Rare heart-shaped colored diamonds in LA!

Los Angeles--The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) will display five rare heart-shaped colored diamonds in its new exhibition, The Lady Heart Diamond Collection, from Feb. 1 to June 30.

Each diamond is a different color--red, pink, orange, yellow and blue--and is a fancy vivid natural color diamond, as graded by the Gemological Institute of America. The stones range in size from 1.71 to 2.28 carats, and all are set in separate pieces of gold jewelry, custom designed for the temporary exhibit in the NHM’s Gem Vault.

“A heart-shaped diamond itself is immensely rare. While the diamond is in the rough, the final shape of the stone is determined by the diamond cutter based on which shape will maximize carat weight, symmetry and value,” said Bernard Bachoura, fourth-generation jeweler at California’s Sophia Fiori and designer of the exhibition.

Within the exhibit is the Lady Orquidea, a 2-carat fancy vivid orange heart-shaped diamond (below) mounted in a heart-shaped bezel accented with white pavé diamonds. Fancy vivid orange diamonds are believed by experts to be among the rarest of colored diamonds, the NHM said.

The Lady Zahira is a 2.26-carat fancy vivid yellow heart-shaped diamond (below) set in rose gold for the exhibit. This diamond originates from the Zimi mines in South Africa and its color “is more intense than most vivid yellow diamonds,” the NHM said.

Additional information about the NHM museum can be found on its website.

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Tiffany inks new agreement with Elsa Peretti

New York--Tiffany & Co. has extended the life of its sales and marketing partnership with Elsa Peretti for 20 years, Securities and Exchange Commission filings show.

The deal pays the 72-year-old Italian jewelry designer $47.3 million plus annual royalties for continuing use of her trademarked jewelry and other products, and requires that Tiffany reduce prices on Peretti products by 20 percent so as to achieve overall average gross margins of no more than 50 percent, with Peretti’s personal opinion on pricing to be given “due consideration,” the SEC filing states.

Tiffany must display the licensed Peretti products in its stores and devote a portion of its advertising budget to the line. The new agreement also prods Tiffany to stock more of Peretti’s non-jewelry licensed products, such as tableware. The inventory value of non-jewelry licensed products averaged about $4 million over the previous five years, according to the filing.

In addition, Peretti has the right to terminate the new agreement should any “change of control” occur at Tiffany & Co., which includes a sale, transfer or other disposition of the company’s assets.

The new agreement was finalized on Dec. 27 and extends a partnership that has been in place since 1974. Tiffany remains the sole licensee for the intellectual property rights necessary to sell Peretti’s trademarked jewelry and other products. 

Back in May, it appeared the long-standing relationship might come to an end, however, as SEC filings showed that the two parties were unable to agree on a price for Tiffany to buy Peretti’s intellectual property rights.

http://www.nationaljeweler.com/