Ring of 10.67ct oval-shaped and two 6ct diamonds by JAR, est. $2.5-3.5 million at Chrisite's HK May 29 (Chrisite's Images)

One thing that sets the designs of Joel Arthur Rosenthal apart is his approach to stones. He always chooses the very best, but it’s more than that. The Bronx-born designer who became known as “JAR of Paris” proved what a designer can achieve by going against convention when it comes to cut and color.

On top of the record-size private collection up for sale in May at Christie’s Geneva, Christie’s Hong Kong just announced they’ve got a little JAR of their own. How’s this for a sparkler?

Those are all D color, flawless diamonds, of course, so you can imagine the flash that gives off. That center oval-shaped diamond is 10.67 carats and it’s flanked by two diamonds of 6.04 and 6.07.

Note the setting of blackened metal lined with accent diamonds – typical JAR. (See what I mean in the amazing diamond thread ring pictured below.) This three-diamond ring is expected to fetch between $2, 500,000 and $3,500,000 at Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels sale on May 29.

Before it left for Asia for the rest of its pre-sale tour, many got to admire it stateside last week at Christie’s New York, Rockefeller Center, where it was on display with the 18 JAR jewels from the Geneva sale.

I’m not sure where Rosenthal got the diamonds in that ring, but the New York-based diamond dealer William Goldberg & Co. has been working with him for at least 25 years. I spoke a few years ago to Saul Goldberg, before the much-publicized Ellen Barkin sale, about what it’s like working with Joel Rosenthal – and what he looks for in diamonds. “He would expect a flat, cushion cut or an unusual rose cut, a special pink or blueish-green diamond – something exotic, always exotic,” Goldberg said, adding that it’s extremely difficult to predict JAR’s taste, even after two decades.

JAR diamond thread ring from the 2006 Ellen Barkin sale (Christie's Images)

“Something I might think he would like, I could be so off base. And something I don’t think he’ll like, he loves,” Goldberg said. “My father had that relationship with him also. We thought of him for special pieces that would come along, but we could never seem to predict his taste. The tone of pink might not have been his tone of pink, or the tone of blue might be beautiful but we wants it more gray than blue.”

In terms of shape, the Goldbergs learned to avoid showing him the angular cuts that were in fashion long after Rosenthal began rejecting them. “He definitely likes flat stones, not your conventional, traditional cuts. He likes soft things – a cushion or an oval, nothing with hard edges,” Goldberg said.  “Give him a pointy stone and he’ll say, ‘Cut off the points, then show it to me.’ Or show him a pear shape and he’ll say, ‘Cut off the point at the bottom.’ He can dictate those things because it’s him. He’s the designer. He is a great artist.”

If you want to see an interesting example of the JAR approach to topaz, you can find it here. Since we’re talking rocks, let me show you a couple more of the JAR-picked beauties you’ll find at the Christie’s Geneva sale next month:

Ring of Colombian emerald, natural pearls and diamonds, 1988, est. $500-700,000 at Christie's Geneva in May (Christie's Images)

Pendant brooch of garnet, ruby and diamond by JAR, 2001, est. $170-220k at Christie's Geneva in May (Christie's Images)

Camellia flower brooch of rubies and diamonds by JAR, 2003 (Christie's Images)

Jewels for Hope will be on view at Christie’s Hong Kong April 27-28. Viewings at Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva begin May 11. Sale: 8pm, Monday, May 14.

Related posts:

Jar in full flower: 18 rare jewels on the block in May

JAR: designer jewelry as calling card

Sex and the City: the jewelry

Back on the block: JAR topaz earrings

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6.01-carat (left) and 8.01-carat fancy vivid blue diamonds (Sotheby’s Hong Kong)

Both are lovely jewels – and I’m sure much lovelier in real life, the magic of diamonds being impossible to capture in still photos – but they don’t hold a candle to the most famous blues, most notably the Hope Diamond. What makes natural blue diamonds so rare and so… blue? Something very unglamorous: boron, the stuff you find in flares and nuclear reactors, not so much in diamonds.

