Kristjan Eyjolfsson Brooch Visits the Chelsea Flower Show Once Again

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the Annual Chelsea Flower Show 2017

The brooch was inspired by the Iris Unguicularis, is made from 100% recycled British white gold and features over 100 ethically sourced gemstones, including a single conflict-free yellow diamond at its center.

Queen Elizabeth II stepped out to take in the Chelsea flower show wearing an iris inspired brooch by Icelandic jeweler Kristjan Eyjolfsson that she first debuted during her 2013 private visit to the flower show. 

In 2013, for the show’s Centenary, Kristján designed and hand-crafted limited edition pins available to Chelsea Charity Gala Preview guests. The pins were inspired by the Calanthe x veitchii orchid flower, which was produced in the nursery belonging to Sir Harry Veitch, the nurseryman who first brought the Royal Horticultural Society Flower Show to Chelsea. All profits of their sale went to support the charitable work of the RHS.

The brooch worn by her majesty was inspired by the Iris Unguicularis. It was commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society and presented to Her Majesty on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. The brooch is made from 100% recycled British white gold and features over 100 ethically-sourced gemstones, including a single conflict-free yellow diamond at it's center.

Eyjolfsson said of the brooch: "I am honoured to see Her Majesty wearing this brooch, which represents not only the RHS' gratitude for her patronage but also increased visibility of ethics and sustainability in fine jewellery. The brooch is not as glittery as some of her other pieces as it was designed to be a private piece to be enjoyed by a very famous monarch."

Visit the Royal Horticultural Society to read more about the flower show. 

Oscar Heyman: The Jewelers' Jeweler

There is a new book about Oscar Heyman coming out that I am super excited to get my hands on. It hits shelves on April 25th, but you can order yours now on Amazon!

For the past 95 years, Oscar Heyman & Bros. has sat ... at the helm of jewelry royalty. ―Antiques & Fine Art Magazine (2007)
Since its founding in 1912, Oscar Heyman & Brothers has created fabulous jewels for some of the world’s elite houses, causing it to be known in the trade as “the jewelers’ jeweler.” The Heyman Brothers arrived in New York from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s, bringing with them their training in their uncle’s workshop. The company quickly established a name for itself in the industry, working with top houses such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Tiffany & Co., producing superbly constructed, beautifully designed pieces with the finest materials. The firm is still family run, and now retails merchandise under its own name, specializing in working with unique and colorful gemstones, cut and polished in their own workshop.
This lavishly illustrated history reveals “the jewelers’ jeweler” to the wider public, following the firm’s growth from its origin as a Russian immigrant family enterprise in New York City to its establishment as an important ally of major retailers throughout the global jewelry trade. Enhanced with dazzling photographs of new and vintage pieces, as well as brilliant, full-color design drawings from the firm’s archives that are works of art in their own right, Oscar Heyman: The Jewelers’ Jeweler reveals Oscar Heyman’s important role in the story of modern American jewelry.

Jewels Shine at the Royal Opera House in London

A scene from Emeralds. (Photo Credit: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian)

Steven McRae and Melissa Hamilton in Rubies. (Photo Credit: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian)

This year marks the 50th anniversary of  George Balanchine’s ballet, Jewels. Created in 1967, the ballet does not have any characters or plot, yet it’s one of the most enduring and popular pieces in many ballet company repertoires. 

Jewels uses three gem stones as starting points to explore an array of musical and dance styles, each intimately connected to Balanchine’s own life and career. 
 

"George Balanchine’s glittering ballet Jewels was inspired by the beauty of the gem stones he saw in the New York store of jewellers Van Cleef & Arpels. He went on to make history with this, the first abstract three-act ballet, first performed in 1967 by New York City Ballet. Jewels was performed in full by The Royal Ballet for the first time in 2007, using costume designs from the original NYCB production and new set designs by Jean-Marc Puissant.

