Moussaieff Press Book

M O U S S A I E F F

M

MOUSSAIEFF

PRESS BOOK

2009

172 New Bond Street Boutique.

M O U S S A I E F F 10

MOUSSAIEFF

Copyright Š 2010 design MICHAEL BROSNAN PUBLISHED Michael Brosnan www.michaelbrosnan.com For this publication: Š The Jewellery Designs, the Author, Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd and the publication Michael Brosnan.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the copyright holders and the publishers.

ART DIRECTION Michael Brosnan DESIGN AND LAYOUT Michael Brosnan

CONTENTS FOREWORD Alisa Moussaieff - Heritage TAMARA ECCLESTONE - Brand Ambassador

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ARTICLES Financial Times In search of the magical combination A world of high drama and uncertainty Top names divided over time and tide The beauty of real, raw gems Lights, fantastic When you need to know local customs Ways for the connoisseur to keep a foothold in hard times The value of irresistible history and mystery

22 24 26 28 29 30 32 33

HOW TO SPEND IT florescent lights Rings of desire

35 36

FINE TIMES No longer set in stone Wizards of emerald city

40 44

ES MAGAZINE Hard currency

50

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE Taking a shine to brown rock Traditional sweet florals meet geometric angles

57 59

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ROB REPORT Russia - First Class USA - Alisa Moussaieff ring with Fancy Blue Diamond

64 73

PRESTIGE Brillance

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REUTERS Sotheby’s unveils rare blue diamond for auction Dubai crisis seen as hiccup for London luxury hub

83 84

THE ECONOMIST Colour me Dazzle

87

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Hunting for Diamonds in the Rough

91

The Washington Post A Call for the Exceptional

95

VANITY FAIR Buy, Buy, Sell, Sell

99

HELLO Alisa Moussaieff

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EDITORAL VOGUE Paris Japan Gioiello Russia India India - Article- Alisa Moussaieff

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123 132 140 143 165 169

BAZAAR British

172

TATLER British Rusian

177 187

ANOTHER MAGAZINE

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OTHER EDITORIAL JFW STYLE BRUMMELL PRESTIGE AD WALLPAPER STILETTO ES MAGAZINE

198 200 204 206 207 208 210 212

CELEBRITIES Noami Cambell Jerry Hall Daphne Guiness Tamara Ecclestone Tara Palmer-Tomkinson Tamara Beckwith

216 217 218 220 224 226

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Inside New Bond Street Boutique.

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F O R E WO R D

MOUSSAIEFF

Opal Buttery Brooch.

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ALISA MOUSSAIEFF

M

oussaieff is one of the world’s most exclusive and dynamic fine jewellers and leads the way forward into a new age of design, elegance and adornment.

For many decades Alisa Moussaieff has built her reputation as a source of exceptional gemstones. A closely guarded secret amongst the world’s elite jewellery buyers, collectors and connoisseurs, Moussaieff specializes in the rare and unique. Diamonds and coloured gemstones, individually designed and handmade ‘one off ’ jewels, are mounted with flair, imagination, care and attention to detail in their Paris based workshops.

Luxury and style combined.

In the 1850’s Moussaieff, the grandfather of the present owner was a passionate pearl merchant, in search of the most ravishing natural pearls from the Persian Gulf. He passed his knowledge to his son who moved to Paris and established himself as a leading dealer in natural Oriental pearls and gemstones, supplying the great Parisian master jewellers of the Belle Epoque in the 1920’s.

Some forty years ago the next generation of the Moussaieff family moved to London, where they built a prestigious international clientele and

a worldwide reputation for glamorous jewels from their Hilton Hotel showroom. As business boomed, the company expanded to the Grand Hotel Kempinski in Geneva in the 1980’s. In 2007 Moussaieff opened a store on the illustrious New Bond Street, London.

Alisa Moussaieff, respected for her expert eye, instinct, and passion for extraordinary gemstones, is the mastermind of the family business.

Single-minded in her belief in diamonds, not only their intrinsic value, but also their heritage, so they form the distinctive hallmark of her magnificent collection of Moussaieff jewels.

Moussaieff have participated in leading exhibitions for collectors and connoisseurs at the Manege Moscow, The Biennale de Monaco, and other important venues in the Middle East, Asia and the USA. Diamonds like the ‘Moussaieff Red’ and others, have been exhibited in the Natural History Museum London and at the Smithsonian Institute Washington DC.

H E R I T A G E 15

56.81 cts of Brilliant Pear shape Diamond Necklace.

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TAMARA ECCLESTONE

By Lottie Johansson

W

hen I was young, I loved watching my mother [former model Slavica Ecclestone] getting ready for dinner. She always looked really glamorous and amazing. I just wanted to wear jeans and dungarees, but mum tried to dress me in all these beautiful dresses and I can remember saying, “No, I’m not wearing that, get it off me!” So I was a real tomboy, but in my early teens something changed and I became obsessed with borrowing her clothes and wearing make-up.

Mum had all these great clothes and accessories from her modelling days in Milan, including vintage Louis Vuitton handbags, which thankfully she hoarded and never threw away. She was always honest with me and if I went through a phase of applying too much make-up she would always remind me that less is more. She is quite a bit taller than me and although we can share most clothes now, we can’t share shoes because her feet are bigger than mine, which is so annoying.

My first proper party dress was a red strapless gown designed by Neil Cunningham for the Crillon Ball in Paris.

He was a lovely person to work with and it was my first couture dress. I chose a London-based designer so I didn’t have

to fly to Paris for fittings and take time off school. I was only 15 and I remember wearing a tiara on the night. It was one of those real princess moments.

I started choosing my own clothes a bit later in my teens when there’s always that issue with fathers. Dad would often say, “you can’t wear that”, or, “you’re too young, it’s too revealing”. My dad really hates red lipstick, even on my mother, so I would often put make-up in my handbag and apply more when I arrived at a party. Today, I very rarely wear bright lipstick and I like nude lips and stronger eyes. I love MAC eye shadows because they do the greatest colours and I wear Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer as it’s so easy to apply.

As a teenager, I shopped a lot in my mum’s wardrobe and I also got an allowance. It wasn’t huge and, looking back, it was really good fun buying an outfit that was both inexpensive and fabulous. On Saturdays, my parents would often drop me at Topshop and I’d spend the day with my girlfriends shopping for a dress to wear to a party that evening. I guess fashion and shopping is something all young girls love and it’s a natural part of growing up.

I started making my own money on a

B R A N D

A M B A S S A D O R 17

‘My mother has been a huge style influence’ regular basis when I was 20 and worked for the Red Bull Air Race and Channel 4. I remember after signing the contract with Sky Sports that I saved for a whole year and bought myself a gold Rolex watch. It is probably the most extravagant thing that I own other than my house and car. I’m proud of the fact that I bought it myself and I wear it always – it’s like a milestone.

While my mother has been a huge style influence, I’ve also been inspired by glamorous women such as Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn. But, in general, I try not to model myself on others. I think if you feel comfortable and confident in what you are wearing, then that will really come across. It’s really important to learn what works for you and I now buy classic, timeless pieces from designers such as Stella McCartney, Chloé and smaller American labels, including Rebecca Taylor, Milly and Tibi. I don’t like wearing designer brands from head to toe, so I also shop at French Connection, Topshop and Zara.

I love playing around with accessories and currently I like Miu Miu for bags and shoes – I have to admit I have a bit of a weakness for shoes. A good belt also shows off your waist and I found an amazing black patent Fendi belt recently, which I wear all the time.

I don’t wear my hair up very often, but if I do then a pair of fabulous earrings can really make an outfit. I wear lots of little gold chain bracelets that people have given me over the years, which I never take off and are very me. I was so happy to be asked to be the brand ambassador for Moussaieff. I think the jewellery is

T H E 18

N A T I O N A L

A R T S

amazing and it’s great to be able to wear their designs. The coloured diamonds are my favorites, especially the pink and blue cocktail rings.

I’m not into vintage shopping. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t really have time to browse or rummage or if it’s because I’m just spoilt for choice with my mother’s wardrobe. My younger sister and I are total opposites in terms of style. She’s quite bohemian, but I love shopping with her as she is so honest and always picks things for me that I probably wouldn’t have selected myself.

I like to look after my things and I’m not one of those people who will come home and just drop everything on the floor. I have a walk-in wardrobe where everything has its place. I’m a bit of a neat freak. At a certain point I go through all my things and I’m really happy when my family or friends like something that I no longer want.

For my trip to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, I bought a really cute purple maxi dress with a halter neck from T-Bags. I also packed loads of lightweight throws and shawls to wear with dresses. The grand prix starts at 5pm so hopefully it won’t be too hot, but I love the heat so I won’t be complaining. I visited the Yas Marina track back in March and it was just so impressive. It’s literally like nothing I’ve seen before. It’s very exciting that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the last of the season. It will finish on a real high and promises to be a spectacular show.

Sunday, November 1, 2009 www.thenational.ae

&

L I F E

A RT I C L E S

MOUSSAIEFF

18 ct Yellow Gold, Golden Coloured South Sea Pearl with 29.38 cts of Diamonds Necklace with matching Earclips.

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FINANCIAL TIMES

MOUSSAIEFF

FINANCIAL TIMES FRIDAY March 27 2009

In search of the magical DESIGN VERSUS STONES

Nicola Copping on what the wise investor should go for on testing times

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hen Angelina Jolie appeared at this year’s Oscars it was not her dress, her hair or even her date that hit the headlines – it was her earrings.

They were 115 carat Colombian emerald ones, carved into giant teardrops by Lorraine Schwartz, the US jewellery designer, to be exact.

Ms Jolie had swapped the traditional gobstopper diamonds in favour of jewellery based not only on carat weight but also on arresting design. In doing so, she provided a definitive example of the recent shift in approach to fine jewellery.

For years the conventional wisdom was that large diamonds were the most prized jewellery possessions. Yet attitudes to conspicuous consumption have changed in tandem with the downturn in the global diamond business during the worldwide recession.

As a result, consumers’ decisions are more considered: a diamond the size of Manhattan now teeters on the edge of the distasteful, while investors want more for their money than simple stones devoid of design innovation. “flashy stones, and in particular branded ostentation, are no longer appropriate,” says Carolina Bucci, the London jeweller.

“A beautiful diamond is still a beautiful diamond but I am noticing that my clients are engaging more with their jewellery both in terms of design and provenance,” which explains Ms Bucci’s new bespoke service, launched to meet increased consumer interest.

Zoe Benyon of London jewellers Robinson Pelham believes the recession has strongly affected consumer attitude.

“We’re in a sort of wartime mentality: you can live a reasonable life and you

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Sign of the times: Angeliina Jolie (pictured here with Brad Pitt) swapped traditional d conspicuous consumption have changed

can be comfortable but you mustn’t rub people’s noses in it. People are stepping back from having a whopping white diamond; they don’t want people to say ‘cor, look at that’.”

So what is Ms Benyon’s investment advice? “We’ve noticed a move into brown diamonds. They’re much more subtle, better value for money and they have their own market, so what you pay for them is much more likely to be maintained.”

One benefit of the economic crisis is the pressure put on designers, says jeweller Pippa Small: “We are living in a time which challenges designers to think

more carefully, to create something that is above the average, causing the client to think harder before they purchase.”

The boutique jewellers are not the only ones advocating an equal balance between carat weight and quality design.

Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele, Chopard’s co-president, says: “In times of crisis, it is always safe to invest in stones as they will never depreciate in value.

However, a stone is nothing without a good quality design to accentuate its true form, clarity and colour.”

She cites Chopard’s micropavé settings as the foundation of a good investment.

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combination

Watches & Jewellery

The growing consumer predilection for more adventurous design moves away from the trend for anonymous stones.

Bec Clarke, managing director of online jewellery retailer Astley Clarke, has a number of design-led jewellers on her website: “Whereas people would have been happy to go and buy a huge rock from somewhere and get anyone to set it, I think that now designer jewellery is more prominent. People do want something with more creativity from a real craftsman, something that is more than just a stone,” she says, referencing John Apel’s diamond dragonfly necklace.

“It’s taken as a given that you have the quality of diamond there – it is the design inspiration that transforms it.”

People are stepping back from the huge white diamond; they don’t want people to say ‘cor look at that’

And when compelling design lifts jewellery beyond its conventional boundaries and into the realm of art, this can carry the investment value into a whole new arena.

diamonds at the Oscars in favour of emerald earrings, evidence that attitudes to

For Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier, a good investment in today’s market has to be something exceptional. “Sometimes it’s the stone, sometimes it’s the exceptional craftsmanship – it’s really about quality today. We have a necklace that can form into three different bracelets and a pair of earrings: it makes a piece twice as valuable because you can wear it in more than one way,” says Geoffroy Medinger,Van Cleef ’s UK brand director.

Cartier, meanwhile, differentiates itself from other jewellery houses precisely because of its exceptional design style, says Pierre Rainero,director of image and heritage.

“We definitely are on the side of creation, not because we don’t like stones – quite the contrary, we like exceptional stones. But we do think that our vision is to create something different. The stones are the point of departure for the creation, the inspiration.”

Alisa Moussaieff, owner and principal of the worldwide fine jewellery brand Moussaieff, agrees it is about both: “Rare, important gemstones with beautiful design are the best longterm investment pieces. At the higher end, customers are more adventurous – they would look at larger diamonds set in daring and extravagant designs.”

“One of a kind pieces are especially in demand,” says Jean-Christophe Bédos, CEO of Boucheron. “One of these unique pieces was created last year for our 150th Anniversary by the British designer Shaun Lean. It will most certainly find its place in a museum.”

The London jeweller Solange Azagury Partridge, meanwhile, displayed a chandelier made with 200 carats of diamonds worth $2.8m at the Unwearable Jewels exhibition in the capital’s Sebastian + Barquet gallery this month, a design that replicated a pair of her diamond chandelier earrings. “I’ve always believed that great design is more important – if I didn’t, I would have hung a 50 carat diamond on the bottom of the chandelier,” says the designer. “If you can combine great design and great quality stones, then it’s the magical combination.”

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FINANCIAL TIMES FRIDAY MARCH 27 2009

A world of high drama BATTLE FOR ROUGH STONES

James Sherwood on a safe, tangible, secure component of your wealth portfolio

I

n periods of social and financial catastrophe, diamonds have traditionally proved the safest place to put your capital. The Russian émigrés of 1917 escaped with nothing but jewels sewn into their corsets; dictators Juan Peron and the Shah of Iran fled into exile with fabulous collections of gemstones. No wonder the big names of London’s Bond Street are engaged in one of the highest stakes competitions in history to secure exceptional rough diamonds that may yield a masterpiece. Forget gentleman’s rules, these days it is every house for itself.

“Everybody is fighting over the exceptional stones,” says Alisa Moussaieff, whose family has traded pearls and gemstones for more than a century. “It’s no secret that the sales of five to 10 carat D-flawless diamonds on Bond Street are down. We know the upper management people who earned $1m or $2m a year are not laughing.

They may be down to their last $100,000. But the $13bn to $3bn people are still in the market for magnificent stones, such as my blue diamonds.”

The cultivation of these recessionproof people has been Mrs Moussaieff ’s life’s work. Her stock is legendary, not least the 5.11-carat Moussaieff Red diamond acquired in 2002 for $8m and the afore-mentioned 39.19-carat blue rough diamond placed in private tender by London-listed miners Petra Diamonds in Johannesburg and bought for $8.8m last 2008 by a South African agent acting for Moussaieff.

“The reality is that those exceptional coloured stones are so, so rare that it would be overstating the case to call it a market,” says Varda Shine, managing director of the De Beers Group-owned Diamond Trading Company. “It can be 10 years before you find an important blue stone or a nice pink. We have not found anything magnificent in special colours for a while now and I don’t see

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Masterpeice: the 203-carat De Beers Millennium Star held by not without its risks

any new supply for these exceptional coloured stones. They are so unique the trade in them will not suffer at all.”

“We are seeing much demand,” says Keith Gerrard, managing director at Leviev. “A large, exceptional diamond today is valued at a higher price than 12 months ago. The fact is that such a diamond bought a year ago more than retains its value today. The diamonds we sell – from mines we own – account for only the top 5 per cent of all diamonds mined in the world. The very high-end clientele is increasingly choosing our extraordinary diamonds as a safe, tangible, secure component of their wealth portfolio.”

actress Sophie

Nir Livnat, CEO of the Steinmetz Group says he had a call from a client who wanted to buy a very important diamond. The group has sold historic rough and polished diamonds for more than 70 years, including the 203.04-carat De Beers Millennium Star.

“I spoke to five or six people in the business who I knew had such a stone and none of them wanted to sell. We are finding that, in the current climate, the diamond is the last possession a person will part with. People are nervous and the market is very slow, but that’s because diamonds of the highest quality are valued as an investment,” he says.

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Watches & Jewellery

and uncertainty

“What we don’t have are the people who would have previously bought pieces of jewellery for love or fun.”

Ms Shine says: “Jewellery bought by investment bankers on their bonuses has suffered. But the large rough stones appear literally once in a blue moon, so they inevitably do better than anything else.”

The jewellers, dealers and agents invited to tender for the most important rough diamonds are a well-kept secret and it is a sign of the times that when a jeweller acquires a rough, he “allows” his identity to be known.

“The mystery and excitement that surrounds every new large rough diamond is like The Derby or the Arc to racing people: high drama and uncertainty. No one knows the final result but everyone believes that it will be brilliant,” says Andrew Coxon, president of the De Beers Institute of Diamonds.

Yet buying a rough stone is not without risk. “Nature is fickle and even the experts cannot be right every time,” admits Mr Coxon. “Some rough diamonds simply blow up on the polishing wheel if they cannot take the stress of the cutting process. It must be remembered that over 50 per cent of the volume will be polished away into powder. A tint of top light brown or graining lines in what might have seemed like a potential Dcolour internally flawless diamond would halve the rarity and value at a stroke.”

Marceau. Large rough stones appear once in a blue moon and buying one is

“I remember when a pink diamond would sell for $5,000 per carat; now it’s $120,000 per carat, and that’s not even for an intense colour,” says Mrs Moussaieff. When Moussaieff bought the rough blue, Mrs Moussaieff declared: “This stone is the most magnificent example of a blue diamond to come on to the international market for 15 years. It will be bought by a cold-blooded investor.”

Laurence Graff is similarly bullish. In 2006, the Graff-owned South African Diamond Corporation acquired the 603-carat Lesotho Promise rough diamond for $12.36m. It was the 18th

largest diamond ever mined, and Mr Graff set every D-flawless stone.

From the rough into a single necklace – for which he already had a buyer in mind.

According to Josie Goodbody, Graff ’s spokeswoman, the said buyer is “currently considering” the piece, priced at a rumoured £50m ($73m).

Meanwhile, a sister stone to the Lesotho, the Lesteng Legacy (493-carats from the same mine) was bought in late 2008 and is being cut into what has already been christened the Light of Lesteng.

“People want to buy something that will hold value,” says Mr Livnat.

Mr Livnat says: “It can take anything from six months to three years to cut the big stones and you only have your experience and judgment to trust that what will emerge from the stone is a masterpiece.”

Mrs Moussaieff calls buying a rough diamond “an inspired and intelligent guess; nobody could have guaranteed that my blue would be such a fabulous, lively vivid colour”.

But the element of high risk and potentially huge loss is relative.

“The public does not understand that the supply outlook is flat,” says Mr Coxon.

“The collectors certainly fear that, and over the last five years coloured diamonds [both rough and polished] have never been more in demand. The truth is, there will not be an increase in supply for the next 15 years, unless a new mine of importance is found now.” And so the battles rage.

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WATCHES & JEWELLERY FINANCIAL TIMES SPECIAL REPORT Saturday September 12 2009

Top names divided over

Flying the Flags: optimists say recession was never as serve as doomsters made out and that trade will pick up soon

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1

time and tide

http://www.ft.com/reports/watches-jewellery-september-2009

Haig Simonian on the debate between the confident and the shy on which way the luxury industry is going.

T

he overriding issue of the moment for the world’s watch and jewellery industry has divided its leaders as seldom before.

Some of the most prominent – and seldom publicity shy – representatives maintain the downturn is all but over and demand is poised to recover. But other, equally authoritative, though usually lower profile, counterparts remain convinced the crisis that has plagued top watches and jewellery will continue, if perhaps in a slightly attenuated form, for months to come.

So who is right? International stock markets, often taken as a leading proxy of the mood for luxury goods, have powered ahead since their nadirs of March. In the US, the Dow Jones and the S&P indices are up about 50 per cent from their gloom driven lows.

Macroeconomic data has also been broadly encouraging.

Statistics such as purchasing managers’ confidence, point to a clear improvement in sentiment. In the US, Germany and France, more fundamental economic data suggest that economies are pulling out of recession. True, the UK remains depressed, but even there, property prices are climbing again.

For born optimists, such as

Nicolas and Nick Hayek, the formidable father and son duo running Swatch Group, or JeanClaude Biver, the irrepressible head of Hublot, such data bear out their conviction that the recession was never as severe as the doomsters said, and the pendulum would swing back again soon. So positive is Mr Biver that he has just committed his brand to a – no doubt expensive – sponsorship of Alinghi, the Swiss defendant in the next America’s Cup yacht race.

“Unless you believe the slump will last several years, then perhaps you need to reorganise and look at your expenses. As long as we believe the crisis is short term, that is, six to 18 months, which is nothing in the history of a brand, then there’s no reason to stop being active. In fact, on the contrary. We must invest in innovation, we must invest in marketing, we must invest more – not less!” he said recently.

The Hayeks have been as upbeat.

Disclosing better than expected results for the first half of 2009 last month, Swatch Group noted: “The group’s unique brand portfolio and worldwide presence in distribution, combined with its solid equity and liquidity base, will enable the group to largely overcome the difficult economic conditions and to emerge from them even stronger.”

Backing its claims that conditions had turned, Swatch said retailer destocking “is about to slow down” and a normal level of orders was about to be restored. Sales in May and June had shown

a “very positive trend”, a development “clearly confirmed” in July, the company added.

clients, but not all. There are certainly people buying if they find the items they want at the price they want.”

Some jewellers are also looking up. Tiffany, the high-end brand known for its distinctive blue boxes, late last month raised its earnings outlook, in spite of markedly lower profits and sales for the quarter ending July 31.

“It appears to us that the tide may be slowly turning in our favour,” said Mark Aaron, a Tiffany vice president, in a results conference call.

Moussaieff, based in London and with an outlet in Geneva, specialises in the top end of the market, and such comments offer a measured view of the current circumstances.

But for all the optimists, there are as many who are unconvinced the good times are (almost) back. While acknowledging the recession may have passed its worst, they fear the slowdown could last significantly longer.

Fabian Krone, head of Richemont’s Lange & Söhne watch brand, for example, reported some improvement in sales, but emphasised it was still too early to call a recovery. His comments echoed a broader caution within Richemont, which owns Lange, among many other marques. The world’s secondbiggest luxury goods group represents a fair bellwether, given its spread of brands from luxury watches to some of the world’s best known jewellers, including Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.

Alisa Moussaieff, of the eponymous jewellery group, summed up the market as follows for the FT: “Whether the recession is ebbing or not I cannot say. But the recession has not hurt everybody. It has hit some

“Clients are extremely selective, even if they’re very rich. The trend is towards investment and to buy only investment quality items. They don’t have to be top end, they could also be lower. But people need to see the resale value when they get out,” she says.

As ever in watches and jewellery, a lack of precise data means it is difficult to make a precise and impartial call. The only published statistics – from Swiss Customs for the value of Swiss watch exports – remain deeply depressed, albeit against strong comparisons.

Watch exports in July, the latest month available, were down 25.9 per cent by value year on year at SFr1.2bn ($1.2bn). Over the first seven months, exports dropped by 26.3 per cent compared with 2008. As in previous months, the most expensive watches – previously the fastest growing category – took the hardest hit.

Evidence from many individual companies also remains gloomy. In July, Wyler, a relatively new Geneva-based luxury watch brand, said it had “no alternative” but to lay off most of the workforce.

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FINANCIAL TIMES Saturday SEPTEMBER 12 2009

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Top names divided Continued from Page 1

Comment from most other brands is muted, as no manufacturer likes to attract the adverse publicity of redundancies, or even short-time working.

But employment at Franck Muller has been savaged; Ebel and Zenith have seen job losses, as has Roger Dubuis.

Cuts among many component makers have probably been much deeper, but generally go unreported. According

to recent Swiss government statistics, unemployment in the watch industry reached 11 per cent in June. That was 3 percentage points higher than in the next badly affected sector (hotels and restaurants) and three times higher than the previous year.

The optimists, of course, argue that all such data is backward looking, and therefore of little predictive value. Their confidence, they say, is based on their own customer contacts, rather than obscure statistics. That is true,

as is the fact that manufacturers have been affected differently, depending on their geographic and product mix.

Swatch Group’s relative resilience, for example, has stemmed from the breadth of its range and the fact that it is less exposed than some rivals to the US and Japan. Lowerpriced watches have fared less badly than the top end, while the US and Japan are the two markets been worst hit by the consumer spending decline.

Watch exports in July to the

US fell by more than 39 per cent year on year. For the first seven months of 2009, exports to the US were down by almost 43 per cent compared with the same period last year. For Japan, the drop amounted to more than 32 per cent.

Analysts note all the figures should improve later this year, for the purely mathematical reason that the comparisons will become easier. That will encourage the optimists – but definitely not be enough to persuade the pessimists the crisis is over.

The beauty of real, raw gems ROUGH DIAMONDS

Avril Groom reports on the niche trend reaching big brands It is time to redefine one of the best-known clichés in the English language. “A rough diamond” imputes true beauty and value only to the potential polished and finished item – be it the gem or human variety – and not to the dull, gnarled nugget before us. But now rough stones are being sought by jewellers for their character, mystery and authenticity.

Other gems are being used rough, polished freeform or subtly cut to follow the stone’s natural outline rather than an imposed geometric form. Inclusions and imperfections, once grounds for throwing a stone on the scrapheap, are being pounced on as another source of character and charm.

Lesley Schiff, who uses rough stones for her own designs and other ranges at her London Talisman Gallery, says it started at least a decade ago with avant-garde German stone-cutters who wanted to produce really distinctive designs.

“I have always loved organic and natural stones but it’s been a niche market and only started to go mainstream a 28

couple of years ago.” One catalyst was the Talisman range, featuring a mix of rough diamonds and brilliants in textured gold surfaces, which De Beers launched four years ago and that has been expanded with the tribal-inspired Amulets collection and fantasy Valley of Diamonds pieces.

Sceptics might suggest that using such gems is a way for jewellers and dealers to squeeze extra value from stones that previously had little use. Alisa Moussaieff, who uses some rough diamonds in her company’s designs, says: “They are a point of interest to offer clients, but they are always cheaper because cutting and polishing costs are lower.” Initially this benefited consumers.