Hope Diamond, 45.52 carats, in 1910 Cartier setting (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History)

Happily for all of us, a couple of the rarest and most dazzling blue diamonds can be seen, free of charge, whenever you happen to be in Washington, D.C. And, when we’re not looking at them in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, scientists can access them, in an endless effort to explain the phenomenon of blue diamonds.

They just performed another test on the Smithsonian’s blue treasures, including the Hope Diamond and the Blue Heart, to find out exactly why blue diamonds are blue. They knew it had something to do with the presence of boron, which is extremely rare in natural diamonds. Their question this time: Does the amount of boron in a blue diamond account for its color?

Every now and then, the Hope is removed from its display case and its 1910 Cartier setting, then inserted into various high-tech apparatuses, poked, prodded, and irradiated. But somehow it always defies analysis and ends up back in its showcase, mystery intact.

Hope Diamond glows vivid red under ultraviolet light (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History))

In 2010, for example, when the Hope shared the spotlight with the Wittelsbach-Graff, both historic gems were put under the microscope and exposed to infrared light. Both glowed brilliant red under ultraviolet light – though not in quite the same way. This bizarre ability of natural blue diamonds to emit a phosphorescent, glow-in-the-dark red, even after the light is turned off, is a tool gemologists use to separate real blue diamonds from fakes. Due to its particular boron mix, the Hope turns fiery red, as you can see in the photo at left.

Other tests were performed as well. Everyone, especially Laurence Graff who had just dropped $23.4 mil on the Wittelsbach, was hoping to discover they’d been cut from the same stone. Alas, while it was clear they’d been found around the same time (mid-17th century) and in close proximity in the Golconda mines of India, the famous diamonds were not, in fact, separated at birth.

Last month, after visiting hours were over and doors carefully locked, a local jeweler removed the Hope from its setting once again and four experts – Eloise Gaillou and Jeffrey Post of the Smithsonian, Detlef Rost of the University of Manchester, and James Butler of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC – brought the Hope, the Blue Heart, and 76 other natural diamonds to the lab. One by one, they were inserted into an ion mass spectrometer which shaved off millions of atoms from tiny patches of each. These atoms were then sorted by weight. The goal: to discover how many of those atoms were boron.

Once again, the Hope glowed brilliant red under infrared light and proved to have an extremely high concentration of boron. While type Ia diamonds showed no detectable boron, natural type IIb blue diamonds such as the Hope and Blue Heart, revealed significantly higher amounts than previously reported. Not surprisingly, the Hope had the most by far: as much as 8.4 ppm in spots, compared to as little as .08 in other natural blue diamonds. And yet, the boron content of the blue diamonds did not, in the end, entirely explain the variety or depth of their color.

“The samples in this study are all gem-quality diamonds, including some Intense to Fancy-Deep blue diamonds; color intensity, however, only loosely correlates with the boron content,” reads the abstract published in American Mineralogist last month. “The exact nature of the phosphorescence processes is still not fully understood.”

When museum visitors arrived the next morning,  the scientists were back in their offices scratching their heads, while the Hope spun slowly on her carousel, as though she’d never left. Someone probably trotted around the case like I always do, following it like a nail to a magnet and emitting mews of delight. If you’ve ever seen the real thing, you know it’s nothing like looking at the photos.

The Hope Diamond in a setting designed by Harry Winston in 2010. This necklace now holds a different stone and is being offered for sale.

When I saw it last, it was out of its glitzy white-diamond Cartier setting. If you ask me, they should leave it in its unadorned, naked glory, but I guess we’re all accustomed to seeing it in that white diamond halo its been wearing for a century. They replaced that 1910 Cartier setting with a sleek Harry Winston design in 2010, but after a year on display, it’s back in its familiar setting and the Winston piece is being sold off with a different center stone, proceeds to benefit the Smithsonian.