Marianela Nuñez and Thiago Soares in ‘Diamonds’ (Photo Credit Bill Cooper)

Each of the three movements draws on a different stone for its inspiration and a different composer for its sound. The French Romantic music of Fauré provides the impetus for the lyricism of ‘Emeralds’. The fire of ‘Rubies’ comes from Stravinsky and the jazz-age energy of New York. Grandeur and elegance complete the ballet in ‘Diamonds’, with the splendour of Imperial Russia and Tchaikovsky’s opulent Third Symphony. Each section salutes a different era in classical ballet’s history as well as a distinct period in Balanchine’s own life. Through it all, Balanchine displays his genius for combining music with visionary choreography."

Jewels runs 6–21 April 2017 with a live cinema showing on the 11th. For ticket information please visit the Royal Opera House website. 

Find out more at http://www.roh.org.uk

To search for a cinema showing Jewels near you please visit the Royal Opera House website. 

Web of Light

It is the perfect time of year for Paul Morelli to have release his gorgeous "Web of Light" jewelry. Like the webs created by the industrious spider Morelli's designs are intricate and delicate, with less creep factor and more wow factor. 

View fullsize

"When spider webs unite, each is an intricate strand in the web of life."

WEB CLIP EARRING WITH DROP

18k blackened gold with white diamonds (2.12 carats), black diamonds (.72 carats), ruby (.06 carats), and blue flash moonstone (1.60 carats). Detachable earring, 64mm in length. Secured with a post/clip

WEB STUD EARRING

18k blackened gold with white diamonds (.29 carats) and blue flash moonstone (.72 carats). 14mm secured with a post/clutch.

WEB NECKLACE

18k blackened gold with white diamonds and blue flash moonstones.

WEB DROP EARRING

18k blackened gold with white diamonds (.89 carats), black diamonds (.72 carats), ruby (.06 carats) and blue flash moonstone (1.92 carats). Secured with a post/clutch.

For more on Paul Morelli see my July Newsletter

Happy Birthday Tiffany & Co.

On this day in 1837, Tiffany and Co. was founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany. In honor of this American jewelry icon I thought we would celebrate with a few beautiful pieces that are part of the MET museum's (Metropolitan Museum of Art) collection in New York. 

View fullsize

Tiffany & Co. (1837–present) ca. 1890. Made in New York, New York, United States. Gold, diamond, and enamel. Photo courtesy of the MET Museum.

"Related to the extraordinary enameled orchids displayed by Tiffany & Company at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, this flower pin with a textured gold stem and diamond-set leaves is enhanced by a single diamond dewdrop set amid the realistically rendered purple enamel petals. The gentle arc of its stem and the naturalistic blossom reflect the Art Nouveau style, which inspired jewelers toward the end of the century. The enameled orchids were designed by Paulding Farnham (1859–1927) and were exhibited at Tiffany's New York showroom prior to their departure for Paris. The New York Sun reported on March 17, 1889, that the jewels attracted more attention "than any flower show, display of orchids, or any other of nature's beauty ever brought together in this city."

---

View fullsize

Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, New York 1848–1933 New York). ca. 1904. Gold, silver, platinum, black opals, boulder opals, demantoid garnets, rubies, enamel. Photo courtesy of the MET Museum.

"After Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Company, died in 1902, his son Louis Tiffany was able to pursue artistic jewelry without reticence. He began working on this pursuit in 1902 to prepare himself for the St. Louis fair of 1904, where he exhibited twenty-seven pieces of jewelry. Tiffany Furnaces initially produced the jewelry, but after 1907 Tiffany & Company acquired Louis's artistic jewelry department. This hair ornament is one of the most extraordinary pieces of Tiffany's surviving jewelry, incorporating a remarkably realistic rendering of two dragonflies resting on two dandelion seedballs. Tiffany designed the hair ornament for Louisine W. Havemeyer, who, with her husband Henry Osborne Havemeyer were among Tiffany's most enlightened and devoted patrons. The hair ornament was known only from archival photographs in the collection of the Tiffany & Company Archives until Louisine's great-granddaughter brought it to the Museum's attention. The piece epitomizes his earliest jewelry designs, which were based directly on modest forms in nature, such as field flowers and wild fruit, as well as his affinity for enameling and semiprecious stones with unusual colors. The dragonflies rest on dandelion seedballs, one of which is shown partially blown away, underscoring the fragility of nature. Highly skilled artisans conveyed the transparency of the insects' wings through delicate metalwork filigree. The temporal quality is revealed in the subject: dragonflies rest in one place for mere seconds before flitting away; dandelions disperse into thousands of airborne seeds with the gentlest of breezes."