“They enabled jewellers to make larger, more striking pieces at an affordable price. But now they’re in vogue, the price of rough or included stones, such as rutilated quartz, has rocketed.”

There is a painstaking selection process, according to Andrew Coxon, De Beers’ executive vice-president. “Putting beautiful roughs in jewellery saves them from industrial use,” he says. “But only a few work – most are just ugly – and it’s a long job to find them.”

It is not just commercial considerations that explain the

new interest. Pippa Small, a designer who has long worked with uncut stones, says they make clear, perfect gems look cold and soulless.

“In insecure times, we find comfort in our relationship with the earth which these stones demonstrate – why cut away the evidence of their formation and journey?”

Ms Small is one of the designers sold by Bec Clarke on her newly-revamped Astley Clarke website, along with upmarket New York designer Gurhan, with irregular opal bracelets at up to £11,000 ($18,000), and Gatsby, whose Indian-made work includes uncut tourmaline bracelets.

Ms Schiff sells the almost abstract, mixed and textured metal and rough stones of Atelier Zobel and the work of Turkish designer Sevan Bikcaci, who carves the undersides of rough-cut stones to make into huge, ancient-looking rings.

So far, so niche, but rough and natural stones are now reaching the big brands. Architect Frank Gehry is pioneering rough diamond use for Tiffany, studding a oneoff gold cuff and brooch from his Torn Paper series.

“He is attracted to raw nature which is not neatly faceted, to rough textures and, from his work with wood, to the warm

browns and ambers of rough diamonds,” says John King, Tiffany’s vice-president.

At Adler in London’s Bond Street, irregular cabochons and rough diamonds in textured gold are appearing because, says Franklin Adler, “as a small company, we need to be individual and these stones appeal to educated customers who know about the source of such gems”.

Even high-octane jeweller Moussaieff has ropes and bracelets of rough diamonds on gold as a counterpoint to pavé and titanium, while Cartier is setting huge, irregular carved stones, from pastel sapphires to emeralds, as elements of high-jewellery necklaces.

“We use them as a creative challenge in designs we want to be asymmetric,” says Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s creative director “and our customers respond.”

With every rough or naturalcut stone a one-off and today’s yen for the unique a key driver, this trend is gathering momentum.

FINANCIAL TIMES DECEMBER 20/DECEMBER 21 2008

LIFE & ARTS 7

Lights, fantastic Titanium is the latest inspiration for jewellers, writes Vivienne Becker

T

he newest wonder material in fine jewellery is nothing less than the toughest, strongest metal on earth: titanium. An unlikely interloper in the traditional world of platinum and gold, titanium – industrial, inexpensive and super high-tech – represents barrier-breaking technology that is liberating design and stimulating creativity.

enough to work on the skin – the lightweight metal was the calculated choice.

Glenn Spiro, who has been working with titanium for 10 years and who recently opened his own salon in London, says: “Gold’s pull on the skin or on the clothes makes it unwearable. My three-tier hoop titanium earrings have virtually no weight.”

A featherweight but durable metal used in the aerospace industry, state-of-the-art surgery and high-performance cars (not to mention the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao), titanium first sparked excitement in the high-end jewellery market four to five years ago, when new ways of manipulating it brought it to the attention of leading artist-jewellers.

Titanium offers a unique blend of strength and lightness, weighing in at roughly one quarter of the equivalent amount of gold. This quality enables designers to introduce new volumes and a sense of weightlessness and fluidity to precious gem-set jewels. Dramatic designs, like Genevabased jeweller Adler’s statement brooches, Moussaieff ’s huge diamond-set hoop earrings and peacock feather cuff and Michelle Ong’s drifting cloud necklaces, which would not be possible in gold or platinum, are rendered not only wearable but comfortable in titanium.

Titanium also takes on iridescent rainbow colours when heated, taking fine jewellery in a painterly direction by allowing gem-colours to melt into metal mounts.

The skills for working titanium are found only in a handful of master ateliers. Francis Mertens, an Antwerp based designer-jeweller who has built his business on creating

Adler finds titanium comes into its own for voluptuous conversation pieces, while Suzanne Syz’s huge openCapitivating work sphere earrings, pierced diamond conch into a honeycomb pattern, are pearl and titanium only made possible with the brooch by metal. It is the same story for Moussaieff her hoop earrings, twisted like barbed wire and dotted with diamonds. pave-set titanium jewels, explains that the setting process in titanium is so precarious that one slip, one mistake, one broken prong means that the whole piece has to be scrapped and started over from scratch.

“Even after setting some 6,000 stones, at 75 stones a day, a piece can break and we’d have to start again. The process is very long and demanding.” So labour-intensive is the work, especially in the finishing process, that despite titanium being a relatively inexpensive material, each piece becomes a precious work of art.

The collection refers to the Titans of Greek mythology, after which the metal was named, and comprises several components. The “Titan Planets” are mesmerizing globes: a spinning ring, pendant, earrings and cufflinks, encrusted with rainbow diamonds. The Craters are like lunar landscapes conjured into rings; a cuff, a necklace and earrings that curve against the skin.

The Rainbows spread a Technicolor light over a massive cuff and necklace, and the Convex and Concave rings combine all elements.

Alisa Moussaieff, based in London, sees titanium as a fast-growing trend. “The finished look is amazing and titanium lends itself to strange and interesting forms,” she says. “For big earrings especially, it’s a huge advantage.” She points to a lavish pendant, set with a huge oval sapphire, its shades of blue echoed in paler sapphires.

“Hold it in your hand and it’s like holding nothing,” she says. “The fact it is not as precious as gold and platinum is irrelevant: the value is in the stones and the design,” she says.

Mertens first discovered the wonders of titanium five years ago, after meeting an engineer from Airbus. He was captivated by the challenge of transforming the material. His latest project is a collaboration with the British jeweller, Solange Azagury-Partridge on the Titanium Black Rainbows collection, a range created to celebrate the evolution of the American Express Centurion card (now available in titanium).

“I love the fact that titanium is so high-tech, used for rocket launchers and body part replacements,” says AzaguryPartridge. “We combine pioneering industrial processes with meticulous handwork.”

Problem-solving was also what led Hong Kong-base Michelle Ong, the designerjeweller behind the brand Carnet, to titanium. Ong creates monumental, sensual jewels, and wanted to make them light

Joanna Hardy, of Sotheby’s jewellery department in London, agrees. “Besides the stones, it is the artistry I would be looking for. The combination of the hardest-wearing of all metals with diamonds, the hardest of all gemstones, is very interesting. If the use of titanium means the jewel is very much of its moment in time, then that too is interesting, and might well add to its value.”

29

FINANCIAL TIMES FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14 2009

When you need to know CHEIF EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW ALISA MOUSSAIEFF

Traditions keep demand reliable.

Nicola Copping reports

A

lisa Moussaeiff, chief executive of the eponymous fine jewellery brand, is part of the Bond Street jewellery fraternity. Her store nestles between Harry Winston and Chanel Fine Jewellery, the London boutique is her flagship (she also has a concession at the Park Lane Hotel and the Hotel Kempinski in Geneva), and she deals predominantly in diamonds – coloured diamonds to be exact. And yet her knowledge of the home market seems surprisingly scant.

The reason is because 90 per cent of her clientele is international. And, given the recent turbulent times, it has worked to her advantage. While armed break-ins and a dismal downturn in luxury consumer spending – on diamonds in particular – have rocked her Bond Street peers, Ms Moussaieff, who has been in the business for almost 50 years, has been able to lean on a bedrock of faithful global consumers, who range from Asia to the south of France.

“I would say international demand is as strong as ever. I would say even stronger,” she says, defiantly. In one recent week, Ms Moussaieff sold two white DIF diamonds (with the finest colour and highest purity) to two Russian clients and another important stone to an Asian client.

But, just like any other retailer, she has had to actively pursue trade.

“The advantage is not that I have an international clientele, the advantage is that I cater for the international clientele,” she says. “I try to have the items which they would want; if I see something that is desirable, I would try to buy it. I wouldn’t wait for someone to come along.” None of her clients, wherever they are in the world, is beyond the reach of the recession, and Ms Moussaieff has had to negotiate harder with clients.

30

Something Special: the wedding market, especially in India and the Middle East, is st conscious

“People are tighter with money, and whatever they have, they want to secure.

They are more careful with it,” she concedes, admitting that it is “definitely more difficult to close the deal” now than before. As a result, she has had to be tougher with her suppliers. “Everybody tries to get the best price and there’s negotiation, even with the mines. You need to convince the mine owner that it’s

not worth as much as he’s charging.”

And yet, invariably, thanks to international cultural traditions, demand tends to be reliable and recurrent. “The Middle East will have weddings and there is a budget for every one, and that budget will be spent on jewellery. The wedding market is alive and kicking, and that goes across from the Middle East to India, and

9

Watches & Jewellery

local customs

Manege Moscow, The Biennale de Monaco, and other events in the Middle East, Asia and the US. “We have to go where the market is,” she says. “We cannot relax and wait for everybody to come to us. That is a luxury we cannot afford.”

And where is that market now? “I would say the Far East is strong and getting stronger; the Far East is very conscious about having the rarest of the rare. They want the very best that money can buy.” But as one market thrives, another flounders. “The American market certainly has become less. And Russia has become slightly weaker. But Russia is still there, and the inquiries are still coming in but again the price is very, very important and the quality, too.”

‘In the Middle East.

I could never sell the same design twice in the same market - I would lose the whole market’ Post-recession, with the consequent rise in expectations, Ms Moussaieff is working harder than ever. She has the advantage of a loyal customer base, as well as an expertise in coloured diamonds that tune into fashion tastes. “Coloured diamonds have been advertised more, talked about more, and written about more – we definitely know more about coloured diamonds than we ever did before and there is definitely more demand.”

till thriving but customers for rubles and diamonds (above) are much more price

it is also in Hong Kong and [the rest of] China.”

Part of Ms Moussaieff ’s business obligation, therefore, is to familiarise herself with the social mores of her client base. “The jewels have to suit the environment that you’re in; people do not always want to outdo other people.

In Japan, for example, people want to be

under other people in their social group – it’s very difficult to sell them a big stone, because they worry that it might be bigger than the one their boss’s wife owns,” she says. “In the Middle East I could never sell the same design twice in the same market – I would lose the whole market.”

Ms Moussaeiff participates in exhibitions for collectors, such as the

Ms Moussaieff is famous for her collection of blues, particularly her 6.04cts Vivid flawless as well as the Moussaieff Red, the largest red diamond to be certified by The Gemological Institute of America. But if there is one thing that unites all customers, it is the desire for the exceptional and a good deal – and this is the main hurdle Alisa Moussaieff must face. “People are looking for extra good designs, superlative quality, and the rarest of the rare,” she admits. “And they want the price – don’t forget the price.”

31

FINANCIAL TIMES Saturday NOVEMBER 14 2009

8

Ways for the connoisseur to keep a foothold in hard times PALE DIAMONDS

Avril Groom on the growing interest in stones thatare not yet breaking the bank

O

f all the gemquality diamonds that emerge from the ground, less than 1 per cent are anything other than white. Large coloured diamonds are so rare that, through history, they have become famous with their own names and myths, like the supposedly cursed blue Hope or the 128-carat Tiffany yellow.

Deeper colours are rarest, the brightest defined as “vivid” or “intense”. These are always the target of collectors and the grades rise exponentially in value. Colour tones are categorised too, with purer shades worth more.

This value reflects a diamond’s rarity and collectability rather than its suitability for making beautiful jewellery. Many are never set, too valuable to be held anywhere other than in a bank or museum. Those that are traditionally make important pendants or rings, where the stone rather than the designer’s art is the main event.

Now, the focus on coloured stone jewellery of all types, and on mixing different tones, is placing a new emphasis on coloured diamonds and on pale, subtle shades that were less valued in the past.

“People who become fascinated by coloured stones are inevitably drawn towards diamonds,” says Melvyn Kirtley, Tiffany’s European president and a trained 32

gemologist. “They come in an infinite variety of colours, but their chemical structure gives them more fire and vivacity than any other stone, and they are proportionately more valuable.”

Although all top-end jewellers emphasise their desire to concentrate on, and their ability to find, examples of large, super-rare coloured diamonds for collector clients, they are also noticing greater demand and interest in delicate shades which, says Mr Kirtley, “many people find more appealing, particularly from a wearability viewpoint”, although he emphasises that some depth of colour is necessary and most Tiffany coloured diamonds are not more dilute than the fancy category.

Grading coloured diamonds is extremely complex. The standard chart prepared by the Gemological Institute of America scarcely gets to grips with the issue.

Once all the variables of quality and colour are taken into account, a flawless, purecoloured, vivid stone could be worth up to 10 times a similarly sized example only a couple of categories lower.

So, in these economically stressed times, are people tempted to go for the paler shades on the principle of more bang for your bucks and, if they do, will the investment prove sound?

John Calleija, Australian jewellery designer, who works primarily with pink diamonds from the Western Australia Argyle Mine – predicted to be exhausted by 2019 – says: “Paler pink diamonds are considerably less expensive than the deeper colours so, if a client prefers the paler colour,

then the lower price point is a bonus.

“In a recession, when the fine jewellery market has taken a blow, paler coloured stones are a way for the connoisseur to keep a foothold in the market without breaking the bank. “ However, those who can afford to invest know that the darker the diamond, the more valuable their investment. The keenest still wait for the right diamond and will buy at the right time for them, regardless of economic climate.”

He says the value of the fancy coloured diamond is “based on its certified colour and size first and foremost, with consideration given to its clarity after those factors have been determined, whereas the criteria for assessing white diamonds is quite different”.

Large, pale, unusual stones also carry a big premium. Harry Winston holds a necklace with a seven carat, brown-yellow, kite-shaped diamond that is strictly “price on application”, while Van Cleef and Arpels – which generally deals only with stones of intense level or above – recently sold a pale blue briolette diamond for £2m ($3.3m).

And fashions change. About 10 years ago, Van Cleef and Arpels acquired a private collection of coloured diamonds, “many of which were the layered shades, like yellow-greens or champagnepinks which were not valued then”, says Nicolas Bos, creative director. “But they have been inspirational to us since, and the homogeneity of brilliance in diamonds means you can mix subtle shades to make truly beautiful jewellery.”

For Alisa Moussaieff, famous for her ownership of an exceedingly rare red diamond, this homogeneity, plus their lower price, “makes smaller, paler stones desirable as a foil for more intense ones – they’re very pretty and they mix well.

They have been popular in East Asia and the Middle East for some time and we’re seeing more interest in the west”.

Leviev makes similar strongpale mixes, and emphasises that, with mainly bespoke work, the company finds any colour on demand.

Pierre Rainero, creative director at Cartier, says: “We play on colours using softer, pale diamonds to complement other materials such as pearls or cabochon-cut stones – it’s about how they harmonise rather than individual stones.

“If a paler colour sits alongside another stone better than an intense, we always chose the one that is more in tune with the expression of the creation as a whole.”

With paler colours becoming so desirable from a design viewpoint, prices are rising.

Moussaieff points out that light brown and cognac shades are still affordable and this is where Raphaele Canot, designer for De Beers, has focused for her Champagne Cocktail collection.

“The range of subtle colours is incredible and mixing them is exciting because of their variety of shape and character, though none are expensive stones, as we wanted to keep the budget sensible.” But with growing interest in this area, for how long will that apply?

FINANCIAL TIMES Saturday NOVEMBER 14 2009

9

The value of irresistible history and mystery SETTINGS

Provence and artistry are all the rage writes James Sherwood Sales of exceptional coloured diamonds continue to shatter auction records and defy recession. In May Sotheby’s Geneva set the world record price per carat for any gemstone with a flawless $9,488,754 fancy vivid blue diamond weighing 7.03 carats.

Headlining the auction house’s rare coloured stone auction on Tuesday, is the largest brilliant-cut vivid green diamond to appear at auction with a high estimate of $5.1m. Sharing top billing with the stones are “magnificent jewels of important historical provenance”.

“When I started 35 years ago, fine pieces of Art Deco jewellery were brought to be broken up for the stones,” says David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery (Europe and Middle East). “Today such vandalism would be unthinkable. Provenance and appreciation for the artistry of the great houses such as Cartier, Van Cleef and Boucheron greatly enhance the desirability of a jewel far beyond the intrinsic value of the stones.”

spirit her jewels away from the Vladimir Palace in St Petersburg under the noses of the Bolsheviks. The Reds were particularly brutal with Tsarist jewels, so survivors are the endangered species of the high jewellery collector’s world.

The tragic fall of the Russian Imperial family adds lustre for collectors comparable only to the few surviving jewels linked to the equally unfortunate Marie Antoinette.

“The market is increasingly discerning and appreciative of quality and craft,” says Joanna Hardy, adviser and lecturer in antique and contemporary jewellery. “There is a growing number of international collectors who appreciate jewellery as an art form rather than a commodity and buy to wear the jewels rather than invest in the stones. Let’s face it, you don’t value a painting by how much paint is on it.

If you consider a Fabergé cufflink or a Lalique pendant, it is the fabulous craftsmanship and genius of the Art Nouveau jewellers that holds the true

value of the piece.”

Alisa Moussaieff, owner of the eponymous jewellery house, says: “If you are investing in a piece of fine jewellery, make sure there is the correct balance between stone intensity and style intensity. A piece that is too fashionable might be risky.

While a setting should be artistic, the investment value of the whole piece has to be easily perceived even by a novice. It should stir your emotions immediately and affect you like a piece of art.”

Along with houses such as Graff and Leviev, Moussaieff has workshops that can set jewellery in the grand style of 19th and 20th century craftsmen.

An indication that the market is driving a demand for artistry is that houses such as Boucheron and diamond monoliths Steinmetz are commissioning artists and jewellers to create future heirlooms.

“Collaborations between stone dealers and designers

Last April saw the unveiling of White Light, a diamond and enamel brooch designed by Shaun Leane, the young London jeweller. Commissioned by Forevermark, a De Beers company promoting the inscription of diamonds invisible to the naked eye, White Light is a masterpiece of the jeweller’s art. “For a craftsman like me, White Light is a dream,” says Mr Leane. “This is the largest diamond piece I have created.

When I was an apprentice, a large part of my work was antique restoration so I have a great respect for my past masters.”

Mr Bennett says: “We are now looking at an increasingly narrow gap between settings going out of fashion and coming back, by which point they have reached the status of classics ... There is a strong market for the subtlety and individuality of the old cushion cuts.”

The exception to this rule is Laurence Graff who, last December, set the highest price paid for a diamond at the Christie’s auction of the Wittelsbach Blue diamond.

Neither flawless nor utterly true blue, the 35.56 carat stone realised $24.3m.

The star of the Geneva magnificent jewels sale is a ruby and diamond necklace from the collection of Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe: a riviere necklace of 24 perfectly matched Burmese rubies and 24 old cut diamonds ($530,000-$975,000) set by Garrard in 1884.

A gift to the Infanta Margarita Teresa from her father King Philip IV of Spain on her engagement to Leopold of Austria, the stone was later set in the Imperial State Crown of the Bavarian dynasty after which it is named.

Though the $137,000 estimate is dwarfed by the Roxburghe necklace, a sapphire and diamond demiparure circa 1900 from the collection of the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, has irresistible history and mystery that could give the rubies a run for their money.

The duchess employed Albert (Bertie) Stopford, the Scarlet Pimpernel of the Russian Revolution, to

are an emerging trend,” says Carol Woolton, jewellery editor for British Vogue.

“The market is ready for young, brave, carefree and unrestrained design working with exceptional stones.”

The House of Graff has audaciously decided to recut and polish the stone to render the colour deeper and the diamond flawless. Purists may argue that re-cutting an historic diamond such as the Wittelsbach is akin to retouching a Rembrandt. But without the grand historical provenance, the stone would lose an awful lot more than the few carats estimated by Graff.

Actress Erin O’Conner sporting Shaun Leane’s White Light

33

how to spend it MOUSSAIEFF

MARCH 21 2009

Fashion’s new love affair with flowers and the natural world is inspiring jewellers afresh, says Vivienne Becker.

florescent lights I

t’s spring again, and of all the new seasonal ideas and would-be trends gallantly pushing their way up through the economic gloom, it’s not surprising to find floral jewels once more lifting their pretty heads towards the light. As a motif, the flower is like the comfort food of style, nourishing our spirits, taking us back to nature and sunnier times, and offering the sweet security of the familiar.

The trick, of course, is to make such a well-worn classic modern again, and both

fashion and jewels – now more closely connected than ever – have done this in their own way. ........

At Moussaieff, perhaps surprisingly, candy-like carved stone flowers show a naive simplicity belied by the sophistication of their materials and the techniques used to make them. A ring and earclips are each centred with a ruby set into a pink conch pearl, their amorphous white

agate petals insert with waves of yellow diamonds as if sparkling with fairydust. .........

We’re always looking for stories to tell, for a conceptual vision. We are not always interested in the flower at its most youthful or beautiful, but when it is dying, its petals wilting, an evocation of fading beauty. We’re not afraid of time.

The message of the flower jewels is to tell the truth of beauty.

Moussaieff titanium ring with ruby

set in a conch pearl with yellow pave diamonds and white agate, and matching ear clips, both price on request.

35

J UNE 6 2009

rings of desire ...not forgetting necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Designers are tapping into a new romantic movement that expresses the enduring quality of both love and precious jewellery, says Vivienne Becker.

B

oth precious and eternal, jewellery has for centuries been inextricably linked with love. The latter is, of course, a major force behind many jewellery purchases. My own tentative first purchases of “real” jewellery – when I started what was only meant to be a hobby working in the antique jewellery trade – were little Victorian gold love knots, rings and chains, which were charming, cheap and plentiful enough for a novice who was fast falling in love with the story of jewels. Now jewellers themselves are falling back in love with romantic jewels, tapping into fashion’s fling with romance.

The designer jeweller Shaun Leane’s work has always been threaded through with a dark vein of Victorian-flavoured romance, of mixed joy and tears. He feels that the return to romance signifies “our need to stick together, family and friends, to keep treasured tokens of appreciation close to us”. He also says that since the focus in jewellery has until recently been more on design and technology, on designers and craftsmen proving their skills, “people have forgotten that jewellery is always about emotion and romance”. Leane channels romance through his thorn-wrapped locket-backed Sister Hearts in red, black and opalescent enamel (signifying passionate, dark and pure love respectively), and through his heart-shaped Poison rings with compartments for keepsakes. Now he has launched his Messenger Collection, inspired by the sentimental 19th-century emblem of the bird carrying a love letter.

No birds here, but a sleek, abstract interpretation in the form of a gold and enamel tubular pendant, sometimes

diamond-trimmed, concealing a scroll on which can be written a secret message.

Redolent of Regency rings, each pendant can be tailored to the individual with a meaningful date in gold circling the enamel. Leane explains, “With the proliferation of texts and e-mails, love letters have all but died out, but a handwritten declaration of love, both physical and emotional, kept forever, is the ultimate in romance.”

The heart-stopping moment of anticipation, at the sight of a lover’s handwriting on a weighty envelope sealed with a curling monogram is captured in jeweller Alex Monroe’s new collection, Lots of Love, which melds old-fashioned romance with modern text-speak. Inspired

by Victorian sentimentalism, Monroe says he wanted to create a more elegant expression of love. Rings, hoop earrings and necklaces in sterling sliver plated in 22ct gold are twisted into messages, in a flowing script, saying “Love”, “Love 4 You”, or “Love Me/Love You” or just curled into a scrolled heart.

In the past, secret systems of semiotics conveyed feelings to one’s inamorato or inamorata. These included the language of the fan, in which each position sent a message, and the jewel, which also acted as a messenger expressing emotion.

Today, a return to the hidden storytelling aspect of jewellery is central to the new romantic wave. For example, Icecool’s Secret Token ring cunningly unclips to allow the band to slide open so that a message can be engraved inside. And at Obsidian, jewellery dealer Harry Fane is reviving Spinning Charms, slim gold or sliver-gilt and enamel discs which,

M O U S S A I E F F 36

Moussaieff titanium white gold

butterfly brooch with opals, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds, price on application.

when spun round, produce the words “I Love You”, or messages such as “Hug Me” and “Kiss Me”. These can also be customised. In a similar mood, antique jewellery dealer Sandra Cronan has recreated her favourite love rings, which are evolutions of the 16th- century “posy” ring, a gold band inside which was engraved a verse or “poesie”. In Cronan’s revivals, a chamfered band of gold dotted with turquoise enamel forget-me-nots is inscribed on the inside with “Forever Yours Forget Me Not” and Regencyinspired delicate scrolled and enamelled bands are circled with sayings such as “Aime-moi comme je t’aime”, “Amitie a jamais” and “Plus que la Vie”.

Unexpectedly, perhaps, diamond giant Harry Winston has linked the art of the tattoo with diamonds, both declaring undying love. An elite collection of six pieces inspired by 1920s American sailors’ tattoos clusters hearts with love-birds and ribbons of baguette diamonds or a pave heart pierced by a dagger. A sketchbook

at Chaumet.”

As romance is often the trigger for a first-ever purchase of fine jewellery – a commitment or engagement ring (in Hong Kong the jeweller Tayma suggests a promise ring with which a man can propose) – jewellers are exploring different facets of love, relationships and the very nature of romance in the hope that their collections might draw new clients to the brand. There are signs that more loving attention and creativity are being lavished on accessible, affordable jewellery, which has been overshadowed these past few years by the rise of haute joaillerie. The new Franco-Asian jewellery brand Qeelin is perfectly pitched at this level and has also turned its thoughts to love for its latest collection. Qin Qin delves into Chinese cultural symbolism and uses the goldfish, symbol of abundance and harmony, and its mating game. Qeelin’s co-founder and designer, Dennis Chan, explains that just as two sweethearts experience love at first sight, so two Qin Qin that find the right

on by Cocteau, who took to wearing two rings on the same finger, often the little finger, elevating Trinity to status of cult object. This 20th-century classic is now updated with a new-generation Trinity collection which is more opulent and voluptuously rounded, its three colours of gold paved in diamonds. The hot trend for supersizing, borrowed from costume jewellery, has bred an extra-large pave diamond ring and an oversized bracelet.

The long, layered look is translated into a sautoir of coloured gold chain draped from different sizes of Trinity hoops and the Two for Trinity bangle features six bands, three in plain gold, three set with diamonds.

Meanwhile, the best-loved and most enduring Victorian love emblems are blossoming again: the locket for a lock of hair, photograph or keepsake, reprised at Dower & Hall; the true lovers’ knot brooch designed as a loosely tied ribbon of coloured sapphires and diamonds at Wartski (its implied message being

The best loved Victorian love emblems are blossoming agian: the locket for a keep sake; the true lover’s knot brooch; and the purest of symbols, the heart of 12 vintage tattoo designs is available for bespoke commissions.