I swear, looking at the Hope makes you feel drunk. What causes this giddy reaction? The color? The phosphorescent emissions? Scientists are pretty sure the boron content causes the phosphorescent emissions, but frankly, they just don’t know what causes that particular shade of blue. It’s officially described as “dark grayish blue” – same designation given to the Wittelsbach-Graff before Graff had it recut to “fancy deep blue.”

But while these terms mean something to gemologists, they don’t come close to capturing the reality. The Hope Diamond is the color of the ocean when you’re out really far, looking into miles and miles of water, Titanic deep. And from that dizzying blue come those full-spectrum rainbow sparkles of a really fine diamond. That is one giddy combination.

Scientific explanation? Frankly, they haven’t entirely figured it out, but you can be pretty sure they’ll keep trying. In the meantime, we all get to admire it and catch a free buzz. No admission or cocktails required.

Related posts:

Wittelsbach-Graff diamond debuts

Smithsonian jewels for the masses, courtesy QVC

Elizabeth Taylor auction and Elizabeth Taylor auction’s 12 world records

Beware of glass composite rubies

A celebration of really expensive tiaras

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2011 Super Bowl platinum ring designed by Jostens for the Green Bay Packers has 109 diamonds totally 3.35 carats set in 18kt gold (photo Jostens Inc.)

UPDATE: Here it is at last, the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl championship ring, presented to the team at a Thursday night celebration in Lambeau Field Atrium. The Packers bucked the recent trend to go with a name-brand jewelry designer like Tiffany or an edgier up-and-coming designer for Super Bowl rings, sticking instead with Jostens, the Minnesota-based company that has produced 29 of the 45 Super Bowl rings, and all four of the Packers’.

Green Bay Packers celebrated the inaugural Super Bowl in 1966 with this modest ring (Jostens)

Jostens’ approach to Super Bowl ring design  has come a long way since the first one they produced for the Packers in 1967 (right), set with a single one-carat diamond.

In keeping with the ever-increasing bling  of the big-time championship ring, this year’s has 109 diamonds – totally 3.35 carats – and weighs 116 grams (about four ounces).

Central motif in this year’s ring is the team’s G logo cast in 18kt gold and embedded with 13 diamonds representing  the team’s 13 NFL championships. The logo was placed on a green stone tablet and surrounded by four marquis-cut diamonds, representing the team’s four Super Bowl victories, and 92 more diamonds for their 92-year history. (A championship ring these days is a mathematical dilemma, measured out in diamonds.)

One side of the ring is engraved with images of Lambeau Field and the player’s name and team number, the other with an image of the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl XLV trophy. Inside the shank are the scores of Green Bay’s four postseason wins and the team motto: “One mind, goal, purpose, heart.”

Official statement from Packers president/CEO Michael Murphy: “The victory in Super Bowl XLV was a great achievement for the organization. Jostens has done a fantastic job of capturing the excitement of the win for everyone at the Packers.”

For the backstory on this ring and a short history of Super Bowl championship rings, see my February post: Super Bowl championship rings for the Packers

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Platinum and diamond open-work ring by Alex Sepkus (alexsepkus.com)

Not all designers work individually with couples to customize wedding rings, but sometimes galleries that represent those designers will serve as liaison. This allows designers who prefer to work independently to benefit from the demand for customized wedding rings and for couples to end up with a favorite designer’s work as a wedding ring, possibly tweaked slightly to taste or even using supplied stones.

My own ring was made with four diamonds from an eternity band my husband’s grandmother wore. I love the fact that my sisters-in-law all wear rings set with stones from that same ring. It seems to me that in the best world, marriage is about more than just the union of two people, it’s also about a union of families. We wrote our vows to reflect that. Why shouldn’t our wedding rings?

I also like that even though the diamonds match, each of our rings is unique. I had mine channel-set in a simple, modern setting. One of my sisters-in-law had hers designed by a jeweler who owns a gallery on Cape Cod. Hers is delicate and feminine, which suits her.

