#1.) Sotheby’s Auction – Lack-Luster

Hundreds of signed pieces at auction

Gary Roskin

Roskin Gem news Report

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.

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!

#2.) The Most Stunning Jewelry Looks

from the 2024 SAG Awards

MARCH 5, 2024

BY LAURALEE

Who Wore What Jewels

Diving right into the “glitz and glamour” of the 2024 SAG Awards (Screen Actors Guild) 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!

#3.) Tiaras, Coronets, and Crowns

The Importance of Who Wears What!

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. Grab your tiaras, and read on!

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

BY STELLENE VOLANDES

Town & Country

Editor-in-Chief of Town & Country Magazine, Stellene Volandes, has a love for gems and jewels.

And so it is not unusual for her to tell us that she has been inundated by her avid readers, asking to find out who the jewelry designer is for those big fabulous emerald necklaces being worn at the Ambani wedding!

This is her story:

“Find out who designed this jewelry!”

I have received all of your direct messages, texts, and emails and I am ready to respond. Who was the designer behind one of the most important jewelry moments of the year (decade?). Turns out, I know the man, and I should have known immediately.

Few other people in the world could have designed the pieces in those viral images of the pre-wedding festivities of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant.

The man behind many of the pearls, emeralds, and diamonds in those pictures (matriarch Nita Ambani and her daughter Isha, the groom’s sister, above) has been hailed as “the greatest jeweler of our time,” and “jewelry’s quiet superstar.” He has been called a “mysterious genius” more than once.

Tap here for to learn more about the jeweler behind the Ambani wedding jewels!

CATEGORY: OSCAR JEWELRY

Lauralee

WhoWoreWhatJewels.com

POSTED ONMARCH 12, 2024

Glitz and glamour walked the halls at the Dolby Theatre hosting the Oscars in Hollywood Sunday night (March 10, 2024)!

And as Lauralee at WhoWoreWhatJewels.com tells us, the awards ceremony and parties were dripping with a treasure trove of jaw-dropping jewels!

Wearing the most fabulous gems and jewelry were Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Sandra Huller, America Ferrera, Lily Gladstone, Florence Pugh, Greta Gerwig, Emma Stone, Grace Gummer, Rita Moreno, Gabrielle Union-Wade, Jaime Lee Curtis, Emily Blunt, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Margot Robbie, Michelle Yeoh, Brittany Snow, Anya Taylor-Joy, Erika Alexander, Celine Song, Hailee Steinfeld, and Eva Longoria. And you will see them all with their jewelry on Who Wore What Jewels!

Tap here to see all of those glamorous stars and glitzy jewels at the Oscars!

MARCH 11, 2024

BY LAURALEE

WhoWoreWhatJewels.com

Best Jewelry From The Men At The 2024 Oscars & Vanity Fair Party

Lauralee shouts, "Let’s hear it for the boys! Forget the pricey watches on the wrist because the red carpet accessory du jour at last night’s Oscar/Vanity Fair gala was the brooch!"

Who Wore What Jewels brings us the men's parade of jewels on the Red Carpet and at the after parties. Look for these famous celebrities: Barry Keoghan, Cillian Murphy, Colman Domingo, Damson Idris, Dwayne Wade, Joe Keery, John Krasinski, Joseph Quinn, Justin Theroux, Justin Timberlake, Ke Huy Quan, Matthew McConaughey, Mohammed Al Turki, Ncuti Gatwa, Robert Downey Jr., Simu Liu, Sir Elton John, Sterling K. Brown, and Teo Yoo.

Now let's take a deep dive into Who Wore What Jewels' feature as Lauralee shows us the standout brooch moments from the 2024 Oscars and Vanity Fair party.

Tap here to check out those lapels!

Anthony DeMarco -

Senior Contributor -

Forbes.com -

Officials at TEFAF Maastricht said that attendance at the art, antique and design fair increased 20 percent year-on-year with the number of visitors at nearly 50,000 during the eight-day event that ended March 14.

The figures entails the two invitation-only preview days on March 7 and 8 that also saw record attendance, according to fair representatives, surpassing 8,000 collectors, including nearly 1,000 top officials from museums around the world.

Read more of DeMarco's report from TEFAF!

Left: on display at the Smithsonian - notice the cloudy/milky appearance even in display lighting due to its very strong fluorescence. - image by Gary Roskin ... through the looking glass.

Below: image by Chip Clark, Smithsonian: under long wave UltraViolet Light

Gary Roskin -

Roskin Gem News Report -

... on a recent trip to Washington DC, we stopped off in the Gem Hall to visit one of our favorite gems...