Expressions of love that seem so demure and tame to us today – including “Regard” or “Dearest”, or the name of a beloved – could also be spelt out through the language of gemstones, using the initial of each one to compose a word.

The charm of these “acrostic” jewels has been adopted and perpetuated by Chaumet, which has taken traditions of sentimental jewellery as a starting point for its most high-profile collections. The ABC of Chaumet collection was inspired by a famous acrostic bracelet of two fine chains enclosing a stream of coloured gems made by Chaumet’s founder, Nitot, for Napoleon’s Empress Marie Louise. The collection replicates l’alphabet amoureux so that bespoke messages can be spelt out in an alphabet of coloured stones. The bejewelled spider’s web and fly of the Attrape-Moi...si tu m’aimes collection symbolises the love that is inextricably trapped by the complex web we weave from thoughts and feelings. Newest additions to Attrape-Moi are softer and yet more romantic, made in rose gold (the colour of love) and set with misty, milky opals. More recently, Chaumet’s Grand Frisson collection of chaotic clusters of coloured gems conjures up the explosive emotions experienced with the coup de foudre of love at first sight. “Since its foundation, Chaumet has always explored the realm of emotion and the emotions attached to jewels, which give sentimental jewellery its greatest value,” says Lionel Giraud, Chaumet’s creative director. “For me, a contemporary expression of the language of love is central to all creativity

match are irresistibly lured into a kiss. His humorous and lively goldfish pendants – paved in diamonds or shaded rubies and sapphires – have magnets in their pouting golden lips, either attracting or repelling a potential partner. He wanted, he says, to explore the complexity of human feelings and the twisting route to seduction.

Van Cleef & Arpels, whose cultural research for relevant references is impeccable, has chosen Paris as the central theme for its new, accessible Une Journee a Paris collection. Playful and poetic, it builds on Van Cleef ’s heritage of figural jewels, including the fairy or ballerina.

Each set has its own story; for example, the Romance a Paris sautoir, bracelet and pendant tell the story of a romantic rendez-vous in Paris between a man and a woman, tracing the unfolding attraction between them. The figures, sculpted in white gold, ornamented with lapis lazuli, turquoise, white mother-of-pearl and diamonds, act out their flirtation around the length of the sautoir, the girl along one side, the boy the other, meeting in the middle in an embrace under an umbrella sheltering them from a shower of gems.

Meanwhile, Cartier is revitalising the celebrated Trinity ring, one of the most famous and immediately recognisable love tokens. Three intertwined bands in platinum, white gold and rose gold, which Jean Cocteau called “slivers of moon on a thread of sun”, represent the three stages of love, friendship (white), love (pink), fidelity (yellow), their unbreakable entanglement suggesting the indissoluble ties of love. Trinity came into being in 1924, its modernity seized

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the tighter you pull on your bonds, the stronger the knot); and the purest of symbols, the heart, plump and pink in deepest rose gold and scrawled with openwork billet-doux words of love in Boucheron’s B-loved necklace, and, perhaps at its most expressive, in the classic Verdura wrapped-heart brooch that marries true love and passion in one of the greatest of all 20th-century love trophies. This last was originally designed in 1947 by the witty, cultured, socialite designer, Fulco, Duc di Verdura, for a client who wanted to give his heart to his wife on Valentine’s Day. The heart of luscious, berry-like rubies bursts with intensity and is wrapped energetically in a ribbon of diamonds and tied with a bow and true lovers’ knot.

The last word on romance in jewels has to go to the butterfly, the classic symbol of the soul, and a recurring sentimental theme hovering over the history of jewellery. This season the butterfly emerges from its chrysalis into a new and dramatic diaphanous beauty, perfectly illustrated by Moussaieff ’s breathtaking butterfly brooch, which has a floating lightness of movement achieved through its titanium setting virtuoso craftsmanship. The wings are set with exquisite black opals acquired

by Alisa Moussaieff 40 years ago from the Andamooka mine in Australia.

These play with the light fantastically, with pale and deep shifting colours and flashes of intense yellow and green picked up by yellow diamonds and rich Columbian emeralds. It’s a triumph of love.

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ямБne times MOUSSAIEFF

The criteria for judging diamonds are being challenged. Now brilliance and clarity are giving way to a new poetic, organic beauty, says Vivienne Becker.

Moussaieff Titanium Peacock

Feathercuff with 20.55 ct portrait-cut diamond center and 22.22 ct pavé diamonds, price on application.

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he diamond is softening up. Ever since the ruggedly rebellious rough diamond became accepted, even welcomed, into mainstream fine jewellery- notably by De Beers in its Talisman Collection – new looks for diamonds have been unfolding. Dictatorial diamond rules – and even diamonds themselves – have been turned upside down. The classic, brilliant sparkle relentlessly pursued by diamond cutters and devotees since the 18th century has given way to subtler shades of sheen. New cuts and even newer, unexpected mixtures of cuts and layers of translucencies play with the captive light that has been the eternal allure of the stone. Today glimmer, rather than glitz, is the aim. And as the criteria for judging diamonds are challenged, designers are also exploring new ways of wearing them – casually, provocatively, every day and for fun.

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Moussaieff Diamond Conch Pearl and Titanium Brooch by Moussaieff .

Mark Walker, creative director of online diamond jewellery boutique Icecool.co.uk, whose new Pure Frameworks collection promotes a fresh, sporty look of bouncy, layered geometry, has been watching the market: “Unusual cuts, shapes and hues are in vogue, presenting other elements of creativity. Elegant rose cuts, chequerboard cabochons and long baguettes are of particular importance. As for colour, I like blacks, greys and browns.”

The latter are the colours that were once rejected as substandard but are now considered

to possess their own poetic, organic beauty.

Black and so-called cognac or brown diamonds have been under the style spotlight for a while, but there is a shift towards new, softer subtleties of tone and texture – not the connoisseur’s specimens of reds and blues at impossibly high prices, but muted, inbetween shades of lemon, green, russet, taupe and mushroom. Vicky Sarge, creative director at Erickson Beamon, who launched the vintage-style Diamonds by Erickson Beamon jewellery in 2004, agrees that the emphasis is shifting away from classic white diamonds

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towards soft colours and more organic shapes.

“It’s not so pretty-pretty,” she explains, “but more intriguing, with a rock’n’roll edge. I am not talking about the expensive coloured diamonds, but pale pinks set in rose gold or lemony-green shades.”

There is also a consensus among cuttingedge jewellers that wisp-like “inclusions” – the flaws anathema to traditional diamantaires – give a diamond a strong individuality and a freedom that leads the way to artistry and originality. The new craze for flat-cut stones shows colours and markings to perfection

and creates an ethereal effect, much like an antique, mottled, mercury-backed Venetian mirror.

Michelle Ong, the Hong Kong designer behind the brand Carnet, was one of the first to use grey diamonds, sliced in huge slabs.

Avi Nagar, her business partner and diamond buyer, explains: “Not long ago, no one would look at them. Ours come from big African rocks that are laser-sliced and polished. There is a secret in these stones. They are neither white, nor black – not absolutes – which allows for great artistry and fantasy, whereas a round white stone is limited in its scope.

This is a new kind of beauty, locked inside the material; you have to know where to look for it and how to take it out.” Ong insists on using only grey diamonds of the right size and quality – massive, thick slices with substance and inclusions that swirl with bluegrey smoke to draw in the eye. Her jewels, she emphatically declares, are not “budget items”.

She herself often wears a pair of monumental and mesmerizing drop earrings with massive, silk-grey oval slices whose organic shapes contrast with borders of refined white diamond ribbons. Now there is a necklace to go with them, in Ong’s signature diamondlace design, which delivers an intense impact.

A bangle completes the set, while Ong also uses magnificent slabs of grey diamonds for her spectacular dress watches.

Surprisingly, perhaps, Moussaieff’s extravagant creations also integrate flat diamonds. These, of course, are not “budget items”, either, but they show the shift in mood even at the very top end of the market. Alisa Moussaieff, one of the world’s most revered and inspired diamond merchants, is not afraid to take a step away from traditional designs. She says, “People want to find something new; they’ve seen everything. In a way, these flat diamonds are fashion. I live to mix flat diamonds with different cuts, with diamond beads and with conch pearls for a soft, natural look.

And I use flat grey diamonds to create a modern flower spray.” Most dramatically, she has set a huge, almost flat diamond into the “eye” of a peacock feather bangle that curls around the wrist, supple and silky, and sits on top of the hand.

It was a natural progression for the jeweller William Welstead at Harry Fane to move onto flat diamonds after he fell in love with Indian beads and briolettes in the late 1990s. flat diamonds, he explains, are still used for traditional Indian jewellery: “These Indian stones are completely in touch with their origins. The stones sparkle at just the right moment, and you can see the inclusions running through them like rain.” Welstead’s latest designs include rings and earrings made of organic slices of misty diamonds, their outlines traced with rims of pave rose cuts. Diamond beads are still popular – either long chains of briolettes or a chunk of rough diamond on a long diamond chain – as are

long earrings like streams of brioletes.

Ethical jeweller Pippa Small, now installed in her first shop in Notting Hill, with a second due to open in Los Angeles, has been using grey diamonds for a few seasons and finds that customers in the UK and US are increasingly turning away from conventional diamonds towards uncut, unusual diamonds that are emotive and expressive, with fascinating inner life and inclusions. “They capture a very particular light and don’t ‘yell’ like other diamonds,” she says. Small is now mixing up cuts and colours, exploring diamond tones of beige and grey, putty and smoke. Long drop chandelier earrings throw off a subtle mirrored light and grey diamond necklaces are conceived with a sense of chaos both in their layering and in the movement within the stones.

Solange Azagury-Partridge chose slices of flat, misty, milky diamonds for Platonic, her first all-diamond collection because she doesn’t like diamonds to be too obvious. “I don’t design trophy jewellery,” she explains, “and I don’t like jewellery that’s too outrageously ‘bling’ to wear all the time.” The natural octahedral shape of the diamond, formed at the core of the earth and even found in meteorites, was the starting point for Platonic, inspired by the sacred geometry of nature and the positioning of the planets. Touched with otherworldly mystery, the cloudy diamonds were cut into small geometric shapes and assembled into three-dimensional galactic forms or mosaics of optical illusions.

Aside from flat diamonds, the 18th century inspired rose cut, with its soft candlelight sparkle, has become an object of desire in today’s diamond jewellery, loved for its understated luxury and hints of history.

Now it is being used more frequently and innovatively, often in multiplicity or mixes of cuts, to inject diamond designs with a new “melting” movement and emotional depth.

Alongside its signature rough talismanic diamonds in the new Valley of Diamonds collection, De Beers celebrates the subtleties of both cuts and colours in Alexandria, a oneof-a-kind matching set of earrings, necklace and bracelet. Made of luscious, twisted torrents of some 2,000 rose-cut diamonds in sunset shades of brown, yellow and white, its slender, faceted slivers of stones are held in place by invisible claws, achieving maximum play of light. The equally luxurious Sakkara necklace shimmers with thousands of trilliant (triangular-cut) white diamonds, like diamond fabric. The scarf necklace can be separated into two pieces, or worn back to front. Meanwhile, flat-cut coloured diamonds, faceted on top and worked into flower jewels, plus rough diamond beads, feature in De Beers’ sophisticated vintage-yet-modern couture collection designed exclusively by Hollywood jeweller Neil Lane.

At the modern minimalist gallery Nicholas James in London’s Hatton Garden, designer Nicholas Fitch is setting rose diamonds upside

down on solitaires in sharp contemporary gold settings, for a juxtaposition of old and new. Designer jeweller Jasmine Alexander (currently showing at Kara, the Paris exhibition of international designer-jewellers) studs her Glory rings with upside-down white rose diamonds, while in Italy, Glauco Cambi (also at Kara) revisits ancient techniques by sliding a disc of highly polished gold under his shallow rose diamonds, contrasting their intense glean with organic, sculptural gold. Jeremy Morris, designer and creative director at David Morris, who is credited with reintroducing the rose cut to fine jewellery, keeps one step ahead by adding a mixture of old-mine-cut, cushion-cut or the 1920s-style emerald-cut and flat kite-shaped diamonds to his collections, always focusing on the highest quality. It is, he believes, all about proportion: “A certificate saying the cut is excellent really just means accurate, not necessarily beautiful.

A perfectly proportioned stone is a lot more desirable.” Replacing the micro-pave that has until now surrounded his rose-cut stones, Morris has developed an even finer pave work that has a softer sheen, is mounted in a rolled shape and is softer and more feminine.

Even the ultimate diamond purist, Graff, is turning to a mix of cuts to add a whole new design dimension to its repertoire of diamond classics. In a modern take on the chandelier earring, lush tassels of diamond briolettes hang from interconnecting diamond hoops set with brilliant cuts, producing a softer lustre and a dramatic sense of movement, and bringing sensuality and femininity back into diamond dressing.

While cuts and colours of diamonds are changing, a new breed of designer-jeweller is subverting the design traditions governing diamond jewellery. Jessica McCormack, for example, works with unusual tones, including what she calls the “chameleon” diamond, in glinting lemon-green, but her mission – aimed at a young or young-at-heart clientele – is to change perceptions of diamond jewellery and how it is worn. The daughter of an antiques dealer, she did a stint at Sotheby’s and is known for setting diamonds in antique watch keys and for her compositions of diamonds and antique watch cogs and movements – her “Wind Up Archive”, which imitates antique jewellery in her settings of mixed oxidized silver and gold. One convert to McCormack’s subversive style is Rita Britton, owner of the famed fashion store Pollyanna in Barnsley.

Conventional diamonds did not excite her, but she was won over by McCormack’s fashion-focused, rebellious, diamond-tipped bird bones and crossed axes. Now she wears McCormack’s earrings all the time and has even designed a pair of silk Nomad jogger pants with a back pocket for slipping in the earrings when you go to the gym. It’s a soft touch for a rebel rocks.

M O U S S A I E F F 43

emerald city As the quality and quantity of emeralds continues to rise, their magnetic appeal is inspiring jewellery designers to even greater levels of creativity, says Vivienne Becker

Moussaieff Haute Joaillerie collection

white gold, cabochon Columbian emerald and emerald and diamond bangle, price on request.

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NOVE MBE R 28 2009

wizards of

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hese are “green” times, so there’s a satisfying synchronicity to the return of the ravishing emerald to the heart of precious jewellery. This season there’s an added synergy with fashion, which has taken to shades of green in a big way; Chanel’s key colour, contrasting with black for winter, is a deep but soft and creamy celadon or jade.

Seductive and majestic, the emerald had drifted off radar for some years, in part due to a dearth of good stones, concerns about enhancing treatments and, perhaps, also to a certain fustiness, an inhibiting “heirloom syndrome” that has hung about this green goddess. Firstly, worries about treatments have been eased by a stricter system of certification for all larger stones, stipulating what is acceptable, and by a universal awareness of the need for an ethical approach to stimulate consumer confidence. But over and beyond the practicalities, there’s always been a particular element of lust that accompanies the emerald. The magnetism of the emerald’s extraordinary colour and the duality of nobility and fragility that comes from its mysterious inner life

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of inclusions – or “jardins”, as they are poetically known – have captivated jewel lovers since the time of Cleopatra and her eponymous mines.

The attraction of these stones has been rekindled by a wealth of new emeralds from the original legendary mines in Columbia (Muzo and La Pita), from Brazil and, most significantly, from newer deposits in Zambia, where major commercial production started in the 1970s. Sean Gilbertson of Gemfields, a leading coloured-stone producer and owner of the Kagem mine in Zambia, confirms that all Zambian emeralds are blood- and conflict-free and, generally, there are no major wars or conflicts in emerald-producing areas. Coloured stones suffer less from conflict issues.

Zambian emerald mines, including the Kamakanga and Kagem, are yielding fresh, verdant emeralds, some blue-green,

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Moussaieff white gold, diamond and Columbian emerald and emerald necklace, price on request.

some golden-toned, that are breathing new life into the coloured-stone arena.

As more jewellers have the opportunity to use them, so more freedom, audacity and imagination are displayed in their designs.

Alisa Moussaieff, head of Moussaieff Jewellers, says, “A fine emerald is mysterious and sexy, and it doesn’t have to be flawless. Now there are decent goods from Columbia, and emeralds for less money from Zambia – a 20ct emerald could cost less than an equivalent diamond. Meanwhile, the sophisticated client has reappeared, the individualist who appreciates that each emerald has its own personality, even more so than a diamond.”

As well as Colombian emeralds, Moussaieff uses about one in 10 from Zambia. The jeweller introduces a softer, more organic look to a dramatic draped scarf necklace threaded with pebble-shaped emerald nuggets and a pair of bracelets set with a line of glossy Colombian emeralds edged with frills of diamonds.

Dublin-based gem expert and gem hunter Guy Clutterbuck has seen interest in emeralds grow, and believes the stones offer something special while delivering more for your money.

“There’s no doubt the emerald is the most alluring, fabulously glamorous stone. It’s interesting that the human eye is able to perceive more shades of green than any other colour. The whole game has been lifted by exceptionally lively Zambian and Brazilian material. There has been some resistance to Zambian emeralds at the top end, but this will soon dissipate, as the most recent discoveries have been found to be chemically very similar to finer Columbian stones, with exceptional depth of colour and added brilliance.”

Gemfields has been steadily building stock over the past few years as a way of assuring a reliable and consistent supply of emeralds to the market, and as part of a strategy to bring some structure and clarity to the largely unregulated coloured gemstone industry. Its focus is on natural, untreated gems and on a transparent ethical route from mine to market, ensuring environmental and social responsibility along the way.

Clutterbuck says “Gemfields is a very polished enterprise, pulling back the veils, bringing the stone into the public eye. The whole business was too secretive and it is good to have new blood in an archaic trade.”

Lesley Schiff of the Talisman Gallery at Harvey Nichols, notes that her clients are looking for bigger gems, especially cabochons, and they are neither afraid of

natural inclusions, nor colour prejudiced.

“Traditionally, customers used to shy away from shades that weren’t considered ‘gem colour’ but now they are seeking out varying tones, especially pale emeralds.

People no longer want the uniform cut and colour but seek the unusual and unexpected.” There’s also a strong move towards setting emeralds in yellow gold, to pick up on the warmth of golden glints in the stone.

Atelier Zobel, a progressive German design house with a modernist approach under the design direction of goldsmithartist-jeweller Michael Zobel, sets emeralds – some cut, some organic cabochons – against heavily textured gold or blackened sliver for heightened drama in a style that is organic yet geometric, and brutally beautiful. One huge saucershaped ring combines marquise-cut emeralds caught in a lattice pattern with a smooth inlay of jade. Cristina Rotondaro, Rome-based creator of one-of-a-kind jewels, has created a huge Medusa Deco cabochon ring over which creep fronds of gold tipped with cabochon rubies and Sevan Bicakci, who draws on ancient Ottoman influences and craft skills for his statuesque rings has carved an image of two embracing cherubs into a monumental 50ct Zambian emerald, held aloft by a mount of randomly clustered diamond petals.

Emeralds wind a continuous path through Cartier’s story, expressing the exotic opulence of Eastern influences, often through a daring mix of green and blue. The Indian influence is particularly strong, reflecting Cartier’s association with the 1920s + 1930s Maharajahs.

From that time and up till today, there is a continuing tradition of using great engraved emeralds, often historic Mogul stones. Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s heritage, style and image director, feels that although emeralds exert a powerful fascination, their colour can be challenging and their strong character and unconventional concept of purity demand a real commitment from the wearer: “It is a balance between the search for purity and the search for charm.” Now the Snake Queen jewels, part of Cartier’s new Secrets et Merveilles collection, perfect the art of seduction through tumbling emerald beads on a necklace entwined with a diamond snake and a ring in which a diamond serpent coils around a sugarloaf-shaped cabochon emerald.

At David Morris, luscious emerald beads in the Amira collection, hung with diamond beads and briolettes, also tell the story of the Maharajahs. Designer Jeremy Morris says he buys exceptional cabochon emeralds whenever he can, creating a

ring, for example, from a spectacular 42ct Columbian stone. But his latest innovation is to inset round diamonds into emerald cabochons for a bangle and earrings with a distinct art deco flavour.

Adler’s extravagant use of emeralds, including Zambian specimens, connects to the style of art deco, a time, says Franklin Adler, of “technical and emotional perfection” in jewellery, as seen in a bangle and earrings of huge, sweeping, linked circles of emeralds and diamonds. Adler also plunders the company’s Byzantine heritage through drapes of emerald beads, or channels the Vienna Secession through the Klimt necklace with its overlapping geometric openwork diamond elements layered with a scattering of important emeralds.

For Bulgari, rich, Renaissance gem colour has been a signature design element. In the 1960s, emeralds were mixed with pink sapphires or pink and red spinels or turquoises in arresting juxtapositions of primary colours. Today, a simple, strong ring set with a cabochon emerald, flanked by diamond baguettes and set into rounded black coated gold becomes a classic reinterpretation of Bulgari style; emerald earrings take on massive proportions, 1980s style; and High Jewellery necklaces explode with bursts of emeralds and diamonds, or dangle a huge pear-shaped drop from a heart-shaped rose cut diamond.

Meanwhile, Chopard finds the theatricality of emeralds ideal for its Red Carpet collection, choosing a pair of sumptuous pear drops for earrings, or cabochons in pebble shapes for a variation on the Creole hoop earring. It likes to cool the emeralds down with fine pave white diamonds. Asprey is taking an approach of updated classic grandeur, reporting a noticeable increase in demand for emeralds from serious connoisseurs. It has composed a trio of perfectly matched vivid green Columbian emeralds in classic emerald cuts into a necklace, ring and earring set called the Vivid Majestic Emerald collection, the velvet green gems framed in their signature Asprey Majestic diamond mount.

At Graff, master of the world’s grandest classics, the emerald is the most important coloured stone. As expected, only the finest natural specimens are used, often in luscious drop shapes or cushion cuts.

Laurence Graff explains that the emerald has long been a passion for him: “I’ve always found emeralds special – so much so that I bought my wife the Duchess of Windsor’s 19ct emerald engagement ring.

It is one of the finest emeralds I have ever seen.”

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A pair of 18 ct White Gold Earrings featuring two Natural Colombian Square Emeralds of 1.45 cts and 1.38 cts surrounded by Oval and Round Brilliant Diamonds of 9.78 cts.

A Platinum and 18 ct Gold Emerald and Diamond Necklace featuring 7 Square Emeralds of 12.53 cts set on a woven Collier of Round Brilliant and Pear shape Diamonds of 73.18 cts.

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es magazine

MOUSSAIEFF

show love or to show off, but the most valuable stones are traded in secret among the world’s shadowy rich. Portable, indestructible and beautiful, the biggest diamonds are a billionaire’s best friend. he most revealing remark about diamonds in the last 25 years descends to us from Saddam Hussein. In 1990 Saddam’s army arrived out of the blue on the borders of Kuwait-Kuwait, the state no bigger than a rug but rich in oil and whose Emir, by one of Saddam’s vivid metaphors, is richer than King Croesus in 550BC. An alert guard raised his field glasses, seized his telephone and rang the Emir by his swimming pool. ‘Hop it!’ was his message. Within 20 minutes the Emir had run for his helicopter with 80 per cent of his wealth in a bag on his back. It was, needless to say, in diamonds, very large diamonds, straight out of the safe.

Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmdad al-Jaber al-Sabah was the father of 50 children and owner of a royal fortune lying, by the fluctuations of the oil price, between US$500 million and £1 billion.

‘Ah yes,’ remembers David Bennett, head of jewellery at Sotheby’s, who sold three D internally flawless diamonds of over 100 carats in the Nineties to Middle East buyers. ‘How else can you put $12 million in your pocket?’

The Emir is the world’s painful answer to the illusion that big and brilliant diamonds are a romantic story to do with the decoration of ladies – with Elizabeth Taylor, the Queen of Brunei and the like. The truth is that although they are sometimes photographed on the necks of Hollywood’s beautiful, this is not why they are mined and why they exist.

What are diamonds for? ‘How shall I say it?’ says Bennett’s opposite number at Christie’s, Francois Curiel, elegantly.

‘Diamonds are an answer to a need in the Middle East for portable wealth, to an uncertainty in their world, to a need for a currency that is truly international, a need for something that is easily carried and easily put away.’ It’s not just in the Middle East and it’s not just now. Diamonds answer an urgent need worldwide for a

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People buy diamonds to

$12 million banknote that is smaller than an ink blot, which slips, lighter than a Kleenex, into a pouch in your wallet.

The need comes nowhere more intensely than in Saudi Arabia where princes gaze through the window at dawn in terror that the Islamic hordes are pouring down the mountainside.

But, says Lior Levin, London manager of one of the world’s leading diamond companies, Steinmetz, ‘There have always been people who need to make the kind of escape – Tsars of Russia, Arab princes...’

The mind runs on to fleeing Nazis, Chinese Communists, Balkan dictators, to Mugabes, Milosevics, Saddams, to rich men on the run for all sorts of reasons. Diamonds, in a phrase, have become the world’s most important invisible currency.

Portable wealth is not the only need for which great diamonds are created, of course. But did you really believe what Marilyn Monroe said: That ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’?

At prices of over $1 million, diamonds have little to do with the decoration of ladies. Feminine beauty is one of the last thoughts of the men who mine deeply and at deep expense into the earth in South Africa, India, Sumatra, Borneo, Russia, Australia, Canada and Brazil in frantic search for treasure. Don’t let the photographs of jewelled beauties deceive you.

Supreme diamonds, put shortly, are for men. Jeweller Laurenc e Graff of Mayfair, tries not too hard to disagree

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Big buyers From far left: Elizabeth Taylor in Rome in 1957; Laurance Graff in 2007; exiled Emir Jaber al-Sabah (center ) returns to kuwait in 1991

with this. ‘People buy diamonds for the long term, to safeguard their finances, to store their wealth and to protect against inflation,’ he says generally. ‘And yes, they can take them to any country in the world. That’s the motivation. But,’ he adds gallantly, ‘you would be wrong to say that very great stones are never worn. Owners, I assure you, want to see them being worn.’

Laurence, relaxing in the Mayfair mellowness of being the world number one jewellery dealer by sales – ‘by a long distance’, according to Curiel of Christie’s, ‘far ahead of Cartier, Boucheron’ and the Paris names – is, in my judgement, in danger of becoming a huge romantic. Is this really true? ‘I have sold 100ct D flawless stones to men who place them on their lady’s neck,’ he responds solemnly. I believe you, I reply, but I suspect Graff is telling me this only because it is so rare; and aren’t there six bodyguards standing around when it happens?

Who does buy diamonds at the top of the market? The first answer is one to be proud of: the world’s two top diamond dealers are Londoners – Graff and Alisa Moussaieff. Alisa Moussaieff ’s Bond Street family business dates back to Uzbekistan in the 1850s. De Beers of Charterhouse Street, Holborn, is, of course, the world number one buyer of roughs. The diamonds are cut in Antwerp and in India, but London is where the business starts and ends. The second answer is disappointing: the people who pay most for diamonds are people you’ve never heard of.

