Tag Archives: Diamond

Racing for Diamonds

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Racing through the streets of Monaco

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton will not slowing down their cars to show off their diamond studded steering wheels this year at the car race in Monaco, but I bet some members of the audience would like to get a closer look at their diamond display.

This year won’t be the first time drivers for McLaren, a Formula One racing team which is based in the United Kingdom, have sported bling in their racing outfits, but each year they seem to up the last year. In past years drivers have worn helmets with studded with diamonds spelling their initials. The lavish diamond gifts come from one of the drivers’ top sponsors, Steinmetz, a diamond specialist.

Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 Monaco winner and Jenson Button, the 2009 Monaco winner will be sporting the diamond goods this year around. Hamilton, who wore one of the diamond accessorized helmets during his win in 2008, is hoping that the steering wheel will bring similar luck this year.

The Monaco car race is known for its glamour and prestige, as well as for its dangerous track that leads drivers through tunnels, around tight corners and down narrow streets.

Dog Swallows 3-Carat Diamond

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Guilty dog

The battle of the sexes recently took an interesting turn at a Washington D.C. jewelry store. Man’s best friend gobbled up a girl’s best friend, a 3-carat diamond, and chaos ensued. Robert Barnard Jewelry Store owner George Kaufman brings his dog, Sollie to work with him every day. Sollie was attending a meeting with Kaufman and a diamond dealer as the dealer displayed the $20,000 diamond. The diamond dropped to the floor as the jewelers inspected it and to everyone’s horror, Sollie went right for the gem. He quickly picked it up and swallowed it.

“You saw Sollie go for the diamond,” said Kaufman. “…gobbled it up. [I] tried to pull it out of his mouth, couldn’t get it. Gone.” The dealer and store were unsuccessful in retrieving the gem from Sollie’s mouth, so they took him to their local veterinarian. The veterinarian advised the jewelry store owners to wait until the dog had passed the gem through his bowel movement. Kaufman had waited three days when Sollie finally passed the stone during one of their walks. The diamond, now cleaned off and restored to its original luster, is now in perfect condition.

It is hard to say who won this round of the battle of the sexes. It appears to remain at a stalemate.

Rockwell Diamonds Sells Shares To Balance Books

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Diamond

Rockwell Diamonds, Inc. issued 110 million shares in December of last year in an attempt to pay down short-term debt and improve the firm’s bottom line. The shares were sold via private placement and Rockwell raised over $6.81 million as a result. The Canada-based company, which produces and acquires diamonds, sold its shares at $0.061 each.
The diamond miner, owner of mines in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, capitalized on investor interest to improve the company’s standing. Although no specific information was given in to the fiscal reasons behind the sale, Rockwell insists that diamond prices and the gem market contain positive indicators.
“We are most encouraged that investor interest and support for Rockwell has proved far greater than we originally projected which we attribute to strengthening of rough diamond prices, improving financial market conditions, and strong support and enthusiasm for our prospects and plans,” President and CEO John Bristow said. “We have achieved a good mix of support from existing and new strategic investors who will contribute to the success of our going-forward growth and expansion strategy.”
According to the company’s website, diamond sales prices have increased and large stone production is booming. Among the large, high-value stones that have been acquired, including three stones over 100 carats, 63 have been sold. Rockwell continues to capitalize on the strong market for gems in the three- to five-carat market. With the rebalancing of the company’s ledger and the promise of continued market share, Rockwell appears poised for continued growth.

Sandra Bullock Wears Colored Diamonds at Golden Globes

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Sandra Bullock Wears Grey Diamond Earrings
Diamonds are beloved for their ability to capture attention and admiration. Celebrities strive to be memorable and captivating. Natural color diamonds have become a staple of the red carpet as they grant the wearer an unforgettably unique look.
Celebrities use these beautiful colored gems to complete their red carpet ensembles. Best Actress winner Sandra Bullock wore large gray diamond earrings to this year’s Golden Globes. Halle Barry wore the stunning Pumpkin Diamond to the 2002 Academy Awards in which she won Best Actress.
Halle Barry wears the Pumpkin DiamondA colored diamond is a naturally-occurring phenomenon that creates added excitement due to its rare occurrence. Sought after by the bourgeois and gem aficionados alike, these jewels are one of nature’s most stunning pieces of handiwork. Each diamond is unique due to the elements and variables that contribute to its creation. Only one in 10,000 diamonds is natural colored, according to Langerman Diamonds.
Bullock’s grey diamonds contain a mix of the characteristics of both black and white diamonds and are exceptionally rare, says the National Jeweler Network, colored diamond experts. The orange hue of Barry’s Pumpkin diamond indicates the presence of nitrogen during its creation.
“The formation of natural color diamonds is a process that requires the presence of not only the original magical formula for all diamond creation, but also the presence of additional trace elements and distortions to the typical diamond crystal,” says the Natural Color Diamond Association. “If an element interacts with carbon atoms during diamond creation, the diamond’s color can change. Radiation and pressure on a diamond’s structure will also impact its color as well.”
These dimaonds come in a startlingly wide variety of tones. Though they frequently adorn the fashion elite, they can be easily added to anyone’s treasure collection via local and Internet jewelers. Pick a shape and color that suits you and know that your elegant jewel is as rare and unique as you are.

Super-Hard Diamond Found in Meteorite

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It’s hard to imagine something harder than diamonds, but researchers have found it. A meteorite was recently discovered to have carbon material with a consistency harder than diamonds. The rock was found in Finland in 1971 after falling to earth.  As researchers polished it recently, they were surprised to see raised surfaces in its face. These surfaces remained after a diamond-filled paste was used to sand it down. The resilience of the raised surfaces against the diamonds proved to be something more than mere carbon.


Meteorite Diamond

Diamonds encased in meteorite.

The meteorite’s diamonds may not be suitable for a ring or necklace, but they are a telling find for geologists. “The discovery was accidental but we were sure that looking in these meteorites would lead to new findings on the carbon system,” said Tristan Ferroir of the Universite de Lyon in France.

Scientists speculate that these meteorite-bound diamonds were created in a similar fashion to man-made diamonds. The diamonds were created in a process similar to that of synthetic diamonds including intense head and exponential pressure. Scientists predicted the existence of these ultra-hard diamonds many years ago but they had never found the evidence in nature.

These “space diamonds” give geologists and gemologists invaluable information that will help in the manufacturing of diamonds for use in the consumer gem market.