Category Archives: Industry News

John and Laura Ramsey write: The Pink Star Diamond

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Late last year the world’s largest diamond rated by the GIA as Fancy Vivid Pink was up for auction at Sotheby’s. The piece fetched a record price in excess of $83 million but when it was all over the sale did not go through. The finished gem weighs 59.60 carats and is a little over 1″ long by about 0.80 wide. It is a beautiful oval and the color is amazing. With all the auctions going on all over the world bringing record amounts it seems that great gems are suddenly popping up to be available for the auctions.

Prior to the auction the Pink Star was shown at an exhibit at the Smithsonian named “The Splendor of Diamonds.” Along with the pink gem were some other fabulous diamonds: The Moussaieff Red Diamond, the DeBeers Millennium Star and the Heart of Eternity Diamond. What a wonderful showing of diamonds.

John and Laura Ramsey report: Fabulous New Blue Diamond Found

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Just last week it was reported by Petra Diamonds Ltd. that they have found what they’re calling an “exceptional” rough blue diamond whose uncut weight exceeds 122 carats. Wow!

As we reported recently, a cut and polished blue diamond just recently sold for a record sum—it seems that this new stone will break that record.

Even while it is still in rough speculation, it’s likely that the cut stone out of this piece will fetch in the neighborhood of $100,000,000. That’s one hundred million dollars.

Petra has apparently examined the piece and has declared that it is of exceptional clarity. The color is a nice but not as deep a blue as the Hope diamond.

As a gem cutter I have looked at the photos of the rough piece and speculate that it might be cut into a pear shape. It would be nice to hold it in my own hands and look at it from every angle and then guess as to the cut into which it might be fashioned.

We’ll keep abreast of this story and let everybody know the outcome—the cut and the final price.
Diamond

John and Laura Ramsey report Gem News—

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Exciting news this year in a world seeming somewhat depleted of fine colored gems: two great finds…

First, there has been found what may be a 50 ton boulder of Jadeite in Hpakant, Burma.  Depending upon what could be the final weight of the boulder and the quality of the jadeite therein a possible several billion dollar rock.  Yes, that’s billion with a “b.”

Also reported to be found is a new pocket of rubellite tourmaline in Brazil.  The mine—the famous Cruzeiro mine.  All the rough has already been sold.  The find was in the 10’s of millions of dollars.  Already sent off to the ends of the world.

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The World’s Most Expensive Tourmaline: by John and Laura Ramsey

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Back in 1987 when we were all getting excited about the Nova Era alexandrite find in Brazil, there was a new find of tourmaline in Paraíba, Brazil.

Paraíba is in what Brazilians call the Nordeste (Northeast).  Looking at a map of South America Paraíba is a small Brazilian state that sticks out about as far East as any part of the continent.   The Nordeste is a generally dry area (they grow cotton in the Nordeste [does this remind anyone of Arizona and cotton]).  Apparently the Nordeste is in the rain shadow of South America.  If you also look at the shape of South America and Africa you can see that Paraíba fits nicely into the area of Africa now known as Nigeria.

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SUNKEN TREASURE

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All the recent media hype over the possible discovery of Columbus’ sunken Santa Maria has renewed worldwide interest in sunken treasure.

According to several archeologists, the remains found off the north coast of Haiti is “amazingly significant.” Watch a video of the find here >

Aside from the Santa Maria, among the most sought after wrecks is that of the San Jose. A Spanish Galleon, the The San Jose was reported to have been sunk off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia by a British warship in 1708. Aboard the San Jose was a fortune in precious metals and emeralds. Most impressive here at Gems At Large is the vast fortune in emeralds. Some estimate the total fortune of gems, silver and gold at over $10 billion USD.  Now that is a fortune!

All our best—  John and Laura Ramsey

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© Ramseygems.com, Inc., 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from John and Laura Ramsey is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to johnandlauraramsey.com with appropriate and specific links back to this original content.

