#1.) Painting with Gems

Van Cleef & Arpels’ Bracelets – “a Jewelry Holy Grail”

BY STELLENE VOLANDES

Town & Country Magazine

The Inspiration

“As my eyes grew accustomed to the light,” archaeologist Howard Carter wrote as he gazed into the tomb of Tutankhamun, “details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold—everywhere the glint of gold.” Can you get all that down on a diamond bracelet? Why, yes, in fact, Van Cleef & Arpels actually did.

After Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922, the house captured the ensuing Egyptomania on bracelets that told tales of pharaohs, sphinxes, scarabs, and phoenixes. Each jeweled panel was a hieroglyph scripted against a diamond background and written in lapis and coral, turquoise and sapphire, ruby and emerald.

“If you asked me to name 10 jewels that a collector should own,” says Claibourne Poindexter, vice president and senior specialist in the jewelry department at Christie’s, “a Van Cleef 1920s narrative bracelet would be one of them.”

These gems of the Art Deco Egyptian Revival period have long been collectible—a connection to history and exceptional craftsmanship will do that—but they have now won a global audience of collectors and achieved icon status.

Tap here to read the full feature story on VC&A and their bracelets, from Town & Country Magazine!

#2.) Who Wore What Jewels

The Top Jewelry Looks from the Men

at the 2024 SAG Awards!

FEBRUARY 25, 2024 

BY LAURALEE

WhoWoreWhatJewels

Get ready to swoon over the hottest jewelry looks from the 2024 Screen Actors Guild SAG Awards, where the guys brought their A-game in bling!

Lots of Art Deco!

It was all about the brooches, —whether they were rocking Art Deco vibes, vintage antique designs, or sweet floral touches.

Lauralee really gives us the goods - from dapper to daring, these celebs showed us how to make a statement with style.

Tap Here to see some of the hottest styles in men's jewelry from the 2024 SAG Awards!

#3.) Hidden Treasures in New York City

The Art of André Chervin & Carvin French Jewelers

Gary Roskin

Roskin Gem News Report

Parisian born jeweler André Chervin is the man behind magnificent works of jeweled objets d’art now on display at the New York Historical Society Museum on Central Park West.

Curated by Debra Schmidt Bach with the assistance of Carole Chervin, daughter of André Chervin, co-founder of the Carvin French Jewelry studio.

“Like many workshops, there are down times,” notes Carole Chervin. “In order to keep everyone busy, whether it was a break in orders or simply waiting for one jeweler to finish their task on a specific project, André dished out ‘treats’ to the staff…” dreams/designs that were to be made into little gemstone objects.

There are 58 of these dreams in the exhibition, on view to the public for the very first time. None were ever sold or given away as gifts. They remain, to this day, a private Carvin French collection.

This is an interview with Carole Chervin and Debra Schmidt Bach.

Gary Roskin

Roskin Gem News Report

Lady Kerry Gregory of Gemmology Rocks, is a passionate gemologist who loves bejeweled headwear. And she has a beef with Burger King.

Her presentation at AGTA’s Elevated Seminar Series in Tucson, Burger King or Burger Duke, was just as much fun as it was rewarding.

“I simply love tiaras,” says Gregory, sporting one of several tiaras she brought with her for demonstration, all laid out at the podium. The fun begins when people ask, because, as it turns out, most people do not know what the differences are between a tiara, a diadem, a coronet, and a crown… what makes each one so special. Lady Gregory knows!

But just before she gets into the details about what is what, she’s just itching to tell us what’s been motivating this presentation.

“So this is something that has vexed me for years,” she begins. Speaking of the hamburger chain mascot, “I’m going to state my case as to why it is not ‘Burger King,’ but ‘Burger Duke!'” And yes, it does have to do with tiaras, which we detail for you now.

Tap here for a marvelous and fun review of Lady Gregory's presentation on Tiaras, Diadems, Coronets, and Crowns!

