The big date has been set on April 29, 2011 for what has been termed as the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The expected number of guests to grace the grand occasion is 1,900. Since the ceremony will be covered by the press, two billion television viewers all across the globe will witness the exchange of vows between the royal couple.
Meanwhile, royal bride Kate Middleton has been diligent during rehearsals in Westminster Abbey. She is determined to get her groom's complete name correctly and avoid , Princess Diana's speech blunders when she referred to her groom as "Philip Charles Arthur George" instead of "Charles Philip Arthur George." Prince William's full name is William Arthur Philip Louis.
Prince Harry joined the rehearsals as well as Kate's sister Pippa. Six bridesmaids and page boys were also present in the Westminster Abbey to ensure that everything will go perfectly as planned on the big day. The entourage was also given a tour of the abbey by Reverend John Hall. He shall be one of the three clergymen who will be involved in the wedding ceremony. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will marry the royal couple while Bishop of London Richard Chartres will give the address. A lot more rehearsals have been scheduled to make everyone feel comfortable as ogling guests and excited tele-viewers focus on them on April 29, 2011.
While talk about Diana's sapphire and diamond engagement ring has fizzled, excitement continues to build up in eager expectation of this year's royal wedding. Both Kate and Prince William are expected to make the occasion a perfect and memorable one not only for them but for the whole world.
Almost everybody in the world knows COSTCO. It is a warehouse club chain in the United States that prides of having the largest membership. From 2009 records, COSTCO is the USA's third largest retailer and the world's ninth. Founded in Kirkland, Washington, COSTCO has successfully propelled a sales model that focused on selling products at attractively low prices at very high volumes. Most of COSTCO's clients are large families and businesses, as evidenced by their bulk packaging.
The latest product that has joined the COSTCO catalog is a special 6.77-carat diamond ring priced at $1 million. The pricey tag already includes a huge discount from its original price of $1.6 million. This may come as a shock to many but COSTCO has been in the business of selling diamond engagement rings as well as luxurious fine jewelry since 2005. Even the most affluent have been checking out the warehouse chain for these sparkling offerings. While steeply-priced diamond jewelry may appear out of place in a warehouse chain such as COSTCO, it has attracted a good number of multi-millionaire clients from around the world. Yes, the wealthy baron who needs to impress a beloved can now ditch Tifany's and go to COSTCO for his bling purchases. True to COSTCO's promise, every purchase is indeed a bargain. And, should you change your mind, COSTCO allows you to return the item if there are no damages or changes to the original product. However, you will need to bring your receipt for this return or exchange.
It has been more than one week since the big day of Hollywood's Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon and talent agent, Jim Toth. Details of the country-themed wedding are still trickling out but the latest news that has captured the public eye is Witherspoon's wedding dress. The Academy Award-winning actress wore a strapless wedding gown in a pale tickle-me-pink pink shade designed by Monique Lhuillier. As a charming bonus, Witherspoon walked down the aisle with Jimmy Choo platform sandals. Although it was quite unconventional and nontraditional, Witherspoon's wedding dress brought warmth to the intimate ceremony in front of the couple's 120 guests. The groom was as dapper as a knight, donning a gray suit by Rag & Bone.
The small ceremony was held at Witherspoon's ranch in Ojai, California. Among her 120 guests were Alyssa Milano, Rene Zellweger, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Penn, and Tobey Maguire.
After Witherspoon broke up with longtime boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal, she started to date Toth in January 2010. In December of the same year, Tot asked her to marry him with a captivating 4-carat Ashoka diamond engagement ring designed by jeweler William Goldberg, reported to cost $250,000.
The couple enjoyed a short honeymoon together and just a week after the wedding, Witherspoon was spotted stepping out of her Brentwood California gym, wearing her platinum wedding ring. It was a simple but elegant band that complemented her 4-carat Ashoka diamond engagement ring. The marriage was Jim Toth's first while Reese Witherspoon's second. As well-wishers, we look forward to the couple spending the rest of their lives together.
The world continues to mourn the final farewell of Hollywood icon and legend, Elizabeth Taylor. As Hollywood produces tributes and features to commemorate the loss of one of its most prized actors in history, one things remains - Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry collection which is worth an estimated $150 million.
While she was still living, Elizabeth Taylor wrote a book entitled, "My Love Affair with Jewelry." She made some interesting statements in the book such as, "I'm fortuante to have some very important pieces of jewelry. I don't believe I own any of the pieces. I believe that I am their custodian, here to enjohy them, to give them the best treatment in the world, to watch after their safety, and to love them." The question now is: To whom will this grand jewelry collection be passed among her four children? On the other hand, shall it be put on auction for the benefit of her AIDS Foundation? How about a museum, which seems to be the rightful place for these iconic jewelry?
