For centuries the great royal houses have adorned themselves with some of the finest and most vibrant jewellery ever created. From Cleopatra’s obsession with emeralds, which lead her to punish any theft from her three personal emerald mines with a…
As the queen celebrates the sapphire jubilee of her coronation in 1953, the Crown Jewels are receiving more public interest than at any time in their history. Numbering 140 items in all, they are displayed in the aptly named ‘Jewel…
The importance of the Middle East as a jewellery and gem market dates back to antiquity and it is clearly still in evidence today in places such as the Gold Souk in Deira, Dubai. Since the twentieth century oil boom…
Founded in 1837 In Brooklyn, Connecticut as a “stationery and fancy goods emporium” by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young, “Tiffany, Young & Ellis” were one of the earliest luxury brands to establish themselves in the then nascent United…
Joel Arthur Rosenthal was born in the Bronx, New York City in 1943 as the only child of a postman and a school biology teacher. He is famous for his founding of the French fine jewellery house JAR in Paris…
Over the years there have been some extraordinary auctions of fine jewellery collections. The world’s largest auction houses, Christies’s, Sotherby’s and Bonham’s, date back to the eighteenth century and they originally came to prominence for their sales of rare books…
Laurence Graff has earned the nickname the ‘King of Diamonds’ or the new Harry Winston as a self made billionaire and one of the most successful jewellers and gem dealers of our age. Graff, a Londoner since birth, has bought…
The Koh-i-Noor is one of the world’s most famous and controversial precious stones. Dating back to the Mughal princes of pre-colonial era India, it has found its way into the possession of Persian warriors, Afghan warlords, Punjabi Maharajas and British…
Consumer appetite for jewellery is at an all time high and it is forecast to increase year on year by a compound of 5-6%, according to Forbes. However beneath those impressive growth figures a number of seismic shifts are occurring,…
Elizabeth Taylor (27 February 1932 – 23 March 2011) was one of the most iconic figures of her generation. Over the course of her life she built an unparalleled collection of jewellery which was sold at auction for $137 million…