I assert this from a happy accident at Hotel Le Richemond in Geneva when I arrived an hour early for a Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels sale to find the room empty but a name on every seat. A saint

could not have refrained from reading them. I scanned 150 seats and fainted from boredom. Glamour failure was complete. Where were Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant? The world’s diamondrich – these were mostly private names, not dealers – move deep below the parapet under names that mean nothing.

But David Bennett of Sotheby’s assists: ‘The three big buying communities for diamonds are the Middle East, the US and the Far East.’ Americans, adds Curiel, are 50 per cent of the takers in most sales. Russians are big buyers and even bigger under bidders.

The Nineties and the 21st century have seen more astonishing diamonds appear in public than in any decade since the reign of Edward VII, when the Cullinan Mine poured out its wealth in South Africa and landlords bestrode the land.

This fact demands explanation.

The decade began with De Beers releasing a 599ct rough that had surfaced in its Premier Mine in 1986; it was turned after five years of struggle into the 273.85ct Centenary Diamond by the cutter Gabi Tolkowsky and is said to be the largest faceted D flawless diamond in the world.

Then, at auction, no fewer than three diamonds of magic weight and purity- over 100ct – came to sale in the Nineties while ‘five or six more’ were created and passed through the trade in London, New York and Antwerp (all expert sources I consulted agree on this count). The first at auction emerged while Saddam was fighting the Allies on the sands of Kuwait: a 101.84ct D colour, internally flawless (the second purity after ‘flawless’) pear-shaped which fetched an unheard of £8 million at Sotheby’s Geneva on 14 November 1990. It was bought by the Lebanese dealer Robert Mouawad, who promptly

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named it the the Mouawad Splendour and sold it on all accounts into Saudi Arabia.

Where had it come from? Nobody said, but it was undoubtedly a ‘new’ stone. In 1993 Sotheby’s came up with another, a rectangular cut of 100.36ct, again the supreme D colour and internally flawless, which sold in Geneva for £8 million as the Star of Happiness for another Middle Eastern buyer.

Both of these were eclipsed in 1995 when a pear-shaped diamond made the magic 100ct by a whisker – 100.10ct, which means that if a single facet gets damaged by a knock, it sinks below 100 – but sold, D internally flawless in Geneva as before, for a world record diamond price of £10.5 million. It transmuted into the Star of the Season in the blue sky of its mysterious owner and into an insurance policy against all of life’s miseries.

The saleroom battles were all between Sheikh Ahmed Hassan Fitaihi of Jeddah owner of the Fitaihi Center (the Harrods of Saudi Arabia), Graff, Mouawad and Sam Abrams of New York, but whoever won, the stones finished up in Saudi Arabia. The auction world had seen nothing like this diamond battlefield in history; but more stirring things yet were happening in private.

Steinmetz, who cut the 100.10ct at Sotheby’s, in turn unveiled on its own account a 200.07ct heart-shaped D flawless called La Luna and the 203.04ct pear-shaped D flawless De Beers Millennium Star. On the coloured front, where carat values have climbed yet higher, it produced an astonishing 59.60ct internally flawless fancy vivid pink – who had seen anything like this before? – and a 27.64ct vivid blue. How, I ask Lior Levin of Steinmetz, does all this happen? Are diamonds like shipwrecked treasure on the sea bed – found

by pure accident and can just turn up like that, at any time? I ask not least because no more 100ct white diamonds have sold in public since the 1995 pear-shaped; the nearest is the 84.37ct Chloe diamond in November 2007, named after the daughter of the Guess Jeans proprietor, who paid over £10 million for it. Or is it that large diamonds miraculously appear for sale when the market wants them?

Levin smiles graciously at my naivety.

Quite clearly there is a very large business in hugely expensive 100ct D flawless stones and important coloured diamonds, in private, far away from the public gaze. ‘Look at the build-up of wealth around the world in the last 20 years. India has moved from socialism to capitalism and Russia from dark cold Communism to semi-democracy.

China has opened to the world and Hong Kong has gone from strength to strength. The West has been immensely rich. Unlooked-for wealth has come into private hands.’ What it means is

that when the great cutters stare at large roughs, they size them up according to the buyers who are out there. So you know at any time the level of demand for 100ct D flawless stones and where to find it? I ask. ‘Of course,’ he replies. A large rough breaks into a mass of small stones for an impoverished market, into something supreme for a rich one.

It has been like this, of course, for more than a century. When the East India Company in the 1840s found an enormous rough at Golconda in Andhra Pradesh, it knew what it wanted: it commanded that a second diamond, the 186ct Koh-i-Noor, the Mountain of Light, should be presented in 1850 to Queen Victoria and unveiled at the Great

Exhibition in Crystal Palace in 1851.

The reverential public stared not just at the largest but also at the oldest stone in the world: the Koh-i-Noor had been worn in battle by Karna, King of Anga, who lived and died around 3,000BC. The same choice of how to handle an enormous rough arose with a 3,106ct monster that emerged from the mine of Sir Thomas Cullinan in the Transvaal in 1905 and whose children now sleep in the Tower of London alongside the Koh-i-Noor. Two immense pear-shaped stones were taken from it, the smaller, of 317.4ct, was set into the front of the Imperial State Crown and the larger, the 530.ct Great Star of Africa, was set into the head of the Royal Sceptre. The

M O U S S A I E F F 53

The world’s two top diamond dealers are Londoners: Laurence Graff and Alisa Moussaieff

Rough diamonds Left: Diamond mine in Kimberley, South Africa in the forties. Right: the Cullinan diamond circa 1907 before it was cut

Cullinan stone, which began life as a tiny gleam of light at sunset spotted on the wall of the mine by Captain Frederick Wells and dug out with a penknife, also yielded a dozen smaller diamonds under the blades of famed cutter IJ Asscher of Amsterdam. Roughs are there to do what the market commands them.

Nonetheless, I ask if we are not seeing an extraordinary late-in-the-day success in the Nineties and 21st century in extracting great stones. ‘No’ says Lior Levin, ‘there have always been great roughs available,’ through-out the 20th century and before.

So was there a lower demand for big stones in the less prosperous Eighties, the Seventies, the Sixties and back through the war years to the Twenties?

Secretly, there are, it seems, all sorts of 100ct diamonds and important coloured stones in existence that have never come to public light, may never do so and are traded by heads of state and the superrich in deepest privacy.

Laurence Graff assures me it has never been harder to bring supreme diamonds to the surface. Diamonds, which are pure carbon, the hardest and most brilliant of all precious stones, are found either colourless – ‘white’-or in shades of red, blue, pink, yellow and green and now lie deep underground. They raise the same problem as the world’s coal: one must dig ever deeper to find them, turn over ever more earth.

Graff owns a mine in Lesotho. ‘I was there two weeks ago, in windproof clothes and boots, shovelling earth as (my staff) do, trucks and trucks and trucks of rock. If people could see how difficult it is to mine diamonds, how much rock must be moved to find them... you find less than one carat of diamonds in one truck.’ A 1ct diamond stands on half of your little fingernail. ‘Then,

54

when you find a diamond, you have to polish and cut it, at which point you find things you did not see before – no wonder these become toys too valuable to play with.’ Toys too valuable to play with is as good definition of diamonds as I can come up with.

The answer, then, to the big mystery – What are diamonds for? – is that they are there to serve as one of the world’s most reliable reserve currencies; as, in other parts of the market, great Picassos do. ‘I have yet to meet anyone buying a diamond who did not think that it would be a good investment to put away for the future,’ declares Francois Curiel.

Laurence Graff agrees: ‘Those Saudi buyers of the Nineties, they were very shrewd; they’ve made three times their investment.’

Are diamonds as good as this, financially? Last month in Geneva, Sotheby’s got £5.9 million for a fancy vivid blue, internally flawless cushionshaped diamond of just 7.03ct. This awesome sum was bid on high estimate by the Warhol-owning Hong Kong land and property developer Joseph Lau, who flatteringly named it the Star of

Mine field The world’s deepest open-pit diamond mine in Mirny in Yakutia eastern Siberia

Josephine, apparently after his youngest daughter. His price is actually less startling than the record price per carat he set for any gemstone sold at auction: £900,000. This vivid blue surfaced quite recently, a chance find at the Cullinan Mine. Blue is, next to red, the rarest of all diamond colours. Two pieces of information are sent us here: one is that coloured diamonds have far overtaken white diamonds in value per carat; the second is that, in 2009, the Middle East does not always win.

Coloured diamonds are a market invented by Laurence Graff and the Queen of Brunei in the Eighties. Before that, rubies from Mogok region of Burma, 90 miles northeast of Mandalay, outperformed them. Probably the stone with the highest real carat value in the world is the fancy purplish-red diamond, the Hancock Red, for which the Sultan of Brunei paid £544,525 in 1987. It was 0.95ct in weight, tinier than a pixel and it worked out at £572,985 per carat or around £1.5 million now. Coloured diamonds are for billionaires and handsomely repay those who gamble in them.

International Herald Tribune

MOUSSAIEFF

A Platinum multicolour Diamond Necklace of 85.73 cts with a Diamond Drop Fancy Brown Yellow of 52 cts.

Platinum 18 ct Gold Diamond Drop Earring incorporating two 13.92 cts Natural Fancy Dark Orangey Brown with Yellow Pear shape Diamonds with Brilliant Cut Diamond Drops.

M O U S S A I E F F 56

THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES

A Cut Above

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2009

I

JEWELRY

Hard rock therapy and the warm, soft solace of gold: Jewelers invent new ways to offer sparkle and comfort in depleted times.

Jewelry that combines brown and white diamonds.

Retailers the gate keepers of the industry, only recently warmed tothe idea of using the brown stones. “It gave designers a way to do quite exuberant and elaboratediamond designsat a lower cost,” one expert said.

Platinium 18 ct gold diamond drop earring incorporating two 13.92 cts Natural Fancy Dark Orangey Brown and 13.01 cts Natrural Fancy Brownish Yellow pear shape diamonds with brilliant cut diamond drops

by Moussaieff

18 ct yellow gold ring featuring a Nartural Fancy Dark Orangery Brown round brilliant diamond of 18.51 cts by Moussaieff

Taking a shine to brown rock NEW YORK

Disdained ‘champagne’ and ‘chocolate diamonds finally get some respect

BY VICTORIA GOMELSKY

Randi L. Molofsky had just returned from a luxury jewelry fair in Switzerland a year and a half ago when her boyfriend, Nathan G. Lithgow, surprised her with the gift of a diamond engagement ring. This is a bold move for anyone, but it was especially courageous for Mr. Lithgow.

Ms. Molofsky, author of “A Girl’s Guide to Buying Diamonds: How to Choose, Evaluate, and Buy the Diamond You Want,” had spent nearly a decade writing about jewelry for a handful of trade and consumer publications.

“I’d looked at thousands of engagement rings over the course of my career, and I knew that I didn’t want something conventional,” she said.

With help from the British jeweler Stephen Webster, a close friend of Ms. Molofsky’s, Mr. Lithgow

picked out a 2.12-carat, oval, naturally colored brownyellow diamond and asked Mr. Webster to design an 18-karat rose gold setting. Unusual for its champagne sparkle and custom mount, the diamond ring, to Ms. Molofsky’s surprise, fulfilled her exacting criteria.

“With colored diamonds, it’s not about what’s beautiful to everyone else,” she said. “It’s about what speaks to me and my personal sense of style.”

Fifteen years ago, few jewelers would have endorsed that rationale.

Brown

diamonds, better known by their more effervescent name, champagnes, were first offered to the trade in the early 1990s after a big discovery at the Argyle mine in Western Australia. Since they are small, marked with internal flaws and plentiful, they had only been used for industrial purposes. Retailers, the gatekeepers of the jewelry industry, disdained them.

Years of training by the Gemological Institute of America had instilled in retailers the notion “that white was better,” said Elizabeth L. Chatelain, president of 57

IV THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2009

A CUT ABOVE

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

JEWELRY

Once unloved diamond earns new appreciation CHAMPAGNE, FROM PAGE 1

MVI Marketing, based in Paso Robles, California, which helped Argyle introduce champagne diamonds to the American market. “To retailers, these were offcolor goods.”

show is the most recent initiative in the 18-month-old trade campaign, which includes sales training, new marketing material and a revamped consumer Web site, champagnediamondcenter.com.

Consigned to mass merchants, who sold them on the cheap, browns languished in the low-end market until the turn of the millennium, when opinions began to change and designers warmed to the idea of jewelry with the refractive brilliance of a diamond and the singular palette of a colored stone.

Helped by the recent attention, champagnes, along with their darkerhued and more valuable cousins, cognacs, are now so in vogue that designers traditionally wedded to colorless D-flawless stones, including Frédéric Mathon of Mathon Paris and Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele, co-president of Chopard, are weaving them into couture showpieces that cost tens of thousands of dollars.

There was a bonus: At prices 15 percent to 25 percent lower than their white counterparts, champagnes were a bargain.

“It gave designers a way to do quite exuberant and elaborate diamond designs at a lower cost,” said Sally C. Morrison, director of the Diamond Information Center. “There are so many shades to create nuance and texture using browns.

It’s a way to paint in color.”

Diamond miners, long deprived of ways to get more money from the browns, could not have been happier, especially Rio Tinto, the owner of the Argyle mine.

At its peak in 1994, the open-pit mine produced 42 million carats of diamonds, about 40 percent of the world supply. By last year, annual production had fallen to about 15 million carats, but a decision to bore underground into deeper ore deposits could extend the mine’s life through 2018, with an annual yield of about 20 million carats.

The majority of Argyle’s bounty is brownish stones, but a tiny supply of pink diamonds is also sold, at prices of up to $1 million per carat.

Because they are extremely rare, the pinks usually receive most of the hype.

But things are changing. Six months ago, Rio Tinto started a champagne diamond jewelry design competition open to all U.S. designers. The winning designs — a necklace, two sets of earrings and a brooch — were manufactured and hit the road on Nov. 2 as part of a traveling exhibition, stopping at leading jewelry retail locations in the United States through Dec. 27. The 58

H. Stern, the Brazilian jewelry house best known for its Carmen Mirandainspired colored stone designs, was an early adopter, introducing a line of brown diamonds in 1997. “This year, our launch is a collection called Giverny, for which we selected very light cognac diamonds, which are literally light beige and light brown, to recreate the idea of dawn and dusk,” said the jeweler’s creative director, Roberto Stern.

In 2000, Eddie Le Vian of the Le Vian jewelry company, a family business with roots dating to 15th-century Persia, introduced a collection called “Chocolate Diamonds” that has become a pillar of the brand and, as of June, includes a line of bridal rings.

“It’s been an interesting journey,” Mr. Le Vian said. “We’ve taken stones considered low quality and made them attractive to consumers.”

Few people understand that effort better than Alisa Moussaieff of the Moussaieff jewelry house in London.

Mrs. Moussaieff must compete with the likes of Laurence Graff for rare colored diamonds at auctions.

“I recall that nobody else wanted them and we kept on buying them,” Mrs. Moussaieff said of her early experiences with brown diamonds in the 1960s. “We made a brooch with different shades of brown: light, dark and grayish. You combine all the shades together and you get a magnificent ball of fire.”

THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2009 12

FASHION LONDON SPECIAL REPORT

Traditional sweet florals meet geometric angles

GRAEME BLACK

GOOD SPORTS Suzy Menkes Is it the 2010 Olympic Games in London that has encouraged designers to turn their attention to sportswear?

GRAEME BLACK’S show backdrop was sketched of Indian temples with the chatter and cawing of birds on the soundtrack. But this was an upscale vision of India, where fine fabrics in vivid colors gave even a pair of jodhours, worn witha satin blouse and jacket, a couture sportiness-not to mention the rivulets of diamonds and gemstones butterflies from the jeweler Moussaieff.

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Clockwise, An 18 ct White Gold Ring featuring an Oval Opal of 4.10 cts surrounded by approximately 4.50 cts of Diamonds. A Platinum Ring featuring an Oval Opal of 3.20 cts anked by two Pear shape Diamonds of 1.38 cts with a border of Pink Diamonds of 1.93 cts.

An 18 ct White Gold Ring featuring an Oval Opal of 6.43 cts surrounded by 14 Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds. An 18 ct White Gold Ring featuring an Oval Opal of 6.08 cts mounted on a Diamond Pave Shank of 1.37 cts.

M O U S S A I E F F 60

Robb Report

MOUSSAIEFF

Robb Report

RUSSIA OCTOBER 2009

MOUSSAIEFF

M O U S S A I E F F 63

R O B B 64

R E P O R T

M O U S S A I E F F 65

R O B B 66

R E P O R T

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JEWELLERY EXPERT

FIRST CLASS HOW TO CHOOSE, BUY AND SELL PRECIOUS GEMSTONES Text - ALISA MOUSSAIEFF

A PLATINUM AND 18 CT GOLD NATURAL FANCY INTENSE YELLOW RADIANT DIAMOND PENDANT OF 73.94 CTS MOUNTED ON AN OVAL AND PEAR SHAPE DIAMOND NECKLACE OF 124.21 CTS FEATURING A PEAR SHAPE.

D

iamonds are the best helpers of those who and

remains the same. In the second half of 2008, in the midst

members of royal family owe a lot to their

of the financial crisis, diamond prices fell dramatically

jewels: after 1917, it was the only reminder of their

from artificially created peak, but shortly returned

previous life, on the basis of which they were trying

to a more reasonable level, as we saw before 2008. As

to build their new life. In both World Wars diamonds

far as coloured diamonds are concerned, their price

were again extremely useful for their lucky-unlucky

is constantly increasing: only rarely, for a very short

owners.

period of time, the curve reaches its plato, and the

are

in

trouble.

Russian

aristocrats

R O B B 68

Prices for white diamonds can vary, but their value

R E P O R T

JEWELLERY EXPERT

ADVICE FOR INVESTORS price growth slows down, only to climb up again soon

reduce the stone’s value. Everything that is printed in

enough.

small letters can really have a significant impact.

If you decided to acquire a diamond, you should be

It is all a little bit different when it comes to coloured

looking for not just a stone, but an object of affection

diamonds. As far as rarity of colour, hence the market

and love. Diamonds should become your passion and not

price, red is the rarest of them all. Followed by green,

just an investment. Only after realising that should

blue, pink, orange, yellow and brown (cognac) hues. The

you contact respectable specialists. I would deal with

more intense the colour and the clearer the clarity,

well-known jewellery houses, whose main speciality

the pricier and the more valuable the stone. The colour

is dealing with exquisite, magnificent stones, which

and intensity is described as “fancy vivid”, “fancy deep”,

means that they have access to the best stones for

“fancy intense”, “fancy” and “fancy light”. The colour

reasonable prices. The best investment is to acquire

should be clean without additional hues. A great stone

the right stone for the right price.

should have quite a saturated,

It is always useful to look around

evenly distributed colour.

and to compare the quality and prices of stones from different jewellers.

For any buyer the certificate is extremely important, it is a proof of

origin

guarantees

of

the

that

stone,

the

The more intense the colour and the clearer the clarity, the pricier and the

which

stone

was

Ideally, it is best to buy exquisite Type

IIA

stones.

These

are

extremely rare: absolute clarity is the result of a unique process of

crystallisation.

“Golconda”

mine

in

The India,

famous which

is not extinct, was one of the

mined in a lawful, civilised manner. Pay attention to

locations where such stones were found. However,

the date of the certificate, it should not date more

Golconda and Type IIA diamonds differ: diamonds that

than a few years back.

were extracted from this mine are mostly Type IIA, but

Most colourless diamonds are graded as “D”, and the

not all Type IIA were mined in this location.

colour range continues alphabetically up to so-called

For a “beginner” investor with the budget of around $500

light-yellow or brown diamonds where the scale

000, I would recommend to look for a round brilliant

ends at “Z”. Preferably, in order for the diamond to be

D colour with excellent cut and symmetry. For those

of an investment quality, it should be characterised

with a big sum to invest, it is better to acquire a few

as “excellent”, which considerably improves its price

great quality D-colour round brilliant diamonds of

compared to “very good” or “good”. It is always better

different sizes, and fine coloured diamonds. To those

when the certificate does not provide any further

individuals with the budget of $100 000 my advice would

comments such as “FLuorescent”, “graining” or “modified”

be to invest in a fantasy cut coloured diamond, with

– all these factors in the certificate dramatically

good intensity and clarity but not of the highest

M O U S S A I E F F 69

JEWELLERY EXPERT

quality. This type of stone can still be a great purchase

years, I have build an extensive client base, and people

in an emotional and investment sense.

come to me when they want to refresh or add to their

My husband and I started to collect fancy coloured

collection or, on the contrary, sell something due to

diamonds in the beginning of 60’s, long before they were

personal circumstances. I was lucky to become an owner

considered beautiful. Only specialists and trade were

of the biggest GIA certified red diamond. I purchased

familiar with them, hence they were not expensive,

The Moussaieff Red, 5.11cts, in 2002. It was exhibited in

and we used to buy them with great pleasure. But the

London Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Museum in Washington and in Scuderie Del Quirinale in Rome.

beginning of the 80‘s brought a dramatic and stable

To source a stone of an excellent clarity and

rise in prices for coloured diamonds which caught

us

by

surprise.

Especially

colour is not easy. I bought a 6.04ct blue

as

diamond for $1,3 million per carat in

only in the 70’s the professors at GIA (Gemological

Institute

of

2007, which was an extortionate price

America)

were teaching their students that

at the time. However the intensity of

colour in a diamond is a FLaw. But in

colour and clarity was extraordinary,

the 80’s they were compared in their

so were the cut and the symmetry. I

beauty and rarity to exquisite objects

can count on one palm the amount of stones I have seen in 50 years compared

of art, which was immediately reFLected

to this one in terms of quality – when

in the price – it rose sky high.

the certificate stated “fancy vivid”,

I have managed to acquire one of the most exquisite collections of fancy coloured diamonds in the world, as I have started to buy them in the times when the marked was still overlooked by others.

If in 1979 a 5ct pink diamond could have been bought for $2000 per carat, today for the same stone

Moussaieff’S Red, 5.11 cts, in 2002 was exhibited in London Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Museum in Washington and in Scuderie Del Quirinale in Rome.

Just

this

excellent, statement

excellent. strengthened

my confidence that this stone was really worth its price. Later on, other buyers paid more for stones of a worse quality.

Lately, I am buying rough diamonds and cut them myself. Not long ago, my

you would have to pay $500 000 per

attention was caught to an amazing

carat.

specimen – a 39.19ct rough blue diamond.

Up to this day coloured diamonds are my weakness: I buy

I have managed to purchase this stone, which has been

rough stones, buy at auctions, it even happens that some

turned into a 9ct vivid blue beauty.

times a stone can return to me that has already passed

Inexperienced buyers should be very careful when buying

though my hands in the last 50 years. Through all these

at an auction. We all bargain with each other for a few

R O B B 70

FLawless,

R E P O R T

JEWELLERY EXPERT

A PLATINUM AND 18 CT GOLD BRACLET SET WITH 29.34 CTS OF FANCY COLOURED FANCY FANCY SHAPE DIAMOND

desirable stones in auction houses around the world.

have a pleasant night so eventually we sold the stone

In the process you can pay an inadequate price. But

to his brother.

sometimes it can be the complete opposite. I remember,

It is not a secret that sales of 5 to 10ct D FLawless

I bought a gorgeous – bright pink diamond at an auction

diamonds fell. People that used to earn 1-2 million

in Hong Kong. I still struggle to understand how I

dollars a year are still struggling. But those who earned

managed to get it for the price that I

paid.

Evidently

my

competitors

were asleep. Perhaps the fact that my agent was representing me on the phone was local, confused them.

I always follow my instinct when buying diamonds. If I feel that the stone is “sexy” – that is a guarantee that it will retain its value and desirability. Once, my husband Sam

I always follow my instinct when buying diamonds.

If I feel that the stone is “sexy” – that is a guarantee that it will retain its value and desirability.

from

three

to

thirteen

million a year are still on the market

for

exceptional

stones.

If you look at the windows of jewellery boutiques on New Bond Street, you will feel there is a saturation of D colour diamonds.

But it is not exactly true. From all minded diamonds only 2% are of a gem quality. From those 2% only 0.01% are over one carat and FLawless. I hope

was selling a beautiful 100ct diamond to one ruler in Middle East. My husband suggested to

that this fact will determine the life of the FLawless

put the stone under his pillow and sleep on it, and

pink and white diamond bracelet (D colour) that I have

if the night was pleasant, to buy the stone, but if he

put in the window of our New Bond Street boutique

saw nightmares – refuse the purchase. The ruler didn’t

just this morning.

M O U S S A I E F F 71

Robb Report UNITED STATES JUNE 2009

21st ANNUAL BEST of the BEST

R O B B 72

R E P O R T

STYLE

*DIAMONDS

Alisa Moussaieff ring with fancy blue diamond

B

LUE DIAMONDS ARE so rare that few people have ever actually laid eyes on a vivid specimen; yet London-based jewwleer Alisa Moussaieff (+44.20.7290.1536, www.moussaieff.co.uk) gazes at them daily, thanks to her unprecedented cache of these elusive stones. Among her treasures is a 39.19-carat rough blue diamond that she acquired for 8.8 million and intends to cut as a 9-carat, pear-shaped stone.

JUNE

“The diamonds are so scarce,” she says, “that when one comes up for sale, you have to be quick to snap up the half-dozen sizable blue diamonds that she added to her exceptional collection last year, and she does not believe that they will remain in her possession for long-even during difficult economic times.

“Historically, unusual diamonds have always been a good investment,” she says. And that’s not changing.” -J.N.

2009

178

M O U S S A I E F F 73

Top. An 18 ct White Gold Ring featuring a Natural Fancy Intense Pink Square Emerald Cut Diamond of 1.04 cts mounted in a Diamond microset frame. And an 18 ct White Gold Ring featuring a Natural Fancy Blue Round Brilliant Diamond of 1.42 cts anked by two Natural Fancy Pink Round Brilliant Diamonds of 0.61 cts.

M O U S S A I E F F 74

PRESTIGE

MOUSSAIEFF

A 51-carat, yellow, radiant-cut diamond set in platinum with emerald-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds

PRESTIGE

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F EATURE

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W

Alisa Moussaieff tells edMund W e e w h y m u lt i - m i l l i o n d o l l a r coloured diamonds are worth every penny

hen Moussaieff purchased a 6.04-carat emerald-cut blue diamond for US$1.3m per carat in Hong Kong last year, some people were shocked at the amount that changed hands it was a record price paid for a diamond over the past 20 years. But Alisa Moussaieff, managing director of Moussaieff Jewellers defends the decision.