In the past, Elizabeth Taylor hosted an auction that included an emerald and diamond ring given to her by Richard Burton. That event raised over $240,00 for her AIDS Foundation. And though she parted ways with her engagement ring sadly, the joy she felt being able to help victims of AIDS was more than sufficient to cover her material loss.
Nearly all of Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry pieces were gifts from men in her life. The most popular one is the 33-carat Krupp diamond ring which was Richard Burton's first jewelry purchase for Taylor in 1968. It was her favorite jewelry article and wore it almost every day. Another notable piece from Richard Burton is the 69-carat pear-shaped diamond which was cut from a rough stone found by jewelry Harry Winston in the Premier Mine that weighed 240 carats.
The Sitapura Industrial Estate in Jaipur hosted the five-day auction of emeralds by Gemfields from March 10 to 14, 2011. Gemfields is the owner of the largest emerald mine in the world located in Kagem, Zambia. A total of 48 companies were carefully selected and invited to the auction out of over 100 applicants. To assert that it is difficult to break into these auctions is a gross understatement. An invitation is extended to a company that has been in the business for multiple generations or one that came highly recommended by someone Gemfields trusted. Ian Harebottle is the company's CEO while Adrian Banks is the product director.
The total weight of the Zambian emeralds at the Jaipur auction is 16.8 million carats of emeralds weighing 3.36 tons. These emeralds are rough and uncut and are divided into 35 lots for bidding. More than three-fourths of the buyers at the Gemfields emerald auction are Indians. To date, the Gemfields auction is the largest market in the world for emeralds that are ready for cutting and manufacturing.
An organized auction such as this requires months of serious preparation. Before the big auction day, Gemfields had already sorted the stones by grade and packed them into steel boxes. Adrian Banks is the one who determines the minimum reserve price for each lot. During the auction, bidding companies are given five days to scrutinize the precious green stones by lot and place their bids inside sealed envelopes. It is on the last day of the auction when the envelopes are opened and evaluated by Gemfields executives and two officials of the Zambian government since the latter owns 25% of the emerald mine.
Out of the 35 emerald gemstone lots, 20 were won by Vaibhav Gems, a Jaipur-based company who runs its business selling most of its stones in the USA and Europe through TV channels. The rest of the lots were sold to individual companies. Only one lot remained unsold and it weighed a total of 770 kg with a reserve price of $400,000.
It was during the love month of 2011 when Christie's, the world's leading art business, unveiled an impressive and rare 56-carat heart-shaped diamond which will be the star of their annual Magnificent Jewels auction slated this May 2011 in Geneva. Diamond lovers the world over are in great expectation for Christie's auction as a glittering list of unique gems as well as sparkling diamonds await avid jewel and gemstone collectors.
The actual weight of the symmetrical heart-shaped diamond is a whopping 56.51 carats. Moreover, it also has near-perfect grades in terms of diamond quality and attributes. Its actual color grade is a D, a rarity in this time and age. In terms of clarity, it is internally flawless (IF). This romantic sparkler is just one of the nine pieces that was featured in a sneak preview of Christie's May 2011 annual jewel auction.
Christie's is expecting to rake in $12 million for this "Love at First Sight" heart diamond. Gemstones weighing more than 50 carats are extremely rare. In the last 20 years, only a handful of these heavyweights have been auctioned off, which makes this sparkler an exciting buy for 2011.
At $12 million, the heart-shaped diamond is still modestly priced compared to the most expensive and largest stones ever sold in history. The world's largest diamond named the Cullinan diamond, weighs a whopping 3,106.75 carats. This stone was further cut into smaller pieces with the largest weighing 530.20 carats. That stone, called the Cullinan 1, now belongs to the British Crown Jewels and is today's most expensive diamond, valued at more than $400 million.
This year's Academy Awards glimmered Swarovski crystals in a set designed by production designer Steve Bass to welcome this year's celebration of Hollywood creativity. The total number of Swarovski crystals used in the biggest night of Hollywood is 55,000 sparkling pieces flown in directly from the Swarovski headquarters in Austria. The beautiful crystals came in 11 different shapes and sizes. It was Swarovski's fourth time to decorate the Oscars' set and stage. The most glamorous event in the world deserves no less than a brand that exudes poetic beauty, sparkle, and glamor.
The illustrious Governors Ball that followed the awards glimmered with a total of 250 strands of Swarovski crystals that hung from the ceiling. Each of the strands contained more than 10,000 Swarovski crystals in eight different shapes and sizes. The total weight of these strands added up to more than 350 pounds!