---

View fullsize

Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, New York 1848–1933 New York)
Date: ca. 1904. Opals, gold, enamel. Photo Courtesy of the MET Museum.

"This necklace, composed of grape clusters and leaves, is one of the earliest known examples of jewelry designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Tiny black opals represent the clusters of fruit, and finely executed enameling in shades of green on gold forms the delicate leaves. Opals appealed to Tiffany for their fiery glow, reminiscent of his vases in Favrile glass. The asymmetry of the design and its organic shapes are entirely in keeping with his passion for natural forms. This necklace was among the twenty-seven pieces that Tiffany made for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis in 1904. It has been altered twice since its original conception, first by the addition of grape clusters on either side of the central pendant and later by the addition of a double bar-link chain. These changes were probably overseen by Tiffany himself, who is believed to have presented the necklace to his nurse and later companion, Sarah E. Hanley."

The MET Museum

Happy Birthday Lucy

View fullsize

Incomparable comedian and actress Lucille Désirée Ball was born on this day in 1911. I think she is a wonderful example of when sentiment can make a piece of jewelry priceless. 
When Lucy married Desi they eloped to Greenwich, Connecticut.
Lucy wore a black wool suit and her wedding ring was a brass ring that was purchased from Woolworth’s because all the other stores were closed at the time. The brass ring was later replaced by a large cushion-cut diamond in a platinum setting (pictured). 
Lucy has this to say about that simple brass ring. 
“Desi later gave me a platinum ring, that little discolored brass ring rested among the diamonds and emeralds in my jewel case for years … After the short ceremony, we ate our wedding breakfast in front of a bright fire in the club’s lounge. Outside, a fresh mantle of snow hung on the pine trees. After all the indecision we’d been through, Desi and I were dazed with happiness.” [Source: Lucille Ball. Love, Lucy. 1996. pg. 110]

Bastille Day

View fullsize

A piece of post revolution French history since it is Bastille Day.
The pear-shaped diamond and blue sapphire “toi et moi” engagement ring that Napoleon Bonaparte presented to his first wife, Josephine, whom he married in 1796. The piece sold at an auction in France in 2013 for nearly a million dollars. 
Napoleon and Josephine divorced after 14 years due to Josephine’s inability to produce an heir, however Josephine saved the ring, and it was passed on to future generations.

Announcement: Youtube

Hi everyone! 
I some exciting news. I have started a YouTube channel. I already have a video review of a really exciting photo product up and ready for you to check out!

You can also read more about the triple d photo kit by clicking here

Embracing The Blues

December lays claim to three beautiful birthstones; Zircon, Tanzanite and Turquoise. Each of these gemstones are available in various unique blue tones. So embracing the December blues might not be such a bad thing when it comes to gemstones!