Very Strong Blue Fluorescence

The Portuguese Diamond, 127.01 carats, is the largest faceted diamond in the National Gem Collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. (The Hope Diamond weighs a little over 45 carats.)

In 1997, the Portuguese was graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) as an M (faint brownish-yellow) in color, and VS1 (very slightly included) in clarity, with "very strong blue" fluorescence. (Tap here for greater details.)

The strength of a diamond's fluorescence is graded as None, Faint, Medium, Strong, and Very Strong.

In many cases, when a colorless, near colorless, or even lightly yellow tinted diamond fluoresces blue to ultraviolet light (e.g. UV in sunlight) its body color is "enhanced" (adding blue to a colorless or near colorless diamond, or masking the yellow of a lightly tinted yellow diamond). The Portuguese has its brownish-yellow body color masked by its very strong blue fluorescence.

But because the fluorescence is "very strong," (as opposed to Faint, Medium or Strong) the diamond looks milky, cloudy, or greasy when viewed in daylight.

"The apparent cloudiness in the stone is actually the fluorescence that is so intense, it is visible even in daylight or incandescent light. In fact, if not for the fluorescence, the diamond would appear slightly yellowish." - Smithsonian

The Portuguese Diamond is one of the world's most magnificent gems.

For more on this important diamond,

visit the Smithsonian's website, here.

What we have for you here are several reports on the emerald auctions that have been taking place in Panjshir, Afghanistan.

We reached out and heard that the Taliban control the auctions, from start to finish.

After the Taliban allow the people of Panjshir to work in the mines, they hold auctions – 15 auctions so far.

The miners have sold over $3.6 million in goods at auction, reportedly many lots of low quality, purchased by gem dealers. The Taliban government then takes their 10% royalty tax. – gr

Tap here to read all about the Panjshir emerald auctions!

ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll -

Hubble observed a glittering piece of cosmic "jewelry" located 15,000 light-years away.

Aptly nicknamed the Necklace Nebula, it was created by a pair of aging, tightly orbiting Sun-like stars.

One of the aging stars expanded and engulfed its smaller companion, but the smaller star continued to orbit inside its larger companion.

This increased the bloated giant’s rotation rate until large parts of it spun outwards into space, and the escaping ring of debris formed the Necklace Nebula, with particularly dense clumps of gas forming the bright “diamonds” around the ring.

Image description: A small, bright green region of gas is surrounded by a ring of glowing cosmic material, concentrated in pale clumps that resemble diamonds along a necklace. The rest of the image shows black space dotted with several bright stars and a couple small regions of dark red gas.

Tap here to read more about this amazing jewel in the night sky!

Vivienne Becker -

MARCH 12 2024 -

Financial Times -

Green is good this spring, announces Chopard! 

In this feature article by Vivienne Becker, Caroline Scheufele, the co-president and artistic director for Chopard, talks about their love for emeralds, their acquisition of an enormous rough crystal from Zambia - the 6,225 carat "Insofu" - and their new face for emerald jewelry, Julia Roberts.

Becker also points to Gucci, Dior, Boodles, designers Fernando Jorge, Gaia Repossi, as well as jewelers Graff, Moussaieff and more - all now in love with emeralds!  

Emerald lovers, Tap Here!

GEMTalks Zooms In On Diamond Origin

Rapaport ... with Dr. James Shigley

March 19, 2024

Online event

G7 Sanctions: What Retailers Need to Know

Diamond Traceability Insights with Sarine and Tracr™

March 20, 2024

Online event

ASDI-500 Live Presentation

Antwerp Diamond Bourse

Thursday, March 21st

GIA -

Press Release -

and personal review - gr -

We love trying out new gemological equipment. And fortunately for us, we had the opportunity to test drive GIA's newest Gemolite microscope in Tucson at the AGTA GemFair last month.

The scope felt very much the same as previous versions of the Gemolite, which made us feel right at home. But with the added features like the digital display, and the stationary power cord, we knew this was worth a closer look.

On the NXT Pro model, the interchangeable fibre optic wands, and the comfortable arm rests were very nice added touches. The overhead light source is a must and was easy to adjust. And we really appreciate the accessible light switches and rheostats all at the back side of the base.

Full disclosure: GIA is an advertiser here in the Roskin Gem News Report.

This is an unbiased review. We do not make any commission from sales.

Tap here for the full press release with features and options!