Queen Ring of iron, platinum, 18k gold and purple sapphire by Pat Flynn (PatFlynnInc.com)

If you spot a wedding ring you like in a gallery that specializes in studio jewelry, it’s worth asking if the designer makes custom rings. Even designers like Todd Reed and Alex Sepkus will often design around supplied stones.

Not all designers and studio jewelers are open to custom work, however. If you really love Pat Flynn’s jewelry, for example, you’ll probably have to settle for a ring he’s already made. You can rest assured it will be unique.

Flynn prefers to let galleries handle his ring orders. Because his rings often combine diamonds and precious metals with wrought iron, they appeal to men as well as women, and many buy them as wedding bands.

Occasionally, a fan will talk him into designing a custom ring, using supplied stones, but he often regrets taking those commissions. “Guiding clients in the right direction takes a certain skill and a certain confidence, the ability to tell people what you want to make and then convince them that’s what they want,” he says. “I’m not really good at that so I shy away. I prefer building work for myself, sending it to galleries and letting them put in out in the world.”

Ring fabricated from iron, 18k gold and moonstone by Pat Flynn (patflynninc.com)

He does occasionally give in to a request from friends, even though he usually sweats it out. “Frequently, the piece ends up being an amazing thing. I’m working with materials I don’t normally work with and that can turn into something quite remarkable, with a different scale and presence. It’s nice to push yourself sometimes, just give it a go and see what happens.”

He recently designed wedding rings for a friend and his wife that turned out beautifully, and everyone was happy. “It was a very pleasant experience,” Flynn says. “I have friends and clients who have worn my rings for a really long time and that’s a special thing.”

Best bet for couples who don’t happen to be close personal friends of the artist? Order rings through Twist, an online gallery that represents Flynn’s work, along with Cathy Waterman, Lisa Jenks, and a lot of other talented designers.

Related posts:

Weddings rings reinvented: hands-on collaborations

Wedding rings reinvented: customizing for couples (Jacob Albee)

Wedding rings reinvented: customized by Todd Reed

Wedding rings reinvented: recycling gold jewelry (Marne Ryan)

Pat Flynn: diamonds and nails

Todd Reed: reinventing diamond jewelry

                          

Her vivid, colorful life went on for decades longer than Taylor had expected it to, given her history of life-threatening injuries and illnesses – not to mention five dozen movies and seven marriages that ended in death or divorce. Along the way, she acquired a lot of spectacular jewelry to soften the blows.

Personally, I love Liz in the simple, fifties-style white-metal hoops and bracelets she wore in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (left), worth watching just to see the sizzlingly beautiful Taylor and Paul Newman at their physical peak.

But that wasn’t the kind of jewelry Elizabeth Taylor became famous for. That would be the gem-laden, over-the-top variety. You can find a few of her famous jewels at the Cooper-Hewitt right now in Set in Style: the Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels exhibit, including this lovely bracelet.

Lamartine bracelet of gold, platinum, diamonds, coral and amethyst by Van Cleef & Arpels, 1970, owned by Elizabeth Taylor (courtesy Dame Elizabeth Taylor, photo John Bigelow Taylor)

Taylor loved to flaunt her jewels but also used them to do good works over the years. For a 2002 Christie’s auction to benefit the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, founded in 1991, she donated this emerald ring, a gift from her fourth husband Richard Burton in 1962.

Elizabeth Taylor raised $80k for her AIDS foundation by selling this ring at Christie's

The ring sold for $80,000 – twice its value minus Hollywood legend. Thirty pieces from her personal collection went on exhibit in conjunction with the sale, including the Krupp and Taj Mahal diamonds and La Peregrina Pearl given to her by Burton.

Purchased by Burton at Sotheby’s in 1969, that historic pearl was once given to Queen Mary Tudor by King Phillip II of Spain. It was set in a pearl, diamond and ruby necklace by Cartier (below), which Taylor later lost, then famously found – in her dog’s mouth.

The Christie’s sale coincided with the publication of the book Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry, filled with dishy stories of being showered in world-class jewels by her famous lovers, including Burton. “I used to get so excited, I would jump on top of him and practically make love to him in Bulgari,” Taylor said.