The Swarovski crsytals complemented the prestigious event with its usual carousel of glamorous Hollywood superstars. The sparkling crystals added to the aura of glamour and beauty which was spearheaded by this year's talented production set designer, Steve Bass.
Swarovski is the world's leading producer of precision-cut crystals used in fashion and jewelry. In the recent years, Swarovski crystals have also been used in architecture and interior design. Since its humble beginnings in 1895, it remains as a family-owned enterprise run by the fourth and fifth generation family members.
The tanzanite is a beautiful mineral first discovered in the Meraranii Hills of Tanzania way back in 1967. It appears reddish-brown in its raw state. After subjecting the mineral to heat treatment inside a gemstone oven, the tanzanite's tantalizing blue hue is revealed. Its beauty has captured the hearts of many jewelry aficionados and collectors worldwide. In response to customers' demands, jewelers have created beautiful tanzanite jewelry in just about every shape and size.
Tanzanite is mined only from one origin and that is Tanzania, Africa. One of the largest gemstone producers and developers in the world, Tanzanite One, has recently unearthed an exceptional tanzanite weighing a whopping 12,100 carats. It was discovered in the Simanjiro district of Tanzania where Tanzanite One's flagship project was launched. To date, the tanzanite discovery is the third largest tanzanite gemstone found in the world and is believed to possess exceptional quality, considering that it was mined from a vertical depth of just over 450 meters.
Currently, the stone is undergoing gemstone analysis to verify final color and grading. Tanzanite One will most likely cut the large stone into smaller pieces but still of significant sizes in its company-owned state-of-the-art cutting facility. Chief executive of Tanzanite One, Bernard Olivier, has expressed excitement in the relevant discovery as it reinforces the company's future potential in mining tanzanite from the company's Simanjiro mine in Africa. This mine alone has produced approximately $15.8 million sales in the year 2010.
Which would you rather lie on, a bed of roses or the world's most expensive bed valued at 4 million pounds? Yes, the most expensive piece of furniture in the world is a bed designed by Stuart Hughes, who has named his creation "Baldacchino Supreme." The British designer used the best quality chestnut, ash, and cherry wood in the hand construction of this fine and fancy bed. It is also inlaid with 24-karat gold weighing a total of 107 kilograms using small gold leaf designs. The finest quality Italian silk was used as fabric for the bed's headboard, which may also be customized with diamonds and other gemstones.
UK designer, Stuart Hughes, has been creating upgraded versions of items such as iPhones and flat screen television sets by embellishing them with diamonds and other precious stones and casing the gadgets in precious metals such as gold or platinum.
Stuart Hughes reported that the "Baldacchino Supreme" took three months to complete. He worked with master craftsmen of Italian furniture and plans to manufacture only two of its kind to keep its exclusivity. One bed has already been sold to an Italian businessman. The "Baldacchino Supreme" is all about excess that only the super rich can afford. Let us just hope that all that gold and sparkling jewels will keep the snoring at bay.
In the second week of December 2010 at the Grand Palais in Paris, a historic exhibit took place to celebrate "125 Years of Italian Magnificence." The Bulgari Jewelry Exhibit was visited by the most famous and elegant of Hollywood stars such as Julianne Moore and Juliette Binoche who were both adorned in Bulgari jewels.
The rare exhibit displayed Bulgari's masterpiece creations from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, up to the present. The circa 1970 snake belt in gold and white enamel worn by Diana Vreeland along with Bulgari's iconic neck pieces with sautoirs enthralled the evening's guests. The Tubogas bracelet caught the attention of many with its flexible band and six-piece alternating yellow and white gold bracelets with three Roman Imperial coins in the center. It was a stellar display of sparkling and astonishing articles of fine diamond jewelry.
The highlight of the evening was the magnificent Bulgari collection of Elizabeth Taylor, which was displayed in an exhibit for the very first time. According to the Bulgari's manager for the South Pacific (Fiona Manini), Ms. Taylor insisted that her collection must occupy a separate room or space in the exhibit.
Elizabeth Taylor's Bulgari collection stole the show with her famous Cleopatra gold "snake" bracelet watch embellished with diamonds and two emeralds. The captivating emerald and diamond drop earrings Taylor wore while filming the movie "The VIPs" also shared the limelight. All other Bulgari pieces from Elizabeth Taylor's fine collection were that evening's conversation piece.
Bulgari continues to captivate its audience with beautiful works of jewelry art, created for a more discriminating clientele.
