One of the most beautiful Royal tiaras in Europe, and certainly the one with the most interesting provenance, is the Vladimir Tiara, originally from Russia, and now the property of Queen Elizabeth II. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna was the aunt of Tzar Nicholas II, and wife of the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. Her most spectacular […]
Tag Archives: antiques
One of the most fascinating effects that you can come across in a sapphire is Asterism, the effect where you can see a six pointed star in the stone, especially under a direct light source. The star will move as the light source moves. Although they come in many colours, the finest and most desirable […]
One of the most interesting diamonds in the world, and perhaps one of the most beautiful, the Shah diamond does not sparkle or twinkle, but rather is a table cut diamond (flat, bar shaped), with three cleavage faces and one faceted face. Its most intriguing characteristic is that three of the faces of the diamond […]
The Colenso Diamond is an uncut octahedral 133 carat diamond, found in South Africa in 1883, (most likely in the De Beers mine). It was one of the earliest notable large diamonds found there. The story of how it was found is most tragic; a storekeeper South Africa left his shop and went into the […]
A Rose Cut diamond is an antique cut, dating back to the early 1500s; it has a flat bottom and a faceted crown. Typically, the flat bottom is a cleavage plain, and the crown is cut with triangular facets rising to a point. They normally have 3 or 6 way symmetry; an optical effect of […]
When you are looking through the microscope at a gemstone, there are some many beautiful things to see. These inclusions and characteristics that you can see tell you a lot about the stone; some tell you where it formed, or if it is natural or man-made. Some tell you about the condition of the piece. […]
Diamond crystals have been worn and admired since at least as far back as Roman times. They were worn in rings as status symbols and charms. At the time, however, they were not the sparkly objects we know today, but were left in their natural state; this was because of the belief that they would lose their magical properties […]
Sapphires have been known and loved by people for thousands of years. The Ancient Greeks believed that the world’s first ring contained a sapphire. Rulers of Ancient Persia believed that the sky had been painted blue by the reflection of sapphires. Others wore it for protection while travelling. They have a life and depth of […]