shoulders. The color is natural, and the stone is GIA-certified to be a Type IIa, which (as you’ll remember from my past ravings about Golconda diamonds) means it's the most chemically pure and transparent form of diamond. The Type IIa designation is common to famous stones such as the Cullinan I (a.k.a. the Great Star of Africa) and the Koh-i-noor, both of which are part of the British Crown Jewels.

The ring dates to 1910 and was made by Dreicer & Co., which, for a [...]

This brooch is so beautiful I’m tempted to just leave it here, with no explanation, nothing. Just look at it.

No, don’t worry, I won’t do that. English, circa 1900, this brooch is five inches long, and is an absolute masterpiece of delicacy. Rubies, sapphires, and diamonds are set into a base of silver and gold feathers, while subtle enameling highlights the edges of the wings, as well as the leaves of the branch that the bird is using as a support. Enamel also highlights the bird's face, and he appears to be dangling a wreath of diamond-set flowers from his beak.

Right now there’s a great exhibit, “International Art Jewelry 1895-1925,” on view at the Forbes Galleries in New York. The exhibit focuses on the emergence of “art” jewelry in the late 19th century — a time of great change, when artists and designers throughout the world were being driven by a desire to create something fresh and new (including this gorgeous morning glory pendant). Their designs often took on individual characteristics specific to their country, and the resulting styles became known by various names: Arts and Crafts, Glasgow Style, Art Nouveau, etc. A common thread runs through them all, however, and this exhibit aims to expose that commonality by [...]

Circa the 1920s, this piece is a marriage of two different makers: Cartier and Mauboussin. It’s a pairing worthy of the filthiest fan fiction.

The Art Deco sautoir — which is a long necklace usually terminated with a tassel or pendant — is signed Cartier. It’s made of platinum, with 340 old European-cut and 16 rose-cut diamonds (approx. total weight: 7.65 carats), interposed with natural seed pearls. It’s 37” long, and has a removable section that allows it to be shortened to 33.”

According to the dealer, the sautoir was made for a French family around 1910, and in the late ’20s it was brought to Mauboussin to be [...]

Many people don’t realize that sapphire comes in all sorts of colors, not just blue. Sapphire is the gem form of the mineral corundum, and depending on other elements within the stone, it can also be pink, yellow, green — or even red (but if it’s red, it’s a ruby!). Padparadscha is the rarest, most desirable — and most valuable — form of sapphire around. The demand is due to the beautiful color, which is a delicate mix of orange and pink.

Padparadscha comes from Sri Lanka (other countries have produced it, but there is always fierce debate about whether their stones are good enough to be termed “padparadscha”). It’s [...]

The biggest of Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry auctions went down at Christie's last night, and it "shattered expectations" by bringing in roughly $116 million (ahead of the projected $30 million), which of course you know because you picked up one or two of the 80 lots on sale. Which ones? I bought this Bulgari Emerald Suite. "Bought," of course, meaning "pasted onto myself a printed-out and cut-up picture of."

OK, so I’m sure you guys have heard about the big Elizabeth Taylor jewelry auction, right? The pieces are going on exhibit in Los Angeles on October 13-16, but tickets have already sold out. After that they’ll make appearances in Dubai, Geneva, Paris, and Hong Kong, before finally landing in New York for an exhibit at Christie’s from December 3-12. The serious jewels (80 in total) will then go up for auction in an evening sale on December 13. Other auctions will follow, including lesser jewels, clothing, memorabilia, and paintings.

This ring was the first piece of jewelry Richard Burton ever bought for Elizabeth Taylor. Now renamed [...]

Back in 1867, a Venetian Marquis by the name of Pietro Selvatico established an art school in Padua, Italy. While The Istituto Statale d'Arte Pietro Selvatico was essentially a vocational school, Selvatico — who was himself an architect and art critic — didn’t just want the students to learn how to churn out items on a production line, he wanted them to gain an intellectual mastery of their craft as well. The school maintained this well-rounded approach to education, particularly in the second half of the 20th century, through professors such as Mario Pinton, a great champion of the use of gold when it was considered unfashionable, and Francesco Pavan, [...]

This gorgeous Arts & Crafts pendant is attributed to Sarah Madeleine Martineau (1872-1972), a successful, unmarried jewelry designer working in London in the early 1900s. She was a member of the Sir John Cass Arts and Crafts Society, which was comprised of past and present students of the Sir John Cass Technical Institute in London. It was at the Institute that Martineau learned metalsmithing, and she began to show and sell her work in various galleries and exhibitions, and was eventually featured in Studio magazine.

A November 22, 1907 entry in the Journal of the Society of Arts, Vol 56 features a review of an exhibit by the [...]

Archibald Knox (1864-1933) was one of the giants of the British Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau design movements, and his history is deeply intertwined with that of Liberty & Co., the great English department store. He was particularly known for his Celtic-style designs, which he first developed as a student on the Isle of Man.

Arthur Lasenby Liberty, meanwhile, founded Liberty & Co., in 1875. Arthur Liberty was a great believer in the central Arts & Crafts tenet that quality design can still be achieved at low cost. He filled his store with ornaments and fabric from the Far East, and commissioned work from many of the English designers [...]