“Blue diamonds are rare and getting rarer. The price paid for the 6-carat blue was definitely not exaggerated,” says the matriarch of the Moussaieff family business. She says that the blue and other fancy coloured diamonds are so rare that they will continue to appreciate in value. “A careful look at what I bought at auctions in the last few years reveals that some of my purchases only seemed high-priced momentarily. More often than not, similar quality items went on to sell at a similar and higher price bracket at a later date,“ she adds.

Moussaieff reiterates that she has not paid phenomenal

Kaleidoscope of The Moussaieff Red is a 5.11-carat, triangle-shaped, deep-red diamond.

It is the largest red diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America

prices but the right prices for these gemstones. “I have never overpaid what I consider the correct market value,” she states.

Coloured diamonds are the rarest and the most special, avers Moussaieff. In fact, coloured diamonds, diamonds and fine gems have always been central to the human aesthetic and religious experience in all cultures, she says. “African customers relate that black diamonds to them are nothing less than sacred. Indian customers relate that fine gems and coloured diamonds are incorporated into their statues as the eyes of their gods,” she explains.

But there is no denying that the allure of coloured diamonds to Moussaieff has much to do with the scarcity of polished coloured diamonds on the open market. “While royalty and nobility have always appreciated coloured diamonds, the consumption of coloured diamonds for pleasure and investment by the general public is a comparatively new phenomenon,” she says. She reveals that the price of coloured diamonds has gone up over the years. “For example, in 1979, a 5-carat pink could be had for US$2,000 per carat. Today, the same stone would be worth US$500,000 per carat,” she states.

Yet, it would be hard to imagine that just decades ago, coloured stones were not as highly prized. “During the 1970s, the Gemological Institute of America taught its students that colour in a diamond is a flaw,” reveals Moussaieff.

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F EATURE

But going back earlier than the ‘70s, Moussaieff had already set her eye on coloured gems. “My husband Sam and I started accumulating fine coloured diamonds in the early 1950s because they were not considered desirable and we were able to accumulate a very fine collection, which we put in the drawer because there was not much demand,” she says. “We continued to gravitate towards fine coloured diamonds wherever they surfaced,” she says. “I procure most of my diamonds from various sources, including buying rough stones and having them cut myself, buying them from auctions, from the trade and repurchasing pieces already sold over the past 50 years.”

Then she admits, “The inexplicable price in the early 1980s helped our business enormously.” And it is this lucrative niche that Moussaieff has wisely tapped into, which has allowed this independent jeweller to build up what would today become a prized cache of some of the world’s rarest coloured diamonds.

This far-sighted acquisition strategy has resulted in Moussaieff owning extraordinary gemstones such as the Moussaieff Red, which at 5.11 carats, is the largest certified natural, fancy red diamond in the world - such is the rarity of the Moussaieff Red diamond that it has been exhibited at the Natural History Museum in London and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. Ironically, the Moussaieff story began with pearls. It all started in the 1850s in Bukara, Russia where a passionate pearl merchant, Shlomo Moussaieff went in search of the most ravishing natural pearls from the Persian Gulf.

PRESTIGE

A pair of earrings with 8.4-carat and 7.76-carat yellow oval diamonds with round brilliant-cut diamonds

“I married into a family, of Bukharin origin, who has been at the high-end of the gems and jewellery trade for 800 years. Bukhara is located at the very centre of Asia and is the main port of call on the famous silk route, which extends from China to Venice. My husband’s ancestors followed Marco Polo’s footsteps and travelled this route extensively. He proudly relates how Genghis Khan ordered stones for a gemencrusted robe for his ancestor,” says Moussaieff.

Schlomo handed over the business to his son, Remo, who established himself as a gem dealer in Paris during the Belle Époque period in the 1920s. Several decades later, in 1963, Remo’s son (also named Shlomo, who is Moussaieff’s husband) opened the first Moussaieff showroom at the London Hilton on Park Lane.

Moussaieff recalls some of the jeweller’s most famous clients. “The loyal customers of my husband’s grandfather include King Farouk of Egypt, Gahzi the ruler of Iraq and King Abdullah of Jordan,” she reveals. “My father-in-law continued a tradition by selling pearls of exceptional quality to the house of Cartier from his Paris office in 1928. Fortunately for him, Cartier’s biggest customer at that time were Indian maharajas with an insatiable appetite for fine pearls.

Later, my father-in-law opened an office on Hong Kong’s Nathan Road whose inhabitants appreciated the fineness of newly mined Mississippi pearls as well as conventional pearls from Bahrain.”

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Today, Moussaieff Jewellers has showrooms at London’s Hilton Hotel, the Grand Hotel Kempinski in Geneva, as well as a new store in the English capital on New Bond Street, which was opened in 2007. While her husband has since retired from the business, Moussaieff , who is still one of the most influential and respected players in the diamond market, continues to ply the trade, searching for the best gemstones. But it’s not just coloured diamonds that she is drawn to - what she looks for are magnificent stones with beauty and quality that speak for themselves.

Moussaieff recounts how she came across one of the most beautiful gemstones she has ever seen during an auction in Hong Kong a few years ago - a Madwani jade necklace. “It was composed of perfectly round beads, almost of perfect imperial jade, transparent in their clarity. The colours were very pronounced but not oversaturated and they were free of inclusions.

They possessed an ethereal life-like glow, which came from inside and seemed completely independent of outside light sources. I felt I had to have it and my gut instinct told me

“Gems with a solid value will fluctuate in price but they will never disappear and people will continue to derive pleasure from wearing them” it would bring good fortune to its wearer,”she confesses.

She goes on to tell me what makes a great gem. “A stone has got to have the correct color, clarity and cut (the three Cs). It can be small or large but the most saleable size is between five and 10 carats. A superclear transparency, which is the result of a very healthy crystal, is typical of the Golconda mine. It should give rise to the correct nuances in its play of light and colour. Its brilliancy and dispersion should be at the top end. Symmetry is highly desirable and freedom from visible flaws is mandatory,” she says. “It should positively mesmerise with its allure.”

With so much to look for in a diamond, it’s no wonder Moussaieff still personally oversees the acquisitions. While some dealers make their purchases over the phone, she, however, prefers to see the stone.

“The how-it-hits-you factor cannot be assessed over the phone,” she explains. “Also there are many subtle factors affecting highly priced diamonds which are not stated on the certificate. This can also hold true with large, D-coloured, flawless ones with certificates.”

Moussaieff adds that while a lot of gem dealers have lately converted to looking only at certificates from reputable companies - Gubelin Gemmological Laboratories for coloured gemstones, or GIA for diamonds - stone also needs to have a distinct “personality” ‚“Your eyes are always the best judge. It takes a highly trained eye to judge the degree of brilliancy, that is the return of white light to the eye of any given diamond.

In short, because we basically rely only on our judgment, eye contact is vital,” she says. “And it is very important to do this correctly when deciding on price.”

While Moussaieff believes that she is paying equitable prices for raw, coloured diamonds, she also believes that her clients are getting good august 2 0 0 9

Necklace with marquise and pearshaped diamonds (55.5 carats).

The yellow and white pear-shaped diamond drops are detachable

value for their money.

Foremost, diamonds make good investments, she says, even in uncertain times.

“Historically, fine diamonds and top-quality gems have always kept their value in times of political upheaval and economic uncertainty.

In 1984, we bought a 50 carat, D-coloured, flawless diamond at an auction in the mid of what was then a very severe depression. Dealers, at the time, questioned our sound judgement but after the stone was well-sold, they admitted that the purchase reflected foresight,”she shares.

Also, contrary to what some predict to be a crisis in the luxury sector, she says that capital will flow into gems as a way to protect it. “The luxury market is not in crisis, it has slowed down. While there was speculation in the last diamond bubble, the diamonds still held a good proportion of their value while some share values were wiped out,”she says. “Gems with a solid value will fluctuate in price but they will never disappear and people will continue to derive pleasure from wearing them.”

Moussaieff suggests another reason why people will continue to buy gemstones - that the allure of jewels has something to do with responding to a need which is very basic. “Luxury is about enhancing the feel-good factor.

It is even more important to pay attention to that feel- good factor in times of stress,” she says. Women will always use jewellery to make a statement about themselves. “For example, ‘I am beautiful‚‘ ‚‘I have style’. Women will always want to attract and be admired,”she says.

But Moussaieff admits that there are some challenges ahead, being an independent jeweller whose focus is on haute jewellery. “Diversification is an obvious challenge to us today,”she admits, alluding to the trend in which many Bond Street jewellers these days can be seen dabbling in a little of everything, ranging from scarves to perfume.

In spite of the cash-flow advantages of diversification, Moussaieff believes that there is a need for the flexibility of decision-making in the highly complex process of purchasing gemstones. “Our buyers do not need the approval of a committee for their purchases, and can thus incorporate factors involving subtle aesthetics and fine sensitivities to nuances of colour into their decision. This would be impossible in the rigid financial climate superimposed by the structure of diversified companies - they would invariably have large amounts of cash tied up at the low-end mass-produced items at the entrance level. This would be too limiting at the top end,” she says.

“It is important to us to have real freedom to use our creative judgement when buying,” she explains.

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PRESTIGE

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A pair of Briolette Cut Natural Fancy Yellow Diamond Drop Earrings. Total weight 61 cts.

Double row Platinum Pear shape Diamond Necklace of 134 cts with two Natural Fancy Yellow Diamond Drops of 44 cts each.

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REUTERS

MOUSSAIEFF

A Platinum Ring featuring a Natural Fancy Vivid Blue Emerald Cut Diamond of 5.01 cts anked by two Baguette Diamonds of 1.61 cts & 1.47 cts.

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Sotheby’s unveils rare blue diamond for auction Mon April 27, 2009 7:03am GMT

By David Brough London, April 27 (Reuters) – Sotheby’s on Monday unveiled a 7.03 – carat fancy vivid blue diamond, the rarest to enter the international market this year and a barometer for the fine gem and jewellery market in the midst of a global recession.

“What makes it more special is that it is internally flawless,” said Adonis Pouroulis, chairman of London-listed Petra Diamonds which extracted the stone from the Cullinan mine in South Africa and is now offering it for sale. “When you are buying something like this, you are buying an investment –it’s like a rare work of art,” he told Reuters financial television in an interview.

The blue diamond, one of the rarest blues that Sotheby’s have auctioned, will come up for sale as the centrepiece of a jewellery auction in Geneva on May 12, with a pre-sale estimate price of £5.8-8.5 million. “We remain very optimistic (of achieving the pre-sale estimate) even in this tough environment,” Pouroulis said.

The Cullinan mine is the world’s most regular supplier of blue diamonds of size and quality.

The blues are the rarest of the diamond family after the reds. Asked to comment on the blue diamond, Alisa Moussaieff, co-owner of Moussaieff jewellers, who bought a rare 39.19-carat rough blue diamond from Petra Diamonds last year, said she believed its rarity would justify the pre-sale estimate price. “It would most certainly achieve the range,” she said.

Prices of more mainstream, jewellery grade diamonds have fallen sharply in recent months due to the recession, but jewellers say the most exquisite gemstones and jewels are immune to downturns.

“For the rare and special pieces, there is no recession,” Alisa Moussaieff said, speaking in an ornate room in her ultrasecure boutique on Bond Street, London’s premier jewellery quarter. She had seen the 7.03-carat blue diamond on Sunday, but declined to say whether she would bid for it. The buyer of the diamond will have the right to name it.

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Dubai crisis seen as hiccup for London luxury hub Tues Dec 01, 2009 14:13pm GMT

By David Brough and Sinead Cruise LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters Life!) - Dubai’s debt crisis is a hiccup for exclusive fine jewellery and luxury goods shopping in London but could be a boon for investment in prime real estate.

Dubai’s financial convulsions should not have much impact on demand for top-end engagement rings, while the exodus from Dubai property purchases could be an opportunity for investment in London real estate.

“For me, the Middle East has always been an extremely, extremely trustworthy place to do business,” said Alisa Moussaieff, co-owner of Moussaieff, high in the hierarchy of Bond Street, London’s hub for exquisite jewellery purchases. “The trust has not been shaken by this hiccup. “I call it a hiccup even though in the financial markets it is a very serious hiccup,” she said at her boutique in the London Hilton hotel on Park Lane, sitting at a desk festooned in emeralds, sapphires and pearls about to be mounted.

Fine jewellers and luxury goods merchants said they expected some buyers, especially those exposed to Dubai’s meltdown, such as property developers and bankers, to stand back temporarily. “It depends what they’ve got their fingers into,” said Roy Connor, store manager of William & Son, an emporium owned by luxury goods czar William Asprey in upscale Mayfair.

But purchases of jewels for weddings should hold up.

“Everybody is being a little bit more cautious,” said Marwan Chatila, owner of Chatila, another leading Bond Street jeweller which regularly serves ultra-wealthy Middle Eastern customers. “But there are always weddings in the Middle East. “And people who used to

spend ‘x’, now they may spend half of that,” Chatila told Reuters television in an interview.

He said people were increasingly buying fine jewels as a commodity investment rather than as an adornment.

“There is a class of clients now who are buying diamonds as a commodity rather than jewellery for sentimental value. A lot of people have little confidence in the dollar. A lot of people expect very high inflation in the next 2-5 years.”

He added, “Some very sophisticated investors are buying important diamonds and keeping them aside as portable wealth.”

REAL ESTATE Whilst the turmoil in Dubai may be a temporary setback for jewel purchases, it is an opportunity for property investment in London, with a slide in the pound creating bargains.

“The buyers we see a fair amount of are from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi,” said Jonathan Hewlett, head of London region at upmarket property consultant Savills <SVS. L>.

“Recently they have benefited not only from the drop in values but also from exchange rates and so we have seen them continue to invest both commercially and residentially.”He added, “Going forward we don’t see that changing. “You could argue that rather than investing out there (in the Gulf), more of them will decide to invest over here because it is safer.”

A new report from Barclays Wealth showed a swing in sentiment back to British property among high net worth individuals. “Investors believe we are approaching the beginning of the end of the downturn,” said Rory Gilbert, head of UK high net worth, UK & Ireland Private Bank at Barclays Wealth.

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The Economist

MOUSSAIEFF

Three Platinum Rings each featuring a Diamond of 30.06 cts, 19.85 cts and 19.88 cts.

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Asset markets

AN ARTICLE FROM ECONOMIST.COM

Colour me Dazzle LONDON - Nov 21st 2009

Record auction prices for rare coloured diamonds

“

If you have money to invest, there is no safer haven than something rare," says Laurence Graff, the London-born "King of Diamonds". If this is sales talk, he is his own best customer. In December 2008, during some of the bleakest days of the credit crisis, Mr Graff paid $24.3m for the 35.56-carat, 17th-century Wittelsbach blue diamond at Christie's in London. He set the auction record for any jewel. But in his opinion, "it was the bargain of the century. In my life, it is therarest of them all; it is the supreme coloured diamond."

A Platinum Ring featuring a Diamond of 30.06 cts.

Yet Mr Graff felt it could be improved. His team began work on the Wittelsbach almost immediately. It was a daring, even daredevil, move.When he bought the historic diamond it worked out at $1.46m per carat. As a result of polishing it weighs four carats less. This could be calculated as a loss of about $6m, but not by Mr Graff. He values the WittelsbachGraff, as the gem is now called, at $100m.

"We have given it life which it didn't have before," he explains. Many may soon judge for themselves. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, has been in discussions with Graff regarding the possibility of a public presentation of the diamond at the National Museum of Natural History.

Competition for superb diamonds has

always been strong. But now there are many more private buyers, mostly from China. In May at Sotheby's Geneva another blue--the 7.03-carat "Star of Josephine", sold to Joseph Lau Luen-Hung, a Hong Kong real-estate developer, for almost $9.5m. And in October the results of Christie's New York jewellery sale[1] were so good smiles broke out even on the faces of their competitors.

The Economist November 21st 2009

green diamond. (The buyer's identity has not been revealed, but informed gossips sayit was not Mr Lau.) Diamonds are graded according to the four C's: cut, carat weight, colour and clarity.

Provenance also can add to the price. (See the Gemological Institute of America's website[5] for detailed information.) Had the Annenberg ring been an anonymous lot it might have fetched 25% less, Mr Curiel calculates. An even more potent example occurred at the Geneva sale. Sotheby's estimated a ruby-anddiamond necklace with matching earrings[6] at $530,000-$975,000. It sold for a whopping $4.3m. The suite is believed to have been bought by the Earl of Rosebery in 1884 for his wife Hannah Rothschild. It eventually moved along the ladder of titles until it reached Mary, Duchess of Roxburgh, the vendor.

Francois Curiel, the International Director and Chairman of Christie's Europe, reports that its top jewellery sales in New York, Geneva and Hong Kong typically bring in about $30m each. The October sale realised $47m. A star lot was the Annenberg diamond ring[2], a clear 32-carat flawless stone which sold for almost $7.7m, more than double the low estimate. The winning bidder, the underbidder and the under-underbidder were all North Americans. This is not surprisingsince Leonore "Lee" Annenberg and her husband Walter, a businessman and ambassador, were essentially American aristocracy. The surprise was that 25% of the sale's winning bidders over all came from mainland China.

These days when a great diamond comes on the market, the chatter is heard around the world. Take, for instance, the 2.5-carat green diamond[3] (pictured above) offered by Sotheby's Geneva on November 17th[4]. "There is a lot of noise about this one," said Alisa Moussaieff, an important diamond dealer, before the sale.

Although the size of a shelled peanut, the gem is the largest naturally green diamond ever to come to auction. Natural greens are produced by the earth's radiation; artificial ones are irradiated after the gems are mined. Coloured diamonds are the rarest of gemstones, and green and red ones are as rare as they get. They are not necessarily beauties.

"Normally the green ones that come up are asleep," explained Mrs Moussaieff.

"But this one has got life. It is a ball of fire."

On Tuesday that little green ball of fire was bought by a private Asian buyer for just under $3.1m, a record auction price for a

A Platinum Ring featuring a Vivid Pink Diamond of 8 cts.

Rarity seems to be the greatest single factor influencing today'sauction prices for superb coloured diamonds. The blue "Star of Josephine" sold for $1.35m per carat, more than five times what the colourless Annenberg fetched. Prescient investors now turn their eyes to Hong Kong. On December 1st Christie's is offering "The Vivid Pink"(pictured above), described by one expert as the "finest and largest" of its type ever to be auctioned. Mr Graff bought the ten-caratrough-cut stone from De Beers.

(He somewhat playfully describes it as the irresistible sweetener to a particularly large deal.) He had it cut into a five-carat gem and set as a ring. The American client to whom he sold this exceptional pink is now offering it at auction. "He will make a lot more than I did," says the King of Diamonds, who plans to leave a bid.

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A Natural Fancy Vivid Orange Emerald Cut Diamond Ring of 4.70 cts set in a Platinum Shank.

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WSJ. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

MOUSSAIEFF

An 18 ct White and Rose Gold Ring featuring a Rectangular Natural Fancy Brownish Orange Diamond of 10.71 cts mounted with PavĂŠ Set Diamonds of 6.90 cts.

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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

FRIDAY November 6 2009

An 18 ct White Gold Twist Ring featuring a rough Diamond of 7.83 cts and Pave White Diamonds of 2.73 cts

Hunting for Diamonds in the Rough

Looking for an Alternative to ďŹ&#x201A;ashy Gems, Discerning Shoppers Turn to Black Stones and Natural Cuts By Jemima Sissons

When Sarah Taylor,

a 27-year-old law graduate from London, received an engagement ring, she was more than a little shocked, and not only because her boyfriend proposed on a railway platform in northern Scotland on a rainy Monday morning in March.

"It was black -- a band of tiny black diamonds, set in black gold," Ms. Taylor said. "When I finally managed to

compose myself and look at the ring, it was exquisite."

Her 30-year-old fiancĂŠ, Paul Williams, a teacher, wanted to buy something different, so he opted for a black diamond. "Why go for bogstandard solitaire?" he said. "I wanted something out of the ordinary."

Mr. Williams turned out to be remarkably in touch. Tired of the

garish bling that has come to epitomize Champagne-popping yacht hoppers, many shoppers are seeking out more original types of diamonds, with rough cuts or alternative hues -- and black diamonds have become a particularly popular choice. Apart from their own distinctive qualities, alternative diamonds are also a better credit-crunch choice: Both rough diamonds and

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treated, colored diamonds are cheaper than their polished counterparts.

London-based jeweler Ming Lampson, who makes exquisite heirloomquality pieces for her clients, has noticed a real surge in interest in black diamonds. "In the last three months alone I've made four or five black diamond engagement rings," she said, adding that there is a hunger for unusual stones at the moment. "In the '90s everything used to be white diamond and white metal. Now people are becoming more adventurous."

Ms. Lampson said she likes using black diamonds because they reflect the light in a special way, flashing in a bright white. "If you see someone wearing a black diamond necklace, it catches your eye from the other side of the room," she said. "Unlike a white diamond, there are no rainbows, no internal reflection. They possess this very special opaqueness."

Hollywood also has given black diamonds a boost. Sarah Jessica Parker donned a black diamond strand necklace by American jeweler Itay Malkin in the "Sex and the City" movie, and Adrian Grenier sported a similar one in this season's finale of the TV show "Entourage." At the Baselworld jewelery fair in March -- a barometer of what's going to be hot in the coming year -- the pairing of black and white diamonds was one of the strongest trends. According to its organizers, the show featured a lot of "unpretentious jewelery" -- pieces that didn't draw attention to the wearer and could be worn every day, such as those with dark or rough stones.

Cult Mayfair-based jeweler Stephen Webster, whose neo-gothic crab rings, poison-ivy necklaces and knuckle dusters are worn by gothic-inclined celebrities, fashionistas and socialites, sees the shift in trend as part of a cultural zeitgeist. "Black diamonds are about dark glamour, which is perfect for today," Mr. Webster says. "There is a huge craze for the romantic, grown-up goth, symbolized by interest in [vampire TV] programs like 'True Blood.' I think this look has become quite seductive." Mr. Websters says that one of his clients -a Russian art collector -- has commissioned him to make a £20,000 vampire ring that will include black diamonds.

Mr. Webster added that black diamonds have captured another, previously untapped audience: "Earlier this year I

made a bespoke black diamond tie-bar for Mickey Rourke, and Russell Brand is a real fan of our black-diamond pieces. Men are going mad for them -- it's the acceptable non-bling way to wear jewelery."

Black diamonds have a storied history. In medieval Italy, they were known as the "stones of reconciliation."

A wave of a black diamond in the face of an unhappy spouse would, according to legend, clear things up. The Duke of Wellington admired them for their opaque beauty and reportedly owned a black diamond weighing 12.25 carats.

One of the largest black diamonds in the world today -- the Spirit of de Grisogono -- comes in at a whopping 312 carats.

These show-stoppers are genuine black diamonds, which acquire their gloomy hue naturally because they have high concentrations of dark crystals, such as sulphides. Manufacturers also can treat diamonds to make them black.

Modern processes have allowed them to enhance and change the color of poor-quality, muddy diamonds -- which would never be sold in their natural state -- in a laboratory, using radiation or heating. Both natural and treated black diamonds are much cheaper than your run-of-the-mill diamond. Whereas a one-carat white diamond can range from £3,000 to £8,000, a natural black diamond costs £250-£450 a carat, and treated black diamonds start at only £80-£120 a carat. Diamonds treated to become colors other than black cost from £500 to £2,000 a carat. (The real thing will cost you a small fortune -"fancy color" natural diamonds, such as red, blue and yellow, are the most expensive in the world).

Rough diamonds are also becoming stylish. In keeping with more austere times, these natural stones are admired for their raw, organic quality. Worn by royals hundreds of year ago, before polishing techniques were mastered, they are enjoying a revival as people look to adorn themselves with less ostentatious, subtler rocks.

London jeweler Leonardo Pieroni has been using rough diamonds for more than 20 years. His beautiful, simple designs -- a gold band with a single stone is one of his signature styles -- are a way to own diamonds without breaking the bank. A four-carat rough diamond gold ring, for example, fetches £3,200 -- much cheaper than a polished rock

WS J 92

of the same size, which would go for £10,500 to £250,000, depending on its quality.

Recently, however, rough diamonds have started to go luxe too. De Beers's Talisman collection, which is based on rough diamonds and features beautiful, rustic-style medallions, pendants and rings, is definitely not a budget option: A pair of yellow gold earrings containing 7.41 carats of rough and polished stones costs £16,500.

Another leader in rough-luxe diamond jewelery is American company Diamond in the Rough. Started four years ago by New York-based Anjanette Clisura and Daniel E skapa, who felt there was something missing in the market, the company now sells its jewelry around the world. "I think that rough is so appealing because you get to see the stone exactly how nature has formed it," said Ms. Clisura, who became interested in rough gems over 10 years ago, when she was working for diamond miner Leviev. "So many years of heat, pressure and natural gasses have turned carbon into this amazing stone with all its natural crystal shapes.

It has a perfect raw beauty."

Diamond in the Rough sells its jewelry at the Moussaieff stores in London and Geneva, with prices starting at £6,000 for a ring with a sizable rough diamond. Many pieces include smaller, polished diamonds as well. "There is a craze for everything that is natural these days, and these are something different, a conversation piece," said Alisa Moussaieff, Moussaieff's managing director and owner.

What's next for jewelery? Baselworld featured an array of purple-hued jewelery made from stones like agate and amethyst. In the U.K., Mayfair jeweler Mr. Webster says people are already searching for something edgier. "I've had huge demand for gray diamonds recently," he said. "They're definitely going to be the new black."

The Washington Post

MOUSSAIEFF

From a collection of Natural Fancy Coloured Diamond Rings.

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AN independent SUPPLEMENT TO THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE

diamonds

NOVEMBER 2009

A Call for the Exceptional Colored diamonds are now more popular than ever and at the very highest levels have proved a reliable alternative investment, says Claire Adler.

O

ver the course of the last 25 years, the demand for colored diamonds, overlooked for the two centuries prior, has soared.

“Today, colored diamonds are more popular than they have ever been and compared to several decades ago, prices have sky-rocketed,” says Peter Schneirla, Tiffany & Co’s chief gemologist and former head of education at the Gemological Institute of America.

The value of diamonds is linked to rarity and demand. Yellow diamonds are the most commonly found of all colored diamonds while blue diamonds are the rarest. In Maya 7.03 carat rare fancy vivid blue diamond stone, sold at Sotheby’s Geneva for $9,488,754, the highest price at auction per carat for any gemstone sold at auction.

“I can list all the available blue diamonds in the world on the tip of my tongue because they’re so scarce,” says Schneirla.

One of the blue diamonds that won’t appear on Schneirla’s shortlist of available stones is the 45.52 carat Hope Diamond housed at Washington’s Smithsonian Museum. More than 5 million people peer into its enclosure annually. Next spring it will be displayed

in a temporary setting, voted for in an online contest to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the donation of this eye popping treasure to the Smithsonian by jewelers Harry Winston.