Gary Roskin

Roskin Gem news Report

Up this week, Sotheby’s New York auctioned off an assortment of impressive signed jewels, including creations from Cartier, Bulgari, David Webb, along with an amazing number from Van Cleef & Arpels, and more.

According to Sotheby’s, this auction includes “iconic collections such as ‘Panthère’, ‘À Cheval’ and ‘Serpenti’, alongside exceptional designs such as ‘Mystery-Set’ jewels.”

Expectations Not Met For many lots, the low estimates were barely met. Some items sold just below the low estimates. And making the auction even less exciting, there were numerous pieces that did not sell – did not make the reserve. Though, for our report, even those are worth a closer examination.

We take a close look at 32 of these pieces!

Tap here to see what we found and whether or not they sold!

Photomicrography: Images from Within

Images by Sammantha MacLachlan Blue Fluorite Growth features on blue fluorite from Colombia.

This is a stack of 52 images taken at 120x zoom.

What may mess with your head a little is that those are concave etch pits rather than convex pyramid shapes as they appear! You can see some iron staining in the pit on the right.

Sammantha Maclachlan has caught our attention with her skills in photomicrography.

The incredible shots shown here and in the online magazine are not only gemmologically exciting, they are simply wonderful works of art.

There’s nothing left to do except to thank Sammantha for sharing her images, and welcome you to enjoy the page!

Tap Here for more Gemmological Eye-Candy from Sammantha MacLachlan!

MARCH 5, 2024

BY LAURALEE

Who Wore What Jewels

Diving right into the “glitz and glamour” of the 2024 SAG Awards red carpet, Lauralee of WhoWoreWhatJewels.com checked out the most stunning jewelry moments of the evening! “From statement necklaces to vibrant gemstones and bold earrings, this year’s event was a showcase of celebrity style at its finest.”

And Lauralee does such an outstanding job of calling out the best jewelry of the night! See the standout jewels that stole the spotlight!



See jewels worn by Emily Blunt, Halle Bailey, Brie Larson, Kat Graham, Rebecca Hall, Quinta Brunson, Bel Powley, Meryl Streep, Margot Robbie, Fran Drescher, Taraji P. Henson, Anne Hathaway, and MORE!!

For more of the most stunning jewelry looks from Who Wore What Jewels, tap here!

Emily “D.D.” Frontiere

Roskin Gem News Report

Affordable cultured pearls have been available to consumers for decades. More recent developments in the techniques used to culture Chinese freshwater pearls created a whole new source for cultured pearls at even more affordable prices. Then came the pandemic and its effect on the pearl industry was both unexpected and dramatic.

Tahitian pearls were hit especially hard. According to Fran Mastoloni of New York-based Mastoloni Pearls showing at AGTA, many farms growing Tahitian pearls were forced to pause operations when their Chinese nucleating technicians became trapped in their home country for up to three years as a result of the lockdown measures imposed by the government. The local workers were able to harvest the pearls that were already growing in the waters, but they lacked the skills necessary to implant the bead nuclei and get the process started. Some farms have yet to resume their growing activities. This resulted in a gap in the supply chain with relatively few pearls ready to go to market.

Tap here for more details on the pearl market!

De Beers

13 Feb 2024

Press Release

First-of-its-kind device offers rapid, automated screening of large volumes of the smallest melee diamonds; KGK Suisse to take delivery of first instrument.

De Beers Group Ignite has officially launched its latest diamond verification instrument, AMS Micro, one of the first devices to offer rapid, automated and autonomous screening of high volumes of the smallest melee diamonds. The first AMS Micro instrument will be delivered to the Swiss office of leading diamond manufacturer and De Beers Group Sightholder, KGK.

AMS Micro complements De Beers Group Ignite’s comprehensive suite of diamond verification instruments, which provide solutions for screening diamonds of all sizes to underpin confidence in diamond companies’ product integrity.

Tap here for the details of what this new detector can do!