Sensational Zircon

View fullsize

Zircon Diamond Gold Dangle Earrings, OFFERED BY SIXTH AVENUE FINE JEWELERS

View fullsize

Retro 8 Carat Intense Blue Zircon Platinum Ring, Offered By Rive Gauche Jewelry

View fullsize

Matched Blue Zircon Gold Princess Dangle Earrings, OFFERED BY SZOR COLLECTIONS

Tantalizing Tanzanite

View fullsize

Dangling Tanzanite Tear Drop Diamond Gold Earrings, OFFERED BY TAKAT

View fullsize

Beaudry Diamond Tanzanite Platinum Enagement Ring, OFFERED BY DOVER JEWELRY

View fullsize

Barbara Heinrich Tanzanite Gold Necklace, OFFERED BY SZOR COLLECTIONS

Terrific Turquoise

View fullsize

Late Victorian Era Turquoise Old Diamond Halo Ring, OFFERED BY ERAGEM

View fullsize

Turquoise Diamond gold Ear Clips, OFFERED BY JACOB'S DIAMOND & ESTATE JEWELRY

View fullsize

French Turquoise Diamond Gold Locket, OFFERED BY BELL AND BIRD

Go Bold this Holiday Season

It is the season to shine and sparkle and holiday gatherings and parties. Take inspiration from these bold jewelry featuring eye catching vibrant stones and be the life of the party.

View fullsize

Diamond Sunburst and Tanzanite Earrings Offered by Jeri Cohen Fine Jewelry

View fullsize

JAR Spinel and Diamond Earclips Offered by YAFA Signed Jewels / Vintage Signed Jewelry

View fullsize

Retro Diamond, Ruby and Platinum Earrings Offered by Macklowe Gallery

View fullsize

A Breathtaking Mint Green Tourmaline And Pink Tourmaline Twin Ring OFFERED BY TAMIR

View fullsize

NeverEnding Sapphire Gold Bracelet Offered by Jade Jagger

View fullsize

Jona Tsavorite Diamond Gold Butterfly Pin Brooch offered by Jona

Some of My Favorite Things

Gemstone and jewelry themed items (and a few other misc. things) that I currently love! Click on the pictures if you want to take a closer look or buy any of the items!
I'm going to try to make one of these posts every couple weeks (especially for the books) so keep an eye out!

Books

Home, Beauty, & Misc. 

Leave them wanting more

Buccellati Gold Maple Leaf Clip-On Earrings
From Luxury Bazaar has been sold

Every autumn the leaves put on a fashion show of their own, why not join them?

Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co. Diamond Gold Maple Leaf Brooch
OFFERED BY JACOB'S DIAMOND & ESTATE JEWELRY

Tiffany & Co. Gold Leaf Brooch
OFFERED BY CHAS SCHWARTZ & SON

Tiffany & Co. old Aspen Leaf Pin
OFFERED BY BETTERIDGE

David Webb

David Webb Laurel Leaf Necklace Diamonds, platinum, and textured gold

David Webb Gold, Platinum and Diamond Necklace
Sold by Doyle New York

David Webb 18k Gold Double Leaf Drop Earclips
Available from Betteridge

JAR

JAR Fig Leaf Earrings
from David Precious Gems has been sold.

A PAIR OF MOSS AGATE AND GOLD EAR PENDANTS, BY JAR Sold by Christies

PAIR OF GILT METAL 'GERANIUM ' EARCLIPS, JAR, PARIS

Seaman Schepps

Seaman Schepps Citrine & Diamond Vine Leaf Bracelet
Sold by Betterridge

Rosewood with Citrine and Pearl Leaf Brooches and Earrings
By Seaman Schepps

SEAMAN SCHEPPS Citrine & Pearl Cluster Earrings with Diamond  
Sold by Betteridge

Buccellati

Bucellati, with their Roman roots, in my opinion, are the masters of leaf jewelry. Realistic, yet fashionable they have wonderful choices for brightening up any fall day. 

Buccellati Acorn and Leaf Bracelet
OFFERED BY ALICE KWARTLER ANTIQUES

Buccellati Gold Maple Leaf Clip-On Earrings
From Luxury Bazaar has been sold.