La Peregrina pearl, once owned by Queen Mary Tudor, in Cartier necklace

“My memories are the real jewels of the book,” Taylor said at the time. “Looking at these beautiful pieces has invariably stirred up many moving memories and reminded me of some truly outrageous times. I mean, how many young women get a set of rubies just for doing something wholesome like swimming laps? Or win a diamond ring at ping-pong with their husband?”

Hmm, I’d say not many.

Taylor did just as much for Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier as she did for Bulgari. She also acquired some of the finest diamonds in the world, thanks mainly to Burton.

Most famously, he gave her the Krupp diamond (on her finger at right), a 33.19-carat white diamond. Taylor wore it every day.

Burton also gave her a 69.4-carat pear-shaped, internally flawless diamond. Burton was outbid by Cartier on that one, at a 1969 Sotheby’s auction, then bought it from them for more than $1 million, a record at the time. It was renamed the Taylor-Burton Diamond and mounted in a necklace by Harry Winston, which Taylor sold in 1978 to raise funds for a new hospital in Botswana.

Yes, Elizabeth Taylor was that rare creature: unapologetically greedy and incredibly generous at the same time. I mean, how many show-stopping jewels does one woman need? Well, in Taylor’s case, very many. “Each one tells me a story,” she once said of her jewels.

Related posts:

Van Cleef & Arpels: celebrity style

Van Cleef & Arpels: glamour and invention

In celebration of really expensive tiaras

Sex & the City: the jewelry

JAR: designer jewelry as calling card

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Packers won the first Super Bowl in 1967 and got this modest ring (Jostens)

[See my update on the ring unveiled on June 17.]

Now that they’ve won the Super Bowl, the Green Bay Packers have another challenge on their hands, literally – designing their championship rings. First step in the process was accomplished before the game even began.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy had the team measured for their rings on Saturday night. “I wish I’d have made a bigger deal out of it,” McCarthy said at a press conference on Monday. “I thought it would give us a boost of confidence to do it the night before the game.”

Measuring for a championship ring before the game may seem like an act of confidence but the team had to be measured anyway. Even the losers of a Super Bowl get rings.

Pittsburgh Steelers ring from Super Bowl XLIII (Jostens)

If the Steelers had won, their ring might have looked something like this (left), the one designed for them by Jostens after their 2009 Super Bowl win. The Steelers will get championship rings again this year but the Packers will get the serious bling.

Championship rings have come a long way on the bling scale since the Packers, coached by Vince Lombardi, won the first Super Bowl in 1966. Their ring (top right) cost about $750 with a one-karat diamond and looked more like a high school class ring than the blinding door knockers that typify today’s championship rings.

Last year, the New Orleans Saints had their Super Bowl championship rings designed by Tiffany & Co. with 44 diamonds designating the 44^th Super Bowl, 16 more on the face to represent 16 wins of the 2009 season, and a .06-carat sparkler at the center of a fleur de lis – which they opted for instead of the usual Lombardi Trophy.

On one side of the Saints ring: NFL shield, Super Bowl logo, game score, date and location. On the  other: the player’s name, number and position, a skyline with Superdome, Carnival float, and musical notes from “When the Saints Go Marching In.” But wait, there’s more! Underneath are inscriptions of the team’s mottos: Be Special, Finish, Smell Greatness.

New Orleans Saints championship ring from Super Bowl XLIV designed by Tiffany & Co.

Even with all that, Tiffany managed to produce a tasteful design, as championship rings go.

You can bet the Packers’ rings will have at least that many references and even more diamonds. Like all Super Bowl rings, theirs will be worth a lot more than they cost to make.

Each year, the NFL shells out $1,125,000 for Super Bowl championship rings – $750,000 to the winning team and $375,000 to the losers. That covers the cost of 150 rings for each team – one for each player and one for the main woman in their lives – wife, girlfriend or mom. The Green Bay Packers will have up to $5,000 to spend per ring. The Steelers will get about half that.