A Tribute to Evelyn H. Lauder

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Evelyn_LauderI wanted to write a blog post about a dear lady I was lucky enough to come to know: Evelyn Lauder, the visionary Founder and Chairman of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (established in 1993).

John and I have been proud to donate some of our gemstones in jewelry over the years to help raise money for Breast Cancer Research. That is how I met Evelyn Lauder—daughter-in-law of the cosmetics giant Estee Lauder—in my hometown of New York City. We quickly discovered we had many things in common, including a love of photography, and both of us had written several books—Evelyn’s “An Eye for Beauty” was my favorite.

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Find Everything You Want to Know about Gems and Jewelry from John and Laura Ramsey

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If you’ve been searching for a place to find facts about gems and jewelry, look no further than the expertise of John and Laura Ramsey. Their many years of experience in the gem and jewelry business enable them to provide honest, reliable, easy-to-understand and interesting facts about gemstones and jewelry.

Their sole mission? Education. If you visit their main Ramseygems.com website, you’ll notice it is not a sales website—because their goal is not to conduct transactions.  Their passion is to educate as many individuals and gem collectors as possible about identifying quality gems and jewelry.

Beau Sancy Diamond Sells for a Record Ten Million

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With no less than 5 bidders competing for the gem the tense battle lasted no longer than 8 minutes before the gavel sounded. David Bennett, Chairman of the Jewelry Department at Sotheby’s in Europe (who was privileged to handle the sale) said, “ The Beau Sancy is one of the most fascinating and romantic gems ever to appear at auction…”

Beau SancyOften known as the ‘little’ Sancy, the Beau Sancy diamond was the smaller of the two diamonds bearing the name. This smaller version weighs in at a “mere” 34.98 carats. It is a modified pear double rose cut diamond which has been witness to 400 years of European history. It has been passed down to Royal families of England, France, Prussia and the House of Orange. Acquired by Nicolas de Harlai, Lord of Sancy, in the late 1500’s , the Sancy is said to be from the mines of south central India near Golconda. This famous mine has produced the Hope Diamond, the Koh-I-Noor and the Regent.

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Romanov Illustrated Volumes of Jewelry to be Auctioned

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Romanov Illustrated Volumes Jewelry

Two volumes of illustrated jewelry albums will soon be up for bid at the London auction house of Bonham. The albums belonging to Ksenia Aleksandrovna, the Grand Duchess of Russia, catalogue the jewelry items she received from 1880-1912.

The catalogue served to record the exceptionally expensive belongings of the daughter of Tsar Aleksander III and sister to Nicholas II. The albums also serve as a diary and report of who presented her with gifts and when they were presented. The catalogues contain color illustrations and information on the occasion the gift was presented.

For 32 years the albums recorded the development and evolution of style in jewelry design. Including antique pieces and eventually Art Nouveau and Art Deco the albums follow 32 years of life for Ksenia; from a young girl through the births of her seven children. Many holidays and life events were marked with custom designed jewelry pieces to honor the events. Fabulous items such as an exquisite emerald, ruby and sapphire sets along with a diamond necklace, tiara and the pear collier-de-chien were gifts from Grand Duchess’s parents.

These albums recording the provenance of the jeweled gifts will be auctioned at the Bonham House in London on November 30, 2011.

John And Laura Ramsey Offer High Quality Gemstone Jewelry

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John and Laura Ramsey are among the most acknowledged names in the field of gems and jewelry. Owing to their experience of forty years, they are able to offer their clients matchless pieces of jewelry. They firmly believe that a well informed customer is a happy customer and thus have always been passionate about educating clients about gems. While embarking on their jewelry making journey, they had developed a “business-through-education” philosophy and have been following it ever since. With the aim to reach out to gem enthusiasts around the world, they have even authored three books – The Collector/Investor Handbook of Gems, The Gem Collector’s Handbook, and Gem Chronicles: The Early Years. All the books have been enjoyed and appreciated by people worldwide.

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