I admit it. I’m obsessed with jewelry boxes. This is partly because my own jewelry is overflowing my current jewelry box, stashed in various velvet boxes and satin bags and getting harder and harder to find. But I also love the idea of beautiful containers for beautiful ornaments. In a perfect world, I would...
New jewelry is like new love. Once acquired, it’s difficult to part with. We want to take it everywhere. We struggle to keep our hands off it. Alas, the moment comes when it must be unfastened and put away. One option is to return the beloved jewel to its velvet box and lock it...
In Ancient Rome and Greece, gold jewelry and engraved gems were valued far more than other works of art. Getty antiquities curator Kenneth Lapatin reveals the fascinating ancient reality behind his museum's wearable treasures.
Carved stone from China inspired mad bidding wars at Christie's this week. An ancient jade bracelet went for thirty times its estimate value and a bejeweled Bodhisattva carved from limestone sold to a new collector for almost a million dollars.
Carved jade and elaborate hair ornaments have been part of Chinese culture since the beginning of civilization - and they weren't just for women. Men wore some of the biggest and flashiest. This week, Christie's has some beautiful examples on the block.
Asian Week is in full swing in New York City. Here's a a taste of what's on view at Bonhams until tomorrow's sale.
Michael Dyber scored the grand prize this year in two major gem-cutting competitions. Seems he's invented a new cutting technique that reflects optical illusions. Cool!
Diamonds brought big prices at Christie’s New York jewelry sale today and the much publicized 32-carat Annenberg Diamond did not disappoint, selling for $7,698,500, more than twice the low estimate. At $240,000 per carat, the Annenberg sets the world record per-carat price for a colorless diamond, according to Christie’s. “For three and a half hours,...
In the 1930s, Van Cleef & Arpels was commissioned by a Maharajah to create an aquarium for his pet tree frog. “La Maison d’Hortense” was outfitted with a tiny gold ladder for the frog to ascend or descend, according to the weather. The aquarium was later transformed into its present state, a birdcage housing...