Buccellati Mexican Opal Gold Leaf Brooch
OFFERED BY LANG ANTIQUES

Buccellati Gold Cuff Bracelet
OFFERED BY ALICE KWARTLER ANTIQUES

The Ancient World: wreaths of gold

irca 2nd century BCE - 2nd century CE, Central Asia Courtesy of The Curators Eye

Golden oak wreath  from the Dardanelles  Fourth century BC

Wreaths worn as a crown are among the more recognizable symbols of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Awarded for various accomplishments, or simply as symbols of status and rank, wreaths might be made from the leaves of such plants as olive, ivy, oak, myrtle or laurel.

Meda’s wreath from the tomb of Philip II Gold, some 80 leaves and 112 flowers surviving, c. 310 BC

Wreaths of mixed foliage, particularly fashioned in precious metal, are also believed to have been made as funerary objects or as offerings at temples. (An example can be found in the museum at the Roman baths in Bath, England)

The conquests of Alexander the Great, and the later expansion of the Roman Empire resulted in the appearance of such items far beyond the boundaries of modern Greece and Italy. The Asian wreath depicted above is was reportedly recovered in modern day China, yet it bears a remarkable similarity to those of ancient Rome and Greece. This may be due to the fact that China is a region which saw tremendous cross-cultural contact exchange due to the trade routes of the famed Silk Road.

The Diamond Plant

The "Diamond Plant"

The secrets that the earth holds are slowly being revealed to us day by day. One of the more recent discoveries is a rare African plant that can indicate the presence of diamonds beneath the soil. Pandanus candelabrum seems to only grow on kimberlite pipes. This has geologists and mining companies interested because the presence of kimberlite can indicate the presence of diamonds. 

Columns of volcanic rock hundreds of meters across that extend deep into earth. The pipes are left by ancient eruptions that typically drag diamonds and other gemstones up from the mantle. (simplified image courtesy of Kansas State Geological Survey)

The thorny, palmlike plant was recently discovered in Liberia by geologists. The plant, Pendanus candelabrum, has a “marked affinity for kimberlite pipes,” writes Stephen E. Haggerty, a research professor in geosciences at Florida International University, in the June–July edition of the journal Economic Geology. 

Traditionally a variety of indicator minerals are used to find kimberlite pipes. Those minerals then have to be tested by labs. But if the plant is as choosy as it seems to be, explorers could possibly track a plant from the air and diamond hunters in West Africa might have an indicator that can eventually lead to easier, less expensive diamond exploration. 

Using plants as indicators is not a unique or even modern tactic, as Haggerty’s paper notes, plants have been used since medieval times. For example, Lychnis alpina, a small pink-flowering plant in Scandinavia, and Haumaniastrum katangense, a white-flowered shrub in central Africa, are both associated with copper. That’s because the plants are especially tolerant to copper that has eroded into soil.

One major caveat to the idea of the "diamond plant" is that Pendanus candelabrum is only found in tropical areas, and diamonds are not. Indeed a world-class mines have been discovered in bitter-cold regions in Siberia and Canada. However Haggerty can also see that the new discovery might pave the way toward finding new botanical indicators for kimberlites. “Because of the depths at which kimberlites originate, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that their chemistry has to be different from the surrounding rocks,” he says.

“So let us take a look at the vegetation, particularly in Arctic terrains. There is flowering in the spring and during the summer... Kimberlite has very high potassium, sodium, magnesium, and phosphorous. Because of those nutrients, plants growing in kimberlites will be on steroids, whereas those on sandstone will be stunted or barren. So enhanced growth of surrounding vegetation may be a characteristic.”
 

On a final note, while this discovery is influential it should also be said that just because one might find a kimberlite pipe, it does not mean there will be a diamond mine. Only 1 percent of kimberlite pipe discoveries result in economically viable diamond mines.

Kathleen Marino M.A, G.G., AJP, NAJA

Sparkling Times at Crater Of Diamonds

It's safe to say that at lease a couple visitors to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas are having a pretty good year so far. The park has been making headlines as visitors continue to "strike it rich" in the world’s only diamond-producing site that is open to the public. The park also has a unique finder's keeper's policy allowing the visitor to keep anything and everything they find. 