Demand for colored diamond jewelry is strong. Currently at Tiffany, the most popular examples come in the form of delicate rings. With price tags ranging from $275,000 to $2.6 million, they might be amongst the most expensive items on offer.

De Grisogono routinely uses brown and champagne diamonds. Roberto Coin’s Roi Soleil Collection uses varying shades of brown diamonds from champagne to cognac, while his Capri Plus range combines browns and whites complement various colors of gold.

Pink diamonds are becoming more popular with Americans, according to pink diamond jewelry specialist John Calleija. John Calleija is one of 100 jewelers invited to submit sealed bids for the rarest pinks and reds from Australia’s Argyle Mine annually. “One client recently bought a red diamond for his wife for their 20th anniversary.

She wears the multimillion dollar ring while riding the tractor on their farm,” he smiles.

Last year, a couple asked legendary jeweler Laurence Graff to find them a special pink heart-shaped diamond. It was for their three month old baby.

Elsewhere, Antwerp-based Langerman recently re-launched the website for the world’s largest online shop for colored diamonds. Alongside its selection of 1200 rare colored diamonds, rough and polished stones and its award-winning Natural Color Diamond Encyclopedia, the new Langerman Selectio Poster features a new, easy to understand selection of 156 diamonds of different colors and shapes, with accurate representations of the colors of the diamonds.

Colored diamonds epitomize a classic appeal. They encapsulate the greatest value in the smallest space. Alisa Moussaieff, one of the world’s most confident buyers of precious stones, believes the rarest colored diamonds will continue to appreciate in value.

One to watch is The Vivid Pink, going on the block at Christie’s Hong Kong on December 1st—it’s the largest Fancy Vivid Pink Potentially flawless diamond to ever be offered for sale at auction.

“In my entire career, I’ve never seen a drop in prices for the rarest colored diamonds. In times of political upheaval and economic uncertainty these diamonds have historically appreciated in value,” says Moussaieff.

The Rough Allure Jewelry incorporating slices of unpolished stone and diamonds in the rough are setting a new aesthetic.

I

nterest in rough diamonds is picking up pace. Some of the most imaginative jewelry of the moment is punctuated with rocks or slithers of rough stones that most people wouldn’t even recognize as diamonds. To some, therein lies the beauty. Rough diamonds are discreet, raw,

close to the earth and they speak of a journey.

Working with rough diamonds is far from new. “Revered as the crowning jewels of royalty, rough diamonds have been worn in their untouched state by maharajahs, kings and emperors for over 2100 years,” says highoctane jeweler Alisa Moussaieff.

Diamond in the Rough, formed in 2003, offers a gamut of multi-coloured rough diamond jewelry. Architect Frank Gehry is now pioneering the use

of rough diamonds for Tiffany in his Torn Paper jewelry collection, and Pippa Small, the former Gucci and Chloe jewelry designer with boutiques in Los Angeles and London, also uses rough diamonds prominently in her work.

Rough diamonds are always cheaper than their polished counterparts.

But now that they are being appreciated for their character, mystery and authenticity, the price of rough or included stones has soared, according to Moussaieff.

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A pair of Platinum and 18 ct White Gold multi-strand Earrings set with Marquise Diamonds spaced on Diamond Set Fronds. Total Diamond weight 42.22 cts.

A Platinum and 18 ct Gold multi strand graduated Necklace featuring Pear shape Diamond Drops of 21.73 cts, Oval Diamonds of 32.88 cts and Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds of 58.22 cts.

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VANITY FAIR MOUSSAIEFF

ANNA FRIEL wears South Sea pearl and diamond cuff by MOUSSAIEFF

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F A I R

RESALE

BUY, BUY! SELL, SELL! Fine jewellery, particularly at the end top of the market, can be a sound long-term investment-though, like new art or old violins, the possibility of profitability depends entirely on the piece in question. As for the rest of the market, would-be speculators should have the words caveat emptor written in big letters on the back of their hands

BY CLAIRE ADLER

W

hen it comes to the rarest, most exquisitely crafted and precious jewellery on the planet, jewellers and auctioneers are cagey at the best of times. It’s all very much a “by appointment”, “guest-list only”, “price on application” affair.

So perhaps it’s hardly surprising that when probed about whether jewellery might be a viable long-term alternative

investment to stocks, shares or propertyor indeed, in these troubled times, to stuffing cash under the mattress-some jewellers decline to answer any questions at all. The finest jewellery houses hardly wish to compare their worldclass craftsmanship and, in many cases, undeniable works of art to commodities on a stock market.

Those jewellers who agree to talk favour a vocabulary of caution. They

speak of heirlooms, of transferring wealth between generations and of investments of passion. They probably don’t want to draw too much attention to the fact that much of the jewellery bought in your average high-street retailer loses between 30 and 50 percent of its resale value the moment you type in the fourth digit of your pin number. What’s more, at a time when a shocking number of wealthy individuals have stood by

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RESALE

WOOLWORTH IT Barbara Hutton with her first husband, Prince Alexia Mdivani, in London, 1934; a necklace he gave her sold at auction in 1994 for more than $4 million.

incredulously as their investments have taken a sharp plummet south, neither jewellers nor auctioneers long to be in the uncomfortable and risky business of prophecy.

Industry insiders confirm the jewellery world is currently in very deep recession.

“Jewellery manufacturing in Italy, the world’s largest exporter of jewellery to America, is down 50 percent, while China, the world’s biggest jewellerymanufacturing country, is feeling the knock-on effect where manufacturing is down at least by a third,” says Gordon Hamme, editor of The Goldsmith magazine.

Production is being put on hold at diamond mines, and current UK hallmarking figures for gold, silver and platinum echo those of the 1992 recession, says Birmingham Assay Office CEO Michael Allchin, with gold a staggering 41 percent down on last year.

Elsewhere, in an obvious move to boost the appeal of Paris as an auction centre for jewellery, the French government lowered the VAT on rare and high-value jewellery imports early this year from 19.6 percent to 5.5 percent.

A

nd yet history is replete with examples proving that in times of instability and recession, jewellery, gold and diamonds have traditionally been viewed as safe havens. They are arguably the most portable forms of wealth, encapsulating the greatest value in the smallest space. Again and again

they have been used as the last resort to protect wealth and in some cases to save lives. “A Rembrandt may be worth 100 or 1,000 times the value of a jewel, but you can’t carry it out of the country in times of crisis. And you can’t lug a Henry Moore bronze statue that easily

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elling jewellery sometimes translates into wealth that ensures a family’s financial security for generations. After the Russian Revolution diamonds and jewellery were

BERNIE MADOFF

MAILED JEWELLERY TO HIS FAMILY FROM HIS $7 MILLION MANHATTAN

APARTMANT

across a border either,” quips Geoffrey Munn, managing director of antique jewellers Wartski.

When the scandal-hit financier Bernie Madoff found himself under penthouse arrest and on $10 million bail with his assets frozen, one of the first things he did-desperately and illegally-was to mail jewellery, antique watches, pens and cufflinks to his brother and sons from his $7 million Manhattan apartment.

In the months after news of the meltdown broke, Madison Avenue jewellery-buying firm CIRCA sent armoured cars to retrieve ultra-precious family jewels from some of Madoff ’s

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shocked and distraught victims. “We become the priest, the rabbi and the psychiatrist,” CIRA’s CEO Chris Del Gatto was quoted as saying at the time.

In a manifestation of anxiety, China’s moneyed set has been eager to turn its yuan into alternative assets and move them out of the country. In Hong Kong, which doesn’t impose China’s luxuryconsumption taxes and has a reputation for genuine as opposed to counterfeit goods, Chinese mainlanders have been showing up at jewellery stores in growing numbers asking for diamonds, including six-carat diamond earrings-three for each ear. One store, Gaily Jewelry, saw a 50 percent rise in sales over the 2009 newyear period compared to the previous year. While mainland China is subject to stringent gold-import regulations, Hong Kong residents have also been snapping up gold bars at a brisk pace.

As prices for an ounce of gold hit the £1,000 mark this February, bullion prices in India reached record highs.

Queues of people could be found in Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar early each morning waiting to sell their gold bars and coins.

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often all that stood between refugees and starvation. Many smuggled gems by swallowing them or stitching them into their clothing, before taking them to the first pawnbroker they could find.

After Grand Duchess Vladimir, the aunt of Russia’s last Tsar, Nicholas II, fled St Petersburg for Paris in 1920, she sent Albert Stopford, her relative and an expert in objects d’art, to salvage her jewellery, which had been abandoned in the royal palace. She died later that year and in her will she divided the collection between her four children by colour, separating the white-diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire jewels. In 1921

meet someone who says, ‘I’m buying jewellery for investment.’ But I also have yet to meet someone who doesn’t think that over time the jewellery they are buying will accrue value,” says Curiel of Christie’s.

O

HIDDEN GEMS Baroness Marie Budberg (second from left) escaped from Russia in 1921 with a pearl necklace concealed in her mouth at the frontier.

Louis Cartier, the grandson of Cartier’s founder, valued the entire collection before it was sold.

One thirtysomething London-based Jewish woman owes her family’s wealth to diamonds ingeniously hidden by her aunt during the Second World War. Forced out of Poland during the Holocaust, she and her husband carved the family’s handful of diamonds into a door in their house. After miraculously surviving the concentration camps, she returned to their former home, which had been occupied by a Polish family who claimed it was their own. Faced with the unenviable task of charming them into letting her take that precious door away with her, she explained it was for “sentimental reasons”. Today, that lady’s foresight, followed by her powers of persuasion and the sale of those diamonds, is helping to fund the education and property purchases of the third generation of her descendants.

But jewellery can be more than just a last-resort cash alternative. Auctionhouse records prove that over time rare and exceptional jewellery has sometimes been a source of brilliant profits. In 1969 a three-strand black-pearl necklace, which had belonged to model Nina Dyer, sold at Christie’s for $134,883. When it was re-sold at Christie’s in 1997, it fetched a cool $913,320. The Mdivani necklace, a single strand of 27 jadeite beads given to Barbara Hutton by the first of her seven husbands, Prince Alexis Mdivani, sold in 1988 for $2, 042, 857. Six years later it fetched a handsome $4,248,164.

Even in previous recessions, auction sales continued breaking world records.

In 1991 Christie’s offered a rare collection of contemporary jewels by 20th-century artist and sculptor George Braque. Estimated at $180,000, they

reached $700,000. And in 2003 a carved Mughal emerald brooch owned by Clive of India, the soldier credited with securing India for the British, soared past its pre-sale estimate of $1.1 million to fetch $1.9 million, another record at the time. n the midst of the current financial crisis, in December 2008, the 35.56-carat Wittelsbach blue diamond secured the highest price for any jewel or diamond every sold at auction, flying past its estimate of $15 million to reach $24.3 million. The previous record was $16.5 million for a 100-carat diamond sold in a healthy market in Geneva in 1995, according to Francois Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Europe and international head of jewellery.

Of course, there is no guarantee of return on investment. At the highly publicised 1987 sale of jewellery owned by the Duchess of Windsor at Sotheby’s in Geneva, a blue chalcedony necklace by 20th-century jewellery Suzanne Belperron fetched $296,800. But when it went on the block again in 2004 at Christie’s New York “with the same provenance but without the hype”, as Curiel put it, it fetched just $119,500.

With interest rates and faith in the financial markets both standing at a depressing low, many wealthy individuals are now asking serious questions about how to reallocate their assets, according to Sebastian Dovey of Scorpio Partnership, strategic advisers to wealth managers. There are signs of growing enthusiasm for jewellery at least to protect wealth, if not to grow it. A recent study commissioned by De Beers identified that lovers of luxury are gravitating towards fewer but better-quality purchases, representing genuine value over time. “I have yet to

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ver at Bonhams, head of jewellery Jean Ghika maintains that sales figures aren’t exhibiting any ill effects and, if anything, she is noticing new buyers. One of London’s top antique jewellery dealers, Sandra Cronan, is convinced that people are investing in jewellery, because “no one is parting with anything good”. She notes that natural pearls are doing well at auction and suggests high-quality Art Deco jewellery from the 1940’s and early 50’s is also very desirable. At Christie’s, Curiel has registered other clues, suggesting that momentum for jewellery as investment is mounting.

He’s observed one-off purchases and believes that people are “putting their money away” in jewellery. He’s noticed art clients showing a new interest in jewellery, and he’s also seeing new faces at sales that he doesn’t recognise-which is unusual, because for the past decade, he says, he has known the majority of buyers personally.

London-based artist/adviser/curator David Breuer-Weil confirms he’s been clocking the shift too. Jewellery with an artistic quality and sometimes a royal or celebrity connection is attracting the attention of art lovers, especially historical renaissance and postrenaissance jewellery, upper-end highquality large diamonds and coloured stones, especially from the important jewellery houses, he says.

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lsewhere, gold is attracting alternative investors, despite current high prices. Online gold broken BullionVault.com saw its turnover rocket fivefold last year, while the World Gold Council found demand for gold as investment climbed 64 percent. “Gold has proved itself as a long-term retainer of wealth for hundreds of year,” says Philip Olden, the World Gold Council’s managing director of jewellery. “Gold is resilient to inflation and deflation, fully tradable round the world and its value is transparent since you can check the price daily in the newspaper. This is not true of anything else. While all other assets from property, stocks and shares and cars have gone into freefall, gold has been a reliable source of value for the last six years.”

One man believes that two years from now you’ll be able to buy diamonds in the same way you currently buy gold. His

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name is Martin Rapaport and he is working towards the complete commoditisation of diamonds. “Diamonds are like the geek at the party,” says Rapaport, on the phone from Mumbai. “Gold is on the dancefloor. But diamonds aren’t there yet. None of the girls are dancing with him. I envisage an efficient and liquid spot-cash market for diamonds that will set the stage for a viable futures market for diamonds.”

Rapaport founded the largest diamondtrading network in the world and brought transparency to diamond prices when

be madly in love with the diamonds they buy, they’ve always also seen them as a means to increased wealth.

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hen Laurence Graff, the world’s foremost diamond dealer and a confidant to sultans and Saudi princes, bought the 78.10-carat Maharajah Diamond in 2006, no one had seen it in 50 years because it had been lying in a bank vault. “The translucency, the life in that stone, is beyond anything I have ever seen,” Graff was quoted as saying. He might have

EVERYONE YOU

ASK WILL TELL YOU TO BUY WHAT YOU LOVE AND TO DO THOROUGH

RESEARCH

he established the Rapaport Diamond Report, a price list for diamonds, in the late 1970’s. He currently advises and puts diamond portfolios together for individuals and companies, charging a commission of between five and ten percent. He anticipates that once the worst of the recession is over we’ll be seeing dollar inflation and increase demand from India and China.

While Rapaport advises extreme caution in the current market, he maintains that diamonds have good longterm investment potential. “Investing in diamonds too early might be like trying to catch a falling knife. But if you have access to diamonds at the right prices and are willing to hold on to them for the long term, today’s low prices can translate into tomorrow’s profits. Savvy people have been investing in diamonds for years, “ he says. “Currently, I advise people seeking to invest in diamonds to carefully check out what price you can sell a diamond for before you buy it. Stick to GIA-graded diamonds with excellent-cut. One-carat sizes in D to H colours and VVS to VS clarity are a good bet, as the engagement-ring market continues in spite of the recession,” says Rapaport, advising buyers to contact an expert to help with VAT, storage and insurance issues.

To some, Rapaport’s free-market vision of diamonds might seem disturbingly devoid of romance. But even at the highest levels, while the world’s most confident buyers of precious stones may

adored it, but he also sold it the next day at what can ony be assumed to have been a dazzling, though undisclosed, profit.

Another of the most powerful figures on Bond Street, Alisa Moussaieff, whose family has been in business for 120 years and three generations, makes no secret of the fact that she views the rarest coloured diamonds in the world as an excellent long-term investment.

Late last year Moussaieff purchased a

GOLD RUSH Hard-up Englishmen and women in the 1930s sell their gold coins in London jewerllery store

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rare 39.19-carat rough blue diamond, hailing it as “one of the most important to come on to the market in the last 15 years” and adding it to her collection, which includes the largest fancy-red diamond in the world, the 5.11-carat Moussaieff Red. Thanks to the increasing scarcity of polished coloured diamonds on the open market, Moussaieff now believes that the rarest coloured rough diamonds-she cites pinks, blues and greens in particular-will continue to appreciate in value and that the market for them is liquid. “In my entire career I’ve never seen a drop in prices for the rarest coloured diamonds.

In times of political upheaval and economic uncertainty these diamonds have historically appreciated in value.

With the right expert advice and a GIA [Gemological Institute of America] diamond-grading certificate, now is a good time to buy,” says Moussaieff.

But if you’re not in the market for a £2 million world-class five-carat fancy-pink diamond from the likes of Moussaieff, or even a breathtaking £500,000 Camilla necklace of 441 white diamonds totalling 73.79 carats from De Beers, the good news is that lower diamond prices mean more bargaining power for jewellery buyers.

Most jewellers won’t dare admit it, but Moussaieff is convinced that now is a great time to negotiate the best prices. Her own retail prices consistently reflect changes in the list price for diamonds, and she is one of the few jewellers on Bond Street to buy

RESALE

PEARL CHOCKER John F. Kennedy Jr plays with his mother’s imitation pearls, 1962; the necklace was sold

by Sotheby’s in 1996 for $190,000, proving the important of the resale value of jewellery.

back modern jewellery she has sold.

Antique jewellery is less directly affected by price changes relating to the market price for diamonds, since the mark-ups are lower to start with, advises Burlington Arcade jeweller Sandra Cronan. But according to Chicago-based Stephen Forward of Beverley R. Ltd, diamond prices changes have impacted on the prices on his popular Art Deco engagement rings. At Christie’s Francois Curiel says that when De Beers raises its prices for diamonds, or when gold reaches $1,000 an ounce, an immediate effect is felt on auction prices.

On one question, at least, there is consensus. Everyone you ask for advice about buying jewellery-be it gem dealers, jewellers, investment strategists, wealthmanagement experts or auction-house specialists-will tell you to buy what you love and to do thorough research. After all, every investment carries risk and the great thing about the business of buying jewellery is hedging your bets involves a lifetime of pleasure adorning yourself in the meantime. “People are drawn to rare and beautiful jewellery in the same way they are drawn to the beauty of oil on water, to flowers, to a sunset. With jewellery, the colour is enduring every time you open the box. It’s an echo of why things are valuable in the art world,” muses Geoffrey Munn.

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s a rule, selecting rare, highquality pieces signed by their maker equates with long-term value. Anne Le Borgne, who runs the luxury-brand portfolio at Societe Generale Asset Management, suggests choosing a brand that looks like it will

be around in a hundred years’ time.

Signatures from houses like Van Cleef and Arpels, Cartier, Chaumet, Boucheron, Harry Winston, Faberge, Mauboussin and Boivin increase a jewel’s resale value. “Apart from an obvious guarantee of the materials, a Cartier signature is a guarantee for the future and an entry into an artistic world,” enthuses Pierre Rainero, image and heritage director at Cartier. Exhibitions of Cartier’s private collection of jewellery organised by the British Museum and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and shown at other cultural institutions around the world, continue to reinforce this message.

“Not all D-flawless diamonds are equal,” warns Francois Curiel. Doing thorough homework helps serious buyers (and their accompanying experts) know when a five-carat diamond looks like a two-carat diamond purely because of the depth of the cut. Or that top-quality sapphires vary widely in price from $5,000 to $40,000 per carat depending largely on their colour and country of origin, with Kashmir sapphires typically fetching the top prices.

The received wisdom is that big stones hold or increase in value over time. But in some cases imperfect diamond jewels have achieved astronomical prices at auction too. Such is the influence of JAR, the Paris-based Joel Arthur Rosenthal, probably the hottest name among contemporary jewellers, that at the 2006 Christie’s sale of jewellery owned by actress Ellen Barkin a less-than-flawless diamond ring sold for $1.8 million – simply because it had been crafted by the hands of this man who routinely

turns away customers and produces only 80 pieces of jewellery a year.

Mumbai-based designer Viren Bhagat, whose pearl and diamond necklace inspired by the Mughal era sold for $958,000 at Christie’s in 2007, is convinced that jewellery can be a profitable long-term investment and that it is not affected by the downturn. “One of my clients told me that three years ago, 60 percent of his wealth was tied up in the stock market. Today, that figure is 20 percent and he is looking to jewellery to make up the difference,” says Bhagat.

“I have clients whose investments in the stock market have taken a beating, whereas all the jewellery they have bought from us in the last three years has appreciated considerably in value.”

All of which goes to prove that rarity, craftsmanship and design also have an important role to play in that ultimate game of supply and demand which routinely reaches its frenzied peak in auction salerooms.

But when all is said and done, there’s nothing as rewarding as buying a jewel for the pure and simple reason that you have to have it. “If it transforms and hypnotizes you, if it makes you gasp in amazement, then you know you love it,” says Geoffrey Munn. “But buying jewellery purely as an investment is like trying to marry a rich girl. If you do it for the wrong reasons you will be punished. You have to love the creature.

If it doesn’t make your heart flutter or your pulse race, don’t do it.”

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South Sea pearl and diamond cuff, by

MOUSSAIEFF

Diamond white-and-black pearl necklace, by

MOUSSAIEFF

A Flower Brooch featuring a Pink Conch Pearl of 14.74 cts surrounded by tiny Conch Pearls of 4.93 cts with Yellow Diamond set Petals of 39.72 cts.

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HELLO! INDIA VOL 3 ISSUE 8 NOVEMBER 2009 RS 100

MOUSSAIEFF

F

ew have not heard of Moussaieff Jewellers, a global enterprise nurtured by Alisa Moussaieff, with showrooms at London’s Hilton Hotel, Geneva’s Grand Hotel Kempinski, as well as her latest elegant boutique on New Bond Street in the English capital.

If you are lucky to meet her in person, it doesn’t take long for her passion for precious stones to rub off.

Moussaieff Jewellers can singlehandedly be credited with reintroducing to the world the beauty and preciousness of coloured diamonds. The company has many notable jewels, one being the ‘Moussaieff Red’, the largest certified natural fancy red diamond at an extraordinary 5.11 carats. So precious, it has been exhibited at the Natural History Museum in London. In this rare interview, Mrs M welcomes HELLO! to her world..

Tell us how you and your family got into the diamond business?

“Diamonds have been in my husband Sam’s family for many generations.

Ironically, the Moussaieff story began with pearls. It all started in the 1850s in Bukhara, Russia where a passionate pearl merchant Shlomo Moussaieff went in search of the most ravishing natural pearls from the Persian Gulf.

I married into a family of Bukharian origin, who had been at the high-end of the gems and jewellery trade for 800 years. Bukhara is located at the very centre of Asia and is the main port of call on the famous silk route, which extends from China to Venice. My husband’s ancestors followed Marco Polo’s footsteps and travelled this route extensively. He proudly relates how Genghis Khan ordered stones for a gem-encrusted robe from his ancestor.

Later, a Moussaieff handed over his business to his son, who established himself as a gem dealer in Paris during the Belle Epoque period of the 1920s.

He sold sapphires, rubies, emeralds

Mrs Moussaieff, seen in her meeting room at her New Bond Street in London

and other fine gemstones to the big houses in Paris. Several decades later, in 1963, the next generation, my husband, opened the first Moussaieff showroom at the London Hilton on Park Lane.”

You have one of the rarest collections of coloured diamonds..tell us a little about them.

“I have collected coloured diamonds from the early 60s, long before they were considered desirable. Among my exceptional diamonds are Vivid Blues, a 20-carat Vivid Pink and a pair of approx 30-carat DIF Golconda pear-shaped

diamonds.”

How do you formulate these exquisite pieces?

“I placed all the stones on the table, to find various associations and patterns. It is out of the disorder that beautiful creations emerge. I work with plasticine and wax and I change it many times over before I am happy.

At this point I do a drawing on paper to record the piece before sending it to our Parisian workshops. I love to offset white and pink diamonds and to have a strong leader stone in a design. I have

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“The Moussaieff Red”, a 5.11 carat ‘sheild’ shaped deep red diamond ever graded by the GIA (right).

The earrings (below) showcase the legendary Golconda pear-shaped diamonddrops of 26.95 carats and 32.44 carats suspended from cluster tops incorporating two internally flawless, brillant-cut diamonds; a 3.31 carat blue and a 3 carat pink

A platinum natural fancy pink mariquise and pear shaped diamond necklace of 41.02 carats and white oval diamonds of 60.47 carats 110

recently been charmed by long chandelier earrings and diamond sautoirs.”

Coloured diamonds are your USP. How rare are they?

“My husband and I started collecting coloured diamonds well before the early 1980s, when they began their ascent to the dizzy heights of style and importance. Though cognac coloured stones and those with a yellowish hue are less expensive, they are captivating. The rarer coloured diamonds – red, green, blue, pink, orange – are very expensive.”

You broke a world record for acquiring a flawless blue diamond ring at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong!

“My 6.04 carat, emerald-cut Vivid Blue diamond is perfect.

It meets all the criteria of excellence in a diamond and has a GIA certificate that is commensurate. It is flawless, it’s cut is excellent as is its symmetry. A six carat stone is a very wearable size. I paid US$1.3 million per carat for this diamond in Hong Kong last year.”

You are also the proud owner of the famous 30-carat

Golconda diamonds...

“Golconda diamonds are superstar stones, difficult to come by as the fabled Indian mine has been inactive since the late 19th century. It once produced the most chemically pure and exceptionally transparent stones. One can occasionally find these in the collections of Royal Indian families. Mostly, they are bought at auctions, like I bought my two, 30 carat pears.”

Tell us the inspiration which dictates the cuts and settings for your diamonds...

“It is important to look carefully at the stones. It can take years to find stones similar in colour and shape to be set, say, in a pair of earrings. Certain stones lend themselves to particular settings. The process of accumulating the right stones also takes a very long time for a graduated necklace. Of course you can re-cut and polish a diamond to a size and shape you want, but you lose precious carats.”

Any recent purchases?

“In October last year, I purchased a 39.19 carat extremely fine rough blue

Tamara Ecclestone (above) is the Brand Ambassador for Moussaieff Jewels. Alisa (above, right) believes Tamara to be the right amalagamation of beauty and brains

diamond from the Cullinan mine in South Africa, one of the most important to come to the market in the last 15 years. I had it modified to a marvellous nine-carat, Vivid pear shape.”

You have signed on Tamara Ecclestone (daughter of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone) as your latest brand ambassador. How does she personify your brand?

“I am absolutely thrilled to have Tamara Ecclestone as the face of Moussaieff.

There is no one who better represents the beauty and rarity of fine and exquisite jewellery.”