As we all know, five grand does not go as far as it once did – especially with gold at almost $1400/ounce. Tiffany absorbed the additional expense for the Saints’ rings, but recouped at least some of that by selling fan jewelry and commemorative items priced from $100 to $4,000.

The rings themselves are worth far more than they cost to make. Last fall, the Saints raffled off one of those Tiffany-designed rings and raised nearly $1.4 million to benefit people affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Green Bay Packers' last Super Bowl ring from Super Bowl XXI (Jostens)

Last year’s Super Bowl rings were produced in 14kt gold and weighed about two ounces on average. But Bob Bourbeau, who’s been producing championship rings for nearly 40 years with Masters of Design, says it’s not unheard of for a pro ball player to wear a size 20 – twice the size of the average man’s ring.

“Those size 20 rings are not necessarily going to get bigger diamonds but there is a lot more gold,” Bourbeau says with a laugh. “That’s probably 65 penny weight, which is more than three full ounces.”

In the past, both Packers and Steelers have gone with Jostens, a company that specializes in class rings, like Masters of Design. But big-league teams have been known to switch to designers with more cachet. After designing the Phillies’ World Series championship rings in 2009, Masters of Design was expecting to start on the Lakers’, whose rings they’d been designing for years, but the team went with Jason of Beverly Hills instead.

Championship rings are a fickle but lucrative business, which is why so many firms are trying to land them. They garner publicity you can’t buy, even with a Super Bowl commercial. Of course, you’re being asked to make a potentially hideous piece of jewelry. “They all go for big and glitzy,” Bourbeau says. “We never go into an opportunity like this without understanding that this is going to be a challenge. You’ve got to fit so many elements into the ring and still make it manufacturable and somewhat appealing.”

He admits many of the designs end up over the top, but he works hard to land them. “We look at this as a great adventure but it’s also a great responsibility,” says Bourbeau. “On the teletron, they showed each ring in 3000x size, so if there are any flaws and mistakes, you’re in trouble.”

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But there are theories that the heart symbol sprang from more erotic sources, such as the seed of the silphium plant, used as an ancient herbal contraceptives, or various parts of a woman’s anatomy.

Whether you lean toward sappy or sexy, artsy or elegant, there are valentine-style jewels out there for every taste and wallet. As with all gifts of the heart, just make sure it captures her sense of style because she’s going to be wearing this particular valentine all year round.

Here are a few that caught my eye:

From the original Techno-Romantic, Thomas Mann (art jewelry pioneer turned QVC star) offers an artsy take on the heart charm bracelet of sterling, nickel, bronze and brass. You can find this one on Artfulhome.com for $260.

Designed by Randi Chervitz, this pendant was crocheted from sterling silver with a handmade toggle clasp ($175, Artfulhome.com).

A ruby and diamond heart pendant by Loree Rodkin, whose fans include Michelle Obama, Cher and Goth chicks everywhere. This fab reinvention of an old standby sells for $20,150.

Suzanne Belperron, whom I wrote about recently, designed this pendant of smoky quartz, diamond, platinum and gold in 1950. It sold at Christie’s Paris in December for $101,493.

Limoges enamel cherub in a heart of gold and pearls, made in Renaissance Revival style by Carlo Guiliano in 1884, sold at Sotheby’s New York on Feb. 2 for $74,500.

Sorry, you missed your chance on this 28.28-carat diamond that brought $3,778,500 at Christie’s New York last April. Darn, she would have been so thrilled.

Another one that passed you by: this 5-carat, vivid blue diamond sold at Christie’s Hong Kong in June for $4,686,600. QVC has one kind of like this in blue topaz by Judith Ripka for $530. If that doesn’t work, I know where you can find a ring like this only six times bigger and free of charge – well, to look at anyway. Sometimes looking is bliss in itself and there are enough colored diamonds at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History to get you both punch drunk.

That’s right, find her a nice budget-priced heart and take her to a museum to look at gems and jewelry. Hey, I’d go for that.