The latest find to be announced was made by Susie Clark. She and her and her husband had spent days hunting diamonds at Crater of Diamonds, and on the last day she found a 3.69ct diamond. She has named the teardrop-shaped rock “the Hallelujah Diamond”.
As to the potential value of Clark’s diamond, Bill Henderson, the park’s assistant superintendent, said the woman would need to take the stone for independent appraisal.
While Clark’s find is the largest of this year, other park-goers have found 121 other diamonds. In fact over the years the park has produced some very impressive stones. 

Lamporite Image courtesy of The Western Australian Museum

The Geology
The Crater of Diamonds is situated over a 95-million-year-old eroded lamproite volcanic pipe. At the tremendous pressures and temperatures some 60 to 100 miles below the earth’s surface, diamond crystallized from carbon, and under those conditions it remained stable. The deeply sourced lamproite magma, from the upper mantle, eventually brought the diamonds to the surface. 
The lamproite diamond source is unusual, as almost all diamonds are mined from kimberlite and from alluvial deposits of diamonds weathered from kimberlite. The most prominent lamproite diamond source is the Argyle diamond mine in Australia.

Photo by Doug Wertman from Rogers, AR, USA

The History
Diamonds have continuously been discovered at the park site since 1906 when John Wesley Huddleston bought the farm for homestead. 
Huddleston later sold his diamond-bearing land for $36,000. After 1906, several attempts at commercial diamond mining failed. The only significant yields came from the original surface layer, where erosion over a long period of time had concentrated diamonds. 
In the early period, 1907–1932, yields from the surface material often exceeded thirty carats per hundred loads. The highest yields coming from the undisturbed subsurface material.  The equipment used during this early period mainly consisted of screens that had mesh larger than 1/16 inch. This meant that thousands of small diamonds were passing through the screens every day, flooding into the surrounding field and through the natural drains. It is mind boggling to think of all the diamonds that ran right past those early miners.

A supplement to the Nashville News of nearby Nashville, Arkansas, advertising diamonds mining in the early 1900s

After the first diamonds were found Murfreesboro experienced a "diamond rush".  Anecdotes and legends tell of hotels in Murfreesboro turned away 10,000 people in the space of a year. Supposedly, miners formed a tent city named "Kimberly" in honor of the famous Kimberley diamond district in South Africa. However, historical evidence indicates that the Town of Kimberly was actually a development venture in 1909, initiated by Mallard M. Mauney and his oldest son, Walter, on their land immediately south of Murfreesboro. The project failed as the speculative boom generated by the diamond discovery collapsed. Today, the Kimberly area is almost all cow pasture, owned by Mauney's descendants.

During the Second World War, the U.S. government took over the mine. Although diamonds were obtained, it was not successful as a venture due to the large costs involved with U.S. labor. After the war, the property was returned to the previous owners.
From 1951 to 1972, the crater was operated as a private tourist attraction by several companies. The first, The Diamond Preserve of the United States, lasted only about one year. In late 1951, Howard A. Millar took over the property and in April 1952, Millar and his wife, Modean, launched their Crater of Diamonds attraction. In March 1956, a visitor found the Star of Arkansas on the cleared surface. The spectacular find weighed 15.33 carats.
Later, a rival tourist attraction called the Arkansas Diamond Mine, was opened by Roscoe Johnston on the main part of the diamond field hoping to capitalize on the excitement. 

Site marker for the Star of Arkansas find

The rivalry between the two tourist operations left both in a weakened state and in 1970, the entire area was consolidated by a private partnership, which then reassigned the property to General Earth Minerals (GEM) of Dallas, Texas. GEM expected to turn the property over for a profit, but ended up heavily indebted. The property was taken over by GF Industries (GFI) in July 1971.  GFI continued the attraction until it sold the 80-acre formation and 800 surrounding acres to the State of Arkansas in March 1972 for $750,000. The tourist operation continues to be the major draw for the of Crater of Diamonds State Park.