Do you connect with Indian jewellery and its aesthetics?

“Indian jewellery has a very ethnic feel and I do find it very beautiful. While it goes with Indian traditional clothes, it can also be worn anywhere in the world.”

So do you have any plans for India?

“I have all sort of wonderful plans for the near term, showcasing my jewellery and participating at India Couture week.

I would like Indian buyers to familiarize themselves with us which will lead to medium and long term plans. There are presently limitations on importing jewels to India but I hope that it will become easier down the line.”

Tell us a little about your association with diamond brand Forevermark and Diarough (DTC sightholder and Forevermark diamantaire). What is their global USP? “Forevermark and Diarough are

partnering with us to present our first ever showcase in India. Forevermark is a very interesting development for the diamond industry as a whole. Without doubt there is a growing consumer call for quality, product authenticity and supply standards. Quality and integrity are values that are also central to everything we do here at Moussaieff.

Forevermark, like ourselves, works exclusively with diamantaires such as Diarough – one of the finest master craftsmen in the world – who expertly cut and polish exceptional diamonds using skill and artistry learnt through generations.”

What are essential diamonds?

“Indeed there are key diamonds that a girl should own – a solitaire ring and a pair of diamond ear studs. Like a little black dress, they will never go out of fashion and have enormous versatility.

For an alternative style statement, she can make her earrings and solitaire into a three-stone ring, and the intrinsic value stays.”

Lastly, why do you think diamonds are a girl’s best friend?

“Diamonds always make a girl look beautiful, enhancing her personality.

They also stay close to her. If need be she can always turn them into cash because they are an investment. It is of no little significance that diamonds are the highest concentration of wealth in the smallest of objects.”

TEXT & STYLING: AVANTIKKA KILACHAN PHOTO: GAVIN SMITH

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eerina singh and HELLO! editor, Ruchika Mehta hosted an exclusive champagne lunch at Zwwnia’s sprawling Prithviraj Road house in New Delhi to meet London-based jewellery designer, Alisa Moussaieff, and witness her rare collection of diamond jewels. The exquisite jewellery was an absolute delight for the ladies who showed up that afternoon. Belinis

and sangrias did rounds, as guests enjoyed a sumptuous meal of Mongolian barbecueand sushi, catered by Manré. The beautiful flower arrangements were done by Akhil Lakhanpal. In attendance were Shweta Nanda, Feroze Gujral, Annie Kanwar and Kalyany Chawla, among others. The event was held in associaton with Forevermark and Diarough.

Feroze Gujral wears a printed dress by Malini Ramani (above). Zeenia Singh dons a Dolce & Gabbana outfit, seen here with Alisa Moussaieff and Ruchika Mehta (left).

Ritu Siinghal wears a chiffon top and shaded skirt, accessorised with a Louis Vutton bag (right) 112

Zeenia singh and Priyanka. who wears a look by Max Mara (above). Niyamat Bakshi wears a dress from Michael Kors and jewels

by Moussaieff (above left). Pavan Kapoor wears a tunic from Missoni matched with a Roberto Cavalli neckpeice and a Birkin, while Sonia Passi wears a Missoni blouse accessorised with her Birkinas well (extreme left). Priya Paul and Fiona (below left)

PHOTOS: MANOJ KESHARWANI CATERING: MANRE NEW DELHI ďŹ&#x201A;OWERS COURTESTY: AKHIL LAKHANPAUL

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Ruchika Mehta, seen here with Alisa Moussaieff and Elina Meswani, who wears a georgette cape with white thread work from Rohiqa Mistry (above). Mallaika Khan wears a lycra top from Guess? paired with jeans from Club Monaco, and a diamond necklace from Moussaieff Jewels, carrying a Roberto Cavalli bag, while mother-in-law Zarine Khan wears a georgette top from Milan paired with troussers from Rocco Moorocco. All her jewellery is by Farah Ali (above left).

Avanti Birla wears jeans fron Adriani Goldshmidt (left)

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Roopa Fabiana wears a satin dress from Falguni & Shane Peacock with jewellery by H Ajoomal, carrying an Hermés bag (above).

Radhika Ruis wears a printed dress and belt from Gucci (above right).

Indria Bodani wears a satin dress from Intermix with jewellery from Iraz Mohini, carrying a Rodger Vivier clutch, while Binita Cooper, MD Forevermark, wears a saree from kolkata (extreme right). Archana wears a crochet and cotton dress from Mexx Studio with jewellery from Mahendra Bros Uni-Design, carrying a Louis Vuitton bag, Leena wears a georgettte salwar kameez designed by herself and earrings from Mahendra Bros Uni-Design, Sunita wears a satin top with a floral printed skirt, Priya wears cotton troussers and Ramila Parekh wears a saree from Shantanu Goenka with jewellery by Swati Maitra, Antwerp, carrying a BE & D bag with Alisa Moussaieff (below)

PHOTOS: ASHIMA MEHRA LOCATION: SEA LOUNGE, TAJ MAHAL PALACE & TOWER. MUMBAI REALISATION: AVANTIKKA KILACHAND ASSISTED BY: RITI BHASI CO- ORDINATION: MEHEK AGARWAL

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An 18 ct White Gold Necklace featuring a Cushion Cut Thai Ruby of 18.22 cts mounted in a framework of Fancy Shape Diamond Set Scrolls of 45.33 cts.

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EDITORIAL

MOUSSAIEFF

A Platinum and Pear shape Diamond Drop Necklace featuring 86.79 cts of Pear shape Diamonds.

A pair of Platinum Diamond Drop Earrings featuring a single row of Pear shape Diamonds total weight 22.78 cts.

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VOGUE MOUSSAIEFF

VOGUE PARIS

MOUSSAIEFF

Main droite, quatre solitaires,

Moussaieff

No 903 December/January 2009

LAETITIA CASTA

Right hand four diamond solitaire rings, Moussaieff

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LAE TI TIA PHOTOGRAPHIES MERT ALAS & MARCUS PIGGOTT .

REALISATION CARINE ROITFELD.

Solitaires diamant taille ovale et poire marquise et ĂŠmeraude; montres platiane, Moussaieff Oval, pear, marquise and emerald cut diamond solitaire rings set in platinum, Moussaieff

Main droite, quatre solitaires,

Moussaieff Right hand four diamond solitaire rings, Moussaieff

Main droite, quatre solitaires,

Moussaieff Right hand four diamond solitaire rings, Moussaieff

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La TENTATION du DIAMANT

1970 : Brigitte Bardot qui joue les novices dans le film éponyme de Guy Casaril y dresse un autel aix plus silfureux fantasmes. 2009 : toute aussi devoues au plaisir, les diamants n’ont qu’une religion, la plus fervente féminité. Photographe Cedric Buchet. Réalisation Carine Roitfeld.

PAGE DE DROITE, COLLIER EN OR BLANC ET PLANTINE SERTI DE DIAMANTS BLANC (144.67 CTS), UN DIAMANT TAILLE COUSSIN (11.02 CTS) ET UN DIAMANT TAILLE POIRE (11.02 CTS),

M OUSSAIEFF .

A PLATINUM AND 18CT WHITE GOLD NECKLACE OF FANCY SHAPE DIAMONDS AND DIAMOND SET SCROLLS OF 144.67 CTS FEATURING A CUSHION SHAPE DIAMOND OF 11.02 CTS AND PEAR SHAPE DIAMOND DROP OF 11.02 CTS,

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M OUSSAIEFF .

VOGUE PARIS

November 2009

BAGUE EN PLANTINE AVEC UN DIAMANT TAIILLE POIRE (29.29 CARATS) ET DEUX DIAMANTS TAILLLE POIRE (2.88 CARATS); BAGUE EN PLANTINE AVEC UN DIAMANTS TAILLLE MARQUISE (18.16 CARATS) ET CÔTÉS PAVÉS DE DIAMANTS(2.04 CTS); BAGUE EN PLANTINE AVEC UN DIAMANTS TAILLLE ÉMERAUDE (10.41 CARATS) ET 2 DIAMANTS TAILLE TRILLION (2.97 CARATS),

MOUSSAIEFF PLATINUM PEAR SHAPE DIAMOND RING 29.29 CTS AND TWO PEAR SHOULDER STONES TOTAL WEIGHT 2.88 CTS; A NATURAL FANCY FAINT PINK MARQUISE CUT DIAMOND RING OF 18.16 CTS WITH PEAR SHAPE SHOULDER STONES OF TOTALS OF 2.04 CTS; PLATINUM EMERALD CUT DIAMOND RING OF 10.41 CTS WITH 2 TRIILLION CUT DIAMOND SHOULDER STONES 2.97 CTS,

MOUSSAIEFF

VOGUE October 2009

JAPAN

MOUSSAIEFF

A

PLATINUM

AND

GOLD

GRADUATED LINE necklace FEATURING 39 OVAL DIAMONDS OF 65.36 CTS, MOUSSAIEFF .

VOGUE GIOIELLO

November 2009

ITALY

MOUSSAIEFF

THIS PAGE. DOG WEARS TIARA,

MOUSSAIEFF. PREVIOUS PAGE. AN 18 CT GOLD BANGLE

SET WITH CABOCHON

RUBIES OF 65.62 CTS, OVAL RUBIES OF 45.01 CTS AND ROSE CUT DIAMONDS OF 15.56 CTS WITH A

WAVED

PAVE

DIAMOND

SET

BOARDER OF 7.70 CTS

MOUSSAIEFF. THREE PLATINUM AND 18 CTS GOLD BEAD STRINGS EACH FEATURING RUBY BEADS OF APPROX 77.67 CTS, DIAMOND BEADS OF 54.47 CTS AND A DIAMOND SET CLASP.

MOUSSAIEFF. Dog wears a triple row necklace of 285 ruby beads aprox 741

cts

interspersed

with

44 diamond bead of 72.30 cts

MOUSSAIEFF.

A Platinum & 18 ct Gold Necklace featuring a Pear shape Colombian Emerald of 20.59 cts suspended from a Cushion Cut Colombian Emerald of 34.34 cts mounted on a Necklace of Fancy Shape Diamond Scrolls of 63.38 cts.

A pair of Platinum and 18 ct Gold Earrings featuring two Pear shape Colombian Emeralds of 11.11 cts & 10.34 cts suspended from two Cushion Cut Colombian Emeralds of 30.00 cts & 29.66 cts mounted in a frame of 24 Marquise Cut Diamonds of 6.21 cts.

M O U S S A I E F F 138

VOGUE BRITISH

MOUSSAIEFF

VOGUE BRITISH

December 2008 Enter a bizarre theatrical world, where antique monkey hangs from lampposts, watched by a haughty coral ostrich Diamond feathers, A titanium feather design bangle featuring a pear shape diamond of 20.55 cts and diamond set fronds of 20.22 cts, price on application,

Moussaieff

VOGUE BRITISH

AUGUST 2009

BUNCHES OF BRIOLETTE BEADS BURST WITH ZINGY flAVOUR IN A HANGING GARDEN OF PAVE-SET flOWERS Opal drop earrings, price on request,

Moussaieff

141

VOGUE RUSSIA

MOUSSAIEFF

No 12 December 2009

CLAUDIA SCHIFFER

M O U S S A I E F F 143

A

Graduated platinum and diamond necklace featuring a combination of emerald cut diamonds set with marquise, baguette and round brillant cut diamonds weighing a total of 53.94 cts,

Moussaieff

A N 18 CT WHITE GOLD CROSSOVER WHITE DIAMOND PAVE 18.16 CTS BANGLE FEATURING A ROUGH DIAMOND OF 34.61 CTS,

Moussaieff

A

pair of 18 cts whtie gold earrring featuring two heart shape diamonds of 2.27 cts and 2.28 cts surrounded by a fan of tapered baguette diamonds of 6.66 cts,

Moussaieff

VOGUE RUSSIA

No 02 February 2009

A N 18 CT WHITE GOLD RING FEATURING A ‘NO HEAT’ CABOCHON ORAL SRI LANKA SAPPHIRE OF 28.39 CTS INA flAME OF ROUND BRILLANT & PAVÉ DIAMONDS. TOTAL DIAMOND WEIGHT 10.39 CTS.

M OUSSAIEFF. A SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND NECKLACE WITH 20 NATURAL BLUE PEARSHAPE SAPPHIRES OF 80.15 CTS ALTERNATING WITH OVAL AND PEARSHAPE DIAMONDS OF 43.36 CTS.

M OUSSAIEFF. DETACHABLE PLATINUM PENDENT FEATURES A NATURAL SRI LANKAN PEARSHAPE ‘NO HEAT’ SAPPHIRE OF 24.75 CTS SURROUNDED A FRAME OF GRADUATED OVAL WHITE DIAMONDS OF 22.64 CTS.

M OUSSAIEFF.

A PLATINUM NECKLACE FEATURING 11 OVAL AND CUSHION CUT RUBIES OF 77.60 CTS AND DIAMONDS OF 41.30 CTS WITH A MATCHING BRACLET.

M OUSSAIEFF .

Oval and brilliant cut diamond and ruby platinum set bracelet with rubies o f 32.05 cts and diamonds of 33.98 cts.

M OUSSAIEFF .

M O U S S A I E F F 149

VOGUE RUSSIA

JULY 2009

An 18 ct yellow gold, diamond and multicolour pearl bracelets.

Moussaieff

VOGUE RUSSIAN

MARCH 2009

A platinum emerald cut diamond ring.

Moussaieff

151

A 22 cts cushion shape ring.

Moussaieff

AN 18 CT YELLOW AND WHITE GOLD BANGLE FEATURING A ROUND BRILLIANT DIAMOND OF 4.10 CTS SET WITH OINK DIAMOND OF 10.05 CTS, YELLOW DIAMONDS OF 2.93 CTS AND WHITE DIAMONDS OF 6.33 CTS.

Moussaieff

M O U S S A I E F F 153

A pair of 11 cts diamond ear studs.

Moussaieff .

A three row oval and brilliant cut diamond FLexible band ring.

Moussaieff

VOGUE RUSSIAN

APRIL 2009

A three row brilliant cut diamond bangle mounted in titanium with

73.41 cts of diamonds.

Moussaieff

VOGUE RUSSIA

APRIL 2009

A 27 cts oval cut diamond ring.

Moussaieff .

An 18 ct white gold bangle set with 31 princess cut diamonds of 61.10 cts and 486 round brilliant diamonds of 5.66 cts.

Moussaieff

An 18 ct white gold ring featuring three rough diamonds of 4.13 cts in triangular diamond set frames.

Moussaieff

VOGUE RUSSIA

No 08 August 2009 A N 18 CT WHITE GOLD CUFf FEATURING A MEDLEY OF FANCY COLOURED FANCY SHAPED DIAMONDS MOUNTED IN DIAMOND SET SCROLLS, TOTAL DIAMOND WEIGHT 5.38 CTS

Moussaieff

4 BRIOLETTE DIAMOND CHAINS BY

Moussaieff

VOGUE RUSSIA

No 08 August 2009

An 18 ct white gold necklace and earrings featuring 16 pearls mounted on trellises of pear shape Marquise and round brilliant diamonds of 210.68 cts.

M OUSSAIEFF .

VOGUE RUSSIA

No 08 August 2009

A pair of white gold bangles featuring 10 Cabochon emeralds of 99.05 cts, 24 futher emeralds of 27.35 cts and 84.76 cts of diamonds.

Yellow gold heart shape emerald and pear shape diamond necklace, bracelet, earrings and ring with a total of 378.33 cts of diamonds and 138.17 cts of emeralds.

M OUSSAIEFF .

161

A N 18 CT WHITE GOLD CUF FEATURING A MEDLEY OF FANCY COLOURED FANCY SHAPED DIAMONDS MOUNTED IN DIAMOND SET SCROLLS, TOTAL DIAMOND WEIGHT 5.38 CTS, BY

Moussaieff

V O G U E 162

VOGUE RUSSIA

NOVEMBER 2009

A N 18 CT WHITE GOLD CUF FEATURING A MEDLEY OF FANCY COLOURED FANCY SHAPED DIAMONDS MOUNTED IN DIAMOND SET SCROLLS, TOTAL DIAMOND WEIGHT 5.38 CTS, BY

Moussaieff

M O U S S A I E F F 163

VOGUE INDIA

MOUSSAIEFF

VOGUE INDIA

JULY 2009

GONE TO SHREADS

White gold and pavĂŠ ball earrings,

Moussaieff

165

CULTURE CURRY Blue, yellow and pink and white diamond heart pendant necklace,

Moussaieff

POWER GAME Agate and diamond necklace,

Moussaieff

VOGUE INDIA

JULY 2009

MONOCHROME MAGIC Emerald yellow diamond and ruby necklace,

Moussaieff

VIEW JEWELLERY

CLEAR CUT

Over lunch at Nobu, London-based jeweller Alisa Moussaieff talks to DEEP KAILEY about the brand’s new collections and collaborations, rare stones and launch in India .

What is the stone owned by Moussaieff that stands out?

What’s your most iconic design?

There have been many stones, but the green three-and-a-half carat diamond stands out. An iconic Moussaieff piece would be the Golconda watch, made of 145-carat white and pink diamonds; the watch face is a Golconda D flawless 38-carat diamond. The pink diamonds offset the white.

What is the rarest stone in your present collection?

‘Moussaieff Red’ – it has been exhibited at the Natural History Museum, London, and at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC.

In this economic climate, what are your clients looking for?

An investment, but with style. Prices have to be competitive to those around the world. Also, what you’re buying has to be beautiful to you.

What is the Moussaieff aesthetic?

Classic with an edge and exciting.

Different, but not eccentric!

Who is the Moussaieff customer in India?

There is a new set of Indians with the purchasing power, interested in fine jewellery that isn’t necessarily handed down generations, but that has quality and richness. They want to start their own collection. Moussaieff leads the way for elegance and expertise in rare gems.

And we’re competitively priced.

The jewellery of the Maharajas has long been a source of inspiration for international

jewellery houses.

Is this true for Moussaieff too?

Yes, of course. I love the jewels from Bikaner and Jaipur. The pieces that stand out most, which I own, are the Baroda Bangles in emerald.

Tell us a little bit about your new collection.

It’s about huge earrings and replacing necklaces, the same Moussaieff emphasis on quality and craftsmanship, but with a fresh, stylish feel for the season.

Indian women love their jewellery, especially during the festive season. What is your buying advice for them?

Size isn’t as important as quality!

Whatever your price range, buy the finest quality.

What are the pieces every woman must have in her jewellery collection?

Basic studs, rings and bangles.

You have been credited as bringing a new direction to the Moussaieff brand. Where do you see it going next?

In terms of design, new ideas are déjà vu. Nothing’s new anymore, it’s all about reinventing and making it appropriate for now! I see jewellery from the 50’s and 60’s making a comeback. In terms of business, it’s about being stable and moving with the market. The beauty of our business is that I only need to answer to my husband and myself.

Tell us about collaborating with Forevermark.

We’ve been partners with Diarough/ Forevermark for years, buying polished diamonds from them. Their craftsmanship is exceptional, which we hope to develop and continue. In the future, we’d like to buy rough stones together with Diarough and to do the cutting and polishing as a joint venture.

Forevermark has introduced inscribed signatures to their diamonds. While that doesn’t replace a GIA certificate, this inscription becomes a sort of birth certificate for the diamond. With this unique code, you’ll know where your stone came from and it can never be tampered with or misused. I strongly believe in diamonds and their heritage, so this works perfectly for us.

VOGUE INDIA NOVEMBER 2009 www.vogue.in

M O U S S A I E F F 169

Titanium Peacock Feather Cuff with 20.55 cts Portrait Cut Diamond center and 22.22 cts of PavĂŠ Diamonds.

M O U S S A I E F F 170

BAZAAR

MOUSSAIEFF

BAZAAR BRITISH MARCH 2009

JEWELLERY

TRUE COLOURS

Far right: Amethyst and Diamond ring.

POA.

Moussaieff

JEWELLERY

CALL TO ARMS

On right hand from top: An 18 ct yellow gold ring featuring a Natural Fancy Deep Purplish Pink cushion cut diamond of 2.28 cts surrounded by yellow diamonds weighing approximately 6.00 cts. POA.

Moussaieff

M O U S S A I E F F 173

A White Gold and Diamond Cuff of 50.38 cts, and a White Gold Diamond Cuff of 23.40 cts.

M O U S S A I E F F 174

TATLER MOUSSAIEFF

TATLER BRITISH

MOUSSAIEFF

TATLER BRITISH

June 2009

177

TATLER BRITISH

September 2009

flights of fancy Have a ďŹ&#x201A;utter on dazzling cocktail rings. Dean Goldstein captures the best

white-gold,opal, sapphire and diamond ring, POA, by

180

Moussaieff

October 2009

SOPHIE WINKLEMAN

M O U S S A I E F F 181

TATLER RUSSIAN

MOUSSAIEFF

TATLER RUSSIA

October 2009

AN 18 CT YELLOW GOLD BRACELET FEATURING 7 NATURAL FANCY YELLOW SQUARE EMERALD DIAMONDSOF 45.93 CTS, 22 OVAL YELLOW DIAMONDS OF 91.60 CTS, 16 PRINCESS CUT YELLOW DIAMONDS OF 69.73 CTS AND 12 MARQUISE AND OVAL WHITE DIAMOND WEIGHT 214.12 CTS

Moussaieff

A PAIR OF PLATINUM AND 18 CT GOLD EARRING FEATURING TWO NATURAL FANCY VIVID YELLOW RADIANT CUT DIAMONDS OF 3.40 CTS AND 3.11 CTS

Moussaieff

187

A N 18 CT WHITE GOLD RING

FEATURING A ‘NO HEAT’ CABOCHON ORAL SRI LANKA SAPPHIRE OF 28.39 CTS INA flAME OF ROUND BRILLANT & PAVÉ DIAMONDS. TOTAL DIAMOND WEIGHT 10.39 CTS,

Moussaieff

188

White gold earrings with diamonds and emeralds,Gold ring with ametist and diamonds,

Moussaieff

A N 18 CT YELLOW GOLD BRACLET

FEATURING NATURAL FANCY YELLOW DIAMONDS AND WHITE DIAMONDS. TOTAL WEIGHT 214.12 CTS

M OUSSAIEFF

TATLER RUSSIA

July 2009

4. A PAIR OF PLATINUM DROP EARRINGS FEATURING TWO ZAMBIAN CABOCHON EMERALD DROPS OF 59.38 CTS AND 58.83 CTS SUSPENDED FROM TWO PEARSHAPE DIAMONDS OF 4.04 CTS & 3.77 CTS AND SIX ROUND RUBIES OF 2.77 CTS. TWO DIAMOND CLUSTERS ATOP THE EMERALDS FEATURES COMBINATION OF MARQUISE AND ROUND DIAMONDS OF 9.15 CTS.

M OUSSAIEFF

191

A pair of Platinum Drop Earrings featuring two Zambian Cabochon Emerald Drop of 59.38 cts and 58.83 cts suspended from two Pear shape Diamonds of 4.04 cts & 3.77 cts and six Round Rubies of 2.77 cts. two Diamond Clusters atop the Emeralds features combination of Marquise and Round Diamonds of 9.15 cts.

M O U S S A I E F F 192

Magazine

AnOther

MOUSSAIEFF

Magazine

AnOther

Autumn / Winter 2009

MOUSSAIEFF

Titanium and Yellow Gold Diamond Poppy Flower Titanium Brooch with a Fancy Colour Brown Kite shape Diamond center of 11.63 cts and 5.10 cts of Pear shape Diamond surrounds. Total carat weight 91.02 cts.

M O U S S A I E F F 196

OTHER EDITORIAL

MOUSSAIEFF

JFW

JEWELLERY FASHION WATCHES

BRITISH No 01 2009

A Platinum & 18 ct Gold Necklace featuring a Pear shape Colombian Emerald of 20.59 cts suspended from a Cushion Cut Colombian Emerald of 34.34 cts mounted on a Necklace of Fancy Shape Diamond Scrolls of 63.38 cts.

MOUSSAIEFF.

A pair of Platinum and 18 ct gold Earrings featuring two Pear shape Colombian Emeralds of 11.11 cts & 10.34 cts suspended from two Cushion Cut Colombian Emeralds of 30.00 cts & 29.66 cts mounted in a frame of 24 Marquise Cut Diamonds of 6.21 cts.

MOUSSAIEFF.

Dog wears: 56.81 cts of Brilliant Pear shape Diamond Necklace

MOUSSAIEFF.

JFW

JEWELLERY FASHION WATCHES

BRITISH No 04 2009

An 18 ct black gold domed ring set with yellow diamonds of 3.54 cts and white diamonds of 10.27 cts

MOUSSAIEFF.

199

style

THE SUNDAY TIMES

BRITISH

MARCH 22 2009

Diamond Ring and Bracelets

MOUSSAIEFF

Grann takes a trip

Ruby and Conch Pearl Necklace and Diamond Necklace

MOUSSAIEFF

M O U S S A I E F F 201

STYLE

THE SUNDAY TIMES

BRITISH

NOVEMBER 11 2009

South Sea Pearl Necklace set in white gold with Diamond Ball clasp. price on request

MOUSSAIEFF

style

THE SUNDAY TIMES

IRELAND

NOVEMBER 23 2009

Yellow Diamond Ring, to order

MOUSSAIEFF 203

BRUMMELL THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK FROM FINANCIAL NEWS BRITISH SEPTEMBER 2009

18 ct White Gold Ring featuring three Colombian Emeralds [total weigh of 15.92 carats], surrounded by a diamond border of 1.65 cts price on request,

MOUSSAIEFF

18 ct White Gold Bangle featuring five Cabochon Emeralds of 50.22 carats. 12 further Emeralds of 14.12 carats and 462 Diamonds of 42.42 carats, price on request, MOUSSAIEFF

M O U S S A I E F F 205

Prestige LE MONDE DES CÉlÉBRITIES JUNE 2009

A pair of 18 ct white gold multicolour diamond earrings featuring fourteen Natural Fancy Light, Intense and Vivid Yellow and Orange pearshape, marquise and square cut diamonds interspersed amongst marquise cut and briolette diamonds of 26.88 cts.

MOUSSAIEFF An 18 ct rose gold and titanium butterfly ring featuring two rose cut diamonds of 5.68 cts and 5.14 cts with diamond pave of 2.10 cts.

MOUSSAIEFF A titanium feather design bangle featuring a pearshape diamond of 20.55 cts and diamond set fronds of 20.22 cts.

MOUSSAIEFF

AD

ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST

FRANCE

MAY 2009

A titanium ямВower brooch with white and coloured diamond centers.

2.