                          

It’s also the first weekend in December and it seems half the world has descended on this spot. They’re here to see the sparkling tree. I’m here to see the sparkling jewels.

My friend Noriko makes it to Christie’s first. “Massive crowds everywhere, except for this building,” she shouts from my cell. “It might having something to do with the intimidating security guards stationed out front.”

We enter the building where billions of dollars in treasures change hands, and the roar of the crowd fades away. “The calm in the storm,” Noriko says.

Phyllis behind the counter at Christie's New York Jewels sale (photo Cathleen McCarthy)

A young woman at the front desk points us toward the jewelry galleries, no ID required. One of the guards jokes around with us along the way. We find a dozen people milling about the gallery, mostly couples, most in jeans.

We get our bearings by trying on a massive citrine and gold bracelet and admiring a Cartier Mystery Clock with a similar-sized citrine face.

But we’ve spotted the pink diamond ring in the center of the room and it’s pulling us like a magnet. I sent Noriko a photo two days ago and promised her goldsmith boyfriend that I’d take a picture of it on her hand. “Wow,” he said.

Yet now that we’re here, I’m paralyzed. I’ve been to a few jewelry auctions and tried on some amazing jewels but this is the biggest, pinkest diamond I’ve ever seen. I’m sure there’s a reason no one is trying it on. It could sell for $3 million in a few days. What if we drop it?

Noriko in the 10.91ct pinkish-orange diamond ring, est. $2-3mil (photo Cathleen McCarthy)

“You ask,” I whisper.

Noriko has never been to an auction preview and I’m sure she’s never worn a jewel worth $100,000, let alone a few million. She asks a woman behind the counter, who tells us a more senior sales rep handles that case. Seconds later, an elegant brunette materializes, unlocks the case and pulls out the black velvet display with the pink diamond balanced on top. Her name is Phyllis.

I slip the ring against my wedding band. My knuckle is obliterated. “It’s too big,” I say.

“No stone is too big,” Phyllis quips.

“Spoken like a pro,” I say and we all laugh. I slip it on my index finger instead: perfect.

No one seems alarmed that I’m trying on this ring as if it were a Cracker Jack prize. I’m starting to feel pretty comfortable myself. I move my hand so the rainbow spectrum glitters from the giant, pinkish-orange pear shape.

Christie's NY Jewels preview (photo Cathleen McCarthy)

Is there anything more beautiful than a really fine colored diamond?

“I can’t see the case,” a woman behind me whines. The natives are getting restless. I try to pull the ring off but…it doesn’t budge.

Just like that, the entire experience turns into a Seinfeld episode. “It’s stuck,” I say, trying to smile reassuringly. I pull harder. “This is kind of stressful.”

“They’ll get it off for you but you may have to leave your finger here,” Noriko says.

“You’ll be working here for the rest of your life,” Phyllis says.

She’s joking but a vision flashes in my head of myself as an old lady, huddled in a backroom at Christie’s with a giant pink diamond attached to my shriveled hand.

I can see why they put Phyllis in charge of this case. A less-experienced sales assistant would be in full Munchian silent scream by now.

Is it my imagination or have the security guards perked up?

I take a deep breath and pull the ring free. I’m so relieved I start to hand it back, but Noriko intercepts.

“You should probably hold it over the display,” I say nervously. Phyllis slides the velvet pad over like a dealer at an upscale casino. Noriko snaps the ring with her cell phone.

“It’s amazing that people can just walk in and try on jewelry like this,” I say.

“Not many people realize this is open to the public,” Phyllis says. “Sotheby’s is open today too, as is Doyle’s.” Both are having jewelry previews now. “Isn’t this a perfect way to spend the day?”

I’ll say. If I had my way we’d head to Sotheby’s and Doyles, but there’s shopping to be done of the non-millionaire variety and we’re about to take a very crowded subway downtown to do it. Until then, however, there’s plenty more ornament to ogle right here.