Notable Diamonds
Below is a list of some of the notable diamonds that have been discovered at the Crater of Diamonds Park.

View fullsize

This list of notable diamonds from the Crater of Diamonds includes several diamonds weighing six carats or more, and the much publicized 3.03-carat Strawn-Wagner Diamond. (photo from Crater of Diamonds State Park)

The park has  also previously stated the value of some stones found including: the canary yellow stone that 14-year-old Tana Clymer found in 2013. That diamond was sold for $20,000. 
One of the most famous stones uncovered at the park was a 3.09 ct stone found at the park in 1990. It was eventually cut into a 1.09-carat brilliant shape and graded Ideal cut/ D color/ Flawless by AGS. That stone, named Strawn-Wagner Diamond, was mounted in a gold and platinum ring and sold to the state of Arkansas. A continually updated list of the most recent recorded finds may be found here.

If you are interested in visiting the Crater of Diamonds State Park here are some things to know:
Fees to search for Diamonds
Adults:   $8
Children (ages 6-12):    $5
Children under 6 years old:    FREE
 Admission is good for the entire day. You may come and go throughout the day on the same admission fee.
Tools
Tools are not necessary for diamond seeking, and a good way to search is to walk up and down the rows looking for diamonds lying on top of the ground. However, most diamond hunters like to dig in the soil. Therefore, you have the options of bringing your own tools from home, or you may purchase or rent tools here at the park. You may use anything that is not battery or motor operated for transporting equipment in and out of the search area. For a list of rentable equipment and prices click here. (I also found water filled spray bottles handy!)
It's Finder's Keeper's!
f you find a diamond or any other stone it is yours to take home!  In addition to diamonds, you might find one of the many colorful gemstones that occur naturally there. These include: amethyst, agate, jasper, garnet, peridot, hematite and many others. 

I myself tried my hand at finding diamonds at the park around 2005. Traveling south with my mother and sister our excitement over the prospect of finding even the smallest of diamonds overshadowed the fact that we would be camping and we hadn't checked the weather. We arrived in late in the evening after getting lost. We couldn't see anything of the park and set up our tent in the dark, so it goes without saying that we had no idea what to expect the next day. 
Summer in Arkansas is muggy to say the least. Add to that light rain and you have a "diamond field" of mud. Actually mud feels far too light a word, it was like walking in wet cement.
According to the park, rainfall combined with park staffers’ plowing the 37.5-acre search field can erode the surface of a diamond-bearing deposit, helping to bring more of the stones to the surface and increasing visitors’ chances of finding them. 
Unfortunately for us that was not the case and all I was left with was a burning desire for a hot shower after that long day seated in mud; luckily Hot Springs and a real shower were not all that far away! So if you are headed down that way definitely check it out. Bring good shoes, whatever you want for digging, and a lot of optimism!

Menswear Jewelry

Cartier Art Deco Ruby Diamond Stick Pin available from Steven Fox Jewelry

Signet I purchased for my Signifigant Other from Digby and Iona

I have to say, I’ve been waiting for the trend of men's “brooches”/”pins” to come to the US! I love the look, just like I love pinky signets that seem to be everywhere these days!

The stylish and often vintage pieces that we saw (and I adored) added individuality and interest to otherwise seemingly identical tuxedos. It is a wonderful alternative to a boutonniere or even a pocket square.  
As my Significant Other calls them "metal flowers", have been a worn in Europe for some time now and it's nice to see the sparkle has finally crossed the pond. 

Signet rings have been around since ancient Mesopotamia. They were also used as seal rings to seal letters with the mark of the sender (in wax as a mark of authentication).
In modern times they have traditionally been worn on the left hand (and sometimes accompanied by a small wedding band). They are usually engraved with a family crest or initials. Today the are rarely used for sealing documents, but they have continued to be viewed as the “mark of the gentleman.”

Kathleen Marino M.A, G.G., AJP, NAJA