MOUSSAIEFF

207

Platinum necklace with graduated marquis and round-cut brilliant diamond, price on request, by

MOUSSAIEFF

Wallpaper* BRITISH

OCTOBER 2009

STILETTO BRITISH OCTOBER 2009

'Constellation' necklace featuring 14 carved agates set with 14 large round brilliant diamonds of 171.94 cts surrounded by a multitude of tiny round brilliant diamonds, MOUSSAIEFF JEWELLERS

es magazine BRITISH OCTOBER 2009

Titanium Peacock Feather Cuff with 20.55 cts Portrait Cut Diamond center and 22.22 cts of pavĂŠ Diamonds.

MOUSSAIEFF

A White Gold and Diamond Necklace with 96.57 cts of Brilliant Cut Diamonds and 9.42 cts of Emerald Cut Diamonds.

M O U S S A I E F F 214

CELEBRITIES

MOUSSAIEFF

ES

20 FEBRURY 2009

NAOMI wears pair of diamond drop earrings by MOUSSAIEFF

NAOMI CAMBELL

M O U S S A I E F F 216

LOVE FIRST LOVE SPRING/SUMMER 2009

JERRY wears a 18 ct white gold necklace and south sea pearls by MOUSSAIEFF

JERRY HALL

M O U S S A I E F F 217

stella AUGUST 23 2009

DAPHNE wears a pair of 18 ct white gold multi strand earrings set with 31.36 cts round brilliant diamonds and a 27 ct Oval Cut Diamond Platinum Ring by MOUSSAIEFF

DAPHNE GUINNESS

M O U S S A I E F F 218

HELLO! 13 JANUARY 2009

Above: The ECCESTONE family.

Opposite: TAMARA wears a platinum and 18 ct white gold necklace of fancy shaped diamonds and diamond set scrolls of 144.67 cts featuring a cushion shape diamond of 11.02 cts and pear shape diamond drop of 11.02 cts by MOUSSAIEFF

TAMARA ECCLESTONE

M O U S S A I E F F 220

TAMARA wears a platinum & 18 ct gold necklace featuring a pear shape colombian emerald of 20.59 cts suspended from a cushion cut colombian emerald of 34.34 cts mounted on a necklace of fancy shape diamond scrolls of 63.38 cts. And a pair of platinum and 18 ct gold earrings featuring two pear shape colombian emeralds of 11.11 cts & 10.34 cts suspended from two cushion cut colombian emeralds of 30.00 cts & 29.66 cts mounted in a frame of 24 marquise cut diamonds of 6.21 cts by MOUSSAIEFF

TAMARA wears a platinum and diamond necklace featuring strands of fancy shape white diamonds of 87.80 cts. And a pair of platinum and diamond drop earrings featuring fancy shape white diamonds of 18.66 cts by MOUSSAIEFF

HELLO! 14 DECEMBER 2009

TARA wears a pair of 18 ct white gold multistrand earrings set with 31.36 cts round brilliant diamonds by MOUSSAIEFF

TARA PALMER-TOMKINSON

M O U S S A I E F F 224

TARA wears a A pair of platinum and 18 ct gold twin strand drop earrings featuring 12 pearshape diamonds of 20.20 cts and 2 oval diamonds of 2.03 cts. And a titanium peacock feather cuff with 20.55 cts portrait cut diamond center and 22.22 cts of pavĂŠ diamonds by MOUSSAIEFF

TAMARA wears A pair of platinum earrings featuring two oval diamonds of 5.13 cts & 5.04 cts suspended from two pear shape diamonds of 2.06 cts & 2.00 cts and two pink diamonds of 0.64 ct. Total diamond weight 14.87 cts by MOUSSAIEFF

TAMARA BECKWITH

M O U S S A I E F F 226

HELLO! 31 MARCH 2009

BIBLIOGRAPHY Adler. C., 2009. Plus Jewellery: Buy, Buy! Sell, Sell! Vanity Fair. Aug. p.49-54.

----, 2009. The rough allure. The Washington Post. Independent Supplement. 6 Nov. p.6.

Barker, G., 2009. The Secret Life of Diamonds: People buy diamonds. Evening Standard: ES magazine . 5 Jun. p16-22.

Becker.V., 2009. Life & Arts: Lights, Fantastic. Financial Times. 20,21 Nov. p 7.

----, 2009. How to spend it: ďŹ&#x201A;orescent lights. Financial Times. 21 Mar. p50-55.

----, 2009. How to spend it: Rings of desire. Financial Times. 6 Jun. p22-25.

----, 2009. Fine times: No longer set in stone. Financial Times. 22 Nov. p24-26.

----, 2009. Fine times. Wizard of emerald city. Financial Times. 28 Nov. p20-22.

Copping, N., 2009. Watches & Jewellery: In the search of the magical combination. Financial Times.

27 Mar. p.13.

----, 2009. Watches & Jewellery: When you need to know local customs. Financial Times. 14 Nov. p.9.

Johansson, L., 2009. Arts& Life: Tamara Ecclestone. The National. 1 Nov. p.10.

Gomelsky.V., 2009. A cut above Jewellery: Taking a brown to rock. International Herald Tribune. 10 Dec. p1.

Groom, A., 2009. Watches & Jewellery: Ways for the connoisseur to keep hold in hard times. Financial Times. 18 Nov. p.8.

----, 2009. Watches & JewelleryThe beauty of real raw gems. Financial Times. 12 Sep. p.2.

Kailey, D., 2009.View - Jewellery: Clear Cut.Vogue India. Nov. p.120.

229

Kilachan, A., 2009. Alisa Moussaieff: Hello India meets ‘Mrs M’. Hello! India. Issue 8 Nov. p.110.

Menkes, S., 2009. London fashion week special report: Traditional sweet florals meet geometric angles. International Herald Tribune. 22 Sep. p12.

Moussaieff, A., 2009. Style Diamond: First Class. Robb Report. October. p 62-65.

Newman, J., 2009. Style Diamonds: Alisa Moussaieff ring with fancy blue diamond. Robb Rerport USA. June. p.178.

Sherwood, J., 2009. Watches & Jewellery: A world of high drama and uncertainty. Financial Times. 27 Mar. p.15.

----, 2009. The value of irresistible history and mystery. Financial Times. 14 Nov. p.9.

Simonian, H., 2009. Watches & Jewellery: Top names divided over time and tide. Financial Times. 12 Sep. p.1.

Wee, E., 2009. Feature: Kaleidoscope of brilliance. Prestige Singapore. Aug. p.98-101.

Online Adler. C., 2009. Diamonds: A call for the exceptional. The Washington Post. Independent Supplement [Online].

Available at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125747086311932631.html [ Accessed 6 November 2009].

-----, 2009. Diamonds: The Rough Allure. The Washington Post. Independent Supplement [Online].

Available at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125747086311932631.html [ Accessed 6 November 2009].

Bourgh. D., 2009. Sotheby’s unveils rare blue diamond for auction. Reuters, [Online].

Available at: http://www.reuters.com [ Accessed 27 April 2009].

Bourgh. D., & Cruise. S., 2009. Dubai crisis seen as hiccup for London luxury hub. Reuters, [Online].

Available at: http://www.reuters.com [ Accessed 01 December 2009].

Werdigier. J., 2009. Colour me dazzle. The Economist. [Online].

Available at: http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14944566 [ Accessed 21 November 2009] Sissons. J., 2009. Hunting for rough diamonds. The Wall Street Journal. [Online].

Available at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125747086311932631.html [ Accessed 6 November 2009]

Photo Credits p.6. Moussaieff Archive., 2009. 172 New Bond Street Boutique, London. [Photograph] (Archive) p.12. Moussaieff Archive., 2009. Inside New Bond Street Boutique, London. [Photograph] (Archive) p.14. Simpson. N., 2009. Opal Butterfly Brooch. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.15. Smith,G., 2009. Alisa Moussaieff. [Photograph] ( From Hello magazine, India) [November 2009] p.16. Simpson. N., 2009. 56.81 cts of Brilliant Pear shape Diamond Necklace. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd.

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Archive) p.17. Simpson. N., 2009. Tamara Ecclestone. [Photograph] (From The National arts& life. p.10) [1 November 2009] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.20. Simpson. N., 2009. 18 ct yellow gold, golden coloured South Sea pearl with 29.38 cts of diamonds necklace with matching earclips. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.22,23. Getty., 2009. Angelina Jolie pictured with Brad Pitt. [Photograph] (From Financial Times. p.13) [27 March 2009] p.24. Ashwood, A., 2009. Sophie Marceau. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Watches & Jewellery. p.15) [27 March 2009] p.26. Alamy., 2009. flying the flags. [Photograph]. (From Financial Times: Watches & Jewellery. p.1) [12 September 2009] p.29. Simpson, N., 2009. Diamond set Titanium Conch Pearls Brooch. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Life & Arts. p.7) [20 December 2009] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.30. Courtesy of Moussaieff. 2009. Something special. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Watches & Jewellery. p.9) [14 November 2009] (Archive) p.30. Courtesy of Moussaieff. 2009. Alisa Moussaieff. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Watches & Jewellery. p.9) [14 November 2009] (Archive) p.33. Courtesy of FT., 2009. Erin O’Conner. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Watches & Jewellery. p.9) [14 November 2009] p.35. Diver & Aguilar., 2009. florescent lights. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: How to spend it. p.55 and Cover) [21 March 2009] p.36. Chris and Gael,. 2009. Rings of desire. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: How to spend it. p.22-23) [6 June 2009] p.36. Bresnan.J., 2009. A shoulder to try on. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: How to spend it. Cover) [6 June 2009] p.40. Diver & Aguilar., 2009. No longer set in stone. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Fine times. p.24-25) [22 November 2009] p.41. Hen.Y., 2009. Sweeping Statements. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Fine times. Cover) [22 November 2009] p.42. Diver & Aguilar., 2009. No longer set in stone. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Fine times. p.26) [22 November 2009] p.44. Humble-Smith, Ted., 2009. Wizards of emerald city. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Fine times. p.20-21) [28 November 2009] p.44. Hen.Y., 2009. A new new look. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Fine times. Cover) [28 November 2009] p.46. Humble-Smith, Ted., 2009. Wizards of emerald city. [Photograph] (From Financial Times: Fine times. p.22) [28 November 2009] p.48. Simpson, N., 2009. Emerald earrings and Necklace. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.51. Sotheby’s 2009. Star of the season. [Photograph] (From Evening Standard: ES Magazine. p.17) [5 June 2009] p.52. Sorci, E., 1957. Elizabeth Taylor. [Photograph] (From Evening Standard: ES Magazine. p.18) [5 June 2009] p.52. Camera Press, 2007. Laureance Graff. [Photograph] (From Evening Standard: ES Magazine. p.18) [5 June 2009] p.52. Getty Images, 1991. Emir Jaber al-Sabah. [Photograph] (From Evening Standard: ES Magazine. p.18) [5 November 2009]

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p.53. Corbis, Wenn, Sotherby’s, 2009. Diamonds. [Photograph] (From Evening Standard: ES Magazine. p.20) [5 June 2009] p.54. Corbis, 1940’s. Diamond mine, Kimberley South Africa. [Photograph] (From Evening Standard: ES Magazine. p.22) [5 June 2009] p.54. Getty Images, 1907. The Cullinan diamond. [Photograph] (From Evening Standard: ES Magazine. p.22) [5 June 2009] p.54.Eyevine, 2009. Mirny open-pit diamond mine. [Photograph] (From Evening Standard: ES Magazine. p.22) [5 June 2009] p.56. Simpson, N., 2009. Brown Diamonds. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.57. Collage various photographers, 2009. Taking a shine to brown rock. [Photograph] ( From International Herald Tribune: Jewellery. p.1) [10 December 2009] p.59. Moore, C., 2009. Graeme Black Fashion week. [Photograph] ( From International Herald Tribune: Fashion London Special p.12) [22 September 2009] p.60. Simpson, N., 2009. Opal Rings. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.63. Courtesy of Robb Report. Cover. [Photograph] From Robb Report: Russian. cover) [October 2009] p.64 & 68. Simpson, N., 2009. A platinum and 18 ct. gold natural fancy intense yellow radiant diamond pendant of 73.94 cts mounted on an oval and pear shape diamond necklace of 124.21 ct. featuring a pear shape. [Photograph] From Robb Report: Russian. p.62) [October 2009] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.66 & 70. Simpson, N., 2009. Moussaieff ’s read 5.11 ct. [Photograph] From Robb Report: Russian. p.64) [October 2009] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.67 & 71. Simpson, N., 2009. A platinum and 18 ct. gold bracelet set with 29.34 cts of fancy coloured fancy fancy shape diamonds. [Photograph] From Robb Report: Russian. p.65) [October 2009](Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.72. Courtesy of Robb Report. Cover. [Photograph] From Robb Report: USA. cover) [June 2009] p. 73. Simpson, N., 2009. Fancy blue diamond ring. [Photograph] From Robb Report: USA. p.178) [June2009] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p. 74. Simpson, N., 2009. White Gold Ring featuring a Natural Fancy Intense Pink Square Emerald cut Diamond and a.White Gold Ring featuring a Natural Fancy Blue round Brilliant Diamond. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.76-79. Simpson, N., 2009. Brilliant Diamonds[Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.80. Simpson, N., 2009. A pair of Briolette cut Natural Fancy Yellow Diamond Drop Earrings and a Double row Platinum Pear shape Diamond Necklace . [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.82. Simpson, N., 2009. A Platinum Ring featuring a Natural Fancy Vivid Blue Emerald Cut Diamond. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.86. Simpson, N., 2009. Three Platinum Rings each featuring a Diamond. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.87. Simpson, N., 2009. A Platinum Ring featuring a Diamond and a A Platinum Ring featuring a Diamond. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.88. Simpson, N., 2009. A Natural Fancy Vivid Orange Emerald Cut Diamond Ring. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.90. Simpson, N., 2009. White and Rose Gold Ring featuring a rectangular Natural Fancy Brownish Orange Diamond.

[Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive)

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p.91. Simpson, N., 2009. An 18 ct White Gold Twist Ring featuring a rough Diamond of 7.83 cts and Pave White Diamonds.

[Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.94. Simpson, N., 2009. From a collection of Natural Fancy Coloured Diamond Rings. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.96. Simpson, N., 2009. A pair of Platinum and 18ct White Gold multi-strand Earrings set with Marquise Diamonds and a Platinum and 18ct Gold multi strand graduated Necklace featuring Pear shape Diamond drops. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.98. Feng, K Z., 2009. Anna Friel. [Photograph] (From Vanity Fair: Plus Jewellery. p.Cover) [August 2009] p.99. Kamabayashi, S., 2009. Buy, buy, sell, sell. [Illustration] (From Vanity Fair: Plus Jewellery. p.49) [August 2009] p.100. Topfoto., 1934. Barbara Hutton with first Husband. [Photograph] (From Vanity Fair: Plus Jewellery. p.50) [August 2009] p.101. Topfoto., 1921. Baroness Marie Budberg. [Photograph] (From Vanity Fair: Plus Jewellery. p.52) [August 2009] p.102. Keystone-France / Camera Press., 1930. Gold Rush. [Photograph] (From Vanity Fair: Plus Jewellery. p.53) [August 2009] p.103. Time & Life Pictures., 1962. John F. Kennedy Jr. plays with his mother. [Photograph] (From Vanity Fair: Plus Jewellery. p.54) [August 2009] p.104 & 105. Feng, K Z., 2009. Anna Friel. Fashion: Pearls on Film. [Photograph] (From Vanity Fair: Plus Jewellery. p.74 & 81) [August 2009] p.106. Simpson, N., 2009. A ďŹ&#x201A;ower Brooch featuring a Pink Conch Pearl of 14.74 cts surrounded by tiny Conch Pearls. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p108-111. Smith. G., 2009. Alisa Moussaieff. [Photographs] (From Hello: india. p.111,112,113 & 114) [Issue 8: November 2009] p110. Moussaieff Red, Natural Fancy Pink Marquise and Pear Shaped Diamond Necklace. [Photograph] ( From Hello: india. p.113 ) [Issue 8: November 2009] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.111. Grant, K., 2009. Tamara Ecclestone. [Photograph] (From Hello: india. p.114 ) [Issue 8: November 2009] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.112-115. Mehra, A., 2009. Socialite Moussaieff Party Photos. [Photographs] (From Hello: india. p.114,118, 122 & 126) [Issue 8: November 2009] p.116. Simpson, N., 2009. An 18ct White Gold Necklace featuring a Cushion Cut Thai Ruby of 18.22cts mounted in a framework of Fancy Shape Diamond Set Scrolls of 45.33ct.s [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.118. Simpson, N., 2009. A Platinum and Pear shape Diamond Drop Necklace featuring 86.79cts of Pear shape diamonds. And a pair of Platinum Diamond Drop Earrings featuring a single row of Pear shape Diamonds total.

[Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.121-127. Alas, M. & Piggott, M., 2009. Cover and fashion story of Laetitia Casta. [Photographs] (From Vogue: Paris. p.Cover, 144,145, 148, 149 & 151) [December 2009] p.129. Buchet, C., 2009. Laetitia Casta Jewellery Story. [Photographs] (From Vogue: Paris. p.205) [No 903 December 2009] p.130. Sorrenti, M.,2009. Fashion Story: Leqnor a Mort. [Photographs] (From Vogue: Paris. p.161) [No 902 November 2009] p.130. Sims, D., 2009. Cover: Keith me. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Paris. p.Cover) [No 902 November 2009] p.132. Mitchell, J., 2009. Beauty Story. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Japan. p.320) [No 902 November 2009]

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p.133. Baumgarten, M., 2009. In wonderland Cover. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Gioiello. p.Cover) [No 107 November 2009] P.134-137. Aldridge. M., 2009. Fashion Story: My Own Dog. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Gioiello. p.78,79,80 & 81) [No 107 November 2009] p.138. Simpson, N., 2009. A Platinum & 18ct Gold Necklace featuring a Pear shape Colombian Emerald of 20.59cts suspended from a Cushion Cut Colombian Emerald of 34.34cts mounted on a Necklace of Fancy Shape Diamond Scrolls of 63.38cts. And a pair of Platinum and 18ct gold Earrings featuring two Pear shape Colombian Emeralds.

[Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.140. Lacey., 2009. Spell Bound: Still life. [Photograph] (From Vogue: British. p.313) [December 2009] p.140. Knight, N., 2009. Kate Moss. [Photograph] (From Vogue: British. p.Cover) [December 2009] p.141. Baumgarten, M., 2009.Orange Bounty: Still life. [Photograph] (From Vogue: British. p.160) [August 2009] p.141. Demarchelier, P., 2009.Sasha Pivovarova. [Photograph] (From Vogue: British. p.Cover) [August 2009] p.143-147. Sundsbø, S., 2009. Claudia Schiffer. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Russia. p.Cover, 256, 257, 258 & 259) [August 2009] p.148 & 149. Jolley, A., 2009. Fashion Story. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Russia. p.114 & 120) [February 2009] p.148. Sundsbo, S., 2009.Victoria Beckham. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Russia. p.Cover) [February 2009] p.150. Mitchell, J., 2009. Jewellery Story. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Russia. p.69) [July 2009] p.150. Tsiolis, T., 2009. Snejana. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Russia. p.Cover) [July 2009] p151-153. Mitchell, J., 2009. Jewellery Story. [Photographs] (From Vogue: Russia. p.206, 210 & 216) [March 2009] p.151. McLellan, A., 2009. Natasha Polly. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Russia. p.Cover) [March 2009] p154-157. Jolly, A., 2009. Jewellery Story. [Photographs] (From Vogue: Russia. p.144, 145, 146 & 148 ) [April 2009] p.158 & 159. Olins, J., 2009. Fashion Story. [Photographs] (From Vogue: Russia. p.170 & 176) [August 2009] p.158. McLellan, A., 2009. Dree Hemingway. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Russia. p.Cover) [August 2009] p.160 & 161. McLellan, A., 2009. Jewellery Story. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Russia. p.180 & 185) [August 2009] p. 162 & 163. Russel Jensen, M., 2009. Cat Jewellery Story. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Russia. p.151 & 154) [November 2009] p. 163. Richardson, T., 2009. Daria Werbowy. [Photograph] (From Vogue: Russia. p.Cover) [November 2009] p.165-168. Pillai, M., 2009. Beyond Borders: Fashion Story. [Photographs] (From Vogue: India. p.89, 93, 96 & 97) [July 2009] p.165. Sikka, B., 2009. Cover. [Photograph] (From Vogue: India. p.Cover) [July 2009] p.169. Legge, R., 2009. Alisa Mossaieff. [Photograph] (From Vogue: India. p.120) [November 2009] p.169.Simpson, N., 2009. Titanium Peacock Feather Cuff and a Titanium and Gold flower Brooch. [Photographs] (From Vogue: India. p.120) (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p. 171. Simpson, N., 2009. Titanium Peacock Feather Cuff. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p. 172 & 173. Shave, W., 2009. Jewellery: Love on the Rocks. [Photographs] (From Bazaar: British. p.167 & 168) [March 2009] p. 174. Simpson, N., 2009. A White Gold and Diamond Cuff of 50.38 cts, and a White Gold Diamond cuff of 23.40 cts.

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[Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.177-179. Ryoo, H-W., 2009. Fashion Story: Paris Hilton. [photographs] (From Tatler: British. p.115, 116 & 119) [June 2009] p.177. Afanador, R., 2009. Elizabeth Hurley. [photographs] (From Tatler: British. p.Cover) [June 2009] p.180. Ling,V., 2009. Jewellery Story: flights of fantasy. [Photographs] (From Tatler: British. p.85) [September 2009] p.181-185. Adams, B., 2009. Sophie Winkleman. [Photographs] (From Tatler: British. p.Cover, 114,115, 118 & 121) [October 2009] p187-190. Dayan, B., 2009. Fashion Story. [Photographs] (From Tatler: Russia. p.152, 150, 151 & 153) [October 2009] p187. Hanson, P., 2009. Cover. [Photographs] (From Tatler: Russia. p.Cover) [October 2009] p.191. Bernall, K., 2009. Jewellery Still Life. [Photographs] (From Tatler: Russia. p.65) [July 2009] p.191.Von Unwerth, E., 2009. Elle McPherson. [Photographs] (From Tatler: Russia. p.Cover) [July 2009] p.192. Simpson, N., 2009. A pair of Platinum drop Earrings featuring two Zambian Cabochon Emerald drop of 59.38 cts and 58.83 cts suspended from two Pear shape diamonds of 4.04 cts & 3.77 cts and six round Rubies of 2.77 CTS. Two Diamond clusters atop the Emeralds features combination of Marquise and Round Diamonds Of 9.15 cts. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.194. McDean, C., 2009. Kate Moss. (From Another Magazine. p.Cover) [Issue 17, Autumn/ Winter 2009] p195. Frotin, E., 2009. Natural Phenemena. [Photographs] (From Another Magazine. p.123) [Issue 17, Autumn/ Winter 2009] p.196. Simpson, N., 2009. Titanium and Yellow Gold Diamond Poppy flower Titanium Brooch with a Fancy Colour Brown Kite shape Diamond center of 11.63 cts and 5.10 cts of Pear shape Diamond surrounds. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p.191. Dunlop, C., 2009. Fashion Story: Gym Godess. [Photographs] (From JFW: Jewellery Watches Fashion. p. Cover & 91) [No 1 2009] p.192. Chris and Gael., 2009. Still Life: Jewellery. [Photograph] (From JFW: Jewellery Watches Fashion. p. 94) [No 4 2009] p.192. photographer., 2009. Cover. [Photograph] (From JFW: Jewellery Watches Fashion. p.Cover) [No 4 2009] p200-201. Bliss, P., 2009. Granny Takes a Trip. [Photographs] (From Style: The Sunday Times. p. 27, 29) [22 March 2009] p202. Lindquist, J., 2009. Bare essentials. [Photograph] (From Style: The Sunday Times. p. 58) [22 November 2009] p202. McLean, P. & Pickard, C.,., 2009. Fashion. [Photograph] (From Style: The Sunday Times. p. Cover) [22 November 2009] p203. O’Connell, D., 2009. I want to be Adorned. [Photograph] (From Style: The Sunday Times- Ireland. p.4) [23 November 2009] p203. Saint, W., 2009. Cindy Crawford. [Photograph] (From Style: The Sunday Times- Ireland. p.Cover) [23 November 2009] p204-205. Shave, M., 2009. Shine on. [Photographs] (From Brummell: Financial News. p.43,47) [September 2009] p204. Bar, N., 2009. Facing the Future. [Illustration] (From Brummell: Financial News. p.Cover) [September 2009] p.206. Moda’s Touch. 2009. Poppy Delevingne. [Photographs] (From Prestige: France. p.Cover & 98) [May 2009] p.207. Barbieri, C., 2009. Still Life: Printemps precieux. [Photograph] (From AD: France. p.38) [June 2009] p.207. Richters, C., 2009. Architecture. [Photograph] (From AD: France. p.Cover) [May 2009]

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p.208 & 209. Barbieri, C., 2009. Still Life: Eye Candy. [Photograph] (From Wallpaper. p.304 & 305) [October 2009] p.208. Lagerfeld, K., 2009. Baptiste giabiconi. [Photograph] (From Wallpaper. p.Cover) [October 2009] p. 210 & 211. Collins, K., 2009. Fashion Jewellery. [Photograph] (From Stiletto: France. p.100 & 101) [Summer 2009] p. 210. Muntane, X., 2009. Alek Wek. [Photograph] (From Stiletto: France. p.Cover) [Summer 2009] p.212 & 213. Grammer, A., 2009. [Photograph] (From ES FASHION: Evening Standard. p.20) [ 20 February 2009] p.214. Simpson, N., 2009. A White Gold and Diamond Necklace with 96.57 cts of Brilliant Cut Diamonds and 9.42 cts of Emerald Cut Diamonds. [Photograph] (Moussaieff Jewellery Ltd. Archive) p216. Adams, B., 2009. Naomi Cambell. [Photograph] (From ES FMagazine: Evening Standard. p.Cover, & 20) [ 20 February 2009] p217. Sundsbø, S., 2009. Jerry Hall. [Photograph] (From LOVE: Fashion and Fame. p.129) [Issue 1,Spring/Summer 2009] p217. Alas, M. & Piggott, M., 2009. Beth Ditto. [Photograph] (From LOVE: Fashion and Fame. p.Cover) [Issue 1,Spring/Summer 2009] p218-219. McCartney, M., 2009. Daphne Guinness. [Photograph] (From Stella: The Sunday Telegraph. p.Cover & 20) [22 August 2009] p 220. Getty Images., 2009. The Ecclestone Family. [Photograph] (From Hello: British. p.80) [13 January 2009] p. 221-223. Sadlo, T., 2009. Tamara Ecclestone. [Photographs] (From Hello: British. p.80) [13 January 2009] p. 224 & 225. Modas Touch., 2009. Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. [Photographs] (From Hello: British. p.160 & 159) [14 December 2009] p.226 & 227. Serra, M., 2009. Tamara Beckwith. [Photographs] (From Hello: British. p.6 & 9) [31 March 2009]

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