If you’re in New York this week, here’s the skinny on the big jewelry sales:

New York Jewels, Christie’s, 20 Rockefeller Center, Dec. 7, 2010: previews Dec. 4-6, 10am-6pm

Magnificent Jewels, Sotheby’s, 1334 New York Ave., Dec. 9, 2010: previews Dec. 4-8, 10am-5pm

Important Estate Jewelry, Doyle New York, 175 E. 87th St., Dec. 8, 2010; previews Dec. 4-5, 10am-5pm, Dec. 6, 10am-6pm, Dec. 7, 10am-4pm

                          

Fancy intense Perfect Pink diamond of 14.23cts, VVS2, sold for $23,165,968 at Christie's Hong Kong (Christie's Images)

Most wedding proposals take place in December, according to a survey conducted for Robbins Bros. in 2007. Can you imagine finding this in your stocking?

Diamonds are always top sellers at major auctions, but there’s a keener demand in Asia for colored stones – and pink diamonds are the ultimate. A year ago, another vivid pink diamond set two world records at Christie’s Hong Kong. Second most expensive piece today also involved pink sparklers: a Golconda diamond suspended from a necklace of clear and pink diamonds by Nirav Modi.

Golconda pear-shaped 12.29ct diamond on colorless and pink diamond necklace by Nirav Modi, sold for $3.5 million (Christie's Images)

All but one of the ten most expensive pieces in today’s sale involved colored gems – rubies, sapphires, and a vivid yellow Tiffany diamond ring – and (as with last December’s sale) all but two of those sold to Asian private collectors. Jadeite, long the staple of the Hong Kong sales, did well but failed to make the top ten.

Hong Kong continues to become a major player in international jewelry sales. All told, today’s sale brought in $78.9 million, highest total ever for a jewelry auction in Asia and the largest for Christie’s worldwide.

Related posts:

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Jeanne Toussaint in 1920

Jeanne Toussaint (1887 – 1978) dramatically impacted jewelry design during her decades as director of Cartier’s luxury jewelry department, which she took over in 1933.

Under her guidance in the late 1930s, Cartier began to move away from abstract Deco designs and into figurative work such as a series of black lacquer lady bugs and American Indian-head brooches.

She is also responsible for Cartier’s whimsical birds. Most famous is the caged bird that Cartier introduced in 1940, a symbol of resistance against the Nazi occupation, and the version that appeared in Cartier’s windows days after Paris was liberated: the bird poised for flight, cage door open.

Diamond, onyx and emerald panther bracelet by Cartier, sold for $458,500 (est. $80-120k) at Christie's NY 10/20/10 (Christie's Images)

“She felt that jewelry needed to be based on joy,” says jewelry dealer Dianne Lewis-Batista. “What better subject than birds?”

Exotic parrots and flamingos were Toussaint’s forte, as were panthers—an image Cartier is known for to this day. Legend has it that Toussaint spotted a panther while in Africa with Louis Cariter and exclaimed: “Onyx, diamonds, emeralds – a brooch!”

Nicknamed “the panther,” Toussaint obviously identified with this sleek predator. Her apartment was filled with their skins and she wore panther coats.

The panther brooch struck a chord with other strong-willed females of the day. Among its wearers: Barbara Hutton, the Duchess of Agha Khan and the Duchess of Windsor.

This beautifully articulated diamond-and-onyx panther bracelet (right) was made in 1952 for the Duchess of Windsor, the American divorcée who inspired the king of England to give up the thrown and spend his life showering her with jewels. This famous panther will be sold at Sotheby’s London next month, possibly for as much as $2 million – about 20 times the estimate for the panther bangle (above) offered today at Christie’s New York. (UPDATE 11/30: The panther brooch once owned by the Duchess sold for $7 million, while the bangle went for $458,500 – both about four times the estimates.)

Toussaint also traveled to India and helped launch the fashion for Mogul-style jewels with Indian coral and cabochon emeralds.

“Cartier would not have gone in the same direction without this very strong woman behind the scenes,” Batista says.

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