The head of the Buccellati(see previous) jewelry family, Gianmaria Buccellati has died after a period of sickness. It wasn't until reading the notice that I realized that his brother is is Georgio, who has published one of the best modern Akkadian grammars, A Structural Grammar of Babylonian.
(source)
A
An answer to the often-asked questions about colored diamonds versus other colored precious stones:
Yellow Sapphire Ring (13.96ct, estimate: $15,000-$20,000)
(lot 188)
Yellow Diamond Ring (5ct, estimate: $60,000-$80,000)
(lot 153)
Both are for sale at Sotheby's(see previous) Feb. 4 auction in New York.
A
From Chopard's (previously mentioned) 2013 Red Carpet collection comes this oak-themed necklace with a diamond and sapphire spider hiding within. The leaves are Tsavorite and most of the rest of the color accents come from fancy-colored diamonds
And a closeup of the spider photographed by Jamie Beck. Unrelated to the jewelry, when people talk about camera lenses having "confusing" or unpleasent bokeh, the background blur of the branch is a good example of what they mean
(source)
A
One of the towering achievements of the Baroque jewelers of the early 18th Century, The Throne of Grand Mogul Aurengzeb is an assemblage of 132 figures and 32 other objects in enameled gold. It was designed by Johann Melchior Dinglinger and constructed between 1701 and 1708 by him and his two brothers, Georg Christoph and Georg Friedrich. Despite loosing 391 precious stones over the years it is still set with 4,909 diamonds, 160 rubies, 164 emeralds, one sapphire 16 pearls and 2 cameos. The google art project has a zoomable image of it, though the image isn't as sharp as one might desire at full zoom. It is housed in the historic Dresden Green Vault Museum, itself only recently recovered from damage suffered in WWII.
A
The nile crocodile is said to be the inspiration for the new Hermes (see previous) necklace and ring set. It's at least clearly the origin of the name, Niloticus, for Pierre Hardy's newest design. The necklace consists of 112 rose-gold scales, and is set with diamonds, iolites, peridots and tourmalines and has a suggested retail price of $299,500 (clearly that $500 less than $300k makes it much more affordable). There's a matching bracelet and ring (MSRP of $30,000) as well.
(source)
A
In 1970 the founder of Graff Diamonds (previously mentioned), Laurence Graff assembled 1/2 million dollars of diamonds on and around the head of a model for a photoshoot. Now, 43 years later, Graff has decided that was far too tame and has recreated the image with 1/2 billion dollars worth of the carbons in celebration of his 40th boutique and 60 years in the industry.
They don't provide a price breakdown, but stand-out pieces include:
| The original 1970 image with $1/2 million worth of stones | Today's version, Dalia Gunther is wearing $1/2 billion |
 |  |
| 10.5Ct Intense blue, briolette cut | Gray-blue, orange-pink and yellow diamonds in a pendent |
 |  |
(source)
A
Oh, Minya. Bling Bling: Hip Hop's Crown Jewels. New York: Wenner Books. 2005
I wanted to like this book, it came out around the same time as an identically-named auction of some pretty amazing bling by Phillips de Pury, Hip Hop's Crown Jewels. There the overwrought jewelery of the street met the overformed prose of the modern auction catalog. Take, for example, the description of Lil John's "Crunk Ain't Dead" pendent:
One of the most outrageous artifacts in the sale doubles as a defiant missive to hip hop critics proclaiming the demise of "Crunk", a catchy southern style of hip hop. With a pendant standing 7.5 inches tall and 6 inches wide, Lil' Jon's Diamond and Fancy Yellow Diamond and gold "Crunk Ain't Dead" Pendant and Necklace created by Jason of Beverly Hills is fittingly documented by the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's "Largest Diamond Pendant."
Sadly this book was none of that, not even a glossy heavily-photographed catalog of actual bling it is more of a series of interviews with promenant Rappers, and hanger's-on (see Jacob Arabo). Much of the photography is historical and of low quality, and not balanced with much in the way of modern studio work to illustrate the actual pieces, rather all of it tries to capture the artists. Much of it is uncited and uncaptioned. Sadly much ofthe text comes across as an exercise in "I know that slang term, I'm from the street too", occasionally you can almost hear the interviewee cringe.
In summary, perhaps the one redeeming element was the odd joy I got reading the copy of this book owned by that bastion of hip hop glamour and excess, Harvard's Widner Library.
A
In honor(?) of the release of Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp, the Diamond in the Rough company has released a line of Iceberg jewels. All of their work, as their clever name implies, centers on uncut diamonds (see previous), mostly working with the classical octahedral crystal shape. Assume, unless otherwise mentioned that the pieces are 18kt white gold and using briliant-cut white diamonds as accent.
| Earrings, 17.79 ct of rough diamonds and 10ct of cut stones, pavee set | Bracelet, 15ct rough diamond and 16.81ct of cut stones, pavee set |
 |  |
(source)
A
Dressing for the big horse races, like the Kentucky Derby, has always been an exercise in eyecatching horror, but almost always limited to womens' wear, i.e. hats. Finally someone is starting to tap the market of hippocentric men and their lack of sense, in this case Theo Fennell (see previous) with this pair of white gold cufflinks. The inside of the binocular-shaped pieces are hand-painted enamels of the winning moment of a race, or something. £7,500 if you're asking
(source)
A
The New York Times has an article in today's Magazine on the Parisian jeweler Auclert, who I've mentioned before. An interesting detail from the article is that he tries quite carefully to not make permanent changes to the antique pieces he incorporates.
| The man himself, Marc Auclert | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pink gold and oxidized silver ring. The granulated gold element is probably Etruscan, they don't bother to mention | Gold bracelet. The central element is a bronze-age bull's head from China |
 |  |
| Early 19th Century black-glass cameos in a bracelet-in-process | |
 | |
A
