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DeBeers’ Forevermark Unveils Black Label Collection

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442x480xforevermark_black_label_five_shapes_group_jpg,qitok=p0t6cyny_pagespeed_ic_rAQ34O-i_JA number of years ago, the DeBeers Corporation saw its influence over the supply of rough diamonds into the retail pipeline decrease as more players entered the field independent of their marketing network. They correctly saw this as a permanent change and responded by going downstream, opening their own retail outlets and “branding” their finished jewelry as Forevermark. This echoed their “Diamonds are Forever” advertising campaign of earlier decades.

Now, they have introduced a new Black Label Collection of diamonds that they say is the “best representation of the most beautiful of our diamonds. These diamonds, they say, are for light lovers only. Well, who isn’t a light lover when it comes to diamonds? That is what we find beautiful about diamonds, the optical effects: the brilliant return of light to the eye, the dancing of light that we call scintillation and the flashes of color that is caused by the separation of white light into the spectral colors.

The Black Label Collection, says DeBeers, does this to a degree not seen before, especially with fancy shaped diamonds. The Black label Collection, they say, are the world’s most beautiful and symmetrical diamonds. Great emphasis is put on the symmetry of the cut. In creating this collection, DeBeers along with HRA Group spent 10 years developing perfectly symmetrical fancy shaped diamonds. The perfect symmetry extends beyond the bellies and shoulders to the facets themselves and is said to account for the brighter, more sparking fancy shaped diamond that was their goal.

The Black Label Collection is intended to appeal to Millenials to give them something different. DeBeers named the arrow pattern seen under magnification in a perfectly symmetrical diamond the “Compass of Light” in an attempt to signify to Millennials that this is a diamond cut to a degree of perfection beyond ideal. The ideal cut is a range of parameters that makes for a beautiful stone, but the Black Label is an even narrower range of parameters. I would suggest that you should expect to pay more.

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Christie’s Celebrates 250 Years in Business

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The English auction house, Christie’s, is celebrating its 250th year in business. As the interesting article in Rapaport’s December issue reports, the auction house was started by a Scot, James Christie, born in Perth, Scotland in 1730. Christie went to London in 1750 and found work with a Covent Garden auctioneer, from whom he learned the trade. He held his first auction under the name of Christie’s on December 7, 1766, and included among the lots sold was a ruby and diamond buckle. So jewelry has been among the prominent items sold at Christie’s since the very beginning. Christie’s first ever all jewelry auction was held February 18, 1772.

James Christie died in 1803 and the firm was taken over by his son, also James, who was in turn succeeded by his son George Henry Christie in 1831. In 1889, the great grandson of the founder retired as the last member of the family to work at the auction house, although the name remains to this day.

Over the years, Christie’s has auctioned some of the world’s largest and most famous diamonds (and other gems as well); the jewelry collections of royalty, the famous and wealthy, and the world’s most famous designers. Among the famous diamonds sold at Christie’s auctions are the Wittlesbach, the Archduke Joseph, the Emporer Maximilan, the Oppenheimer Blue, the original diamond ring of Mary, Queen of Scots and the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond. Christie’s has sold the jewelry collections of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, Empress Eugenie, wife of Napolean III, the wives of Aga Khan, the Duchess of Windsor, Princess Margaret, Elizabeth Taylor as well as many wealthy socialites whose names are less familiar. They have sold the world’s most famous designers including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany, Schlumberger, Bulgari and more.

Christie’s first expanded overseas in 1958, opening an office in Rome. Today, they hold auctions in Geneva, Hong Kong, New York and Dubai as well as in London. Along with Sotheby’s, Christie’s is the preferred venue for the sale of great collections and estates as well as for the fabulous and colossal new diamonds just coming on the market. This is a great company with a long, rich tradition that is still going strong after 250 years and appears to have a great future ahead.